FLORENCE'S POV

TONIGHT WAS THE NIGHT I had been waiting for all week. I literally had to beg my father to let me take the night off because we heard a prominent food critic was planning on stopping by, and my dad wanted to make sure we were fully staffed. Lester came to my defense and insisted that I deserved a break for how hard I worked during the weeks leading up to the Styles' Winter Formal. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for him because his opinion is what ultimately convinced my father to let me have this one day for myself.

Harry was supposed to come pick me up at my house after his football game at 6pm which only left me a little over two hours to get ready. I decided to strip myself of my clothes and hop in the shower. Steam quickly filled the bathroom once I turned the dial towards the left and let the warm water hit my skin. I took a deep breath and reached for the bottle of Dark Kiss shower gel I had purchased from Bath and Body Works for special occasions like these then poured some of the liquid onto my shower loofah.

After I finished cleaning myself up, I shaved my underarms and legs. I turned the water off and grabbed a fluffy white towel from the drying rack. I made sure it was secured underneath my arms before stepping out of the shower and drying off in my room. I put on some deodorant, moisturized my skin with cocoa butter, and opened my dresser to pick out something comfortable to wear. I put on a pair of black lace underwear and found a large white t-shirt inside the top drawer. I threw it over my head and slipped my arms through the holes on each side.

The shirt fell to the middle of my thighs and stuck to my body slightly due to the fact that my skin was still damp from the shower. I left my room and went back inside the bathroom to blow dry my hair. Before I could start my makeup, I needed help choosing which dress to wear for tonight. I exited the bathroom once again and walked back inside my room, over to where I had my phone hooked up to my charger.

I unlocked it and went straight to FaceTime, knowing exactly the person to call. Malaysia's name flashed over my phone screen as I waited for her to accept the call, and I smiled widely when she did.

"Hey girl what's up?" Sia asked me while lounging on what appeared to be a coach.

The pixelated image made it hard to see the things in the background, but one thing was clear. Sia had chopped off all of her hair and dyed it red.

"What's up with me? Sia, what's been up with you? You cut your hair and dyed it red!" I exclaimed with a huge smile on my face. "This style looks really good on you."

My best friend grinned at my words and turned her head from side to side to give me a better look and make model poses. "Why thank you darling. I was feeling particularly bold on New Year's Day and wanted to go natural, so voilá," She explained in a dramatic voice.

I tilted my head back in a laugh and removed the charger from my phone, so I could walk over to my bed and sit down. I wasn't feeling bold or daring enough to make any drastic changes to my physical appearance on New Years, but maybe I would be brave enough to do so during college.

"I wish some of your confidence would rub off on me. I could use some tonight," I confessed with a sigh.

Sia hummed in response to my words and stared at me with her eyebrows raised. "Oh, and what's tonight?" She asked.

I hesitated to answer at first. I contemplated how much I should tell her before opening my mouth again. "I have a dinner date with this incredibly handsome guy and have no idea what dress to wear. He's taking me to this expensive French restaurant in town," I finally revealed.

Malaysia nodded her head, seeming to understand the problem at hand. "Well, show me some options," She instructed.

"Okay, one second," I told her while setting down my phone on the bed.

I heard the sound of Sia's laughter as I ran to my closet and shuffled through the clothes on the hangers. I grabbed the dresses that caught my eye and slung them over my forearm while searching for other options with my free hand.

"I'm getting tired over here," Sia complained teasingly.

I took that as my cue to stop looking and walked back over to my bed, so I could lay out my five selections. I picked up my phone from the bed with my finger hovering over the reverse camera button on my iPhone.

"I have all the dresses I chose laid out on the bed," I informed her before flipping the camera so she could see the different dresses.

I brought the camera closer to some dresses when she asked me to and pressed the back of the dresses against my front at her request. Eventually, we narrowed the five dresses down to just two. One was a tube-style black dress with gold buttons lining the perimeter and the other one was a red dress with long sleeves and a small slit at the bottom. I picked out the shoes and coats I would wear with each dress and changed into them in the closet at Sia's request.

I modeled the black dress for her first with my beige coat and black heels. My phone was resting against my full body mirror so that she could have a clear view of my outfit.

"Classy, elegant, and sophisticated all in one," Sia told me. "I could see you wearing this little black dress to a French restaurant."

I thanked her with a smile and changed out of the black dress before grabbing the red dress, black leather jacket, and cheetah printed heels that I had paired with it and walking back into the closet. After I finished adorning the clothes on my body, I came out of the closet and approached the mirror nervously. The fabric of the red dress was quite loose in the torso region but form fitting in other regions.

Hearing Sia gasp is what made me snap my eyes over to my phone in concern. "What? What's wrong?" I questioned her.

"I feel like you just stopped time when you walked in with that dress. I think this red dress is the one," Sia said with a warm smile.

I glanced down at the dress with uncertainty. "Are you sure? I don't think it fits me well in some places" I replied, biting my lip. I just wanted to look good and feel good for my date with Harry.

My best friend nodded her head, and I bent down to pick up my phone from the floor. "It fits your body really nicely. You shouldn't be afraid to show off what you have Flo. The dress looks amazing on you and is an eye-turner for sure. Let me know what the reaction of your date is when he sees you in it," Sia assured me with a wink.

I let out a deep sigh and nodded my head. "Okay, I will." I looked at the time on my phone and saw that it was 5:30pm, leaving me only thirty minutes to do my hair and makeup-up. "I'm going to go fix my hair and do my makeup, but I'll call you later to tell you how everything went."

"Alright, good luck Florence!" Malaysia said while blowing me a kiss. "I feel like a proud momma today."

I laughed at her last comment and pretended to catch the kiss she blew me. "Bye Sia." I waved at her before ending the call.

I brought my phone with me into the bathroom and set it on the sink. I bent down to open the cabinet underneath the sink and pulled out my makeup bag. As I applied the moisturizer to my face followed by the primer, I wondered if Harry was as excited and nervous for this date as I was. Before I put on the concealer, I decided to shoot him a quick text.

Me: Can't wait to see you tonight <3

I smiled once it delivered and focused all of my efforts on looking good for him.

§

At 6pm, my leg was bouncing up and down on the living room couch in anticipation. Harry was going to be knocking on my front door any second, and I couldn't calm my fast beating heart for the life of me. I tried to do breathing exercises and count to one hundred in my head, but nothing seemed to work. I felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest at any moment.

At 6:15pm, my nerves had subsided a bit. I turned on the television to the news to see if there were any incidents on the road. I figured Harry probably went home to freshen up after his game and got caught in some traffic on his way to my house. I didn't think I needed to be concerned, so I got more comfortable on the couch and watched the anchorwoman deliver the news report.

At 7pm, I dialed Harry's number only to hear his phone go straight to voicemail. Instead of leaving one, I ended the call and texted him.

Me: Hey, are you okay? I'm starting to worry about you.

I felt my heart rate begin to pick up again as I waited for Harry to text back. The possibilities of what could have happened to him between his football game and now left me with an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. I tried calling him several more times, but each time I got his voicemail.

At 7:30pm, I couldn't take sitting on the couch anymore and got up to pace around the living room. My hands were shaking, and I was fighting the urge to cry at this point. I walked into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water with one hand while checking my phone for notifications with the other.

I gulped down the glass of water in one breath and gasped in relief once I finished. I set the empty glass in the sink and tried calling Harry's number again. I got his voicemail again, but this time I decided to leave him one.

"Harry, I'm really worried about you. You haven't answered my texts or returned any of my calls. Can you please call me back as soon as you get this message, just so I can know that you're okay?" I ended the call with a sigh and covered my face with my hand, shaking my head.

At 8pm, one tear finally escaped from my eyes. And then another, and then another, and then another until I was full blown sobbing. I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to swallow back the sobs that were threatening to push out of my throat, but it was no use. My vision began to blur due to the tears pooling around in my eyes, and I wiped each one away with the back of my hand.

I picked up my phone off of the coffee table and dialed Harry's number. It rang a once before going to voicemail like it had done all the other times before. I sniffled and cleared my throat when I heard the beep sound on the other end, signaling I could speak.

"Don't bother coming to my house if you get this message," I paused to let out a small cry before releasing a deep breath and continuing. "But I doubt that you'll be coming anyways because it's already been two hours. How could you do this to me?" I asked him in a weak voice. I covered my mouth to muffle another one of my cries and hung up the phone.

At 8:30pm, I sent Harry several angry text messages that I probably would regret sending later, but I couldn't help myself.

Me: I'm so fücking mad at you right now.

Me: I could punch you in the face.

Me: I should've known you were bound to screw up again. That's all you're good at doing these days.

Me: I hope whatever the reason you stood me up for was worth it because I'm done with you.

Me: I can't stand the thought of being with you anymore.

At 9pm, I finally went back upstairs to my room, carrying my heels in one hand and my phone in the other. I dropped my leather jacket on the floor along with my heels and took off my dress. I set my phone on the bed and grabbed the white shirt I left on top of my dresser. I stuffed my head and arms inside the holes and rolled the shirt down to its full length. I contemplated going into the bathroom to remove my makeup but stopped all of my movements as soon as I heard my phone vibrate on the bed.

Gulping nervously, I picked up my phone and clicked on the text message notification I had received. I frowned when I saw who it was.

Sia: Hey, how was it?

I bit my lip to prevent it from trembling and locked my phone again before placing it on the nightstand. I didn't have the strength to reply to Sia's text because the last thing I wanted to think about was my non-existent date with Harry. I released a shaky breath and turned off the lamp, engulfing the room in darkness. I felt around for the covers and pulled them back so I could get inside.

Once I got settled in, I bought the blankets up to my chin and rolled onto my side, closing my eyes. I prayed that when I woke up in the morning, this terrible nightmare would be over, and I could find some peace again.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone. I hope your week is off to a good start. Happy 4th of July to those who celebrate it. I start my internship tomorrow which I'm very excited about. I also managed to get another job doing housing activism so my summer is looking pretty busy. I really want to finish this book or be close to finishing when nominations for the Wattys end. Please make sure to vote for Behind Closed Doors if you enjoy reading this book.

Feel free to vote, comment, share this story with a friend, or follow me on wattpad. I'd really appreciate it if you did.

Question for my readers: After reading the last chapter and knowing what you know, do you think Florence should forgive Harry?

I'm curious to see what you all think.

—
Kaylandia