When morning comes, I find myself in an amazing mood.

My socked-feet pad against the cheap carpet as I rub the sleep out of my eyes. On instinct, I head to the kitchen to brew up a pot of coffee before work today.

"Hello, sleeping beauty," Laine chirps, making me jump in my skin. "How was your night?" He peers around my shoulder as if he's waiting for someone else to materialize.

"You can stop looking, Harry didn't spend the night," I yawn, heading straight for the machine.

"Damn," he mutters under his breath.

My eyes glance at the clock and see it's nearing six a.m. This is a normal time for me to walk up, especially if I want to make it to work early, but not for Laine. Before, he used to wake up around noon, but ever since his new job he's been waking up around eight. "What're you doing up so early?"

He shrugs, shoveling a spoonful of cereal in his mouth. "Couldn't sleep."

I point toward my brewing coffee and silently ask if he wants a cup. He nods gratefully and I work on making enough for the both of us. Once it's done, I take a seat across from him and slide the mug over.

"So, last night," he prompts with increased interest.

I take a long and hearty sip before looking at him. "We didn't have sex," I say flatly.

He rolls his eyes. "That's not even what I was wondering."

"Liar," I mutter under my breath.

"I heard that," he says with narrowed eyes. "But no. I was more curious as to why Harry Styles would stop at our apartment and rooftop hangout. And why you'd be holding hands with him."

Right. I forgot that Laine's been always blunt.

I wait for him to finish chewing his food before answering. "He's my soulmate."

Coffee. All over me.

The bastard took a sip of coffee before I told him and just spat it all over me! Dramatic much?

I sigh, not even reacting. It's way too early for this. I have to change anyway.

"I'm sorry... what?!"

"Laine, I love you, but you are painfully oblivious," I say in an irritated tone as I grab a napkin and wipe down our table. "This is a very, very old memory but do you remember in our freshman year of college, there was a party at your place? And I fell into the pool?"

He slowly nods, the memory coming back to him.

"Do you also remember there was someone who "helped me out of the pool"?" I use air quotes.

He nods again. A gasp leaves his lips as he understands what happened. "It was him?!"

"Yes. You saw him back then." I toss the brown wad of napkins to the edge of the table. "And... he's also the guy I cheated on you with," I add meekly. It's better to get that out of the way.

Instead of acting mad, he bursts out laughing. His fists collide with the delicate wood table, almost costing us a leg.

When his laughter subsides, he sighs and wipes a tear from his eye. "Ellie, if you had told me you cheated on me with Harry fucking Styles I wouldn't have even been mad."

"Wait," I frown, "you're not mad?"

"Hell no! Girl, I'm honored!"

Only you, Laine. Only you.

"So he's truly your soulmate? Damn," he whistles, impressed. "Wow. Fuck! My roomie's soulmates with Harry Styles."

"You can't tell anyone," I rush out. "Not until we make it public."

He throws up his hands. "Don't worry, wasn't planning on it."

I let out a sigh of relief. I trust Laine. I don't know why I was scared he'd tell everyone.

"I cannot believe it though," he mumbles in disbelief. He brushes his fingers through his hair as he stares at the table in thought. "He's going to be over more often, isn't he?"

"I don't know, I might just be at his place more often."

"God, this explains so much! Like that day when I came in and you two were all huggy and you were crying! Or all those times he approached you when I was on set with you! Damn, I can't believe I missed all the signs." He shakes his head at himself.

I purse my lips and nod.

His eyes meet mine and I can see a million questions swirling around. Thankfully neither of us has the time for him to tie me down and force me to answer all of them. Still, it seems unfair to drop all this information on him and not explain everything. I understand the pain. When Audrey had told me she found her soulmate, she refused to tell me anything until I found mine. Little did I know hers was my boyfriend of the time.

"Laine, I give you permission to ask one question before I wash off your coffee spit," I sigh, giving in way too easily.

"Sorry about that," he sheepishly smiles as he looks down at my stained clothes. He hesitates, thinking of the most important question he can ask. "What happened between the two of you? I'm assuming you two met in college... or earlier maybe?"

I lean back in my wobbly chair and clasp my hands on my lap. This is a long one. "We met at his concert when I was eighteen. I refused to acknowledge it happened because it was absolutely insane. Eventually, I agreed to go on a date because, lemme tell you, the separation depression is real. So he came over, we dated for maybe eight months? Then a huge issue popped up, I broke up with him and went to college. He eventually found me when he realized I was dating someone else and tried to convince me that he was better–"

"He is."

"–and I got mad again. We finally decided on being friends. He went on tour, all my depression shit happened, and we drifted unintentionally," I finish off.

"Why'd you break up?"

I know he's technically done with his question limit for now but I answer anyway. "Huge scandal. He was fake dating someone at the time and broke up with her because of me. She threatened to mess up his reputation and I couldn't allow that so I chose for him. Himself over me. I couldn't let him mess up his image."

He stares at me, blinking slowly. I stand up and peel my wet clothes away from my body.

"You suck for this, by the way," I say. He doesn't hear me. He's still thinking about all that I've told him.

At least that means no more questions.

Leaving him at the table, I head to the shower, clean myself up, and wrap my towel snug around my body.

"HOLY SHIT, YOU HAD SEX WITH HARRY STYLES," Laine's voice booms through the apartment. Smiling, I shake my head and sit on my bed. Seconds later, he barges into my room. "You had sex with Harry!"

"Yes Laine, we've established this already," I laugh, tightening my towel around me.

"How was it? Was it good?"

I roll my eyes. Boys. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Shut up," he groans, sitting next to me on my bed. "Tell me! I tell you how the boys I'm with are!"

"I don't ask though!"

"Oh..." he frowns in thought but shakes his head quickly. "Please, El!"

"No, that's weird. I'm not doing that." I stand up and walk over to my closet. My hands skim over my professional clothes and pick out a fit. I choose a pair of black fitting slacks, a loose white blouse, and a gray blazer. "Okay Laine, time for you to get out now."

He scoffs. "I'm gay. I have no interest in your nakedness."

I set the clothes down on my bed and get his silent approval, even though I haven't asked for it. "Well, as my ex, I don't appreciate it. Unless you're ready to rail me fast and hard, get out." I'm joking, of course. Laine and I can kid around like that.

He snickers. "Is that how you talk to Harry?"

My face turns fifty shades of red. "Get. Out."

He snickers the whole way out of my room. I slam the door shut behind him and lock it even though it's broken.

Maybe I should find a new place.

I fix myself up and apply light makeup just because. I don't realize how much of a big deal that is until I walk into the office.

Since Daniel and I aren't on speaking terms right now, I walk straight past him into Daffodil's office without a second glance. I feel a little terrible about it but I wish he'd just understand.

"Ah, Ellie good – holy shit!" Daff gasps when she notices me. "Wow! What in heaven's name happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, a little self-conscious.

She eyes me up and down, lingering on my face. "You... you put in effort today! You don't look like you crawled straight out of a dumpster!"

"You flatter me," I say flatly. I should enjoy that she's complimenting me, but does she have to say it like that? She makes it seem like I look ugly all the time. "So, anything you need me to get started on today?"

She shakes her head to rid her thoughts. "Yes, meet me in the conference room."

"You got it." I head back to my desk and pick up my laptop before heading over to the room. Minutes later, Danny comes in and sits across from me. I can feel his gaze through his glasses but I don't look up at him.

Daffodil pops her head through the door but doesn't come in. "Hey guys, I just want to let you know that your work performance has been decreasing since you guys are fighting, so I'm locking you in here for the next hour until you work out your problems. Oki, bye!"

She closes the door and locks it.

And then her words settle in.

Daniel shoots up and tried the door. The handle jiggles but doesn't budge.

Damn. She really locked it.

Sighing, I start opening emails on my laptop. If I have an hour to kill, this is the best way to do it.

The lid of my laptop lowers enough to see I can see Danny's guilty eyes. "Ellie, we should talk. She wants us to."

"She can shove it where the sun don't shine," I snort before lifting my lid back up and making the view of his face disappear.

He sighs.

About fifteen minutes pass before I get an influx of Skype chats.

Skype:

<< Danny: Ellie

<< Danny: I'm sorry

<< Danny: Can we talk?

<< Danny: Please

<< Danny: She wants us to

<< Danny: You wouldn't want to disappoint your lovely boss, would you?

<< Danny: I fully believe she'll turn us to stone if we don't listen

<< Danny: And I think she's eavesdropping

A laugh escapes me before I can stop it. I hear Danny's breath hitch and practically imagine him waiting for me to look up at him.

So I do.

I lower my screen enough so I can see his face. I wait expectantly for him to apologize.

But he doesn't.

"I just... I want us to be good again," he says instead.

I cross my arms and lean back in my chair. "Danny, I do too, but you practically called me easy."

His eyes widen in panic. "What?! I did? When?!"

"When you implied that I was just like the other girls that chase after Harry."

"No! I didn't mean that at all!" he rushes out urgently. "I know you're not a slut, Ellie. I've worked with you for quite some time now."

"Exactly," I exclaim. "You know I'm putting my career first! You've seen how many countless nights I've spent here. It's not like I've been rendezvousing with other men. So I don't understand what your problem is here."

"My problem isn't you. My problem is him," he says with disgust.

"Harry?"

He nods. "He's a manwhore. He plays women. Did you hear he cheated on his ex-girlfriend?" When I shift uncomfortably in my seat, he takes it the wrong way. "Yeah, exactly. He's disgusting. He doesn't care about their feelings."

"But it's different this time." God I sound pathetic.

"How can you say that when all the evidence is in front of you? You've seen it! I bet he's fucked all of those models in his music video."

I wince. Not only from the fact that Danny's said a dirty word for the first time, but also because there might be some truth in his words. I never even considered the possibility. Not that it matters though. It was all before me.

"This is different," I repeat weakly.

"Ellie! That's probably exactly what all those girls thought before they had their hearts broken," he nearly yells. Danny has never raised his voice at me. Never.

I want to repeat the phrase again but I refrain.

"God Ellie, you're so special, but not in his eyes. To him, you're just another girl! Another good fuck. He's just trying to get in your pants! Why can't you see that?" he yells this time, making me flinch. I don't like this. "What, you think because he sent you a bouquet at work and took you on a fancy date that he likes you?"

I freeze. How did he know about that?

Then he bitterly chuckles. "I'm sure he's used the same tactics on all those girls. What makes you different, huh?"

"Because he's a fucking soulmate!" I snap, unable to take his slander anymore. Not only is he hurting Harry but he's hurting me at this point.

He pales. "What?"

"Yes, Danny, that manwhore you're shitting on is my soulmate. Has been, always will be."

"He...he is?" He slumps down into his chair, looking absolutely broken.

"Yes," I whisper.

Silence.

"It's the whole reason I became his assistant back then," I add softly. Seeing his face crumble in defeat makes me feel incredibly guilty. All my frustration has disappeared. "I've known him since I was eighteen. We used to date then but we never made it public."

Explaining this gives me a sense of déjà vu. At least Danny doesn't have a cup of coffee nearby.

"We broke up at some point but it wasn't for terrible reasons like you may be assuming. And then the day at Eleanor's party, we saw each other for the first time in years."

Danny stays silent. When I dare look over at him, I see him glaring at the table.

"At first I didn't feel anything. I was so focused on work that I didn't let him in. But we both know the soulmate bond is strong. He slowly caved his way back into my heart, Danny."

His gaze lifts to my face but it isn't angry. If anything, it's sad.

"I know he's carved out to be a terrible person, but I've changed him once. I know what he's willing to do for me. How can I deny him that? How can I deny myself that?"

"Ellie," he whispers, his words with the burden of a thousand weights.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wanted to see if things would go the way I planned. There'd be no use telling you if things didn't work out," I admit shamefully.

"I should've known." He looks at me longingly before looking down at his lap. "He always looked at you. Always. At Eleanor's party, at the mansion, even at the office."

My heart swells and breaks at the same time. He just sounds so... broken.

Can I blame him? He's one of my closest friends and I kept something so huge from him.

"The day where you fell into the pool and ran out of the bathroom, he looked so concerned." He closes his eyes and exhales deeply. "I thought he hurt you. I feel so dumb."

I reach across and grab his hand. "You're not dumb. You were just throwing out accusations and I was angry. I can see where you were coming from."

He flashes me a sad smile. "I understand now. You were defending him because you know him better than me. Than all of us."

"You're one of my closest friends and I couldn't imagine you not in my life. I just want you to understand why I'm with him."

"I do," he says softly before pulling his hand away. "I just want what's best for you. Is he that?"

"Yes," I answer confidently. "I may not be the best for him, but he's the best for me."

"Good. I don't want you to get hurt."

I smile wistfully. "In my life, it's unpreventable. But I can guarantee you that I'd rather have him hurt me a hundred times because his love heals me a million times harder."

Sappy. Bleh. But also true.

He takes a deep breath and smiles. "You know, you can talk to me about him. I promise I won't judge, even if he does something terrible. I'll always be on your side."

"Thanks, Danny." I find myself incredibly touched by his words. As long as he understands where I'm coming from, we're good. I know he's only concerned for me. He doesn't want me to be another sad statistic.

Feeling overwhelmed by gratitude, I round the table and pull him in for a hug.

"I'm sorry El," he mumbles. "I didn't know. I just... I was being protective."

"I know," I choke out a laugh. "Don't do it again."

He chuckles and tightens his grip around me a little tighter. I smile and rest my head on his shoulder.

I love Danny. Even if I was mad at him, I'd still love him. He was my first friend when I walked into California, looking all doe-eyed. He was my first co-worker. He was the one who let me vent to him about this job. He was the one who always had my back.

And I'll always have his.

We pull away.

"We good?"

"We're good," he sighs with a smile. I let out a breath of relief.

He walks over to the door and tries the handle. Much to our surprise, it budges easily.

God knows when Daffodil unlocked the door.