He hadn't seen that smile in a long time. Probably since she met him on tour. He watched laurel's head fall back on her neck as she cackled out the laugh he knew emabrassed her and he couldn't help his anwering smile when she snorted out the end. Harry's own smile transmuted into a grimace as he watched the man who accompanied her slip his arm around her waist and spontaneously hug her in response.

He was tall, taller than Harry, maybe prettier too. He was dark to Harry's fair and his hair was long and straight, longer than Harry had ever managed to grow it. He also was wearing a vintage band tee that Harry had never been able to get his hands on. FOr the first time in a long time, he felt less than.

He really felt a stingin the vicinity of his heart when he refocused his attention on Laurel's face as it was pressed into her beautiful companions shoulder. That was his face, the one she thought she hid, but that he had caught in his hallway mirror so many times while he hugged her goodbye. Eyes closed tightly, neck soft, nose schrunched. His stomach plummeted when she pulled back and the happy secret smile was shared. And then the man on Laurel's arm returned it.

She looked so happy.
She looked happier.

Harry lost his breath and tried to remember the last time he had contacted her or seen her. It must have been at least a month ago, but that was not unusual for their arrangement. He had just arrived back in London after a month of writing sessions and he found himself wanking to her moans in the shower. So he called her, and they spent a lovely weekend wrapped up in his sheets.

Laurel left abruptly on Sunday morning after his shower. Later on, he had texted her a silly gif and received no response.

They hadn't spoken since then. He had gotten caught up with living his life in two places. Trips to Holmes chapel and dinners with his London friends while trying to maintain his writing and gym schedule. It wasn't unusual, they really only saw each other sporadically, but it worked for them, he thought.

Their arrangement had come about organically. A designer he loved and championed had sent her around multiple times for fittings. He had been captivated by her pouty lips and dark hair. She was miniature, he loved her diminuative stature, especially because every woman he had met in the fashion industry was almost as tall as him. But she was tiny and seemingly shy, but he soon discovered she was just shy with him, because when he found himself at the designers studio she was lively, laughing loud and singing out loud with little provocation. From then on, his mission was to draw her out, and if blushes accompanied her responses, so much the better. He flirted his ass off for three months before she gave him green clues and the wound up wound around each other for most of an evening. He was leaving the next day, so he explained to her his crazy schedule and his usual arrangement. Hook ups when I'm around, we get tested and stay faithful, selectively. Laurel agreed, but she had this way of looking at him sometimes. She may have wanted more.

That last weekend, he heard her whisper I love you while she came, he ignored it.

Harry had no time for a real relationship, but watching her out with another man, her smile so wide as she walked into the bar, he felt like he'd made a mistake. He stumbled home, forgetting what he was out for and found himself in a corner of his house with a bottle of tequila.

Glenne was none to pleased when he rang some hours later. He could hear her grumbling in the background far away in LA.

"Wassup man," Jeff gulped out and Harry could see him running a hand over his pillowcase creased face.

"She's with somebody else?" Harry whined, feeling like a jilted schoolboy.

"Who harry?" Jeff shuffled out of the bed chamber.

"Laurel, she was out with some guy, he looked familiar, maybe a model? I just saw her a month ago, but they looked loved up. What do I do?"

"Which one is Laurel?" Jeff said and Harry could hear the tick of his fridges' water dispenser.

"Come on, mate, the girl Ed Lee sends around that I've been sleeping with for ages. I think she's moved on, but she didn't tell me. Why wouldn't she tell me?"

Jeff's silence spoke volumes.

"Just say it," Harry prompted.

"If you were just sleeping with her when she was convenient, of course she's moved on Harry. if you wanted more, you probably should have said before now. Sure this isn't just a case of wanting what you can't have?" Jeff ended gently.

His truth was always coupled with kindness, allowing harry to swallow it.

"It just hurts mate, ive been missing her, was gonna give her a call, and then, there she is on my high street with another guy, a better one, maybe. And she looked......" he trailed off and gulped.

"How'd she look Harry?"

"She looked happier."