harlow woke up the next morning to the sun shining brightly. she briefly panicked, unsure of where she was, then remembered colby convincing her to spend the night.

the aftermath of sleeping at colby's instead of heading back to her dorm resulted in several problems. the first problem was that harlow was quite literally stuck. she woke to the pillow fort mysteriously destroyed, and colby's arm wrapped tightly around her torso.

as much as harlow enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped in colby's arms, she didn't want to chance falling back asleep and waking up after him. harlow's feelings for colby confused her greatly, and she didn't want to be vulnerable until she was able to properly sort through everything. plus, she was immensely awkward.

after about ten minutes of slowly inching her hand out from underneath the blanket, harlow managed to carefully move colby's arm as she shifted out of the bed.

then came the second problem. harlow gathered her clothes in her arms, then checked her phone. the time read 10:18. harlow had slept through her morning class, which ended at 9:45. she could have sworn she set an alarm the night before for 6:30 am. she quickly sent an email to her professor explaining that she had a doctor's appointment, and prayed that he wouldn't request a note.

the last problem was a bit harder for harlow to navigate. harlow didn't want to run into anyone in the house, in fear of being interrogated. harlow also didn't want her new friends to think she was sleeping with colby, but she especially didn't want elton to think that. in order for that not to happen, harlow had to sneak out of colby's room and to her jeep as quickly and quietly as possible.

harlow had made it to the bottom of the stairs, where katrina was clearly waiting for her. "oh, hi harley. i didn't see you come in," she said with fake innocence. "cute fit,"

harlow mentally facepalmed herself for not changing out of the clothes colby gave her. "i'm a new brand ambassador," harlow replied sarcastically, flipping off her friend.

"oh, weird. sam didn't mention anything about that," katrina replied with the same amount of sarcasm.

harlow continued walking towards the front door. "not now, kat."

kat must've picked up on harlow's tone, as she dropped her sarcastic act. "breakfast? on me,"

"please! i just need to get out of here,"

kat and harlow made their way out to the street and into her jeep. harlow threw her clothes in the backseat, then began rummaging through a bag. "i need to change,"

"do you have clothes? just wear the ones from last night. no one will know," katrina replied, looking back at her friend from the front seat.

harlow pulled out a pair of leggings and a sweater from the bag. "i have gym clothes! i was planning on going later today. thank god i'm such a planner," harlow sighed in relief. "ok, i'm changing here,"

"in the middle of the street? harley, this is a family neighborhood."

"i'm not going back in there," harlow shot back. "don't look back unless you want a show," she joked.

after she was changed, harlow climbed into the driver's seat, started the jeep, and peeled out. "okay, before you say anything," harlow started, holding one of her hands up in defense. "nothing happened,"

"harls, you were wearing his clothes. and sleeping in his bed,"

"okay yeah, true. but how do you know i wasn't sleeping on the couch in there?" harlow replied.

katrina laughed nervously, wringing her hands in her lap. "okay, so maybe i slightly invaded the privacy barrier this morning"

"oh, fuck,"

"i was just heading out to my car and i saw your car still parked on the street. which was weird 'cause i knew you had class this morning, and you're not a skipper. so i checked your location, and it said you were in the house. but i was up for like an hour and i didn't see you anywhere. so i just kinda peeked and.." she trailed off, harlow presumed she was either out of breath or had seen the two cuddled up close.

"oh, fuck."

"okay, well i did a bit more than just peek. i may have taken a picture of you two sleeping." harlow looked at her friend with wide eyes. "it was too cute to pass up!" katrina defended herself.

"do i even want to see it?"

kat laughed, "later," silence fell between the two girls, each one waiting for the other to talk about the obvious situation. "so what did happen then?"

harlow drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "well, we went out to the roof for our smoke, and he somehow managed to convince me to stay out there with him. i didn't even notice how long we were out there for until i couldn't stop yawning. and colby played the "i want to make sure your safe" and "you could fall asleep at the wheel" card. so i stayed over."

harlow paused, trying to figure out how to word the next part. "i did make a pillow barrier, y'know, like the one in the other woman? yeah, well, when i woke up the barrier was magically gone. and colby and i were like, cuddling. which isn't a big deal, i guess. but also it kind of is? i'm really confused."

kat nodded. "confused about?"

harlow kept her eyes on the road as she spilled her feelings out. "i mean, he's obviously really good looking. there's no denying that. but also he's really kind-hearted and super easy to joke around with. it's just really easy to be around him y'know? his laugh literally gives me butterflies, like some shit out of a fucking movie. but i don't know. i don't really want to admit to having feelings, 'cause then it's real. i've gotten fucked over lots in the past, for some reason i'm like, really drawn towards assholes who fuck me over."

"okay, well i've known colby for a few years now, and i can assure you he isn't an asshole who would fuck anyone over,"

"yeah, i know. but even the possibility scares the shit out of me. but even then, there's elton. his sister and his best friend get together? i don't know, i just don't think he'd handle it well. and imagine a messy ending, it could potentially fuck up elton's relationship with y'all. it's just easier to not have feelings, at least right now."

by the end of harlow's speech, they were parked outside of a random cafe. "if you ask me, there are some feelings on both sides of this. but if you're not ready to commit to the idea of feelings, then don't. do it at your own speed," she looked over at her friend, "so fuck the feelings, let's have a girls day!"

harlow grinned at her blue-haired friend. "you know me way too well,"

the two girls ended up eating on the patio of a hole-in-the-wall cafe, sipping iced coffee and laughing. after a while, they made their way to a nail salon and got acrylics. the day was flying by, and soon the girls found themselves at kat's apartment, on the couch, binge-watching the office.

out of the corner of her eye, harlow could see her phone light up on the arm of the couch.

party at ours

come over

kat was looking at her friend, already knowing about the party. "we don't have to go," she stated. "i'm good watching the office,"

"actually," harlow grinned, tossing the blanket draped across her lap to the side. "i kinda wanna get fucked up,"

kat bounced in her seat. "this is why i fucking love you!"

"drunk girls night, baby!"

kat was already up and out of her seat, throwing clothes and makeup in a bag. "can we get ready at yours? i assume you'll wanna change,"

harlow laughed, throwing a pillow at her friend. "fuck you, bitch,"

she then opened the message to text colby back.

c u in an hr

😈😈😈