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Harry's POV: Chapter 18

Harry goes into the house, closing and locking the door behind him. He can hear Niall stumbling around somewhere in the other room, but Harry ignores him when he calls his name.

Instead, he goes upstairs, turns on the shower, undresses, and gets in. He stands under the warm water, letting it wash over him. He stands there in silence for 30 minutes before Niall comes to check on him.

"Harry?" He asks, knocking at the door. "Harry, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Harry calls back, but Niall doesn't let it go.

"Are you sure? Did something happen with Louis?" Niall asks, his hand trying the door knob but finding it locked.

"No, I'm fine. Really." Harry says, but the tremble in his voice gives him away.

"Harry..." Niall says, but Harry interrupts.

"Please, Niall, I just need to be alone." Harry can hear Niall sigh on the other side of the door.

"Ok. I need to leave for a little bit. Just call me if you want to talk, ok?" Niall says.

"Yeah." Harry responds and he hears Niall's footsteps walk away from the door. Harry stands under the water for another 15 minutes before finally turning the water off.

He dries himself off and then walks to his room, dressing in a black jumper and gray joggers. He leaves his hair wet and walks back down to the living room, flopping down on the couch. He picks up his phone and opens his conversation with Louis.

H: Can you come over now? Please?
L: Of course baby, I'll be right over.
H: <3<3<3.

Harry opens up Instagram and scrolls through when another text notification appears at the top of the screen. An unknown number. Harry reads the text.

?: Hey, it's Nick, can we talk?

Harry ignores it, swiping out of the conversation and back to Instagram, but the texts don't stop.

N: Come on Harry.
N: You know I didn't mean anything.
N: I know you're seeing these.
N: Harry, just answer!

Harry powers down his phone completely to stop the persistent dinging. It was giving him a headache. After a few more minutes, a knock comes at the door.

A sense of relief washes over Harry, knowing Louis is on the other side of the door. He gets up and unlocks the door, opening it, expecting to see Louis standing there. Instead, the door is slammed out of his hand as he is tackled by a much larger man.

They land on the floor and, in a complete reflex, Harry's knee drives up into the man's groin, giving Harry the time to squirm out from underneath him and put the room between them.

A second man walks through the door, coming to stand next to the first man, who is slowly getting to his feet. "Come on, kid. Don't make this any harder than it has to be." He says, his voice dark and his face a mask of anger.

"You tackled me." Harry says, his voice and hands shaking in fear.

Where the hell is Louis?

The two men laugh, and that only scares Harry more. "Boss said you were snarky. Comes with dating The Devil, doesn't it?"

The man puts 'The Devil' in quotes with his fingers. Harry doesn't answer. He assumes he is talking about Louis.

"Who are you?" Harry asks, his voice no more than a whisper, fear constricting his throat.

"Friends of someone who doesn't like your boyfriend." The second one says as the first one pulls a gun, but keeps it limp at his side. "Boss wants to talk to you about that." The second man continues and the first man steps forward.

Louis said he had enemies. Harry thinks as he takes a step back, and then the second man rushes at him. Harry's foot connects with the man's gut, sending him to the floor, but then he hears the first man cock the gun.

"Look, kid, I'm not supposed to hurt you. But you are getting on my nerves, and I will shoot you. Get down on the ground, hands behind your head." Harry complies quickly, kneeling down and locking his fingers behind his head.

The first man saunters up to him. "Really didn't want it to come to this." He says.

The last thing Harry feels is the butt of the gun slamming into his left temple before everything goes dark.