Baby Doll (Harry Styles)

Chapter 15 - Exposed

My feet were growing numb as I paced along the dark hallway of the second floor. I couldn't do it. I couldn't ever go through with it. I didn't have it in me. I pressed my back against the cold hard wall before sliding down. I rested on the floor, bringing my knees up to my chest. Tears spilled onto the wool of my sleeves.

I had no idea what I was going to do.


My head snapped to the right and I caught a glimpse of a bright streak of lightning through the window. It struck before a ferocious rumble of thunder followed, making my heart jump. Then I found myself in pitch-black darkness. Just great.

I decided that I was mentally too weak to get up and find my way to my room in this black out. So I hugged my knees tight, and didn't move from where I was. The hallway didn't only echo the loud thunder that consistently blared, it also seemed to amplify the sound.

My hands went up to my ears to shield them from the noise but it did little. The only visible thing at this point was the lightning outside as it hit the ground. As I pushed myself further into the darkness and away from the window at the end of the hallway, I caught an orange light in my peripheral vision.

I turned my head in the direction of the brightness that I sensed and realised that it was coming from down the stairs. It elevated up and before I knew it, it was advancing towards me down the hallway. It didn't take me long to realise that it was Harry holding a candle light.

"There you are." He held my elbow and attempted to stand me up.

I complied and rose to my feet, wiping away any wetness off my face eventhough it was hardly visible in this darkness. "Why do I always find you in the weirdest places? What are you doing sitting here?" Harry asked, his grip tight around my arm.

Our height difference caused me to tilt my chin up to face him. The small fire illuminated his face, shadows formed near his features. "Well? Care to explain?" He asked again.

Before I could say anything, thunder roared once more. This time it was ear splitting. I jumped closer to Harry out of shock. The blaring noise cleared completely, but the sound of raindrops remained. I only realised how close I was to Harry when I heard him breathing. I peered down to see my fingers clutched onto his plaid shirt.

My first instinct was to move away but his arm interfered and held me in place. Then I felt his chin on my head. "Let's get out of here." He whispered.

Harry brought me to his room, navigating through the darkness with the aid of the candle light. He must have figured out by now that I was afraid of thunder, as he protectively held me the whole way.

My elbow was let go of when we reached his room, where several candles were already lit. It was in vast contrast with the rest of the mansion. "How long will the lights be out?" I asked as Harry carefully positioned the candle he held on the table by his bedside.

"Probably in the morning." The rest of the house was deprived of brightness when Harry went over to the door and shut it. He threw himself on the bed and stretched his arms out, heaving a strained sigh. He peered up at the ceiling as he pillowed his arms beneath his head. "My mum and I would light up candles and align them in all sorts of shapes whenever the light got cut out. It didn't happen very often but when it did, I had the best time." He puffed out a barely audible laugh.

"Where I live, the light gets cut out all the time. Sometimes the management does it on purpose to get more money from the residents. It's not very fun for my family." I shrugged.

"When did your dad die?" Harry asked, sitting up.

"I was twelve, almost thirteen. It was so sudden. He fell sick in a month and went within two. He was our shield, basically. So everything came crashing down afterwards." I was surprised at how easily the words flowed.