Broken Misery (H.Styles Fanfic)

Chapter 9

Harry gets up and pushes Liam out of the way, only to turn around when his hand touches the doorknob. Lou's arm is still stretched from trying to pull Harry back, but he's much stronger than she is and unclasped her fingers from clutching his shirt. "Go fuck yourself, Liam. This is all fucking rubbish and you're an arsehole."

"Where do you think you're going? We're not done talking," Liam tells him, pointing at the sofa where Harry was previously sitting. "Get your arse on the fucking sofa, right now, Harold."

But instead of complaining and defying like he normally would in a situation like that, Harry lowers his head and walks back to the sofa, his eyes focused on his fingers fumbling together. Lou pats his arm while he sits and she wraps her arm around his in a comforting manner.

At least, not a single punch has been thrown.

Yet.

"Liam, Harry had no idea I was here. He found out two days ago when he got back, and in my defense, he got to the house with a girl wrapped around him. Like literally, arms and legs all around him. Unless he knew I was there and it was to get me jealous, I doubt he would've done it on purpose."

Liam lifts his eyebrows and glares at Harry, while Lou hits him behind the head. Harry doesn't bother turning around when his cheeks heat up shamefully. "She's saying the truth and so am I. But in my defense," Harry says as he turns towards me with a smirk, "I wouldn't have needed the girl if I had known you were back."

I turn my gaze back to Liam, unable to face Harry as my face turns the same shade of red as his.

"Why have I got a hard time believing this? And Elena, if you needed something, you could've phoned me, you know?"

"I didn't need anything," I tell him. "I've been here for months and I've been fine on my own, Liam. I just didn't think you guys were coming back for Christmas. I didn't think you'd be back until tour ended, and by then I would've been done with the school year."

"School year?" he repeats, confused. "What do you mean, school year?"

But then I realize that the short conversation over the phone Harry and Lou have had, Harry didn't have much time to explain anything. Liam and Louise's confusion speaks for itself. "I transferred to London Met. And since Harry was on tour, I didn't think it was a problem to occupy his house for a few months until I found a place of my own to stay."

"You live here? You came back on your own?"

"Yes, I did." My voice has taken a slightly angrier tone at the way he assumes I wouldn't have been back unless I had been forced to. "Look, if it's such a problem -"

"It is a problem," he agrees as he interrupts me. "It's a massive problem because I doubt you and Harry are going to be able to live under the same roof without causing trouble. He's been doing good, Elena. He spent months getting over you and getting better, and you have to come back and ruin this all for him. Do you have any idea how hard it was for him to get a proper night of sleep once in a while? It was bad. Very bad."

"It didn't look bad from what I saw on the tabloids," I spit at him, but also at Harry a little bit. "Clearly he didn't get much sleep from the amount of girls he was spotted leaving with."

Harry turns to me with wide eyes, obviously not expecting this coming from me. I give him an apologetic look but I think he looks sorrier than I do. "Well, at least he got over you, didn't he? And now you're back and he's going to be miserable again."

"Mate," Harry mumbles next to me, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have to rub it in, don't you? Just leave her alone."

I sigh and pop my knee on the sofa as I turn sideways towards the curly boy. "Maybe he's right. I didn't think of the consequences if you were to come back while I was there."

"You need a place to stay, and I have a place to give you," Harry says. "Whether I'm miserable or not, you have the right to live in that house as much as I do."

I press my lips tightly together, nodding firmly. "Thank you."

"Anyway, you have a boyfriend. So whatever goes through my head, it won't come true. And I promise I'm fine."

The sentence was quiet, but everyone heard it. Liam sits slowly on the coffee table in front of us and Lou bends over Harry to look at me. "You have a boyfriend?" they say in unison, Harry facepalming in the middle.

Lying to Harry about it sounded fine at the beginning. I figured that it would stay between us and Alfie, and that it would just be forgotten after a while. Lying to more people about it, however, sounds more dangerous now. If it had been under other circumstances, having a boyfriend would've been fine. But with the few inappropriate comments Harry has made, and now having to lie to everyone, it just seems too dangerous. Because the day I decide to let something happen, because who knows how long I'll be able to resist to the sparkling green eyes and charming personality, it won't just look wrong for me, but it'll look wrong for everybody.

"Yes," I finally admit, letting the word float on my tongue for a few seconds.

"What's his name?" Liam asks, genuinely interesting.

I open my mouth to respond, but Harry beats me to it. "Alfred Merton Davis," he scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Glasses, smart-looking, educated," he mumbles in a whisper, catching everyone's attention. Liam glares at him with concern, but I'm simply amazed by the fact that he remembers Alfie's full name when even I choke on his middle name.

"Alfred," Liam repeats, nodding.

"Alfie," I correct, but Liam just keeps on smiling. "We met at school. He's great."

"How long have you two been dating?"

Lou has a hand resting on Harry's thigh as she leans in closer over him to ask her question. "Couple of weeks. Maybe two months," I say vaguely, trying to find a plausible response and remember what I actually told Harry before. "It just started casually, but now we're together."

"And does it bother him that you have an arsewipe living in the house?"

Harry flips Liam off but he chuckles at the truth anyway. "He knows who he is, but he hasn't said anything about it," I admit. "I think he knows it won't be a problem."

But it will be...

"You sound truly confident about this," Liam says. "Are you sure it won't be a problem? Harry can be a little... persuasive."

I want to tell him that I'm aware of that, but Harry's cocky smirk speaks for itself, but says even more when he opens his mouth to respond. "I won't bother her, Liam. We're staying for a few weeks and then we're leaving again. We won't even be in the same continent."

"Liam, if it's this important to you, I'll find somewhere to go. Harry's going home for Christmas and I'm staying here, so we'll hardly be seeing each other. But if you really need me to, I'll go."

"You're staying here alone for Christmas? Why aren't you going home?"

Not wanting to develop on the whole story of how and why I left home before transferring here, I simply cut it down to why I'm staying here, quickly inventing a story of why I can't be with Alfie on Christmas in case that's what his question intended. My chest hurts from having to lie so much. "I don't feel like flying home for just a week, and Alfie's... He's going on a trip."

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Chapter end notes:

Hello ladies!

How are you all?^^

How do you feel about Harry respecting Alfie and Elena's relationship? He did say that whatever was going through his mind wouldn't come true... Did he just say that for Liam to believe it?

What do you think about Liam's Reaction? Did you expect that?

Don't forget to comment and vote!!Thanks!:D

All the Love xxxx

-Katexx