Five Little Liars (One Direction/ Pretty Little Liars)

27: Follow Me

A/N: I know, this chapter is insanely short! I'm sorry! It's really just a connecting chapter to the rest of the events that are coming up! (No, the book is not ending.)

HARRY

I was stirred awake by my mobile violently vibrating on the table. I forced my eyes open, annoyed by the sheer brightness of the room, and realized that Caroline was curled up next to me on her couch, red pen in hand, still grading papers. I combed my fingers through my hair and squinted to see the time on the digital clock on the wall. 

"Shit!" I hissed, leaping into action. I ran around her flat, grabbing articles of my clothing. My trousers in the kitchen, my shirt on the back of an arm chair, my backpack in her bedroom. I spent a good five minutes looking for my second sock before I remembered that someone was trying to call me. I scrambled over to the coffee table, stubbing my toe in the process. Unfortunately, my phone told me that I had three missed calls from my mum and one from Louis.

"Harry?" Caroline asked, rubbing her eyes and stretching. Her hair was coming out of that French braid Louis did for her, but it still looked lovely. "Are you leaving? Without saying goodbye?"

"Last time I said goodbye, I ended up staying another hour," I reminded her.

"I just thought we were going to talk about the offer I got, in London," she frowned.

"I'm sorry," I sighed. "Can we talk about it tomorrow?" I leaned over to kiss her quickly anyway, dialing my mum as I went. I tugged on my trousers and did a sweep with my eyes to be sure I wasn't missing anything.

"Harry Edward Styles, where the flipping hell are you?" 

"Hey, Mum," I said, trying to sound calm and collected

"Are you aware of the current time, Harry?" Mum didn't wait for me to answer. "It is half eleven!"

"I know, I'm sorry, I lost track of time! I'm on my way home right now, I swear," I said, tugging the lone sock on. 

"I think you're missing the point here, Harry; your friends really needed you this afternoon. You might want to read some of your text messages. We were all worried sick, and now I have four teenage boys sleeping in my living room, clutching their phones for dear life."

I felt my heart jump into my throat. They were all that worried about me?

When I arrived home, the scene was exactly as Mum described. Niall was curled up in the arm chair next to the doorway. Someone threw a blanket over him, so only his hair was poking out, messy and tangled. Zayn was sprawled out across the loveseat with Gemma curled up on top of his legs. They were both asleep and breathing loudly, limbs tangled and a blanket half covering Zayn's left arm and Gemma's right foot. Louis and Liam were cuddling on the couch (gross) and sort of dressed up, which reminded me that they were going on a date. Had I interrupted? Liam was awake and doing homework for a class he doesn't have (probably Louis' homework).

"Where have you been?" Liam asked softly, not looking up. I tossed my backpack aside and pulled off my jacket. 

"Sorry," I replied. 

"Your mum's in the kitchen, waiting to speak with you," Liam said. "You also might want to call Eleanor or Perrie, because them and Katie are worried too." Louis rolled over in his sleep in a way that looked like it was resting on his hurt rib. His face twisted up, so Liam reached behind himself and pulled Louis so that he flopped back into his previous position. Louis' arms were lazily thrown around Liam's waist, his nose automatically burying itself in Liam's shirt.