In My Dark Times - The Deal With The Demon

Chapter Forty-Eight

"Look... just wait and see," Zayn said before he almost smiled, "but I think it's going to be alright..."

I looked back at him, trying to nod.

"How's Harry?" Niall spoke up next.

I looked at him in the doorway, "uh... he's... being Harry... staying high."

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Zayn whispered.

I took a deep breath before going in and opening our bedroom door, Harry sitting by the window, a joint in his hand.

"Hey," I closed the door and walked over to him, his eyes looking up at mine, "it's like 4 in the morning... we should try and get some sleep."

"I... I don't know what to think, Lou," he managed to get out, "I... I don't know how to cope with this."

I sat down in front of him, knowing how hard it was for him to get that out. "I know... and if you're pissed at me, then be pissed... but I wasn't going to let him get away with it..."

"So, you played him at his own game," he said back, his eyes not leaving mine.

I sat there, staring in those eyes, "Harry, from the moment I met you, I knew there were secrets to you..."

Harry bit his lip, then hit the joint again.

"I didn't realize how deep those secrets ran," I whispered, "and I certainly never saw this future happening... I didn't. I didn't expect to have to do that... I never saw it coming to this. When I met you that first day in class, no, I didn't expect this life... but I don't regret this at all... I... I can't regret doing what I did for you... because he deserved to be played for once... don't you see that?"

He closed his eyes and sighed, "I just... I can't... this didn't have to happen like this..."

"Harry, playing him at his own game was the only way it'd ever happen," I almost shouted at him, "you've gotta see that... you've gotta stop having feelings for him."

Harry glared back at me, tears falling out and I could tell how upset I had just made him. "He's dead, Lou. He's fucking dead."

"Yeah, and I get that it's going to take time before you ever get over it," I started, trying to be as calm as possible with him, "but, Harry, I didn't kill him..."

He sat back again, staying quiet. I didn't like this side at all. I couldn't sit here and do this; his mind was on him.

I got up and stormed to the sofa, lying down slowly. Zayn glanced at me as he came in from outside.

"Louis," he started, "he'll come around..."

I tried to nod, keeping my eyes on the tv in front of me... I lay there awake for hours like that. I kept waiting for some report to come in of what happened... the tension was killing even me.

And I knew somehow that Harry was still sitting in our room, feeling nothing but guilt all over again... when would this stop?

Zayn came downstairs at nearly 7, and I opened my eyes realizing I had dosed off at some point. Niall was sitting up from the love seat where he had apparently crashed.

"Arsenic," he replied quietly.

I glanced up at him, "what?"

He turned back to me, his arms crossed, "they burnt the flat to the fucking ground, Lou."

I sat up some, rubbing my eyes and trying to understand what he had just told me. Niall seemed to be doing the exact same.

"Harry," Zayn called.