Corruption™ (Punk Harry Styles)

Chapter Seventy-five

"She said she would only talk to me?" I asked in shock, still trying to process the new information.

"Yeah... Well, sort of. She wrote it down. She literally would not speak to me," Harry explained.

"Wow," I breathed out.

Harry's hands cupped my face, my eyes looking up into his.

"You don't have to talk to her if it's uncomfortable for you."

"No. No, it's not that. It's just kind of... odd that she wants to talk to me when she barely knows me. I mean, you are her brother. I just don't get it."

“Like I said, you don’t have to.”

“Harry, I want to. I’ll do anything I can to help; I’m just shocked is all.”

* * *

I ran my fingers through my fringe before puffing out some extra air I hadn’t noticed I’d been holding. My hand slowly turned the doorknob and I pushed the door open, closing it behind me.

Melissa wasn’t facing my direction, so I tiptoed (in case she was sleeping) further into the room and sat in the hospital chair near the bed.

Once I was sitting for a minute, I took my phone out of my pocket, deciding to occupy myself whilst I waited for her to wake up.

“What are you doing?” Melissa’s voice cut through the silence in the room, startling me to the point where I just about dropped my phone.

“Oh, I… I thought you were sleeping, so I was going to wait until you woke up,” I explained honestly.

My eyes caught sight of a bandage on her wrist as she sat herself up in the hospital bed. They must’ve done that to stop the bleeding from her wrist.

“So… You alright?” I asked, trying to avoid an awkward silence.

“Pft, like you care,” Melissa responded with a roll of her eyes.

“I-”

“Don’t. Just don’t.”

“O-okay…”

What? I thought she wanted to talk to me and only me… Why is she being so cold and untrusting? I do care about how she’s doing.

“I suppose Harry told you I refused to speak to him, right?” She started up the conversation again.

Okay, I need to be careful with what I say so that I don’t give her the wrong impression somehow.

“Yeah, he mentioned it. Did you really want to talk to me?” I asked, my tone full of pure curiosity.

She shook her head in that knowingly yet annoyed way that people do, “Of course he did.”

There was a long pause and I was getting a bit of a cold shoulder feeling from Melissa. Why hadn’t she answered my question?

“I didn’t exactly want to talk to you, really,” she began, “I just thought you should know about him.”

“Who?” I questioned, completely confused.

“The man… the one that kept me. He isn’t dead.”

“But… How?”

“He wasn’t at that house that I was at. This man is always a step ahead of everyone else and he knew what was coming much before it actually happened.”

“So… What is it about this man you want me to know?”

“Just don’t trust anyone. He always gets what he wants and no one has ever been able to stop him. He’ll get rid of anyone and everyone that gets in the way of his plans.”

“What does he want?”

“He wants you. He’s wanted you for a while now. At some point, he will win and he will have you all to himself… That psychotic bastard.”

I stayed silent, struggling to swallow the lump that had formed in my throat after hearing that.

Did Harry know anything about this?

No. No, he can’t know anything. Melissa said that anyone who interferes will be killed, no exceptions.

I already know that if Harry knew, he would try to intervene and if what she said is true, he’ll end up dead. I can’t go through that and I won’t. Maybe I could figure this out myself somehow…

“Just tell Harry you have to leave and don’t tell him anything. He already has me to deal with,” Melissa ordered, clearly irritated with the situation.

God, what a bitch. And here I thought she liked me, when in reality she was just trying to save her brother and get rid of me. Wow.

I stood from my seat and told her that I hope she feels better soon, despite her hostile attitude towards me and obvious dislike.

When I got back to the waiting room, Harry was sat in the chair that I was originally in before going to “talk” with his sister. He looked up at me when I was only a few steps away from him and stood up.

“Did she tell you anything?” he asked anxiously.

“Um… No, she wouldn’t say anything. But listen, I need to get back home; Louis will start a search mission if I’m not back soon.”

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. I’ll talk to you later when I can,” he promised before leaving a kiss on my lips.

“I love you,” he whispered in my ear.

I smiled, “I love you.”

* * *

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!” Louis’ voice rang through the house as I walked into the living room.

“I told you, I was at the store. They didn’t have what I wanted,” I lied, too exhausted to actually make a better excuse.

“Sure, whatever.”

“Lou, can we do this tomorrow? I’m extremely tired.”

“Go to bed then. And don’t sneak out the window!”

I headed up the steps, trying to stifle my laughter. He’s so weird, but in a good way.

After I changed into my pyjamas (a tank top and cotton shorts)  in the loo, I went back into the bedroom.

My heart beat dropped and rose quickly as the shock of what was in front of me set in. It wasn’t even scary, just unexpected.

Liam was sitting on the end of the bed, so I went to sit beside him, curious of why he was there.

“Something wrong?” I asked, slightly concerned myself.

“I’ve just been meaning to tell you something,” he said, hesitantly looking into my eyes.

“Okay, go on then,” I encouraged.

Before I could process what was happening, his lips were pressed against mine. Gently, I pushed against his shoulder with my palm.

“What are you doing?” I asked in shock.

“I know that you still have feelings for Harry, but I thought you should know that I’ve fancied you for a while…”

“Liam, I…”

No more words could leave my mouth before his lips were on mine again. I didn’t want to crush him, but I also can’t just tell him that Harry’s alive… What do I do?