Chapter Four

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[Liam's POV]

"Amber! Amber, come out here!" I said. Harry pounded on Amber's locked door, for probably the fifteenth time in ten minutes.

"Why do you think she won't come out?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. She just took off when you introduced her to Connor." I replied.

Niall, Louis, Harry, Zayn and I had been trying to get Amber to come out of her room for twenty minutes now, with no luck. We were all extremely worried. None of us had any idea why she ran off like that. "She did say, 'I know. But he never mentioned he was Paul's cousin.' Does that mean she knows Connor or something?" Zayn asked.

"It certainly does." Connor said as he walks into the hallway we're all gathered in.

"You know Amber?" Harry asked.

"Yep," Connor replied. We waited for him to say more, but he never does. He just walked into his room, leaving us with lingering questions.

When Connor left the hallway, it becomes completely silent. Well, except for the soft sounds coming from Amber's room. It sounded like sobbing. "Is she crying?" Louis asked softly.

"That's what it sort of sounds like," Harry replied, then starts knocking on Amber's door again. "Amber, please come out here! We just want to talk to you!" He shouted.

"Go away, all of you! There's nothing to talk about!" Amber shouted. Her voice sounded a bit hoarse. She continued to cry after she yells.

"I think we should just go." Niall said, right as Louis said, "I don't think she's ready to talk." The two of them go back to the kitchen. Zayn looked at Harry and me, shrugged and went to the kitchen as well.

Harry slid down the wall and sat on the floor. "Uh, Harry?" I said. He looked up at me. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen, okay?" Harry nodded then covered his face with his hands. I turned around and went to the kitchen.

[Harry's POV]

I'd been sitting outside Amber's room for a couple hours alone. Liam, Louis and Paul had tried to get me to go into the kitchen to get food, but I'd refused. They even tried bringing me food, but I had refused that as well.  I needed to know why Amber ran off before I did anything else. I wasn't not even hungry, really.

Then I heard Amber's door creak open. I looked over and saw her trying to be quiet as she slipped out of her room and closed the door. Her face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were puffy and red.

Of course, she then saw me and tried to run to the bathroom. I jumped up and caught her right before she got there.
"Let me go, Harry!" She shouted. I ignored her screaming, picked her up and took her into the main room. Amber yelled, kicked, and even tried to bite my hands while I carry her there, but she had no luck. I refused to let go.

"Harry Styles! Let go of me right now!" Amber screamed. "No," I said simply. I got her into the main room with only a few strange looks and wide eyes then sat her down on an armchair.

"How'd you get her out of her room?" Zayn asked. The rest of the lads, Paul and Connor came over and joined me and Zayn, surrounding Amber. A sudden silence engulfed the room. 

Amber crossed her arms and pouted. "Why'd you run off like that?" Niall said softly, breaking the silence.

Amber sighed. "Because of him." She pointed an accusing finger at Connor.

"But what did he do love?" I asked.

"Lots of things," Amber muttered.

"I did not do anything, Amber. I tried to make it up to you, you know that! You're the one that didn't forgive me!" Connor said.

"You're a liar!" Amber said. "You're a liar, a cheater, and an insensitive pervert!" Liam, Louis and I gasped. That's low. Connor tried to say something, but Amber cut him off.
"No! Don't even try to say you didn't mean it! You meant all of it! You were dared to do it at first, and you took it too far! You took it too far four times! You cheated on me with my own cousin one of those times!" Amber was on her feet at this point, pushing Connor into the wall. "You hurt me, Connor Sherwood. You broke my heart, not once, not even twice, but four times!"

I'm a bit surprised at the sudden outburst from Amber, but what she says makes me even more curious about her past with Connor. I can guess that they used to date, and from Amber's point of view, Connor cheated on her. Quite a few times, apparently. Now I'm not going to take sides, but I've never seen that side of Connor.
Who knows, though? I need to hear the whole story. From both Amber and Connor, one at a time.

Amber pushed Connor into an armchair, leaned down and whispered something into his ear. Then she stormed off, but didn't run, like she did this morning.

[Amber's POV]

I went into my room and sat on my bed. Ugh. I wasn't ready to relive all of it. I hated Connor. I hated him more than anything.

I got my phone and earbuds out. Scrolling through my music, I think of all Connor's done to me. I hated him. Don't think about it. I thought to myself. I finally found the (almost) perfect song to describe him and my relationship with him: Mean by Taylor Swift™.

You, with your words like knives
And swords and weapons that you use against me
You have knocked me off my feet again
Got me feeling like I'm nothing
You, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard
Calling me out when I'm wounded
You picking on the weaker man
You can take me down with just one single blow
But you don't know, what you don't know...
Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?

I started to softly sing along as tears form slowly in my eyes.

You, with your switching sides
And you're wildfire lies and your humiliation
You have pointed out my flaws again
As if I don't already see them
I walk with my head down
Trying to block you out 'cause I'll never impress you
I just wanna feel okay again
I bet you got pushed around
Somebody made you cold
But the cycle ends right now
'Cause you can't lead me down that road
And you don't know, what you don't know...
Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
I wipe away the tears threatening to fall.
And I can see you years from now in a bar
Talking over a football game
With that same big loud opinion
But nobody's listening
Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
Drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing
But all you are is mean
All you are is mean
And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean
But someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean, yeah
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so?
Someday I'll be living in a big ol' city
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me
And all you're ever gonna be is mean
Why you gotta be so mean?
I yank my earbuds out of my ears and phone and throw them at the wall across from my bed.

Then I heard a soft knock at my door. "Can I come in love?" It was Harry.

"Sure," I said.

Harry came in, and closed the door behind him. He sat on my bed next to me. "Do you want to talk about what happened between you and Connor?" He asked, his voice pretty soft.

I didn't know if I was ready to relive it, but I guess he deserved to know, considering I pretty much had two meltdowns over it.

"I guess so. When I was in grade eight..."

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