Wild Side [h.s au]

Chapter 46

I know she has feelings for me, I can see it. But they're not as deep as I'd like them to be because you don't betray a person you love, you don't stomp on their trust like she did.

Elena makes a bold move by stepping even closer to me, almost fully closing the distance between us, but lucky for me and my sanity, she doesn't touch me. "Trust me, Harry. This last time I'm asking you to trust me."

It's like she has me under some kind of spell, her features being my only focus as my breathing rate picks up. I'm vulnerable for a moment, my hand twitching in a desire to touch her. "If you had told me the truth before all this, I would've- things would be different."

"You know that's not true, Harry," she says sadly. "You would've either thrown us out or locked us away. At first, I just wanted to get this over with, but with time it turned from an escape mission to a mission of saving you. What used to matter suddenly didn't matter anymore, you were my new mission. Alex had a hard time digesting it, that's why we've been fighting recently. Everything we hav- we had was real for me." Her fingers wrap around the ring hanging on her necklace.

I gulp heavily, having a hard time to keep the eye contact with her, something inside those eyes breaking me piece by piece. I can't let that happen, no matter how much it hurts. "You want me to give you my trust once again? You've lost it, Elena. I want you gone. You and your brother need to leave immediately or I'll have to use force." Just the mere thought sickens me, but she needs to get away because she's messing with me and I have enough self-respect left not to let her gain control over me once again.

She takes a step back, looking as if I've just slapped her. "Alright," her soft voice breaks slightly, but she manages to block her emotions. "I'll leave, but this is not a goodbye, Harry. Please just don't do anything stupid and think before you act. I'll fix this." She finally turns around and I watch as she takes her knife and leaves the room without turning back.

. . . .

I don't know how long I stay in my training room before finally deciding to quit wallowing in self-pity and actually do something. Attacking Vortex is definitely not an option since I know it basically equals to suicide, but I can't sit around and do nothing, I have to try and get those children back to us. If David was here right now, I'm sure he would back me up. 

I've gathered my most loyal soldiers, deciding to give them a choice if they want to help me or stay here because my idea is dangerous and they have the right to choose whether to expose themselves or not.  Louis, Niall, Liam, Tori, Jess, and Ethan all stare at me expectantly, waiting for my explanation for this sudden meeting. A brief shot of sadness courses through me when I realise two faces I'm used to seeing on these meetings are now absent.  Elena and Alex have left the base recently, taking away any trace of their stay here. It's like they were never here.

"The reason I've asked you to come here is to offer you a choice. I want some of you to join me on my trip to Vortex." Everyone widens their eyes momentarily. "I know it might seem reckless, but honestly what choice do I have? We could attack them and lose, and ruin our chances in this war. Or I could go and surrender myself to Seth and ask him to make a trade. I need to find a way to free those children, I know that fuckface did that on purpose. He wants something, he wants to provoke me. If we attack, he could easily hurt them or worse before any of us can even approach the gates."

"What about Wildfire?" Ethan suggests. "Since your mo- I mean, their leader offered you their help, why not use it right now? It's better than putting yourself in danger and going there alone."

A frown makes its way to my face, hands forming fists on the table. "I don't think it would be as simple as you suggest. I don't trust them, Ethan, besides, another battle where hundreds of people would die is something I want to avoid. I would also put the children in danger since they would be in the middle of it all. There are too many risks and as the leader, I can't let that happen."

"Wow, you make a perfect martyr, actually," Jess comments flatly. "You do realise if you go there, there's a chance you won't come back?"

"I'm the leader, this is what I'm supposed to do."

"It's reckless, stupid, and basically a suicide mission," Niall says with a blank face. "I'm in." He grins mischievously.

"Why am I not surprised blonde psycho shortcake would volunteer," I mumble.

"I've lived twenty-two nice, fulfilled years of my life, I've had many ups and downs, many, many, many girls have kept me company when I needed it. . .  yeah, I think I won't be sorry to die," Liam says. "I'm in too. Of course, I'll change my mind later and beg you to let me jump out when we're on our way but just ignore my pleads, no matter how annoying I get. Oh, and try not to punch me in the face, it's very valuable to me."

"Was that speech really necessary?" Louis asks flatly.

"Duh, every hero needs to give a speech before saving the world and shit." Liam leans back in his seat, a satisfied grin on his face.

"And you choose to talk about your sex addiction," Tori comments.

"It's a lifestyle, not an addiction mind you." Liam scoffs.

"You need a catchphrase, you know? Every hero has one," Niall points out.

"Oooh, I know a few good ones." Liam grins devilishly and stands up, clearing his throat. "Don't be a loner, cover your boner. Put the cloak before you poke. Don't be a prick, protect your-"

I sigh loudly and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Why me."

"Okay I'm leaving," everyone but Liam says in unison, standing up.

"Sit down, we're not done yet," I order angrily, watching as they all sit back. "Not all of you will come with me. I need someone to go to Wildfire and get David back here and someone to take care of the base while I'm gone. There's six of you, so I need two people for each mission."

"How about Jess and I stay here?" Tori offers. "Only men have been leading the base so far, I think it's time for girls to get a try at it."

"While they spread their girl power around here, Ethan and I will take care of David," Louis says. 

"Tori, even though I'm going alone, I want everyone to be ready for an attack, I want vehicles along the entire eastern border so if something goes wrong, they can attack. But let that happen only if it's really necessary, is that clear?" I stand up, ready to wrap up the meeting.

Instead of answering, Tori stands up and walks toward me, pulling me in a quick hug and surprising me. "Don't worry, just don't get yourself killed." She steps back and smiles.

Everyone soon follows her example, giving me hugs and congratulating me for being strong and being a good leader. I'm not even sure they realise how much those words mean to someone who has little to no confidence in what he does, especially after still dealing with the consequences of his past mistakes.

I feel absolutely no enthusiasm, I don't even feel anger. It feels like there's a hollow inside my chest that only keeps getting bigger, expanding and crushing me on the inside.

"Mate, you're not okay," Niall states instead of asking me if I'm okay. I feel his hand on my shoulder until he circles around me, his arms locking around my waist, pulling me in yet another hug.

"No, I'm not," I mutter, my arms hanging limply on the sides. "I'm hurt. That's the simplest way to describe how I feel."

"We'll get them back, you'll see," he says reassuringly as he pulls back. "You have us to back you up, always."

My eyes snap up and he gives me a smile. "You and I have been there once already and survived, we can do it again. Man, let them try something and I'll decorate them with bullets like a Christmas tree."

"You have a very vivid imagination." I manage a small smile.

"And you have amazing friends." He points at himself and gives me the thumbs up. "I know the risk of going there and I know they'll probably imprison us, but it wouldn't be fun otherwise, would it? Also, I know you're in pain because of that whole Wildfire ordeal, but you need to focus on what's important at the moment, we'll deal with that later."

"Now let's go, Styles, time to get shit done."

. . . .

a/n: loooots of drama ahead :)))