If You Would [h.s.] HOLD

Thirty-Two

I could distinguish those sobs anywhere. Out of instinct I jump up and rush to the door. I place my hand gently on Harry's back, which is blocking the door and he moves to the side to reveal Mak with her head in her hands, folded over like she's in pain. I nearly shove Harry out of the way and kneel down so I'm at her level.

"Mak." I gently state. She doesn't move or show any sign that she knows I'm there. I sigh and stand up. She's hysterical. I get behind her and walk her into the hotel room and Harry shuts the door behind us. I sit Mak on the chair next to the hotel desk and forcefully move her hands away from her face. Thick, black smudges of mascara cover her cheeks in giant streaks. She looks up at me with glossed over hazel eyes and she stops sobbing for a moment.

"Mak. What the hell is going on?!" I couldn't tell if she was in pain or if something happened or if she was simply feeling upset about what happened before. She's known for getting worked up about pretty much anything but I've never seen her this upset.

Her face contorts again and she starts hysterically crying again and forces her head back into her hands. I stand up straight and lift my arms in exasperation and turn around to face Harry.

"Fuck! Do something!" I mouth to him. He shrugs his shoulders defensively.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" He mouths back. I groan and turn back around and get on my knees in front of her.

"Mak. If you don't look at me I'm going to have to do something you won't like." I sternly warn her. I can't tell if she just didn't hear me or didn't care but either way she didn't react. I sigh.

"This hurts me more than it hurts you." I whisper as I move her hands away from her face and smack her on the face. Not hard enough to leave a mark but hard enough to get her attention.

"MAK LOOK AT ME AND STOP FUCKING CRYING!" I shout in her face. She looks up at me shocked and slightly confused.

"Uhm. Okay." She finally speaks. She wipes the tears from her face, only smudging the mascara even more. But that's not important right now.

"Okay. Now calmly tell me what happened." I ask flatly. I honestly don't even know if I care or not considering what happened earlier.

"Okay so. Uhm." Tears well back up in her eyes as she starts thinking about what she wants to say. I quickly throw my finger in her face.

"No! No tears." I wag my finger in her face and she nods.

"It. It was Louis." She sniffles and my eyes narrow. What was Louis? What the fuck did he do? I look behind me at Harry to see if he had any idea. He just shrugs and looks genuinely confused.

"What did he do Mak? Did he hurt you?" I ask slightly more angry now. Not at Mak but at Louis.

She shakes her head.

"No. Not like that. We-we were just talking and then we-" I cut her off.

"You fucked?! Seriously?" I ask, more shocked than anything.

"No! We almost kissed. And then Hunter called me and obviously I can't lie about literally anything convincingly! And I ended up just word vomiting everything to him and he said he hated me and hung up the phone!" Her voice shakes towards the end of her story. This was one of the first times she actually told a story all the way through. I just nod in understanding.

I can't exactly blame Hunter for doing what he did. It was wrong for Mak to go behind his back like that. But no matter what she's my best friend and I know she didn't do any of it to hurt Hunter. I place my hand on her knee and nod.

"And then Louis left me there in the hotel room without saying anything. He just left me after we almost kissed!" She shakes her head.

"I'm such an idiot! Why did I think any of this would work out." She puts her head back in her hands. I sigh.

"Uhm. Do you want me to go find him or something?" Harry asks gently from behind us. Mak lifts up her head and looks at him with a side smile before shaking her head.

"No. Thank you though." She sighs loudly and leans back against the chair.

"Uhm. Can I sleep in here tonight? I was rooming with Louis but I don't think he wants to see me." Her eyes look hopeful and I can't say no.

"Sure babe." I nod, totally forgetting the questionable activity I was doing previous to her arrival. Harry coughs suggestively behind me and I turn around to look at him.

"What?"

"Uhm. Can we talk in the bathroom real quick?" He asks and I raise an eyebrow but nod. I stand up and look at Mak who smiles innocently at me and I smile back before following Harry into the bathroom.

I feel like I'm leaving an emotionally damaged toddler in the other room. But she's my emotionally damaged toddler and I love her so of course I'll care for her and stuff. I close the door behind me and turn around and come within an inch of Harry's chest. I look up at him and smile.

"So what's this meeting about?" I ask sarcastically. He rolls his eyes, which was a nice sight to see.

"Well I was thinking about continuing our little session but then you invited her to sleep with us sooooooo." He looks at the bathroom sink. I look from the sink to him and then back to the sink and then back at him, his suggestion finally clicking in my brain. He wants to have sex in here while my crying best friend is in the other room?

"Ohhhhhh absolutely not." I smile and he frowns.

"But. But we were having so much fuuuuun." He pouts and I push my finger to his lips.

"Harry. No. I need to go take care of my emotionally damaged toddler. Also. You're sleeping on the floor." I lean on my tip toes and peck him on the lips, wink at him, and leave the bathroom. I know I left him slightly speechless but Mak needs to sleep in the same bed with me because she'll feel too left out on the floor and like a nuisance. Plus, Harry will try something with me. And im all about living on the edge but that's a little too close to the drop if you ask me.

"Mak you can sleep up here with me-" I hear Harry drag his feet against the cheap hotel carpet-"and Harry will sleep on the floor. Right Harry?" I turn around and give him a passive aggressive smile. He very sarcastically throws up jazz hands and smiles big.

"Why of course! I would love to!" And his face and hands drop dramatically. I roll my eyes at him and jump into the very big, comfy bed. Mak follows behind me and I turn off the lamp. I hear Harry shuffle around and put a spare blanket and pillow on the floor. His heavy body lumps onto the floor and makes a loud banging sound, making me and Mak giggle under the covers like little school girls.

"Shut up." Harry grumbles from the floor. His attitude only makes us giggle harder.

////

I wake up, feeling a nudge against my side. When I open my eyes it's still pitch dark in the hotel room. I snap my head up and look around and see the clock. 1:23 AM. I blink harshly, trying to get the sleep out of my eyes before looking slightly to the left and seeing a giant figure towering over me. I gasp and my eyes widen as they make eye contact with his deadly ones. They seem to glow in the midst of all the darkness surrounding them. They are wide and crazy looking. The big dark brown eyes that I've seen and been terrified of for years.

I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. But that's because his hand slaps around my mouth. But it wasn't just his skin. There was cloth between us and I know from all of the horror movies I've seen what this is. My hands grasp around his arms which hold me down. My nails dig into his skin until I feel warm, sticky, wetness. I fight and fight against him silently until my head gets foggy and my eyes start to shift to the back of my head. My mind drifts away from my body, and I couldn't do anything about it.

___

Betcha didn't see that one coming.

Love ya ❤️