crumble | h.s

part thirty five

I bite my tongue and look down, shaking my head in an attempt not to yell out in anger.

"Do it, Styles." the Phantom's voice creeps around the room. I look up, and find him staring at me. "I know you want to. You want to so badly." he smiles.

He was trying to get in my head.

"Shoot me, Styles...c'mon." he whispers tauntingly. "Because if you don't...I'm going to get out of here..." his dark eyes burn back into mine. "And I'm going straight after little Lydia."

That was all it took.

I ripped the gun from Louis' hand and shot the man, directly in the head.

I felt nothing. Seeing him hanging dead against the wall didn't affect me at all.

I lowered the gun, still looking at the dead Phantom.

"Harry..." Niall's voice says from behind me, causing me to whip around.

Niall' head, along with Liam and Louis', were all turned to face someone who had just entered the basement.

I froze when I saw her, standing there wide eyed.

Lydia.

She didn't scream. She didn't cry. She didn't run. She just stood there staring at me with the gun in my hand, in front of the man I just murdered.

"Lydia..." I mutter. "he wasn't a good person." I slowly begin to approach her, hoping not to freak her out even more because she looked like a deer in the headlights.

Her eyes flick up to mine, seemingly void of any emotion other than shock.

"W-who was he?" she stammers.

"He's one of the Phantoms who broke in last night..." I tell her cautiously.

Her parted lips form into a line.

"Lydia, he threatened to hurt you...that's why I shot him. I didn't-"

"It's okay." she whispers, looking up into my eyes still. Her face has changed from utter shock to sincerity. I furrowed my brows at her, and she just nodded, confirming that it really was okay.

She had just watched me shoot someone...and she was okay with it.

Without another thought, I grabbed her hand and practically pulled her up the stairs and up into my bedroom.

"Harry, what are you doing?" she says confused as I let go of her hand. I close the door behind me and turn around to look at her.

"It's not okay." I say.

She shakes her head and crosses her arms. "Yes it is. You did what you had to do." she says calmly.

"No, it's not that. It's not okay that you're fine with what I do. I'm corrupting you." I spill out.

"Oh my god, no you're not." she says in surprise, walking towards me to grab my hands but I pull away.

"This is all my fault. Everything that's happened to you...everything you've seen  is because of me." I throw my hands in the air, becoming more and more frustrated at myself.

I let all of this happen to her. I broke her innocence.

"Harry stop." she says sternly...but nothing she said could talk me down.

I stomped over to my nightstand and picked up the first thing I saw, which was the lamp and chucked it against the wall.

Lydia yelped and cupped a hand over her mouth.

"All I ever do is fucking hurt you." I yell out. I was breaking down. I just wanted her to be happy...and I couldn't be the one to do that for her.

"Harry stop please." she whines out, with  small tears falling from her eyes. She bravely walks toward me and grabs my arms.

I try to pull away from her once again but she only holds on tighter.

"Please look at me." her soft voice speaks.

I was breathing so fast, my chest falling and rising at an unsteady, stammering pace.

She then cups my face with her hand, and I close my eyes to avoid looking at her. I didn't want to see her face after what I've just done.

"The last thing you could ever do is hurt me." she whispers.

I feel tears welling up in my eyes, and I immediately rest my forehead on her shoulder in an attempt to hide them.

She wraps her arms around me and all I feel is warmth. My body falls slack...and in the next moment, we're both on our knees in the middle of the room, holding each other in a tight embrace.

I tuck my face into the crook of her neck, sniffling as tears fall down from my eyes.

We sit on the ground in silence for a while, until her voice softly breaks it.

"You've changed my life so much, you know that?" she says quietly, almost as if it was meant to be in her head.

I pull my head away to look at her.

"What do you mean?" I ask through small sniffles.

"It's like I started a whole new life when you came into the picture..." she wipes her own eyes that had little, calm tears falling out of them. "you're my new beginning." she smiles.

All I could do was look at her. All I could do was stare at this beautiful girl and wonder how the hell I got so lucky.

I didn't deserve her. Not in the slightest.

I was almost convinced that she was angel.

"Lydia." I slip out as if I was trying to say something more. My mouth was thinking faster than my mind at this point.

I wanted to tell her something...but I didn't know what it was myself.

"Yes?" she tilts her head.

"I-" I was at a loss of words. My mouth wasn't working anymore.

So, I kissed her.

And she immediately kissed me back.

It wasn't long, or intense...but instead it was just a split moment of reassurance.

And it was enough time for me to realize exactly how I felt for this girl.

The words, the thoughts, everything that I was trying to make out in my head all finally made sense.

And when I pulled away from the kiss, looking at her soft face...realization came crashing in.

She opened her blue eyes and I just knew.

I'm in love with this woman.

"...And that was the beginning and the end of everything..." I say to myself.
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:,)

sorry for the shortish chapter