Payton's POV
I sighed as we finally pulled up near my College University, parked by a tree that wasn't too far from the entrance. I couldn't stop my heart from feeling so weighed down and heavy, not knowing what was wrong with me. It somehow pained me knowing that I wasn't able to tell Harry what had happened. How I just left without saying goodbye. How I told Luke that he kidnapped me and that I was okay with going back home.
I knew I wasn't selfish, but I couldn't stop feeling like I was. I left Harry without even telling him where I was going. Wasn't that back stabbing him? If he found out that I'm back in school wouldn't he feel betrayed? Like he meant nothing to me? Would he be hurt that I chose my life over him?
I shouldn't feel guilty though. Harry was the one who took me against my will. This isn't my fault. I've begged Harry for so long to bring me back and it took his own business partner to do it. I wanted to blame Harry for being the reason I came back home. But I knew there was no way that I could. It was my own choice. I could of easily had Luke take me back to Harry where I would of been with him again. But why would I possibly hope for that?
Why would I want to go back to the place that keeps me away from those I love? I never imagined myself being torn in such a situation like this. I couldn't believe I was feeling at war with myself. I couldn't get Harry's pained eyes out of my head. I felt like I was betraying him a thousand times over. I knew that he needed me, but for what purpose? I wasn't sure.
Even though I should be thinking about how happy I was about being back home for the first time, all I could think about was Harry.
"Here you are. Home sweet home." Luke said beside me as I faked a smile and looked out the tinted window.
"Thank you Luke, for everything." I said as I looked over at him.
"No problem. I wouldn't want you to get in anymore trouble than you probably already are. You can count on the Venoms my dear. We're on your side, and you're on ours. Consider yourself one of us if you may." Luke smiled as I felt uncomfortable.
"Thanks but... I'm not really a gang member type of girl." I chuckled as he nodded his head shortly.
"I just mean, you're safe with us. If you ever need anything. Just call me." Luke said as he looked down at the brand new iphone he got me since I had no idea where mine went.
"Thank you again for the phone. That was really kind of you." I said as he smirked.
"Of course sweetheart. Consider me as your sugar daddy." He teased as I blushed.
"You won't speak about us to anyone right?" Luke suddenly grew serious as I looked out the window.
"No. Never. You have my word. You're just a friend that helped me." I breathed as we made eye contact.
"I'm glad we can share this trust. We can rely on each other. For anything." Luke said before he held out his pinky.
I looked at it before I swallowed hard, feeling like I was betraying Harry even more. I wasn't really befriending a whole gang was I?
"Right." I placed a smile on my lips as I hooked his pinky with mine.
"You'll do just fine. Call me if anything gets too hard. I'm sure we'll take care of it. I'll be heading off in case any cops show up. I'm sure they're on the hunt."
Luke spoke as I looked back out the window, feeling nervous butterflies eat my stomach.
"Okay." I whispered before I wrapped my hand around the door handle.
Liam's POV
I followed quickly behind Harry as he stormed inside the house, not bothering to go towards the liquor cabinets which was his typical stop after a stressful night. I was shocked that he rejected the brain killing liquid as he jogged towards his bedroom, not bothering to slam it behind him as I entered in as well.
"What are you doing Harry?" I asked, not wanting to leave him behind as he stressfully paced around in his room. "Phone, phone." He whispered to himself as he patted his jeans before he widened his eyes and ran towards the closet.
"Harry... communicate." I said as he completely ignored me and abruptly dug through his stuff.
"Harry I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going through that head of yours." I sighed as I watched him while folding my arms and leaning against the wall.
"Just go." Harry muttered madly as he kept throwing his valuables onto the floor.
"Harry I'm staying." I said strongly.
"How come?! Huh? Not like you give a damn about her!" Harry snapped, suddenly facing me with great anger in his eyes.
"But you obviously do... which is why I want to help." I said gently as his face softened.
He didn't even blink as he turned his head back and began digging through his pile of clothes for something.
"Harry... please.. let me help you." I pleaded, feeling sorry for my best friend. I've never seen him so stressed before, and I've seen him like this a lot. I didn't realize how much the girl meant to him until now. Who would of thought Harry would grow so attached to the girl?
"Here it is." He muttered to himself as he pulled out a white iPhone that didn't look familiar.
I narrowed my eyebrows at the unwelcomed object, wondering where it came from. I leaned off the wall as I followed Harry towards his bed, feeling anxious as he sat down and turned it on.
"Who's phone is that?" I asked, sitting down next to him as he kept his eyes glued to the device.
"It's Payton's phone. I hid it from her when I took her." Harry answered as I slightly nodded my head.
"And why exactly do you need it?" I questioned as I looked at him.
"I need to know who her friends are. So I can track them down." Harry explained as I felt confused.
"Why do you need to track them?" I wondered.
"I'm gonna need to find them at Payton's school and see if she's there. I need to see if Payton went back or not." Harry replied.
"Harry, if she was safe she would be on the news again." I responded as Harry sighed.
"Will you have one of the guys constantly check the news for me? I can't stand that sh*t." Harry said as I nodded my head and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Anything you need pal." I slightly smiled.
"Thanks." He whispered before the phone turned on.
He then quickly swiped the page, knitting his eyebrows together as he realized it was locked.
"Do you know the password?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows.
"No, but I can figure out how." Harry said in a determined voice as he worked on the phone, using his skills to unlock it.
I held my breath as I watched him carefully, noticing how focused he was. He then finally figured out the code and unlocked it, causing me to finally breathe properly as I leaned closer.
"Ok, photos." He said before the phone started blowing up with messages and missed calls. We both flinched back in shock from all of the notifications, completely forgetting that her friends and family were worried sick about her.
"Holy crap." I breathed as my heart stopped for a second.
"Jesus, there's so many." Harry said with wide eyes as he tried to stop the messages from flowing.
Finally the texts stopped, allowing Harry to quickly go to her gallery and search for possible photos of Payton and her friends. As Harry quickly scrolled through her photos, he suddenly paused as he clicked on one that was of Payton.
I looked down at the screen, noticing how pretty she looked as she was sitting on a rock with a book in her hand. I then looked over at Harry, realizing he was staring at the picture for an awful long time.
He looked distant and full of pain as he didn't dare to swipe any further. It broke my heart seeing how hurt Harry looked as he peered down at the picture of Payton. I could tell from his face how much he missed her, how much he needed her.
"Harry...." I softly spoke as he blinked at the photo.
He didn't dare to say a word as he ditched the picture and began scrolling for more, clearing his throat during the process.
"There! That one!" I said, pointing at the vertical video.
Harry then clicked the video, causing both of us to lean in. On the screen it began playing a video of Payton recording her three best friends, giggling behind the camera as it pointed to a room. It looked like they were having a sleep over as they dressed in comfortable pjs with twinkling lights in the background.
They were only talking about inside jokes that neither of us understood and all of them couldn't stop themselves from giggling.
"What do you have to say to yourself Claire?" Payton asked, trying to hold her giggle.
"I say you can go suck my toe!" Claire replied as everyone started laughing all over again, causing the video to end.
I looked over at Harry as a soft smile was on his face, as if he was happy to hear Payton's voice again.
We then spent more time looking through more of her photos, finally getting a good enough image of what her friends looked like. After Harry was satisfied enough with that, he went to her settings and changed her messages from read receipts to delivered.
"What are you going to do?" I asked.
"I'm gonna read some messages, see if I can get any clues." Harry responded as he started reading through her messages from her friends.
"That's not going to affect you.... is it?" I asked as I peered down at him.
"No." He replied as he kept scrolling.
"God, they all miss her so bad." Harry mumbled as I looked down at the phone.
"Maybe you shouldn't read that." I said, pulling the phone away from him so that he wouldn't feel guilty for taking Payton.
"I don't know what happened to her. I don't know if she left or if she was taken. But I can't get this gut feeling out of my stomach. I really feel like something bad happened to her." Harry sighed as he clenched his fists.
"You really don't think she would of left huh?" I asked, staring at him intently.
"Not without saying goodbye." He whispered as I felt a bit confused.
"Harry... did you guys ... share something....?" I asked slowly as I looked down.
He remained quiet beside me as he looked away, obviously not wanting to answer.
"I've never seen you so attached to someone before. Usually you wouldn't have cared if someone slipped away like that. It wouldn't have been your concern anymore." I stated.
"There's just something about her that's different Liam." Harry replied sharply.
"I'm not going to judge you if you like the girl Harry. She was a beautiful person." I said as he looked over at me.
"I just want her safe." He said as he slouched his tense shoulders.
"Then what are we going to do? With the information we have right now?" I asked.
"We can contact Luke, ask him if he saw anything suspicious-"
"No. I don't want him involved." Harry interrupted.
"I want to go to her school and search for her friends. If they still seem upset then I know Payton is still somewhere out there. We have to be on top of the news and have our ears out for anything related to her. If we get nothing, someone took her." Harry said as I nodded my head.
"Who do you think would of taken her if that's what happened?"'I asked.
"Out of everyone that's met her, the only one who was the most interested was Luke." Harry informed as he placed his hands together.
"You think Luke would of taken her?" I gasped as I looked at him.
"There's a possibility. About the same time Payton was gone was when Luke got up and left too." Harry said as he began remembering the party.
"Well he had to settle down the fight and grab a drink." I stated as Harry shook his head.
"Could be a cover up. At this point, I don't trust anyone. I always hated the way he looked at her. It was like... he wanted her to himself." Harry started to get mad as he clenched his fists.
"He'd be a massive dick if he took her from you." I said.
"He'd be a dead man if he did." Harry growled.
"But why on earth would he kidnap her? I just don't see it." I shook my head in disbelief.
"Luke has always been the mischievous one. He likes to go behind people's backs. Plus, remember the night at the club? When he was all over her." Harry explained as I slowly began remembering.
"I mean... yeah that's true." I nodded my head.
"If I don't get a lead on anything, I'm going after Luke. He has to know something." Harry said as he jolted up.
"But what if you're wrong?" I asked as I got up too.
"Then I'll keep looking. I'm not gonna give up till I find her." Harry said strongly.