~Marley~
The radio was humming through the car as she drove the short distance to Pub 132, the road was dark as the car danced along the winding road as she sang quietly to herself, the familiar tune putting a smile on her face as well. She always got a warm feeling in her chest when one of her father's favorite songs would pop on, loving the way it had felt to be driving the car.
It had been her father's, his second baby girl as he would call it. Everytime she was in the small space, she couldn't help the moments that flooded her memory as his necklace that was hanging from the rear view mirror swayed with the motion of the car. She could almost hear the laughter echo through the car, hearing her father's awful voice dance around her ears as he picked up speed, allowing her long brown hair to glide through the wind that roared into the car due to the windows her dad loved to have open.
"Let the world know you're coming baby," he shouted over the loud radio, laughing as she stuck her head out to look at the world passing by quickly.
There she goes, there she goes again
"Sing it dad!" Marley shouted, giggling loudly as she heard her father start to sing off key. She took her seatbelt off quickly, hating the restriction she felt as she tried to feel as free as she possibly could. She flew her arms into the air, the smile so wide on her face she was afraid she would catch a fly. The air was roaring around her, her hair dancing in the wind as she shrieked with joy, feeling complete and utter bliss.
"Seatbelt on," her father chuckled, lightly slapping her leg as she giggled once more before flying back onto the seat as she rolled her eyes at him.
"C'mon, dad," she whined, pouting her lips as she widened her eyes at her father. "It's itchy."
She dramatically rubbed her exposed shoulder that was out from her baby blue tank top, still sweating from the London air mixing with the hot air coming from the broken vents on the dashboard. She looked at her dad who was smiling at her, ruffling her hair like he had always done to the 10 year old when she was annoyed. "Sorry, pal. Your mum would kill me if anything happened to you."
"Whatever," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest
His boyish grin flashed in her face as she shook her head, trying her hardest to fight the smile that was begging to be seen. She swatted his arm away, sighing as she looked over to the window again before tugging on her seatbelt as he glared at him.
"Just because you've got to wear your seatbelt doesn't mean you have to be so blah," he teased, turning up the radio as he shouted along to the words of the song.
She bit her lip, kicking her feet onto the dash as she stuck her hand out of the window again, finally stopping pretending to be mad as they continued down the road. She finally caved and belted out the lyrics, pointing at her father as if she was queuing him to sing.
She pulled up to the club with a laugh escaping her lips. For there in front of the club sat Louis and Harry, nudging each other in the arms as a cigarette dangled in between Harry's lips. Harry looked annoyed as Louis spoke to him about something, the words silenced due the distance from the two the girl found herself at. When her car's headlights shined brightly in their faces, Louis shot up, smiling widely as he ran to greet Marley as she walked out of the car. Harry on the other hand stood up off the curb slowly, taking one last final drag of his cigarette as he rolled his eyes at Louis, throwing the bud on the ground before walking over towards the two.
"About fucking time," he huffed, swinging the back door open as he forcefully shoved Louis into the back seat.
"Oi," he yelled, flipping Harry off in the process as he narrowed his glazed over eyes. "Fuck off pal."
Harry scoffed as he slammed the door shut, Louis' shouts being muffled due to the thick metal before turning to Marley with a look she could only describe as pure annoyance. She cocked her head to the right in confusion; granted she wasn't expecting a warm greeting from the curly headed boy, but surely a better one than this.
"A thank you would suffice jackass," she muttered, watching him walk to the passenger side of the car. "It's almost 1:30 in the morning Harry."
"I can read a fucking clock," he retored, a smirk playing on his lips as he mimicked the words she had said to him a few days ago after ditching their training session.
She said nothing as she copied Louis' actions, simply raising her middle finger at the boy before stepping into the car.
She waited for a second, laughing to herself as Louis snickered behind her while watching Harry try to open the locked car door. Louis poked his hand through the center of the front seats, laying it flat in the air for Marley to high five. She understood the gesture, smacking his hand loudly as they continued laughing.
"Funny," he growled harshly, yanking on the door harder with each moment that passed. "I swear to god Marley I'm not in the mood, unlock the door or I'll rip it off myself."
She stayed still for a moment, deciding whether or not she wanted to push him any further before Louis spoke, "As much as I'm enjoying this love, I don't think we should test him tonight."
"Fine," she huffed, bringing her body to the other side of the car as she flipped the switch up, Harry roughly pulling the door open in mere seconds as she quickly jerked her body back.
"Are you okay?" Marley asked, her voice soft as Harry exhaled heavily through his nose, turning his head to look at her.
There was a small cut just above his eyebrow, another one similar next to his lip ring. Dried blood was traced around his bruised knuckles as a bruise was beginning to form just below his right eye.
He rolled his eyes dismissively as he spoke, "Just drive."
"Don't mind him Marley," Louis said, slumming down in seat as he closed his eyes, "Alec was at the bar tonight, started talking shit and Harry freaked out on him."
"Shut the fuck up Lou," he hissed, forcing his eyes straight ahead as the girl placed the car into drive.
"What did he say?" she asked, not caring what the question would do Harry.
"None of your business Marley, just drive the fucking car."
She rolled her eyes at him, turning down onto the road back to Louis' house before she slammed on the brakes in response to the boy shouting from the back, "Stop!"
"Jesus Lou," she said, placing her hand over her chest in hope to calm herself down.
"You can't take me to my house, my mum will kill me if she sees me like this," he explained, closing his eyes once again after his outburst.
"It's one in the morning, she's probably asleep," Harry said, leaning his head back onto the headrest in annoyance as Marley tried her hardest to hide the smile forming on her face. "You're almost 19 Lou, why the fuck would she care if you're drunk."
Louis had three moods whenever he was drunk. He was either angry - like the way Harry had been right now - out for blood for anyone who came near him, thinking everyone was his greatest enemy. The one that he was most often during his state of intoxication was horny, he wanted one thing and one thing only, sex. If for some reason he wasn't either of those things, then all would see the Louis he is right now, happy and playful Louis. Although it didn't come out often, this was always Marley's favorite.
"You clearly don't know my mother Harold," he said quickly, "I could be 30 for all I care and she would still beat my ass if I came home drunk, plus she doesn't like me being like this when my sisters are home, you dick."
"Whatever," Harry said, resting his arm on the center console as his left hand gripped his side, his head still laid back onto the headrest. "I can't take you to my house, I didn't bring my keys... I assumed I wouldn't be needing them tonight."
Marley rolled her eyes for what felt like the twentieth time since the two had entered the car. She scoffed while shrugging her shoulders quickly, fingertips gripping to the steering wheel causing her knuckles to turn white from the pressure. She thought for a moment before sighing loudly, "I guess I'll just take you guys to my house then."
Louis hummed in satisfaction, a drunken smile stitched onto his face as he laid his head down onto the seatbelt, using it as a form of a pillow before soft snores escaped his slightly parted lips.
The trio drove in silence, the only thing to be heard was the quiet noise of the radio and the small murmurs leaving Louis' lip.
There was awkward tension in the small space of the car, neither Harry or Marley saying a word about what happened at the lookout point. It was out of character for the two, so much so that Marley would have rather them ripping each other's throats out than this.
"What happened with Alec," she asked, against her better judgement.
It was no secret that Alec and Harry hated one another, the pair couldn't be in the same room for more than an hour without a fight breaking out, involving alcohol was a whole 'nother thing.
Harry shifted in his seat for a second, the leather on this jacket rubbing against the fabric of the seats with each move he made as he grabbed a cigarette out of the container in his pocket along with a lighter.
He shot the lid off the lighter, having the noise of clinging metal echo through the car as he brought the white stick to his lips, eyeing Marley down as he brought the flame towards the bud of the cigarette. He snapped the lid shut, tossing it onto the dashboard harshly as he spoke.
"Thompson's a prick," he said quickly, letting the lit tobacco hang from his lips through his closed teeth. "Doesn't know when to keep his fucking mouth shut then pussies out when confronted. Cock sucker had it coming honestly."
"What did he say that's got you this fired up?" She asked, the smell of the cigarette hitting her in the face as he blew a puff of smoke out of his mouth.
"Trust me Beck," he taunted before taking another drag of his cigarette. "Nothing you need to hear."
She narrowed her eyes on the road ahead of her, aggravation flooding her body at his words. She knew it had to be something vulgar - knowing the way that Alec and Harry spoke - only pissing her off more that he wouldn't tell her. "I hate when you do that," she snapped, gripping the steering wheel as she spoke.
"What?" Harry asked aggressively, as if he was testing her to continue, smoking the cigarette quickly as the time passed.
"When you act like you're better than me, like you're some high and mighty being when in reality you're just an ass. You and Alec both do it, but then again maybe that's why you hate him so much... because you're just like him."
"You better watch it Beck," he warned, clenching his jaw as he bit harder into the cigarette, only making her anger grow even more.
"I'm serious Harry," she fought back, quickly flicking her head to the left to look at him. "It's annoying as shit and pisses me off to no end."
"Fine," he snapped, throwing the last of the finished bud out the window, "He was telling everyone that you begged him to fuck you at his party few months back. Saying that maybe if you weren't such a pretentious bitch, he wouldn't mind seeing what you could do under the sheets. If I remember correctly, 'could replace that stick up her ass with mine and knock some sense into her' were his words exactly."
Her mouth clamped shut at the confession, shock replacing her anger after hearing what had been said about her. She knew the reason why he had been saying that was because she was the one who had in fact rejected him at that party, pouring her drink over him when he went to make a move on her.
"That's why you fought him," she asked, confused by his actions. "Because he said he wanted to have sex with me."
"Fuck no," he hissed, chuckling harshly at the words she spoke as he continued. "Louis heard that he was saying that shit about you and went over to talk to him. Bastard was too drunk to even stand so when Alec went after him I had to step in."
He looked back at Louis who was now asleep in the back seat, rolling his eyes before running his finger over his bruised knuckle and saying, "Louis doesn't know when to back down so he just made things a hell of a lot worse for me."
"My hero," she mused, smiling as he looked through the rearview mirror to see him passed out, mouth open as his head was angled back onto the seat.
"Should be saying that to me sunshine, I'm the one who kicked his ass, not Lou."
She scoffed as she shook her head, the silence taking over once again as she continued the drive down the dark backroad back to her house.
~
"C'mon Lou you gotta help me here," she said through lattered breathing as Louis' bodyweight pushed against her left side of her body.
She and Harry had successfully made it up the stairs as they dragged Louis up with them, muttering curses under their breaths as the older of the three fell limp, doing nothing other than sit in silence as the two on either side of him fought with one another about how the other was doing nothing.
"Marley you have to actually hold him," Harry spat, the irritation clear in his words as the other girl simply chuckled dryly, not even believing they were having the conversation.
"I'm doing all the work Harry, God are you even touching him."
There were only seven steps the pair needed to climb before reaching the top, but with aggravation reaching an all time high, Marley began to actually believe they would never even make it up. She let out a sigh of relief when they hit the front porch, only to almost be taken down the seven stairs as Harry quickly released Louis from his hold. Rushing down the steps quickly, claiming that he had left his lighter in Marley's car.
She now stood near the door, struggling to keep Louis straight as Harry ran back up behind them, shifting all Louis' weight onto his body as Marley reached to grab the keys out of her bra.
She swung the first door opened, quickly forcing the key through the hole as she looked around the block, making sure no one was watching as she forced the door opened, cringing at the loud creaking sound it made as it echoed through the house. She looked back at Harry, shaking her head at him as she stepped to the side, allowing him to bring Louis into the house as she shut the door behind them, locking it quicker than she had opened it.
"Shit," she said quietly, kicking her shoes off at the doorway.
"What?" Harry asked, swinging his body around as Louis aimlessly followed, his head hanging down and eyes shut.
"My room's upstairs..." she trailed off, gawking at the thought of them making another trip up twice as many steps.
"Hell no," Harry said, slapping Louis lightly in the face as the boy hanging over his shoulder opened his eyes. Stumbling for a moment as his drunken mind tried to catch his balance, only to close his eyes again with a sigh.
"Wake up," Harry said again, forcing Louis' head back up. "We're not carrying your ass up the stairs again, Louis. Go."
"Go where?" Louis muttered, huffing impatiently as he swayed his body through the air, eyes not being able to focus on the two standing in front of him.
"Go to my room Lou," Marley said quietly, her softer tone in contrast to the harsh one Harry had only used moments ago. "Make sure you're quiet okay? Cole is sleeping."
Louis only nodded his head as he trailed up the stairs, holding onto the broken railing before disappearing up the stairs and into the shadows of the upstairs hall.
Harry looked over at the couch that was only a few steps away from them, walking over towards it before Marley called out to him, stopping him entirely in his tracks. "Maybe you should go in my room," she said quietly, taking a step closer to the couch where her pillow and blanket still lay untouched, "Louis is pretty nosey when he's drunk, always getting himself into trouble, right?'
She laughed lightly at her joke, nodding towards Harry's face to the cuts and bruises that were much more prominent in the light that shined from the lamp found in the corner of the room. She studied them for a moment, wondering how much worse Alec's injuries were or if Harry had gone easy on him before giving him a small smile.
"Yeah, whatever," he mumbled following Louis' actions towards the bottom of the stairs before turning to Marley, eyes slightly wider than they were moments ago almost as if he was confused. A small snort escaping through her nose when she realized he didn't know where to go.
"Last door on the right," she said before turning her back to him as she walked towards the front door.
She brought her right hand to the deadbolt, securing twice to calm herself down before unlocking and locking the door again, twisting and turning to make sure it wouldn't budge. She spun around quickly, breathing sharply as she ran her fingers through her hair. She jumped back a bit when she looked back up to find Harry still standing at the foot of the stairs, watching her intently as his eyebrows furrowed together.
"What?" She asked, making her way towards the lamp, waiting for him to walk up the stairs before turning it off.
"Nothing," he said dismissively as he shook his head, making his way up the stairs that creaked below him with each step he took.
She stayed still for a moment, exhaustion crashing into her like the waves rippling through the shore. A yawn escaped her lips, blinking her eyes a few times as she ran her hands over her face, the events of today hitting heavily as she began to become overwhelmed by the memories of the past twenty four hours.
It had felt like ages ago she had walked the halls of Leighton Hospital with tears streaming down her face as she tried to process all that mother had said to her, when in reality it had only been less than nine hours ago. She couldn't help but wonder how the next few weeks of her life would work out, a lump forming in the back of her throat at the thought of Cole being taken away. Hating the fact that any moment could be her last with the small boy.
She shakes her head to bid the thoughts that have been a constant in her mind, shutting off the lamp before laying herself down onto the couch.
Her head fell back into the indent of the armrest as her feet curled into the broken spring once more. The small pillow shaping her head perfectly as she tried to fall asleep, her mind wandering a thousand miles an hour the second her eyes closed. Subconsciously, she began tapping her index finger and thumb together rapidly to try and calm the wave of anxiety that was starting to hit her. She pulled the blanket off her body, making her way towards the front door one last time, quickly unlocking and locking the front door... just to make sure.
~
~Harry~
The bright light that hit his eyes caused a groan to escape his lips, the pounding headache coming ahead as he squinted his eyes shut, hissing lightly in annoyance as to why he had left his curtain opened in the first place.
It took only a few moments after he had woken up to realize that he was in fact not his bed; but on the hardwood floor of a bedroom, the small rug below him doing nothing other than scratch against his arm as he moved slowly on the ground.
His eyes shot open to be met with a light yellow wall covered in posters that were not his own. Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Elvis Presley along with countless amounts of artists staring back at him as he slowly sat up, the events from last night coming to light as he rubbed his eyes. He turned his head slightly to the bed beside him, narrowing his eyes in confusion when he realized it was empty, all signs of Louis gone other than the messy bed that sat in his place. The smell of beer was lingering in the air as he continued to look around the room, taking in his surroundings before standing up.
He looked around the room, his eyes trailing over to the record player that had been sat on the floor in the corner of the room. The sun reflecting brightly off the wood as he stared at it, walking towards the shelf that held a crate full of vinyls, not being to help himself as he sat down in front of it. Figuring that since everyone probably thought he was still sleeping, it wouldn't harm anyone if he had a peak at what she listened to.
He was taken by surprise at her eclectic music taste; ranging in genres from jaz, to alternative to rock. He picked up the Beatles one that was still placed delicately in plastic wrap, turning it to the side to see that there was something written on the bottom corner of the cover. The writing was worn out, the black marker that had been used fading away as he brought it closer to his face to read.
'Take these broken wings and learn to fly. Happy birthday my darling Marley. I love you always my sweet, sweet girl. Love, dad.'
"That was the last present he had ever given me," a voice called from behind him, startling him as he threw the record back into the box.
He stood up quickly, brushing his jeans that he had slept in off as he turned to look at her. She had been standing in the doorway of the room, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked back at him. The dark purple, green sporting her under eyes made her annoyingly bright blue ones pop, making it look like she hadn't slept in years as she bit her bottom lip slightly, tapping her right finger against her crossed arm.
"I would imagine the reaction to this situation would be different if you had been the one catching me snooping through your room yeah?"
There was teasing undertone to her voice, but he knew she had meant the words because she was right. "I wasn't snooping," he announced, softly kicking the box back into its place as he watched with an amused look on her face.
She simply nodded as he started to walk towards the door to leave her room, stopping in his tracks when his eyes locked onto the shelf that the opened door was touching. Sitting on top of the shelf sat cards varying in height and width as he ignored her stares, walking towards them with his hands in his pockets.
"What are all of these?" Harry asked, eye level to the twenty something cards as he heard her chuckle from behind him.
"So much for not snooping," she said as she walked to stand next to him, their shoulders brushing against one anothers as he slightly stepped to the right.
He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes never leaving the shelf as he said, "It's not snooping now that you're standing right here."
"Sure," she whispered. She exhaled deeply from her nose, matching his shoulder shrug in defeat as she laughed slightly. He looked to his left to see her staring at the cards, feeling much larger due to her height as she stayed silent for a moment. He was about to speak, asking the question again but never got the chance to.
"They're every card I have ever gotten from my parents. They're mostly birthday cards from my dad. He liked buying the dumbest one he could find, always writing stupid little notes on the inside just to make me laugh."
"Why do you still have them all," he questioned, his eyes never leaving her as she stared obliviously at the shelf, finally smiling softly to herself at his question.
"They're a nice thing to have to look back on when I'm missing my dad, you know?"
"No," he said quickly. "I don't know."
"I didn't mean missing your father," she said quickly, finally turning her body to meet his gaze as her words were soft. "I'm saying that it's nice to look back on the cards you have gotten from past birthdays and holidays, something to take you back to when you were happy."
"I knew what you meant," he said, looking back at the cards on the shelf, her eyes too powerful to look into at the moment before he finally confessed. "I just have never gotten a card before."
His words lingered in the air for a moment, his chest feeling heavy at the confession. He wasn't sure why he had shared that with, it was embarrassing to think that in his eighteen years of living, he had never once gotten a card from anyone.
"Not even for your birthday," she whispered, mostly to herself than to him. He had almost missed the words slipping her pouty lips, barely catching the disbelief in her voice as she spoke.
"My family was never big on birthdays."
And it was true. For him, birthdays weren't days to be celebrated. It was a day where his father would constantly remind him and his sister that they were mistakes his mother had selfishly brought into the world in spite of him. It was a day that instead of ending in candle blowing and kisses on the cheek, it was replaced with tears streaming down faces as hateful words were spat at them until they cried themselves to sleep at the end of the night. It was a day that went completely ignored until it painfully arrived each year, one that always left Harry wishing he had never been born at all.
After his father had left, his family never talked about what would happen on those fateful days, they all simply ignored it. But he never complained, knowing that not acknowledging the trip around the sun was a hell of a lot better than the tourture that used to be endured when it was.
"I'm sorry," she spoke quietly, looking back at the cards as they stood in silence.
"Don't be," he said harshly, making his way to the door before stopping quickly, turning his body around to look at her once more.
"I'll see you Monday."
"Uh," she said, turning on the heels of her feet to look at him.
"At the gym," he said, rolling his eyes at the fact that she had forgotten once again.
She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head quickly, "Right yeah, I'll see you Monday."
He nodded his head at her before heading down the stairs, hearing a hungover Louis talking with Cole down at the kitchen table.
"Let's go Tomlinson," he said loudly, ruffling his hair as he made his way over to them.
Cole sat up in his seat, eyes widening as he smiled at the older boy who had just made his way down the stairs. He held his hand up and waved, "Hi Harry."
"Hey," he said dismissively, missing the way the boy happily smiled widely at his acknowledgment before finishing the cereal in his bowl.
Harry heard someone honking their car from outside of the house they found themselves in, not missing the way Cole's eyes shot up, almost in fear before Louis explained to him that it was just their friend, Niall, who had been coming to pick them up.
Cole nodded his head, calming down as he said a quick goodbye to Louis, holding his arms out for the older boy to give him a hug. He was granted the wish as Louis laughed loudly, reaching down and messing with the small boy's hair the same way Harry had done moments ago to Louis.
"Lou," the young blonde said, rolling his blue eyes in annoyance as he patted his hair down, "You guys really need to stop doing that."
Louis simply laughed harder, repeating the action again as a giggle escaped Cole's lips, muttering something quietly to himself as he waved goodbye to two leaving the kitchen.
The two made their way out of the house, walking down the stairs and into Niall's car. The irish boy had a lot of questions as to why he had been picking them up on that side of town, Louis dodging the question with ease as they ventured down the road.
Harry stayed silent in the back, not being able to shake the feeling that something was about to change. Maybe it was the fear he had seen in Cole's eyes when Niall had pulled up outside of their house or the way that Marley had checked the locks three times before Harry had even made it up the stairs last night. But whatever it was, it had felt like a storm was coming quickly. The dark cloud trailing behind him, the storm getting closer with each step he took.
If only he had known that it wasn't going to be just a storm, that it was a tornado destroying everything in its wake. Maybe then he would've been able to stop it before it was too late, before they were all beaten down like nothing he had ever seen before.
~
Wow. 20,000 reads. Words cannot describe the love I have for you all, my heart is so utterly full. The love you guys have shown not only to the story but to me is incredible. Thank you guys so much for reading.
I started this book nearly two months ago as a way to cope with the struggles in my life, writing down the details I feel into a story that I didn't think anyone would read. My friends convinced me to post it onto Wattpad, claiming that they would read it. I never imagined other people enjoying it too.
So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, you guys have no idea how much you've done for me, xx
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