20 hours to go...
We didn't talk about night in the bathroom, nor did we talk about how we fell asleep for a few more hours cuddled up to each other. After we had both showered, separately, Harry had carried our bags to the car and I had gotten us something to eat from the restaurant across the road. I was in and out, not wanting to draw attention to myself. It was a strange dynamic we now had as we drove in silence. There was no tension in the air, no fear. I wasn't too sure what to make of it.
My head was still wrapped in a haze from my dream though, and I was reliving the vivid memory of it as we drove. The storm from this morning had settled, though the rain was drizzling outside. It brought such an eerie feeling to our drive.
Finishing the last of my sandwich, I glanced over at Harry. He was wearing an oversized jumper, his curls tucked away behind the hood. He always had the same look of concentration as he drove. Even now, as he ate with one hand and steered with the other.
"Is it possible to block out parts of your memory because of a traumatic event?" I asked, catching him by surprise.
His narrowed eyes moved from the highway over to me. He swallowed the last bite of his burger and coughed into his hand. "Why do you ask?"
I shrugged, turning my gaze onto the speeding cars. "The dream I had really bothered me," I admitted. "I dreamt I was with the younger version of myself. I was trying to calm her down because of the storm, but she kept telling me I needed to remember something that happened during a storm. She told me I needed to heal from it or I was going to break myself. Whatever that means."
I wasn't too sure why I was telling Harry about my dream. For one thing, I doubted he'd even care about whatever was going on in my mind. It was silly of me to talk to him like we were friends. We were anything but that.
"Well," Harry paused for a second, frowning at me. "It's possible that the sound of the storm entered your subconscious and made you dream of it."
I nodded slowly. "So that's an actual thing?"
"Yeah, sometimes we dream about things we hear, but to answer your question...it is possible that your mind can block certain memories from you if they were traumatic. It's a way of your brain protecting you."
I made a sound at the back of my throat. "That's interesting."
"Do you think that something happened to you when you were a child to make you afraid of storms?" Harry asked. His voice was soft, hesitant.
I shrugged, not wanting to make this into a big deal. "I doubt it. I got over my fear of storms, I don't really think that I would of if there was something that scarred me during one."
"But what if the only reason you got over it was because your brain forced you to forget about it?" He pushed.
"But why would I be remembering it now?" I said with a sigh. "I've had years for unresolved trauma to make its way to the surface."
I didn't want to mention that I was also seeing a therapist for a while. That might just play into this a lot more.
Harry cleared his throat and glanced over at me again. I didn't miss the way his fingers gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter. "I'm sure the...stress you've been going through is different from what you've experienced previously. Sometimes that can trigger things for us..."
Guilt was wrapped around his words. I didn't make a comment on it though, because he was right. The stress I had faced since knowing Harry was different from anything I had ever experienced before. The adrenaline, the lack of care for myself when I had a gun pressed against my temple willingly...it wasn't me. It was different.
Harry understood I wasn't going to reply, so he left the conversation as it was. The only music was the sound of the rain and the soft hum of the wind. I let myself relax to the sound, doing my best to pull myself away from my wandering thoughts.
A few minutes later, Harry's phone vibrating in his pocket pulled me away from my daydreaming. He tugged it out of his pocket, cursing to himself as he connected it quickly to his car Bluetooth.
"Niall," he answered, turning the volume up on his radio slightly.
There was rustling before Niall's voice boomed through the speakers, making me wince. "Hazza, mate. Where abouts are you?"
There was a slight panic to his voice. It made Harry sit up a little straighter. "We left Brush about an hour ago, why? What's happened?"
Niall let out a breath. "They're getting closer. One of the boys just called me. Traced back one of their phones to a tower half an hour away from Brush."
Harry swore. He glanced at the lane beside him, before swerving into it and slamming his foot down. I gripped the car door handle as we suddenly sped off, zig zagging between the cars to put even more distance between us and the small town of Brush.
I gulped as the car shook under the speed it was now going. The roads were wet from the hours of rain we had just had. Combined that with Harry's Fast and the Furious' driving, we were destined to land ourselves in a ditch. I tried my best to swallow my nerves and not voice them aloud.
"Where are you?" Harry asked. His voice was calm, though I could see how his fingers shook. Whether it was from fear or from the sudden adrenaline, I was unsure.
"Omaha," Niall answered. I could hear him shuffling around a room. A bed squeaked as he sat down. "I think it would be a good idea to come here. Regroup, and revaluate what we're going to do. I don't know how many men are with them."
Harry took his eyes off the road for a moment to punch in Omaha on his maps. "We're about six hours out."
"I'll send you the address of the hotel I'm at. We need to be careful, we're not that far from New York. We just need to get there in one piece."
Swallowing, Harry shook his head to himself. "You can just turn back, they're after me, not you."
Niall snorted. Despite how tense they both seemed to be, he let out a cackle of a laugh. "Please. I'm the brains of this operation. Without me, you'd be dead."
Harry rolled his eyes but didn't comment. I was starting to see how much they truly cared about each other. It would of been sweet if I didn't think they were both borderline psychotic. "We'll be there in six hours then. Five if I speed."
"Don't speed, asshole," Niall snapped. "You'll just get yourself pulled over. They're an hour and a half behind you anyway. They don't know where you went, they just know where you're heading."
Harry's foot eased, though not by much. We were still driving over the speed limit. He didn't seem to care I was holding on for dear life either. "They have their ways," Harry muttered. "You and I both know that."
"Just be safe," Niall said, and I could hear the disapproval in his voice. "Word of advise though, I hear that a car would go faster with less weight in it. Maybe you should get rid of some."
I narrowed my eyes as he laughed at his own comment. It was a clear jab that he didn't want me coming. I didn't exactly want to be anywhere near Niall either, but I wasn't going to open my mouth to retort. He wouldn't have any sympathy when he hurt me. I had a feeling he'd actually pull the trigger, fully aware of where the bullet was when he did.
"Niall," Harry scowled. "Don't be an asshole."
"She's the reason we're in this mess," he said, like it was a reminder. "I'll see you soon."
As soon as he hung up, I turned to Harry but he shook his head. "Don't ask any questions."
"But-,"
"I said don't, Spice. It's nothing I want to discuss, not now, and not with you."
I clammed my mouth shut, and nodded reluctantly. Despite the new dynamics I had with Harry, I didn't want to push him for any answers. Especially when he was as tense as he was now. One wrong move could bring out the darker side, and it wasn't one I wanted to be around right now. Despite how...exciting it was to witness last night, I didn't think I'd get to see that dark side of him.
I sighed to myself, and stretched my legs out, bracing myself for the storm that was bound to come from seeing Niall.
—
14 hours to go...
It was late afternoon when we arrived at the hotel address Niall had sent Harry. It was a lot nicer than the two previous places we had stayed at.
Just as I thought, Niall completely ignored me, and wrapped Harry up in a hug in the lobby, ignoring the looks he was getting by people who walked by as they embraced each other in a long hug.
He wore a simple pair of black trousers and a dark polo shirt. How he was comfortable in driving in that, I had no idea. He just looked like a rich douche bag. At least Harry didn't draw attention to himself in his hoodie and sweats.
"Took ya long enough," Niall huphed, grabbing a bag from Harry's hand. He motioned him to follow him up towards the elevator.
I trailed behind them both, suddenly feeling nervous to be in their presence. Harry was somewhat okay by himself, but I didn't like Niall. He didn't talk to me, but when he did, his stare reminded me that I was nothing more than a stripper. I think he was still unhappy that I almost made him crash his car, to be honest.
The elevator ride was awkward. Harry and Niall spoke in hushed voices, and I did everything I could to pretend I wasn't listening. It didn't work very well. Niall glared at me when he met my eyes.
"You should make her strip outside for people to earn her keep," Niall said with a snicker as the elevator doors opened. "First she gets us into this and now she gets to mooch off us. I'll tell ya what, it's unbelievable."
My cheeks burned at his snarky comment. He wasn't subtle about how much he disliked me. "Shut up," Harry snapped, shoving his friends shoulder. "Don't talk about her like that."
Niall rolled his eyes, but kept his mouth shut. I think it was more for Harry's benefit than mine. "We need to go over the plan of attack in case anything happens," he said, unlocking the apartment door.
Harry and I stood in the lounge area, as Niall moved around the rented apartment like it was his own. He dumped our bags into one of the bedrooms before taking a seat on the black leather couch that had been pushed directly in front of the floor to ceiling windows.
I wondered how much the room had costed him for the night. Everything looked so expensive, I was afraid to touch it.
Tapping his nose, he rose an eyebrow at Harry who shook his head. I watched their exchange in confusion, somewhat fascinated that they could speak to each other without really speaking.
I took a seat on the opposite leather couch, away from Niall who was still glaring at me over his shoulder, and away from Harry who kept snapping at him to knock it off.
After what seemed like forever of silent conversations between the two of them, Niall jumped up and stretched his back. "I think we should go for a drink."
"I don't drink," Harry said flatly.
He took a seat next to me, careful not to touch me as he stretched his long legs out in front of him. I wondered if he had told Niall what had happened between us. By the look Niall was shooting us, if he didn't already know, he was starting to get an idea of what had happened.
"But I drink. I haven't seen you in a couple of days either, it'll be good to loosen up."
Niall ran a hand through his hair, sighing dramatically when Harry casted me a look. "The little stripper can come too, but I'm not buying her any drinks."
"I don't think it's a good idea," Harry said, shaking his head. "We need to be up early. I want to smash out the fourteen hour drive tomorrow."
I grimaced at the idea. Fourteen hour drive. That sounded brutal. That was basically an entire day.
Niall groaned, tipping his head back as he did. "Fuck sake. Come on, Harry. It'll be good for you."
Harry shook his head. "I think I'll just sleep, you go out though."
Nialls lips pursed and he had a new look of determination. He wasn't going to take no for an answer, that was for sure. Surprisingly, he turned to face me. Despite the annoyance he clearly had marked on his face, he raised an eyebrow at me.
"How about it?" He questioned, crossing his arms. "Wanna make up some brownie points with me? I promise I won't kill ya if you can convince Harry over here to come out."
I wasn't too sure why he thought Harry would listen to me, but I preferred not to be on his Kill List. I bit down a list of insults I had on the tip of my tongue for the Irishman and turned to Harry, who looked annoyed at Nialls new interest in me.
"What's the worst that could happen?" I found myself asking with a shrug. "It could be fun..."
Running a hand down his face, Harry groaned to himself. "Fine, whatever. One drink."
Thanks for reading guys. I also posted a trailer for chapters 16-26. It's by far my favourite trailer so far, I keep rewatching it because dark Harry fucking hits differently oml.
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