lol
//
"You'll be sitting in a surveillance van the entire time. There will be cameras outside and inside the bank, all you have to do is keep watch and let the guys know if anything is coming for them."
Angela speaks to me as she grabs black jeans and a long sleeved black shirt from my closet. She turns and walks towards me as I sit on my bed.
"You'll also need to wear all black, to stay hidden."
I huff and shake my head. "This is ridiculous."
"I know you're a little worried, but—"
"A little worried? Ang, I'm terrified. I'm gonna get us all thrown in jail." I ramble, spilling my fears about this 'job' that I'm supposed to be doing in an hour.
"No you won't." she tries to reassure me. "Trust me, please. You won't be in any sort of danger."
"The people inside the bank will call the cops, they'll see the van outside."
She shakes her head. "I'm going to shut off the wifi and cellphone service before we go in. No one is going to catch us, Elaina. We're pros at this, remember?"
I sigh as I slide off my bed, taking off my pants and changing into the black jeans, then I slip off my shirt and change into the black one. I walk over to the mirror hung over my vanity, looking at my appearance with negativity.
Angela comes up behind me, our eyes meeting through the mirror.
"I have every ounce of faith in you." she says.
I press my lips together and nod shortly. My mind was scattered, and it made it hard to focus.
She brings her hand up and swipes all my hair to one side of my neck gently, her eyes reading my expression.
"Why are you so sad? Something else going on?" she speaks softly as she plays with my mess of hair.
I give a small shrug with my shoulders. "I just have a lot on my mind."
"Talk to me." she frowns. "You can tell me anything, baby."
I look at her through the mirror and gently sigh before turning around to physically see her. I lean against the wall with my back, catching Angela's expression which showed me she was ready to listen.
I haven't talked to anyone about Isaac yet. It's been weighing me down and this may be my opportunity to get some of that weight off.
"Isaac cheated."
Immediately, her face drops from worry to rage. I watch as her eyes shift, and she became so intimidating all of a sudden.
"What." she mutters. "Are you joking?"
I bite my cheek and shake my head. "I have pictures. He was making out with some girl at a club.."
She stares at me with disbelief before letting out a short scoff and looking to the ground, shaking her head before flicking her darkened eyes up to me once more.
"I can make sure he's never seen again, you know?" she says.
I furrow my brows, leaning against my wall with my hands behind my back. "What?"
She looks at me with seriousness. "I mean it, Elaina. He's a piece of shit and if you want him gone, we can make it happen."
She isn't implying what I think she is, is she?
As I realize what she's suggesting, I come off the wall and widen my eyes in reaction to her drastic measures.
"Oh my god!" I whisper shout. "No! No, I don't want that, Angela. Jesus." I shake my head as I turn to my mirror again, grabbing a ponytail and tying half of my hair up.
"You sure? No one would know—"
"He made a drunk mistake, and yes, it was a shitty move...but I'm not gonna let you kill him for fucks sake." I say, not even being able to believe these words are naturally coming from my mouth.
I grab my phone off my bed before heading for my bedroom door, Angela following me.
"So he's gonna be off the hook just like he was when he broke your phone?" she antagonizes as she follows me to the stairs. "Classic."
I shake my head again with a huff. "No, he's not off the hook. I've made it clear to him that I'm upset."
"Elaina, you always let him off easy." she tells me as we walk down the stairs.
"Me not wanting you to murder him is not letting him off easy, Angela." I retort, getting to the bottom of the stairs where I barely have the time to process anything before I'm met with the sound of Niall's voice.
"There you are! You guys took fucking forever." Niall expresses from his seat at the kitchen table.
All the guys were here, dressed in black and prepared for their mission. I felt so out of place. They know what they're doing and I don't have the slightest idea. All I have are a few mediocre self defense skills.
"Relax, we weren't that long." Angela rolls her eyes, heading deeper into the kitchen. I lean against the banister of the stairs, biting my cheeks as I try not to let my anxiety consume me and swallow me whole.
"Eat something, both of you." Zayn says. "Can't have anyone fainting on an empty stomach."
I peer at the table that was topped with food. At the table, Zayn sat with Niall, Louis and Harry.
I took a second to glance at Harry, who wasn't eating anything. He was on his phone, not paying any mind to anyone else. Dressed in black jeans and a black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, he appeared calm and collected as if robbing a bank was a simple task like brushing his teeth or going grocery shopping.
"Put something in your stomach, Ariel." I suddenly hear Liam's voice from my right, my brows furrowing over what he called me.
He approaches me with a plate that had a turkey sandwich on it. "Ariel?" I question as he holds the plate out.
"Yeah, like the Little Mermaid. Because, you know, your hair." he looks up at my red locks with a shrug.
"Ah." I nod with a passive chuckle. "Creative."
"Niall made sandwiches." he urges, switching the subject.
I look ahead at everyone else at the table and around the kitchen counter. No one looks nervous—not even in the slightest.
"I'm not very hungry." I murmur.
I feel like I'll vomit up anything I eat.
Liam looks at me intently, scanning his eyes over me like he was trying to get me to admit why I wasn't actually eating.
But, eventually, he just shrugs. "Alright then." he speaks before setting the sandwich down on the counter.
I haven't interacted with these guys enough to know them. Harry and Zayn are the only ones I've developed any sort of relationship with—even if my relationship with Harry is a hateful one. From what I can tell, Niall is more outgoing and a big flirt. Liam is nice enough, but I really know nothing about him. And Louis...well I know nothing about Louis. We've barely spoken to each other. He's quiet like Harry—more of a listener than a talker.
"Okay, now that everyone's down here, let's go over the plan one more time." Zayn says, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"We get there at 3:45, that'll give me enough time to disable the wifi connection and cut off the cameras." Angela says.
"While Angela's working on that, Zayn and I go around the back and barricade the exit." Liam speaks next.
"Then, at 4, we go in and take the employees and customers hostage while Harry and Zayn get into the vault." Niall explains.
I cant believe I'm listening to this conversation firsthand.
"And Elaina will be our lookout." Louis says, making my stomach twist into more knots.
I haven't quite processed the fact that after today, I'll be an accessory to robbery. That's something I can go to jail for. I wouldn't last a day in jail.
And these guys telling me that they won't get caught isn't quite cutting it.
"Let's go then." Harry finally speaks. "I wanna get this over with." he murmurs as he stands up from his chair.
"Aren't we all going over to your place afterwards?" Niall questions as he shoves the last bit of his sandwich in his mouth.
"Mhm." Harry mumbles passively.
I roll my eyes silently. I have every intention of not going to Harry's after committing an entire crime.
When we all get into the van, Louis drives with Liam in the front seat while the rest of us sit in the back on the benches bolted to the sides. Back here, there were screens set up like a security system and a keyboard along with a few buttons.
"All of these screens will show different camera angles, some inside and some outside. You'll be able to see everything." Angela explains to me. She then points to a red button. "We'll all have ear pieces in, and this button will allow you to talk to us if you press it and hold it down...but you don't need to use it unless something happens."
I look at the red button, praying that I didn't have to press it and this would all be over quickly.
"So I just sit here and watch?" I ask as I look up at the screens that were currently just blank.
"Yep. Easy enough for your first job, right?" Angela gives my arm a little rub.
"You'll do great, El." Zayn speaks from the other side of Angela while he takes off his black hoodie to reveal a long sleeve black shirt underneath.
"And then, when it's done, we go back to Harry's and party." Niall says from the bench across from us, sitting next to Harry. He nudges Harry's arm as he speaks, causing Harry to roll his eyes.
He seems extra annoyed today, not just apathetic. Something has been pissing him off for these past couple of days. It's not my problem, but I can't help but be observant.
Niall looks to me next, a smirk on his face. "Do you party a lot, Red?" he asks.
I shrug as my fingernails mindlessly scrape the wood of the bench I'm sitting on.
"I don't know. I did in high school." I answer.
I partied almost every weekend in high school, because Isaac did and I was his arm candy. We'd show up to parties together and he would show me off and we'd both get drunk. Honestly, a part of me enjoyed it. I guess that's what you're meant to do in your teenage years--party and be careless. Now, I'm 20 and I don't feel any connection to my teenage self except for my art and Isaac...and I'm not even sure if I have one of those things anymore.
"Well I bet you turned heads left and right." Niall remarks, making my cheeks get hot. I give him a small smile as he holds his cocky smirk.
"Thank you." I reply, but my appreciation is diminished when I feel Harry's glare from his seat next to Niall.
"Awe, Niall. She's blushing. You embarrassed her." he says, looking at me with his own smirk plastered on his face.
I scowl at him, my brows tightening together. He only said that to embarrass me more, and he knows it worked.
"Don't be an ass." Angela mumbles to Harry.
"I'm not embarrassed." I speak up, only getting angrier as I look at Harry's smirk.
Harry crosses his arms, tilting his head as he grins. "No?"
"No."
"Your rosy cheeks say otherwise, Picasso." he remarks.
"Harry, for fucks sake, leave her alone." Angela chimes in again as I go quiet. Harry just scoffs under his breath.
I wish I had more ability to stand up for myself, even in little situations like these. Harry was an ass and I don't know why, but I have to start fighting back. I don't need Angela to stick up for me but I know she'll do it anyway because it's in her nature to be protective.
The van suddenly comes to a stop, pulling my thoughts to another realm of overthinking.
"We're here." Zayn says as my stomach begins to twirl and twist into an endless epitome of anxiety.
There's no going back now. I can't just decide not to do this.
My anxiety must have been apparent, because Angela puts her hand on my back and rubs it. I glance at her, my bottom lip sitting anxiously between my teeth. Angela looks at me and gives me a nod.
"You're gonna be okay, got it?"
Hesitant and terrified but all the same compliant, I nod back.
I don't have a choice. Suddenly this is feeling all too real.
Louis and Liam come to the back of the van, and everyone gets ready. Angela pulls her laptop out of a duffel bag and gets to work on hacking into the system.
I peer out the front window to see the outside. The van is parked behind the bank, in an alley like area. It can't be seen unless someone were to walk down this secluded alley.
"We have seven minutes, Ang." Harry says.
"I know, I'm just about done." she murmurs as she types on her keyboard.
Before I knew it, the screens were suddenly lit up by static at first and then security footage. My eyes go wide as I suddenly see different angles of the bank on these screens. There was live footage of what was going on inside, customers at tills and bank tellers in the back offices, and there was also footage of the outside. I could see the front of the bank and the parking lot, so I'd be able to see if anyone was coming in or out.
"The wifi's cut." Angela says. "We have to go now before they notice something's wrong."
"Payne and Malik, you're up." Harry directs, switching into a professional mode that I haven't seen yet.
"See you fuckers on the other side." Liam remarks with a smile as he pulls his mask on--the same mask that they were all wearing when they robbed the bank in Denver. He and Zayn climb out of the back of the van while Niall, Louis, Angela, and Harry suit up.
I felt like I was watching an action movie, except I was living it.
I have to get this right. I cant fuck it up or else I fuck it up for everyone.
Forcing myself to swallow the lump in my throat, I'm approached by Louis. He holds out a pair of keys. "These are the keys for the van." he says. "At 4:10, you put these in the ignition so the van is running when we get out of there."
I take the keys with a nod. "Okay."
"Let's go." Harry urges, a duffel bag on his shoulder and his mask in his hand.
Angela turns to me one final time as they all prepare to leave.
"Remember," she says, "press and hold the red button to warn us if anything goes wrong."
My eyes gaze to the button again.
I won't have to touch that button. Everything will go smoothly.
Looking back at Angela, I take a deep breath, inhaling sharply and exhaling with a slight quiver that I couldn't hide.
"Be careful." I tell her. She smiles.
"Always."
Harry opens up the back doors to the van and the four of them hurry out. When they leave, I'm quick to shut the doors to conceal myself inside.
It's 4. In ten minutes, I have to start the van.
The silence in this van is overwhelming. It's like I'm trapped with the noise of my beating heart.
Taking my lip between my teeth, I look up at the surveillance screens. Right now, they're entering through the front doors with guns drawn. It makes my throat tighten, because I remember how I felt in Denver at the bank with Isaac. At the time, I didn't know it was them breaking in. I thought I was going to die or at least be shot.
They're inside now, Harry fires his gun into the roof and people scramble. I can't hear anything, but I didn't need to. The sight was enough.
I can't imagine how scared those people are.
I check the outside cameras briefly, making sure no one was coming. It was clear, and the guys have barricaded the doors so no one could leave.
Inside, the guys are taking people hostage as Harry stands in the middle of the room. It looks like he's speaking to them, telling them their fate if they choose not to listen.
I don't know if he'd actually murder one of these innocent people if they disobeyed him...but I know what he's capable of.
Harry and Zayn eventually hurry with Angela to the back of the bank where the vault was located. I watch with anticipation, hoping they'll get in and get the money quickly so we can fucking leave.
My eyes remain glued to the screens, adamant on making sure no one gets in or out. The last thing I want to do is fuck this whole operation up just so Harry has even more reason to hate me.
It's not his opinion of me I care about...it's the fact that someone doesn't like me. I've been over this before, I hate being hated.
I watch Harry on the screen, watching as he stands at the vault with Zayn and Angela, working on opening it.
Never in a million years did I think I'd be rooting for the bad guys.
My attention was so focused on these screens, that it was distracting me from my own surroundings as I was alone in a van in this back alley...
...and that's why when the van doors suddenly slammed open, I had no time to prepare.
It was so sudden, the back doors of the van opening so quickly. I whip around from the screens, now face to face with someone in a white ski mask...with a red smile painted on top of the white.
I've seen these masks before.
In less than a second, my fear had spiked at the same time my stomach had fallen. I couldn't process anything—what I was seeing or what was happening. My instinct was to scream, but it was like my voice was trapped in my throat.
This has to be some sort of nightmare. It doesn't feel real.
But it got real so quickly when the masked individual reached for me and grabbed me. They were bigger than I was, standing at least 6 feet tall.
They're quick to throw me up against the interior walls of the van, pinning me against it and then clamping their gloved hand down hard over my mouth so any screams I could muster would be silenced anyway.
As this happens, another person with the same mask steps into the van, shutting the doors behind them so the three of us were hidden in here.
My eyes were wide with terror as my body shook. Muffled shrieks were trapped by my attackers hand while their bigger frame kept me stuck against the wall.
My electrified eyes peer over at the screens, my heart dropping as I see about five more masked people bashing in the glass front doors of the bank, where everyone else was.
My eyes fall to the red button.
In an act of pure desperation, I manage to extend my arm out in an attempt to smash my hand down on the button so I could alert the guys and Angela. I didn't get that far though, because the man keeping me pinned against the wall used his free hand to grab my arm. He grabs my other wrist with the same hand and forces my arms behind me so my own body was keeping my hands pinned behind my back.
I cry out into the man's hand, trying to struggle myself free. But the more I struggled, the tighter his grip got. His gloved fingers were digging into my cheeks so harshly that I'm sure there'd be a bruise.
I had no way to call for help, or to warn the guys and Angela about what was occurring.
I look ahead at the two masked attackers, seeing the horrifying red faces painted on the fabric.
A specific memory comes to mind, where Harry and I saw that robbery at a jewelry store happen. These masks, they were there.
These are the same people.
The other man, the one who closed the doors, steps a little closer to me. His hands are behind his back and his blue eyes traveling up and down.
He gets closer, and I try to stop myself from hyperventilating through my nose.
"So, I see they've got themselves a new lookout." his voice speaks calmly.
He comes to stand right next to the man pinning me. I can only see his eyes and his mouth, he's got a grin on his face that only makes my heart sink more.
I'm not gonna make it out of this.
"A weak little thing like you..." he scoffs. "What were they thinking."
"We should teach 'em a lesson about what happens when they let scared, useless little women do jobs that they just aren't suited for." the man holding me speaks in an American accent just like his partner.
I feel like I could be sick at his words. Not being able to scream or move, all I could do in reaction was tear up.
The other man tilts his head and clicks his tongue.
"Oh no," he mumbles with false sincerity. "Don't cry."
I just shut my eyes and shake my head, sniffling through my nose as I whine against the man's hand, wishing more than anything that I was able to beg for my life.
"We won't kill you." he tells me, "That's a little too easy."
I look at him with teary eyes, terrified over what they were going to do to me. I was a woman alone with two men who were much stronger than I was. They could literally do anything they wanted and I wouldn't be able to stop it.
I was so scared.
"We'll just mark you up a little."
The man speaks those words so calmly, and in the next moment, his partner was pulling a switch blade from his back pocket.
He flicks it open, my eyes growing even wider as the shiny blade is revealed.
I scream, my shouts muffled as I hyperventilate. I try to struggle, attempting to kick and squirm but the man just pins my legs between his.
I mumble pleas of protest, trying to shake my head as if that would help me. My eyes stay glued to the blade that was about to be used on me.
The man holding my mouth shut brings the blade to my face. I shut my eyes as I feel tip of the knife against my cheekbone. I was shaking, trembling for my life as he traces the blade from my cheek down to my jaw until he reaches down to my collarbone.
I keep my eyes wired shut as he stops at my collarbone and I prepare myself for the knife to drive into my skin.
But instead of stabbing me by my shoulder, he traces the blade down my chest. My eyes can't help but open now, watching the blade as it travels down my body.
When he reaches the side of my stomach right above my hipbone, my breathing gets faster as I watch him use the blade to lift my shirt and then apply more pressure.
In the next moment, my breath hitches as I feel the sharp pain of the weapon dig into my flesh.
The man takes the blade and drags it down along my hip, making the wound bigger. He does it slowly, causing me to scream into his hand out of pain. My body jolts, knowing it's being harmed but being unable to do anything about it.
I scream as tears falls from my eyes, crying from a mix of terror and pain.
I can see the guy's smirk as he puts a little more pressure on the blade, going even deeper into the layers of my skin to the point where I couldn't see the top of the blade anymore. I can feel the warmth of my own blood running down from the cut. Adrenaline was keeping me from collapsing in agony. It hurts, but my fear is what's keeping me standing.
"Alright, that's enough." the other man speaks. "Drop her."
The man holding me pulls the knife from out of my skin and takes his hand off of my mouth, then shoves me so I fall to the floor of the van.
My hand goes to my hip, holding my wound underneath my shirt as blood flows down my fingers.
The man that just spoke then bends down to my level, crouching over me as I hyperventilate in pain. He grabs my chin with force, making me wince as his fingers grip my jaw and he makes me look at him.
"You tell anyone about this, and I kill them and you." he mutters, his tone dark and threatening.
I tremble, looking into his blue eyes with absolute horror. He then drops my face from his grip and signals for the other guy to open the doors.
They leave, leaving me alone in the van again. On the floor of the vehicle, I glance down at my shaking hand that was held over my wound. Slowly, I lift it and then raise my blood soaked shirt up to take a look at the damage.
Looking at it made it hurt more. A deep cut extending across the length of my hipbone was causing my body so much distress. I immediately clench my teeth at the pain, feeling nauseous.
I pinch my eyes shut and put my shirt back down, shaking as I feel the blood continue to stain the fabric.
My teeth were clenched so tightly that I felt like I could break each one. I look up at the screens, seeing them all turned to static.
Those masked men must have been here to rob the bank too, and now they've taken over the security system and I can't see what's happening to anyone inside. I don't even know if the guys and Angela are alive.
I need to collect myself. If anyone comes in here and sees me, they'll know what happened.
I make myself sit up a bit more, hissing through my teeth in pain at the movement as I look around. I couldn't find anything to bandage myself up, but I did see Zayn's hoodie on the bench.
I lean forward, my hand over my wound as I grab the black hoodie. I take my movements slowly as I pull it over my head and weave my arms through. At least now the blood on my shirt would be covered and there'd be no evidence of the wound.
After getting the hoodie on, I plant my free hand on the wall and slowly force myself to stand up. I whine through my shut lips while I finally get myself to stand up straight.
My hand was pressed to my wound until I heard noises outside the van. My nerves spike again, my first thought being that those men are back to kill me. I had nothing to defend myself with.
When the van doors swing open though, I'm met with a sight that made me feel relieved but even more anxious all at the same time.
The guys and Angela pile into the van.
Louis looks straight at me. "Keys!" he yells.
I quickly fish for the keys in my back pocket, grabbing them and tossing them to him as I try my best to hide my pain while everyone else hurries inside.
Niall shuts and locks the van doors, Louis starting the engine and taking off in less than a minute.
"Are they following us?" Niall shouts to the front of the van as we speed down the road.
"I don't know!" Louis shouts back.
I watch the chaos as I lean against the wall in pain, trying so hard to hide it.
"They won't follow us, they're in the bank getting the money." Zayn acknowledges. I look at him, he's sweaty and breathing heavily as he sits on the bench.
He looks at me, my stomach knotting as our eyes meet. Everyone thinks I messed up now—that I failed to do my part.
"What the hell happened, Elaina?" Zayn questions.
I shake my head. "I-I don't know, I—"
"15 million dollars." I hear another voice, making me shut up as none other than Harry steps in front of me. He speaks slowly at first, while my heart beat quickens.
He stands tall in front of me and I look up at him with anxiety.
"We were going to get 15 million dollars from that vault but we lost it all because you couldn't look at some fuckin' cameras." he mutters.
The look in his eyes made me feel so small. I've not known Harry to be a particularly nice person but I have never seen him this angry.
He genuinely looks like he wants me dead.
"Harry, go easy on her." I hear Niall speak from behind Harry but he gets ignored.
I look at Harry, in pain and nauseous. I just shake my head. "Harry, that's not what happened, I—"
"Then what happened, hm? You better have a fantastic fucking excuse." he looks at me with nothing but hatred.
None of them know what happened to me just moments ago—why I wasn't able to warn them. They have no idea that I was attacked and that I didn't actually mess up the mission because I wasn't paying attention.
But, I cant tell them. It will put everyone's lives at risk and I can't go through that all too familiar guilt again.
So, I just shut my mouth and inhale through my nose, knowing that my silence will only look bad on me.
When I don't respond, Harry just chuckles under his breath and shakes his head like I'm nothing but a nuisance to him.
"Figures." he murmurs as he takes a step back and sits on the bench across the van. "I knew we couldn't trust you."
I look down at the floor, sinking down onto the seat as I don't say anything. His anger was making me disappointed in myself.
"You need to leave her alone." Angela chimes in, coming to sit next to me. "This was her first job."
"I don't want to hear your bullshit excuses for her." Harry stops Angela. "She fucked it up, she can dwell in that."
My throat gets tight and my sinuses start to tingle as I keep my eyes to the floor. The last thing I want to do is cry in front of them, especially Harry, no matter how much his words hurt me.
I get why he's so angry, because in his eyes, I did fuck it all up. He probably thinks I did it on purpose or something.
But he has no idea that I'm in excruciating pain with a wound on my hip...
And he can't find out.
Harry Styles
1 hour later...
The wrenching feeling of failure has been consuming me. It's like a fire that's consuming my mind, and it won't stop burning.
We failed that mission, all because our lookout had no idea what the fuck she was doing.
Or, because she was extremely calculated and wanted us to fail.
Either way, it was a failure. It wasn't even the money I was pissed about, it was the fact that I didn't succeed.
Everyone is back at my villa. The only thing quieting my thoughts is whiskey, but not even that is enough of a silencer.
I can't fail. I can't afford to fucking fail.
I'm being punished for it, because my mind is like a prison and I can't escape it.
Sitting here at my kitchen island surrounded by the guys and my step sister, I knew I had to get away for a moment.
Elaina is here, but I haven't seen her since we walked through the front doors. She's gone somewhere by herself which is fine by me, because she is the last person I want to set my eyes on right now.
She'll get past this fuck up. She may even go back to Denver to be with her little fiancé—hell, maybe she's talking to him right now, telling him how much she misses him.
If she knew what was good for her, she would go back.
I step away from the counter, whiskey bottle in my hand.
"Where are you going?" Niall asks me. I shrug in return.
"Bathroom."
My intent is to go get wasted somewhere by myself, just to make this evening pass a little faster. Hopefully I'll blackout and not wake up until tomorrow.
Sometimes I need that...sometimes I need to just keep everything quiet for a while.
I walk out of the kitchen and down the hall, past all my furniture and windows until I reach the stairs. I take a swig from the bottle as I head up, reaching my upstairs level where I could be alone.
I walk past some empty rooms that will never be filled, heading down my hallway until I reach the bigger area that was closed off by red curtains.
This is a good place to drown myself in alcohol.
I go to pull back the curtains, ready to be alone and get intoxicated, but I'm stopped.
I'm stopped when I hear a sniffling sound from the bathroom just a few doors down. The sniffle is followed by what sounded like a wince...a wince of pain.
I furrow my brows and tilt my head, trying to listen.
I then decide to step away from the curtained area, and slowly walk toward the bathroom.
I hear the sound of water running, and something ripping.
The only person that wasn't downstairs was Elaina, so she has to be the one in there, but what the fuck is she doing?
Wincing in pain and ripping stuff up?
If I had any ounce of good judgment in me, I go against it as soon as I walk up to the bathroom door. I don't even knock, I just open it.
Immediately, I see Elaina. She whips her head to me with widened eyes, pulling her shirt down quickly over her hip. Her jeans are unbuttoned and the hoodie she was wearing is on the floor. The tap is running and there's a wash cloth in her hand...which she quickly shoves behind her back at my arrival. She's sweaty and her eyes are bloodshot—not like she was high but instead like she's been crying. Loose pieces of her hair hang in her face, and overall she just looks frantic.
And the ripping noises—there were bandages on the sink counter.
I stand there in the doorway with the whiskey bottle in my grip, looking at the sight before me.
I piece everything together. The cloth, the bandages, and her whines of pain.
Also, her shirt. There's a patch by her hip that appears to be stained. The black fabric made it hard to tell...but I've seen enough blood stains to know what that stain on her shirt is.
She's hurt.
"I-I was just—"
"Let me see it." I cut her off, not letting her bullshit her way out of this.
Her brows raise as she looks at me, one hand behind her back while the other holds her shirt against her hip.
She pulls a shaky shrug. "S-see what?"
I step further inside the bathroom and shut the door, setting the whiskey bottle on the messy countertop.
"Don't bullshit me." I tell her, "Let me see your injury."
She sniffs and shakes her head. "I'm not injured."
I step right up to her and cock my head to the side. "So then let see under your shirt...if you're not injured."
I know she's lying, but I don't know why.
If she's hurt, wouldn't she want help? Or maybe she's too damn stubborn to ask for it.
Her lips part as she looks up at me, her pupils dilated in contrast with her wide blue eyes. Sweat beads on her forehead. She's falling apart.
She keeps her hand held behind her back, and in one movement, I grab her wrist. She lets out a short gasp as I bring her hand back in front of her and look at the white hand towel in her grasp.
It's stained with red. Blood.
We both look at the cloth, then back at each other. I tilt my head. "Not injured, hm?"
Her breath quivers through her parted lips as I drop her wrist, standing in front of her and preventing her from leaving.
"H-Harry—"
"Show me." I urge in a quiet tone.
She sniffs as she trembles. "I-I can't."
"Show me or I'm going to look for myself." I warn, knowing she's hurt and she's trying to hide it.
She came in here and tried to clean up a wound by herself, hiding from everyone else.
Her eyes stay locked onto mine before she shuts them and breathes sharply through her nose, her shaking hands taking the hem of her shirt and hesitantly lifting it up.
The skin on her lower abdomen becomes exposed as she holds her shirt up and I let my eyes fall down her skin onto her hip. I can already see a gash, but it looks like it goes deeper.
My jaw clenches as I bring my hand up to her jeans that were sitting on her hip but unbuttoned. I pull the waist down, revealing more of the wound that was much bigger than I thought it was.
Not only was it big, but it was deep. I can tell.
And it wasn't an accident. That was a knife wound.
My brows crease together as I examine the cut. Stained blood was spread around her hipbone like a painting.
Her breathing is uneven, whether it be from panic or pain, I don't know.
I snap my eyes up to her, she's looking at me with heavy eyelids and teary waterlines.
"Who did this?"
She keeps her lips shut and just shakes her head with a whine. "I-it's not that bad—"
"Elaina." I snap, "Who did this to you? And when?"
She parts her lips again and lets a shaky breath escape through them. "I can't say." she mumbles, I can tell she's losing the energy to keep up a lie.
But my brows still furrow at her words. Why would she be sealing her attackers identity?
"You trying to protect someone?" I mutter, gripping the waist of her jeans.
She shakes her head again. "N-no."
If she's telling the truth, then maybe she was threatened—maybe that's why she won't tell me who it was.
Or maybe she doesn't trust me. Regardless, I need to know.
"Tell me."
She inhales sharply. "Y-you can't tell anybody."
I nod. "Fine."
She looks into my eyes like she was searching for something she could trust. She was scared to admit this to me.
"The people who invaded the bank...the masked men...two of them got into the van a-and did this." she stammers.
My jaw clenches as I try to mask my anger. Those people, she's seen them before, with me. She has already seen them and now they've gotten to her.
She didn't purposely mess up the job for us. She was attacked.
I don't say anything, but the look on my face must have been enough for her.
"W-who are they?" she sniffs.
I shake my head. "No, we're not having this conversation now." I murmur, stepping away and shutting off the water.
"What conversation?" she questions, now knowing that it was much deeper than a few masked robbers.
I cant talk to her about this now—ever. She wasn't supposed to know.
"Sit down, I need to clean you up properly." I say, changing the subject.
She listens, sitting down on the covered toilet, but I can feel her frantic eyes burning into me because she knows there's something she doesn't know.
But she can't know.
I take the cloth and dab it along her wound, most of the blood is dried now. I wipe it along her stained skin, trying to clear it up.
It didn't hit me until now that I was touching her like this, helping her. And I don't think it hit her until this moment as well, because both of our eyes meet and fall into realization.
My hand freezes on her hip, looking at her face that was so distressed.
Her eyes are so blue, even when she's scared like this, they're electric. Her pink lips are slightly open as she breathes through them, trying to keep her pattern even.
I snap out of my head, clearing my throat and wiping off any excess blood.
"I need to put some peroxide on it." I tell her, watching as she nods slowly.
I stand up and go to my cabinet, grabbing the brown bottle of peroxide. I can sense her tense up, knowing that this was going to hurt.
I crouch down, in front of her with her hip out and exposed. She looks at me nervously.
"Do you want me to grab Angela?" I question. Maybe Angela doing this instead of me will make her more comfortable.
But she almost immediately shakes her head. "No. I don't want her to see this."
I slowly nod. "Okay."
I reach up and grab a fresh towel, holding it beneath her cut as I get ready to pour the chemical on her wound.
I can't fucking believe I'm helping her right now.
I look up at her one last time. "Ready?"
Nervously, she nods.
I tilt the bottle so the chemical pours out and I slowly move it along the wound. It takes her a second, but she eventually whines out in pain, hissing through her teeth as her hands grip her knees.
I catch the extra chemical onto the cloth, drying up her skin around the wound. After that, I set the cloth and the peroxide on the counter and grab the roll of adhesive bandage.
I roll some out to the length of her cut and then rip that off.
"You're good at this." she tells me through her worn out voice.
I peel the sticker off of the bandage, lining the sticky part up with her wound.
"I've had to do this to myself too many times to count." I answer, running my hand along the adhesive to make sure it's stuck.
When she's bandaged up, I stand and clear my throat again, taking a selfish look at her.
She sniffs and places her hand on the counter to push herself back into a standing position. She pulls her jeans back up over her hip and buttons them.
I make myself look away, clearing up the counter.
"You'll probably have to put peroxide on it again later and replace the bandage." I mumble, running my hand through my hair.
She nods, adjusting her shirt. "Okay."
I press my lips together as I didn't really know what to say. Just an hour ago, I was yelling at her with fury and now here I was, helping her.
"I guess we're even now," she chuckles under her breath, "we've both bandaged each other up."
I recall the time I had a glass broken over my head and she helped me.
I breathe out a small laugh through my nose. "I guess you're right."
I turn to go and leave, thinking she'd wanna be alone.
But instead, she stops me.
"Wait, Harry." she says, making me turn to face her again.
I look at her, seeing her eyes hold hesitance but it was as if her heart was forcing her to say something.
Then, she speaks...
"I'm kind of in the mood to get drunk..."
//
ooo spicy
what'll happen next 👀
happy new year i love you all so much <3