She was lying alone on the beautiful mahagony wood bed. There was a table with exquisite carvings and a polished look that made it outshine any other piece of furniture in that room. The last twenty-four hours had been very eventful. But right now, it was very quite. Too quite to be precise. The teenage popstar sat there on the grandé bed trying to reflect on the events to find out what had led her to behave so erratically. The entire thing was so messed. Guilt was eating her up. She wanted to do nothing more but go and confess, but fear was playing his own game. The fear of being rejected.
She knew that the moment they realised that she was the culprit, it'd never be the same. Liam was right, she was a bitch. One Royal Bitch. She had betrayed their trust in her. Loyalty and trust are the main foundations of friendship. She had failed at both, and for what? Some pitiful revenge. It wasn't even revenge. She had felt barely any satisfaction, it was guilt and only guilt that ruled her emotions. She had not dared to touch her phone out of the fear that the management would have called or probably one of the boys had left a message.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered to herself and then she started sobbing. Her head was rested on a silk pillow, which now had stains and blotches over it. The girl cried to herself for five whole minutes until she heard a knock. She looked up at the door but didn't respond. It was one in the morning, who would be knocking at this hour? She wondered. There was another knock, this one, louder.
Picking herself up from the bed, she ran a hand over her crumpled outfit, then looked at the mirror. She looked like a complete mess. She tried to rub out the tear stains, but failed. In the end, she walked towards the door and opened it.
The door swung and hit the wallpapered wall of the hotel room.
"Do you open the door to anyone in the middle of the night without checking?" The brown eyed boy asked humorlessly. He looked tired. What was he doing here? She panicked.
"What do you want, Liam?" She left the door open and walked towards the bed before seating herself on the edge. He walked in and sat across her on one of the chairs.
"Are you still in a bad mood?" He enquired, trying to study her face. He noticed how quite the room looked and how her hair was messed, her dress crumpled and her eyes-puffy and red. Had she been crying over the fiasco?
"No, I'm fine now. What do you want?" Alexia asked, trying to keep the anxiety outside her voice. Did he know? Why was he acting so cool? Why did he come to her room in the middle of the night?
"Are you going to keep talking like that? I just wanted to see how you were doing, that's all." She looked at him, his eyes were honest and sincere. Her eyes glistened and her throat felt like it was being choked. She'd been nothing but an insolent brat and here he was, asking her how she was doing. She'd probably dented their career, but he was sitting there, caring for her.
"I'm good. I'm sorry." She was biting her lips to keep her from crying. She kept staring at the beige colored rug. Her eyes looked like an overfilled pool and her nose would remind someone of Rudolf. Liam knew, nothing was good. One glance in her direction and even a drunk could tell that she was distressed.
He got up from the chair and sat next to her on the bed. "Hey, look at me." He said softly. He slightly touched her chin. She withdrew herself from his touch. Although initially shocked, he withdrew his hand; clearly she still needed space.
"Lex, look at me, please?" She just shook her head in denial. He sighed softly. "Please, tell me what's wrong."
Almost unable to speak coherently, she still managed to choke out. "Why are you doing this?" The British lad was thoroughly puzzled. Doing what? He looked at her, but she was still staring at the carpet. It suddenly struck him.
"Oh Lord, I'm so so sorry about earlier. I didn't mean it. You know I didn't. I was just very angry at the situation." He explained, looking for her forgiveness. That was it for the sixteen year old. Her dam burst and she was in hysterics. Sobbing loudly, she could barely breath.
Instinctively Liam inched closer, trying to comfort her, but she withdrew her shaking body before he could reach her. He felt a pang of guilt. Had he hurt her so bad? Alexia on the other hand was shaking with her arms hugging her torso. She didn't deserve his comfort. She had done a horrible deed, and the minute he found out, he'd be repulsed by her. You deserve this, she told herself.
Liam didn't know what to do, he had come here to make amends with her. He didn't know how he'd ended up making her feel worse. However angry, he regretted those words. After all the long phone calls, all he wanted to do was lie down in bed in anticipation of the next morning, but the regret of his actions made him turn towards Alexia's room. He knew that she never slept before 3 am, so he just knocked. But he never expected this to happen.
The girl curled up on the edge of the bed, was crying her eyes out. He had to stop her before she made herself sick. Despite all the resistance she'd offered, he again reached out for her and this time his arms picked up the smaller body. He laid her next to him and started rubbing soothing circles on her back. They always calmed her. He cooed and tried hum one of her favorite songs. The only thing that did was aggravate the situation. Feeling lost, he despondently picked up his phone and dialled Harry's number. She always listened to him, he had an effect on her.
One hand still rubbing her back, he held the phone to his ear with the other hand.
"Harry, mate, could you come down here?" His voice sounded panicked. He ran his right hand through her hair.
"Down to Lexi's room. Yeah, just come down you'll understand. Quick." He said and disconnected the call. He tried to ask her what happened, but he kept getting incoherent responses. She was almost hyperventilating when Harry arrived.
"Just a second." Liam called out before getting up from the bed. A disheveled looking Harry stood there. He had come running down the stair, he was breathless and slightly confused.
"What happened?" He asked as he entered the room. The minute the bed came into his line of vision, he understood the emergency. He ran towards the crumbled girl.
"Lex, what happened?" He asked, as he laid beside her on the bed. He looked at Liam who shook his head sadly. Harry turned his attention to the brunette next to him who had now started hyperventilating. He picked her limp body up and held her in her arms. She laid on top of him while he calmed her down like a mother calmed her wailing toddler. Liam fetched a glass of water. Slowly when her breathing was under control, Liam offered her some water. He held the glass for her as she gulped it down. Her tears had dried up with all the crying, but her breathing was still uneven. The three of them lay on her bed for the next several minutes, she was tucked between both of them.
After her breathing was back to normal, Harry slowly asked her. "Will you please tell us what happened?"
She shook her head. "I can't." She sniffled.
"Did someone say something to you? Did anyone hurt you?" Liam tried. She shook her head again. She felt like crying all over again. She couldn't believe the fact that she'd betrayed these people. The boys who rushed to help her in the middle of the night. She had to make it right. But that wasn't possible. The whole thing must have been splattered over the internet by now. She was afraid that the two boys who were holding her so close, trying to calm her down, wouldn't even spare a glance at her once they found out. She'd be alone again. And what about Louis and Zayn? They'd never forgive her. Hell, even she'd never forgive herself.
She'd seen one pissed off Louis Tomlinson once. He had had some fight with one of his sisters and getting him to talk to her again had been a huge deal. And that was his sister. Alexia wasn't even related to him, he'd never forgive her. The thought alone made her cry.
"Shhh... Don't cry, please?" Liam practically begged. "Tell us what happened, how will we know how to fix it if you don't tell us?" He consoled. His hand stroked her hair.
After a few minutes of echoing silence, Alexia took a deep breathe and composed herself. She'd decided, she would tell them. If she didn't tell them this moment, she stood no chance of being forgiven. They were bound to find out sooner or later, and even if they didn't, she would never be able to live with herself. She decided that she'd do whatever it took to earn their trust back. Whatever punishment they chose, she'd accept it without any resistance. She couldn't lose these boys.
Hesitantly, she tried to take a deep breathe and sat upright. Both the brown haired boys looked at her with puzzlement. Again taking a long breadth, she said, "I have something to tell you."
She bit her trembling lip. They both looked at her expectedly, motioning her to continue. After a few seconds of hesitation, she quavered. "I did something very horrible."
"Is that why you've been crying?" The long haired boy asked. She nodded shakily.
"Oh love, I'm sure it's not that bad." He assured, pulling her into a side hug. He squeezed her shoulder. This was it, this was her moment.
She shut her eyes tight and stuttered. "I- I did it." She didn't open her eyes for a long time. She didn't want to see their faces turn to disgust. When she didn't get any reaction, she slowly opened her eyes. Both of them were confused. They were waiting for her to continue.
"Did what?" Liam finally prompted. He had no idea of what she was trying to say.
"I- I, ummm.. I..." She started stuttering. "What Lex?" Harry asked patiently.
She looked at both of them once before tears started rolling down her cheeks again. She finally confessed. "I did it, the video."
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