The sound of my phone chiming on the bedside table caused my sleepy eyes to reluctantly blink awake.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
One after another the texts were coming through.
The sound had pulled me from my sleep, so I guess it's safe in assuming that I had forgotten to turn my ringer off last night before bed. I felt Harry stir from on top of me as he too was clearly getting woken up from the texts that were coming through on my phone.
I reached blindly beside me, my fingertips grazing over the counter of the bedside table until I was finally met with the feeling of my phone. I grabbed a hold of it and pulled it over to me, more texts still ringing through.
chloe:
someone is following me
this is the third time i have seen them in the last 24 hours
they park in your spot in the parking garage at the apartment and everytime i leave they do too
i've seen them at the club while im working.
i've seen them in the store.
i have no idea who they are
i'm almost tempted to tell my dad about it but i know that he would just try to convince me to come back home to texas
wherever i go i see a black suv with tinted windows that i cant see into
and the guy thats following me is kind of scary... he is covered in tattoos, wears all black and sunglasses. even when he's inside.
what kind of asshole wears shades inside?
i don't know what to do.
8:34am
I sat up straight in the bed, Harry falling off of me with a huff as I scooted further up the bed. I read through the messages again, my heart pounding as I took in what she wrote.
me:
when did you start to notice them?
have they ever approached you?
what do they look like?
8:35am
"You okay?"
I looked over to see Harry pushing himself up to sit next to me against the headboard. His eyes were on mine with concern laced through them as he waited for me to answer.
"Uh..." I looked back down to my phone as another text rang through. "It's Chloe. She said that someone is following her."
"It's probably just our team." Harry offered fairly quickly.
I nodded, "I know but how am I supposed to tell her that? It's not like I can just dismiss it and tell her not to worry about it. And besides, aren't your people supposed to be discreet or something? Why is she noticing him? Why are they not trying to hide themselves from her?"
"I don't know..." Harry mumbled, his eyes moving down to my phone as I received another text.
"If this isn't one of your guys this can be really bad." I said honestly. "I mean, if it isn't one of your people then it has to be one of Conner's."
I shifted my eyes back down to my phone as I finished talking and quickly started reading over Chloe's texts.
chloe:
i noticed them for the first time about two weeks ago
i saw the car parked in your spot, then i saw it again in the parking lot when i was leaving work a few days later.
but within the last few days it has gotten more frequent.
i have seen two different guys, but the one that i see the most is a little taller than me. he's kind of muscular, but not huge. he's covered in tattoos and he has dark hair. i can't really get any other details because i only see him from a distance, but it's starting to get scary.
8:38am
"What's she saying?"
I glanced over at Harry as he watched me typing on my phone, his brows together knit in worry.
"She's describing the guy that she has seen following her..." I muttered as I continued to text. "Kind of hard to figure out if she's talking about one of your guys or Conners though since the only thing that she can give me as a description is tattoos, dark hair and black clothes. She said that she hasn't gotten too close to whoever it is, so I guess that's a good thing... I just wish we had a better description."
Harry stayed silent next to me as I finished my text to Chloe, his own attention now on his phone that he had pulled off of his bedside table. I could hear him tapping against his screen, his fingers quickly working as he typed out what was probably a text message.
chloe:
i really don't want to make a big deal out of it and get my dad or the police here involved, but it's starting to freak me out. i don't mean to sound like a total girl... but it's really scaring me since you aren't here anymore. i'm by myself here and it's... well it's kind of terrifying to be honest.
8:41am
I shut off my phone screen after reading the last message, tears brimmed in my eyes and I couldn't help as they started falling down my cheeks. A pit of guilt formed in my stomach and I felt the wave of nausea washing over me.
Chloe is alone in New York.
She's scared and alone.
While I'm here in California happy, she is scared.
I am here, living what I would assume to be a rather good life given the circumstances. Money is no longer an issue for me– In fact, I have more of it than I know what to do with. I've been doing well in my training. I'm completing my bucket list and for the first time I feel like I'm actually a part of a family.
Someone other than me has now seen my scar. The one thing that I hid no matter what. The one thing that I was more scared for someone to find out about than anything else. Someone else has finally seen it and my world didn't end.
While I finally feel like I'm getting my life together Chloe has been scared and I didn't even know it. And I feel so selfish because of it.
"Rori?"
Harry's worried tone called out to me. A cool hand gripped around mine, my mind coming back to reality as I blinked a few times to try and rid the blurriness from my vision.
"Hey, talk to me, baby. What's going on?" Harry's fingers dipped under my chin, pulling my face to the side to meet his eyes.
I swallowed, my throat feeling tight as I tried and to get my thoughts to form. "I think..." I paused to clear my throat. "I think we should go talk to Niall."
"Okay." Harry agreed, his eyes searching mine as he used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a tear that had slipped down my cheek. "But can you tell me what's going on first?"
I took in a deep breath, my head shaking. "We just need to talk to Niall."
Harry pursed his lips, his eyes flashing over my face in an attempt to try and get any sort of emotion that he could from me. I picked up on this tactic fairly quickly and I have gotten pretty good at trying and controlling any emotion on my face when need be. I know it bugs him to not be able to read how I'm feeling, but at this moment I just need him to wait until we are with Niall.
I could see that my refusal to tell him what I was thinking affected him but he was quick to push it aside and nod his head in understanding. "Okay, let's go talk to Niall then."
Standing up from the bed I combed my fingers through my messy slept on hair and grabbed my phone off of the bed. I didn't waste time in getting dressed since I was wearing Harry's shirt and a pair of his boxers, so I just went ahead and made my way towards the door while Harry grabbed a pair of sweats from the closet dresser.
Jake jumped down from the edge of the bed and made his way over to where I stood by the door. He ducked down and gave a big stretch while yawning, his nails scratching against the floor as he did so. I opened the door for him and let him go ahead of me and start making his way down the hallway while I waited for Harry to come back out into the room.
Once he did, he emerged wearing a dark gray pair of sweats. He quickly made his way over to the door and motioned with his head for me to go ahead and go in front of him, so I did. I stepped out into the hallway and waited as he came out to join me, the door clicking shut behind him as he did. As he started walking I fell in step beside him and wordlessly walked with him on the way to Niall's room.
I'm sure that his head was spinning just as much as mine was, both of us silently walking beside each other as different things flooded through our minds.
I'm sure that he was on his phone earlier to try and figure out if it was one of his guys that Chloe has been seeing. I know that he and Niall set up "security" for her, so it's a good chance that his guys are just being a little sloppy. I mean, I feel like if it wasn't them then they would have noticed the guys that Chloe is referring to and Harry's team would have reported it in.
Unless Harry's guys aren't as good as they think.
I mean how awful do you have to be to not notice that someone else is watching the person that you are assigned to protect? Noticing anyone else following Chloe is kind of one of the main points of their job.
So then that just opens up the whole what-if factor... What if it's not Harry's guys. What if it's Conner. What if Chloe ends up getting hurt? Or worse...
As we got to the second floor Harry took a left and started to make his way down the hall towards Niall's room. I haven't actually been to Nialls room in this house yet so I'm glad that Harry is leading the way because I have no idea where it's at.
When we reached the end of the hall Harry turned to the right and walked down a shorter hall, one with only one door. The door I'm assuming to be Niall's room.
Once in front of it Harry stopped and quickly brought his hand up to bang on the door. There weren't any other doors around so he didn't really have to worry about waking anyone else up I don't think.
There was a pause as Harry waited for an answer from Niall. After a few seconds of nothing he banged on the door again, this time a groan from the other side of the door alerted us that Niall was waking up.
"Niall!" Harry called out, "Open the door."
There were a few seconds that passed, my heart thumping quickly in my chest from the anxiety of the situation. Harry raised his hand to bang on the door again but before he could, it swung open to reveal a very annoyed looking Niall.
His hair was tousled from his sleep, eyes puffy as he used his free hand to rub them. And he stood in front of us only wearing a pair of black boxers.
"What?" Niall asked, sleep laced through his voice.
"Rori and I need to talk to you." Harry responded.
"At 8:45 in the morning? Couldn't you have waited a few more minutes to tell me at breakfa–"
"It's about Chloe." I interrupted.
Niall's eyes snapped from Harry's over to meet mine, his body instantly seeming to tense as he heard me speak. It seemed that my simple words were enough to wake him from whatever sleep was still lingering.
Wordlessly he moved to the side and nodded for Harry and I to come in. Walking into the room it was much like the one that he had in Oregon. It was light gray in color, the sheets matching. There was an open wall in front of his bed with a balcony attached that gave him a clear view of the hill and the city below us. And once again, the same picture that was hung in his other room was hung in this one too on a bare wall.
Niall closed the door behind us and walked towards his bed as I followed him and Harry into the room. Niall quickly grabbed a pair of sweats off of his floor and pulled them on while motioning for me to sit on his bed. I sat down near the foot of the bed while he sat at the top and Harry stood a few feet away watching the both of us.
Harry's eyes flicked between us, his arms folded over his chest so that the majority of his tattoos were on full display. The silence between all of us was nearly deafening, the uncomfortability of it hanging around us heavily.
"So... Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?" Niall finally asked, our silence breaking.
I took in a deep breath and turned to look at him, his bright eyes already watching me. "I woke up this morning to Chloe sending me multiple texts." I started, Niall's brows creasing as I spoke. "She told me that she has been noticing someone following her. It seems that whoever it is doesn't really care if they are noticed or not. They have been parking in my old spot at the apartment, they've been in the parking lot when she is leaving work and she has even seen the guy. She hasn't been close enough to actually get a good description of him, but she can tell that it's the same guy." I quickly spit everything out before adding, "And the car that she has been seeing is a black SUV with blacked out windows."
Niall nodded as I spoke, clearly showing me that he was listening to everything that I was telling him. "When was the first time that she noticed them?"
"She said about two weeks ago, but that it's been getting a lot more recent lately." My eyes flashed over to Harry who was watching Niall and I intently before I looked back to meet Niall's eyes again. "Look, I know that there is a chance that this could be your guys watching her, but if it is then they are getting sloppy with it. Chloe is getting freaked out and feels threatened enough that she wants to involve the police if it doesn't get better." I sighed, my eyes falling down to my hands as I finally decided to say the part that I was dreading. "But there is also a chance that who she is seeing isn't the people that you have watching over her. It could be Conner– or at least someone that works with him." My eyes flicked back up to Niall, "But if it's one of Conners people, shouldn't yours have warned you that he was watching Chloe?"
Niall was quiet for a moment, his head turning so that he could look at Harry, who still hasn't said a word since we came into Niall's room. I got a weird vibe from Niall as I watched him, one that made me want to prod him for answers. There was clearly something that he wasn't telling me. I could see it on his face and see it in the way that he was looking towards Harry, as if he were asking for his permission to say something.
"Niall, if you have something to say then you need to tell me." My voice caused Niall to pull his eyes back over to me. "I'm serious. Chloe is my best friend and if something is going on, I need to know."
"Rori, look I—"
"Niall." Harry snapped in a warning, my eyes flashing over to see him staring directly at his step brother.
I felt a wave of anger move through me, my brows dropping as I continued to glare at him. "Harry, if you aren't going to tell me what's going on— Or at least try to explain anything, maybe you shouldn't be in here while Niall and I talk."
"I'm staying." Was all that he said as his eyes shifted back over to meet mine.
"Then back off." I challenged. "Chloe is important to me. So if you can't be honest with me, at least let someone else do it for you."
"I haven't lied to you." Harry quickly defended himself.
I scoffed out a bitter laugh, "You're withholding information about Chloe while you see me driving myself crazy over not being with her. You also see me struggling because I keep having to lie to her about where I am. You might not technically be lying, but it's still not being totally honest with me."
Harry's lips formed into a tight line as he watched me. His body was rigid, still standing in front of us with his hands crossed over his chest. His eyes burned into mine, an unreadable expression on his face as he sat there silently. Finally I decided to look away knowing that he wasn't going to respond to me.
He knew I was right. What more could he say?
I met Niall's eyes again, my eyes pleading for him to tell me what was going on. Niall's bottom lip was between his teeth, his eyes on me as he nodded. "Okay. Okay, yeah. I'll tell you." His eyes flashed up to meet Harry's once more.
This time however, Harry didn't say anything. He just stood there.
"We know about the person Chloe has been seeing. But before you say anything, the only reason that we didn't tell you was because we didn't want to worry you." Niall said quickly, my heart pounding in my chest from his confession. "The person that she has been seeing is someone who works with Conner, but there is never one second that our people aren't around Chloe. I promise you that she is safe and she will stay that way."
"She can't stay there." My words fell out before I could even put much thought into them.
It's the truth.
Chloe can't stay by herself in New york. She can't be put into danger because of us, or be scared because there are people that are following her. None of this is her fault and she shouldn't be having to deal with any of this as fallout.
"Okay, then what do you suggest?" Niall asked. His tone wasn't rude at all, it seemed like he was genuinely asking my opinion.
I feel like there is an obvious answer to this question. And I think that it is something that should have happened a long time ago. I don't want to seem pushy or seem like I am trying to take control of the situation but if Chloe is in danger then this is something that needs to happen.
"Chloe needs to be here with us." I said honestly. "She can't stay in New York by herself anymore."
Niall nodded as I spoke. "I agree."
What?
"You do?" My jaw nearly dropped from my face. "But then why is she still there? Why—?"
"Harry and I have to go back to New York on the tenth." Niall said cautiously. "I want you to come with us and I want to bring Chloe back here. I think it's the best option that we have."
"No." Harry interrupted. "We are not going to take Rori there with us."
"Then how do you plan on getting Chloe to come back with us? You really expect her to just get in a fuckin' RV with us and drive to California because we asked nicely? Last time she saw us was the night that Rori disappeared." Niall bit back.
Harry's jaw tensed and I could tell that this could quickly turn into a fight. "I was going to suggest that Rori FaceTime her while you're with Chloe. If Rori explains part of what is going on then Chloe would probably be more likely to come with us than not."
"I still think that she should come with us."
"And where do you suggest she go while we're working?"
"I have an apartment in New York!" I shouted above them. I could go there and talk to Chloe while you guys are doing whatev—"
"No."
My jaw clenched as I fought against yelling at Harry for treating me as if I were a child. "Harry—"
"No." He bit back again, his eyes burning into mine. "I will not let you go back there. Conner is doing this as a fuckin' trap. He's not actually dumb enough to let any of his team be blantantly seen like this. He knows that you are with us and he also knows that we have a protection set up for Chloe. He knows that we are getting reports on his activity and I'm sure he thinks that he is getting to us." Harry finally uncrossed his arms as he continued, "We will get Chloe here and we will get Conner. But we will not use you as bait for it." He paused, taking in a breath before finishing. "I promise you, Chloe will be safe. We won't let anything happen to her."
"Fine." I nodded. "Fine, but if anything happens, or if you can't convince her to come then I will go there myself and I will get her."
A look of almost amusement crossed Harry's face. "And how do you plan on doing that, honey?"
Fuck him for using that nickname right now.
"I know all of the codes, Harry. And I have my phone." I gave a bit of a shrug. "I'm only still here because I want to be. If I actually wanted to, I could have left a long time ago."
"We would have found you." Harry's voice darkened as he responded.
I nodded as I stood up from Niall's bed, "You probably would have. But at least I wouldn't still be forced to lie to Chloe because of this mess. You don't lie— at least you say that you don't. So it's kind of fucked up that you keep excpeting me to do it."
Harry and I stood staring at each other, my eyes never leaving his as he assessed if I was being truthful in my threat to leave. I could tell that he was pissed and just as well I knew that he could sense my anger. I mean, it wasn't exactly like I was trying to hide it or anything.
I could have stayed there and argued more with him if it hadn't been for Niall's phone ringing on his nightstand. I glanced over as he picked it up, his face no longer in one of worry.
"Mornin', Thalia." He called out through the phone. "Alright, I'll be down in a few minutes. I have Rori and H with me too." A slight pause. "Yeah, everything's alright." Another pause. "Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. But uh... H does have something that he needs to tell everyone. See you in a few." Then he hung up.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Harry nearly screamed, my body jolting away from him at the sudden increase in volume coming from him.
My eyes snapped over to him to see that he had taken a step towards Niall, his hands balled in his with his lips drawn up in anger at what had just been said.
Niall merely brushed it off with a simple, "It's time." As he stood from the edge of his bed. "You told me yesterday that you would tell everyone today, so I'm just making sure that you keep good on your word."
My eyes flashed between Niall and Harry as they fought back and forth, my stomach dropping as I listened to them. Harry hadn't mentioned anything to me so I'm sure that whatever they are talking about was something that I had not been informed on yet. I'm also guessing that whatever it is has something to do with why Harry and Niall were acting so hostile with each other yesterday.
"Come on, darlin'." Niall said, swinging an arm over my shoulder. "Let's go eat."
I fell into step with Niall as he pulled me along with him, the scent of his cologne flooding over me as soon as he had touched me. I never looked back at Harry, my heart thumping against my chest as I fought against the anger that I was feeling with him.
I hate that he still hides things from me. And more so I hate that he still feels like he needs to.
I wish that he could just be completely honest with me. I wish that there were no more secrets between us. No more things getting in the way of us trusting one another completely with no more boundaries.
After we made it into the hallway Niall dropped his arm from my shoulder and began to lead the way down to the kitchen and I took the opportunity to read the messages I had missed from Chloe.
chloe:
i hate to put all of this on you when you aren't here... i know that you are trying to stay away from drama and clear ur head, but i just don't have anyone else to talk to.
sorry for dumping all of that out of no where
i love you.
8:49am
me:
please dont apologize. you have nothing to be sorry for.
i will see you soon. i promise.
i love you too.
9:03am
Once we made it into the kitchen everyone was staring expectantly at Harry. I could tell that everyone was nervous– Everyone except Niall. Even Harry seemed a bit on edge by the whole thing which just added onto my growing anxiety.
Luke and Calum had left last night after dinner so it was just us left in the house, Harry's family and me. All of us sat waiting as he took his sweet ass time to tell us what was going on.
"So, you gonna tell us what the hell is going on or what?" Thalia asked, her patience clearly gone now.
I was sitting at the island next to Millie, Niall on my other side. Liam, Louis and Jade sat in front of us, turned in their seats to look at Harry who still stood near the doorway. Thalia was leaning against the counter next to Jade, her hand on the counter opening and closing her fist as if she were contemplating on walking over and punching her brother.
Harry sighed, his head shaking as his eyes shifted to look at the ground. "Fucks sake..." I heard him mutter before he looked back up to all of us. "On Wednesday we have to go to my fathers event. All of us, Rori and Jade included."
I felt my heart drop. Like physically drop. I think I may have even forgotten how to breathe. I'm not being dramatic in the slightest when I say that my lungs feel like they are going to collapse on themselves.
"Wednesday is July 1st." Millie spoke from beside me, "My mums birthday."
Harry nodded, "That's why my father is having the event."
"How long have you known about this?" Thalia questioned, her tone dark.
I could hear the hesitance in Harrys voice as he responded. "Since the day everyone left Oregon."
"And you're just now saying something?!" Thalia snapped, her voice causing me to jump a bit. "Seems a bit bloody selfish don't you think? You have known all this time and you're just now deciding to fuckin' tell us?"
"I was hoping he would change his mind!" Harry fought back, both of them now yelling at each other as the rest of us sat in silence.
"You know he doesn't change his mind about this shit, Harry!" Thalia scoffed, turning away from him as she made her way to the refrigerator. "You need to grow the hell up."
No one had time to say anything else, Harry didn't give us time to before he was saying, "You can all think I'm selfish if you'd like, but remember I'm the one who deals with my father. I'm the one that has to put up with him and go through—" He cut himself off as his eyes flashed away from us and back to his sister. "I'm the one that has to take over for him when he dies. Not you, Thalia. I'm the one that has to deal with every aspect of The Families and learn from him. I'm the one who has been dealing with him since Mum died. So don't fuckin' pretend that you know what he's like. You know nothing about him."
Then he was gone.
He turned without another word and walked out of the kitchen to leave us all in a heavy silence.
//
an:
i know i said i'd update on tuesday, but @petaturquoise inspired me to update today. thank u <3
also, the thigh picture this morning? hello??
plus we hit 10k?!? WHAT ?!!? this is literally so insane. 5 months of Insatiable & we're already at 10k... i'm truly speechless by all of the love. thank you. thank you. thank you.
oh btw, my twitter is _fallingkiwii if anyone would like to follow <33