Author's Note: Sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others... it was literally a last minute chapter. I think it's still good, but I think I'm a little biased ;) Either way, I still want to know what you think of it! You're opinions mean the world to me, and your kind words inspire me to write more and more each day! --Ekat =D
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Hannah’s P.O.V.
Ugh; why is it when things finally start heading in the right direction, something has to come out of left-field, and fuck it all up? It was bitter-sweet with Liam now knowing mine and Niall’s deepest secret. It was a sweet moment because I was finally able to get all of those hidden feelings off my chest. At the same time, I know how my brother is going to react to this. No matter what he says, there is no way in hell that he’s just going to sit back and not watch over me. This in itself is like a coin toss. On one side, it makes me feel loved. To know that Liam will always be there to protect me, it makes me feel safe. On the flip side of the coin, that means that my brother is going to be breathing down my neck, questioning everything I do. Now I know that this sounds awful, but I’m glad that I have Niall, because he’s going through the same thing. To me, that takes some of the attention away. It’s obvious from being around these boys the last few days that they’re most protective of Niall. Hopefully, that takes some of the heat off of me, and gives it to Niall. Share the love as they say, right?
So now that my brother and I are finally open again, and we are able to have that understanding of each other that we used to, you would think things would be nice and easy. Yeah, what a joke that is. It was only when I heard a girl scream downstairs that I realized what was going on. Danielle wasn’t in the room with us, and neither was Aaron. Oh hell no! I’ve come to terms with what has happened to me, but there is no way in hell an amazing girl like Dani deserves to go through what I went through. In a matter of seconds, the boys and I all rushed through Niall’s bedroom door, and basically flew down the stairs. The sight in front of me was absolutely disgusting.
Aaron had Dani pinned against the wall, and was restraining her hands above her head with one of his hands, while trying to cover her mouth with his other hand. Fury doesn’t even begin to explain what I was seeing. When we were younger, Liam didn’t have many girlfriends. But the few that he did have, he loved very much, and would do anything for them. The thing with Liam is, is that he wears is heart on his sleeve, and it’s very easy to read what he’s feeling at any moment. So as I watched Liam, I felt like I was watching a nature show on the Discovery Channel, just waiting for the lion attack, and mutilate the target. In a matter of seconds, Liam pounced on Aaron, and dragged him to the ground. They rolled around on the floor for a few minutes, leaving the boys frozen in place. I on the other hand made my way across the room over to Dani. She looked a little shaken up, and for some reason, she felt like a sister to me. I don’t know what it is with this group of people, but I feel strongly connected to them. Usually it takes years to earn my trust, but these people did it in a matter of days. Hell, Dani did it in twenty minutes.
Finally Zayn snapped out of his trance, and whipped his phone out to call the authorities. When he hung up the phone, he tried to approach the whole Liam and Aaron fight, but even I knew it was pointless. Both Liam and Aaron were very muscular, so this could go either way. I did feel a smile creep onto my face when Liam lifted Aaron off of the floor, and slam him against the wall, holding him in place by launching his hand around his throat. Yeah, that’s one thing you should know about Liam; don’t piss him off, because he could crush you like a twig.
Minutes later, the authorities showed up, and it literally took both officers of the law to separate the two brawlers. In my heart, I really wanted to see Liam snap his neck, while my head wanted the violence to stop. Seeing as how you’re supposed to follow your heart over your head, I think most people would think about the situation the other way around, but I’m not most people. Yep, I am definitely not most people.
We explained the story to the authorities, and they took the asshole away. The scary thing is, is that I’ve known him since we were practically in diapers, and he turned out to be such a creep. Not even a creep… a monster. After watching all of this in the back of mind, I can’t help but wonder if I really knew who he was. Let’s face it, nobody wakes up in the morning, and decides to beat and rape one of their best friends until they are forced into the emergency room. I’m still really thankful to the neighbor that called the police, and extremely thankful that they didn’t tell my mother. That would have been a bigger nightmare. She would have made the whole issue about her, and completely ignored my feelings about the situation. Then if I were to say anything, she would snap, and talk about what a complete opposite I am compared to Liam. Obviously, these altercations can reasonably explain my distaste towards my mother, and why I could care less if I ever see her again.
When the first officer took Aaron away, the second officer was getting everyone’s story. Seeing as how Aaron didn’t even deny any of it, there was no reason to believe we were lying. This has to be the one instance where everyone knowing who my brother is really saved me. Them being portrayed as sweet and innocent in the media only added to the stories strength. Luckily for us, this meant that we wouldn’t have to show up in court to testify, and that our sworn statements would be enough to put the douche in jail. I was grateful that the boys didn’t mention anything about what he did to me. Even so, I could feel Liam’s eyes on me the entire time. I could tell that he wanted me to tell my story, but that was never going to happen. It’s bad enough having the boys know it, but there’s no way in hell I was going to put myself out there in the public for them to feel sympathy towards me. I refuse to be seen as a victim, and the best thing for me to do is move on. I’ve already accepted what’s happened to me, so now I just want to forget about it.
Niall’s P.O.V.
I watched as Liam held onto Danielle as she recovered from this traumatic event. This whole evening was ruined. Tonight, we were all supposed to just order our pizzas, sit back, and relax. Instead, we’re all sitting on the couch, looking at unopened pizza boxes, trying to recover from the events of the last few hours. I notice that Hannah is looking a little frazzled, so I wrap my arm around her, and pull her closer to me. She jumps at the contact at first, telling me that I broke he from her deep concentration.
“Are you okay?” I asked, whispering into her ear. She nods before answering my question with words.
“Yeah, I just feel really sorry for Dani,” Hannah responded, forgetting to whisper because of the five other people in the room. “She seems like an amazing girl, and she didn’t deserve to go through any of that. I just feel really guilty.”
“What do you have to feel guilty about?” I questioned, amazed by her feelings.
“If I would have just told Liam about what happened, he never would have invited Aaron here, and this whole mess could have been avoided,” Hannah answered. Wow, this girl is really something. She goes through some of the worst things a person can ever go through, and yet she’s sorry that she never told anyone.
“Stop right there Hannah Elizabeth,” Liam said, using Hannah’s middle name. Uh-oh. You know things are serious when someone does the whole middle name thing. “You aren’t to blame for this. This is completely my fault. I should have been able to fit the pieces together. The first clue should have been when I noticed that he wasn’t even a contact in your phone, or how the two of us haven’t talked the entire time I was gone. I feel stupid for not seeing it before.”
“You shouldn’t feel stupid Liam, I should have told you,” Hannah said. Liam rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. Quite honestly, I found it cute. To me, that shows that she’s not afraid to stand up for what she believes.
“Hannah, I would never expect you to tell me something like that,” Liam cut in, trying to make his point clear. “The things that you and Niall have been through are so personal and traumatizing, that it wouldn’t have surprised me if either of you would have never said a thing. The two of you just needed to feel comfortable enough with someone to let all of those bottled up feelings go. I’m the one that should feel sorry.”
“No Liam,” Hannah insisted. Their bickering went on for about five minutes. Each of them were trying to create valid reasons why the other was wrong. At first it was entertaining, but after a few minutes, my neck started to hurt from looking at Hannah, and then to Liam, and back to Hannah, and… yeah. Finally, someone had enough, and decided to put their two cents in. And it kind of surprised me when that person was Zayn, seeing as how he’s really quiet when people argue, or he just leaves the room.
“How about we agree to disagree?” Zayn suggested. Liam and Hannah looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders, finally realizing that there wasn’t going to be a winner in this argument.
“I hate to sound intrusive, but is it alright if I ask what happened?” Danielle asked nervously. You could tell she was nervous because she was rubbing the back of her neck. Liam looked at Hannah and I, and then we turned towards each other. I didn’t mind if Dani knew my story, seeing as how I’ve known her a lot longer than Hannah, and trust her. I wasn’t sure if Hannah was willing to share those details with her, seeing as how they’ve only talked for less than thirty minutes, and Dani was just attacked by Hannah’s douche of an ex. The first burning inside of her eyes, told me all I needed to know. I turned back to Liam, and nodded my head, signaling that he could tell Danielle.
I watched Dani’s reaction to the story the entire time. Each time the tale gets told, it seems all the more real. I noticed Danielle holding in a few gasps at some of the emotional parts of the story, trying not to let any emotion show through her face. But the thing is, when you go through such an emotional period, you sort of get a gift to see through people’s faces, and see their true feelings and reactions. I could see that Dani felt but, but didn’t want to show that, knowing that I hate people sympathizing for me, and probably figured Hannah was the same way.
“Babe, you’re really something, you know that?” Dani questioned. Hannah looked at her, and raised an eyebrow at her, confused. “All of this awful stuff happened to you, and you were frantic about the guy roughing me up a bit? You’re a doll.”
Hannah blushed, and I wrapped my arms around her with a smirk on my face. Maybe now she’ll see how strong she truly is… probably not though, because Hannah is just that modest. Just then, a sudden thought pops into my head, and I start bouncing in my seat, earning looks from my best friends, who probably think I’m weird now.
“What are you all happy about?” Hannah asked with a smirk, the same size as mine.
“We have a date tomorrow night,” I replied proudly. She blushed, and looked down at her lap. “I have a date with a beautiful, amazing girl who finally understands me.”
All of the boys, and even Dani, made fake vomiting sounds at my cheesiness, making me roll my eyes. She was obviously impressed, and kissed my cheek, making me blush. Oh the effects this girl has on me.