TW: VIOLENCE. (I'm sorry)
Harry Styles
1st February 2022
"H-harry, th-that's J-jamie."
"W-what?" I stutter out, throwing my head back to look towards the man whose name I hadn't even got a chance to learn. My face burns red with anger as I notice the smirk snaking his way onto his face.
God, I want to smack that smirk clean off his fucking face.
Everything in my mind goes completely silent except for the sound of her voice circling around inside my brain.
That's Jamie. That's Jamie. That's Jamie.
A constant loop of Thea's petrified voice like a broken record as I try to comprehend how the fuck we got here. Everly is dating Jamie.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Everly.
I feel sick.
Every organ in my body feels like it's being death gripped in a vice as a wave of nausea rushes over me, almost enough to make my head spin.
Not only has this sorry excuse for a man had the opportunity to hurt my Thea. My buttercup. But now he's with my sister. My fucking sister.
I'm gonna kill him.
Just as I'm about to stride over there and punch him straight in the fucking face, a whimper from Thea catches my attention. I turn back around just in time to see her knees begin to buckle. I instinctively reach out to catch her, wrapping my arms under her trembling knees and pulling her upwards into my chest just as Hadley and Eden walk back into the room.
"What the fuck?!" Hadley gasps out in concern as she takes in Thea's crumpled position against my chest, rushing towards us.
Eden, however, remains frozen in the doorway as her eyes bounce around the room until they land on Jamie with a confused look. "Jamie?" She whispers out.
I physically feel Thea cower into my chest at the mention of his name, my arms instinctively wrapping tighter around her in protection. "It's okay, Buttercup. I've got you. Let's go upstairs and calm down." I softly whisper against her ginger curls just as I see Hadley's movement towards us falter before she's spinning on her heels and bounding towards Jamie.
As I carry Thea out of the catastrophe that is about to be my living room I hear Hadley's voice bellowing behind me with an anger I have never witnessed from another person in my life.
"You! You better be fucking joking me, Jamie! Get the fuck out before I murder you!" She practically screams as Niall comes to stand in front of me, catching my attention.
"Mate, What the fuck is going on?" His face knitted tightly in a frown before gesturing towards Thea who is still heaving against my chest. I desperately need to get her to stop hyperventilating before she passes out. "Is she okay?"
"She will be." I nod. "I'll explain later but Niall get that man out of my fucking house right now!" I command, my voice almost coming out as growl as Niall nods rapidly. "But do not under any circumstances let Everly go with him. Do you understand me?"
"Gladly, mate. He's a right fucking prick. There wasn't a chance I was letting Everly leave with him either way." Niall nods with a stoic impression. "Go look after, Thea. I've got this."
I give him a short nod before bounding up the stairs in a rush to get Thea to somewhere calm and where she feels safe. If that was even possible with him in my house. I place her gently on the soft cotton of my bed, where she immediately pulls herself into a tight ball, streams of tears now pouring down her reddened cheeks.
"Hey, Buttercup. I need you to breathe for me." I softly whisper, removing her hands from her knees so that she slowly releases from the foetal position. "Remember what we did last time?" I softly ask as she nods, reaching out towards her hand and placing it against my chest as I do the same with her other hand against her own skin, just above her hammering heart. "Get yours to match mine. Deep breaths." I instruct.
It takes a couple of minutes but her breathing eventually begins to even out as she collapses against my chest from exhaustion. "You're okay, Buttercup." I coo, softly tucking her stray hair behind her ears as I run my fingers along her jaw in a comforting motion.
"I'm sorry." Her small voice croaks, making my heart crack.
"Not your fault, love." I softly whisper. "Just keep breathing. I've got you."
"I fucking hate him, Harry." She defeatedly sighs. "I fucking hate that I'm terrified of him."
I pull her head out of the comfort of my chest so that her teary eyes are focused on me. "Thea, you're allowed to be terrified of him. That is a fucking normal reaction to seeing your abuser. Stop tormenting yourself." I sternly speak as her eyes grow teary again.
"I just-Your house is the last place I thought I'd bump into him. I thought I was safe here." She whimpers.
"God, Thea, baby, you are safe here." I pull her into my chest, tightly wrapping my arms around her like a protective shell. "I promise you. You will always be safe here, Buttercup. Always."
"I don't understand how this happened. How do you know him?" Thea timidly asks, her soft, insecure eyes not quite meeting my own like she's scared of my answer.
"I don't know him, Buttercup." I softly reassure her, giving her shaky hand a firm squeeze. "He came here with Everly." I grit through my teeth, trying to hide my irritation that this man has managed to wriggle his way into my sister's life too. That is the last thing Thea needs to be worrying about right now.
"Wait. What?" Thea's eyebrows knit tightly together with a confused expression. "Everly? He came here with Everly? I don't understand."
I sigh out a deep breath, "I think they might be dating." I defeatedly admit, hating that this is even possible.
Once I've made sure Thea is okay, the first thing I will be doing is making sure that that bastard hasn't laid a finger on Everly or I swear to god I'll be going down for murder.
Thea's eyes almost pop out of her head as she comprehends my words, before pulling herself from the comfort of my chest and standing up on shaky legs. "What?! Harry, I need to go and speak to Everly."
"It's okay, Buttercup. Niall's got her and I'm going to have a chat with her once I've made sure that you're okay." I explain, taking a hold of her still trembling hand and trying to coax her back to the bed to calm down a little more.
"No, Harry. I need to speak to her now. You don't understand. Please." She practically begs with a frantic, and frankly terrifying, look in her brown eyes.
"Okay. Okay. We can go back down. As long as you're feeling okay to do so." I attempt to compromise.
"Is he gone?" Thea whispers, her voice laced with so much fear and insecurity that it makes my heart crack and my anger boil over all in one fell swoop.
"He should be." I nod. "I told Niall to get rid of him."
"Okay, then I'm fine. Let's go." She grabs my hand and leads me towards the doorway.
Just as our feet land on the final step of the staircase, Niall's bellowing shout echoes through the room making Thea jump and immediately I can feel the last of my restraint slipping through my fingertips like grains of sand. If that fucker is still in my house, I swear to god.
"Mate." Niall warns. "This is the last fucking time I'm telling you to get out of this fucking house." His voice is laced with venom as he shouts.
We round the corner to the living room to see Niall standing square against Jamie's chest, who for some ungodly reason still has a fucking smirk plastered on his face. Behind Niall stands Zayn who is towering protectively in front of Everly, his arm tightly wrapped around her waist where she's pushed up against the prominent muscles of his back. Behind Everly stands Capri who is soothingly rubbing circles along my sister's skin as if she's trying to help her remain grounded as her boyfriend and bestfriend attempt to murder each other with just stares alone.
On the opposite side of the room is Eden who is hysterically crying into Hadley's arms. Hadley on the other hand is the picture of a woman who could murder you with just her death stare. Her entire face is stone cold as her eyes burn into the side of Jamie's face with ferocious anger.
The entire room is like watching a car crash unfold right in front of yours. Carnage. Everywhere.
I turn to Thea to see her face paling more and more by the second. I wrap my arm around her small waist, pulling her towards my chest as her eyes scan the room on high alert. Bending down so I'm level with her, I whisper against the shell of her ear as her eyes lock onto her sister. "Go back upstairs, Buttercup."
My words seemingly bring her out of her thoughts as she turns towards me, her face scrunching up in confusion. "No. I'm fine. I'm gonna go over to Eden. You need to go and help Niall and check on Evie, okay?"
"Are you sure?" I check in, not really feeling comfortable leaving her side whilst the man that lives in her nightmares is standing in the same room.
She nods, "I'm fine."
I give her a soft reluctant nod and tightly squeeze her waist before releasing her as we walk in opposite directions across my dining room.
As soon as my eyes land on the shaky hands of Everly, the anger inside begins to reach the boiling point. Actually, no. It had reached its boiling as soon as Thea uttered his name but now it was continuing to simmer over making a mess of everything else in its wake.
"E?" I softly whisper against her head that's hidden against Zayn's back.
She pulls her head back as her eyes lock onto mine. Thankfully, she isn't crying but the look on her face is enough for me to want to punch Jamie hard enough to at least hospitalise him for a while.
"Harry, I swear I didn't know." She stumbles out causing me to wrinkle my brows with a perplexed expression. "I wouldn't have brought him if I knew, I swear."
It's only at this point that I realise Everly isn't scared for herself. She's scared for Thea. She's talking about the fact that she wasn't aware that Jamie was Thea's ex. The concerning thing about this though is that Everly is apologising without having to be told what Jamie had done to Thea. Why would she be apologising if she didn't know what Jamie was capable of?
"Hey, no, sshh." I whisper, pulling her towards me as Niall and Jamie continue to argue behind us. "None of that. How would you know? But Evie, we need to have a chat. You're not going home with that man tonight." I sternly add.
She nods against my chest, not bothering to argue with me, knowing for a fact that there's quite literally not a chance in hell I would let her leave him. Hell, even if Hell itself froze over and the Devil himself became an angel, I still wouldn't let Everly leave with this man.
I was so caught up in comforting my sister I hadn't even heard Jamie getting closer towards us or Thea running across the room until they were both standing directly next to our bodies.
"Everly. I'm not telling you again." Jamie scolds, his voice icy and cold with rage as he attempts to appear calm and collected but instead is just coming across as unhinged. "Let's go." He demands, reaching outwards for her arm to tug her towards him but something stops him before his fingertips even graze her delicate skin.
Thea had reacted before the rest of us even had the chance to comprehend what was happening as her small hand gripped his forearm in a death-like vice, her nails so tightly wound into his skin that I wouldn't be surprised if she drew blood.
"You do not fucking lay a hand on her." She grits through her teeth with rage, her face burning red with anger.
Jamie's jaw almost hits the floor in astonishment as his icy blue eyes flicker between his forearm and Thea's face in disbelief. Once he seems to comprehend what is happening his mouth locks together, his teeth tightly grinding against one and another as the anger visibly rises through his body.
"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to Ally?" He grits through his teeth as he glares towards her but she doesn't back down. The nickname makes my skin crawl.
"I said don't fucking touch her, Jamie." She warns again, a coldness in her voice that I've never experienced before, not even when we argued.
The next few moments seemingly happen in slow motion but move at the speed of light simultaneously.
Jamie's face turns purple with pure rage and before anyone can realise what he's about to do he raises his hand and viciously swings it against Thea's cheek with a harsh smack and I swear my vision turns white with searing fury.
Althea Cooper
My jaw hung open as the tears immediately began to well in my eyes, falling down my face without my permission. I stood there dumbstruck, staring at the man I couldn't believe I once loved, who showed absolutely no remorse for what he just did.
Jamie's hand came in contact with my face before I could even see it moving but the harsh sting that was burning through my face was something I couldn't ignore.
I knew that Jamie had it in him to hurt me. I mean he'd done it before, I was aware of that but this was different. In the past Jamie had never intentionally hurt me or more so it was never as forceful and direct as a punch or a slap. It was always more sneaky, more calculated; a way that no one would notice unless you were outwardly searching for it. He never presented himself as violent, not outwardly, that was something he always kept for me behind closed doors, at least until tonight.
It felt like minutes as I stood there frozen, just staring but couldn't have been more than a couple of seconds when Harry's enraged face came into my view. His entire body was tense, his hands wound tightly into fists so hard that his knuckles were turning white from the force. Before I even realised it his fist flew out and roughly smacked against the side of Jamie's jaw with a loud clack, sending him stumbling backwards with a groan of pain.
Everything seemed to start moving in slow motion but I was still frozen, staring at the chaos erupting right in front of my eyes.
Jamie's hand flew outwards smacking against the side of Harry's jaw but it hardly even phased him. He threw his own fist back, much harder than Jamie had done with a grunt. You could practically see the steam pumping from Harry's ears. This time his punch sent Jamie tumbling to the floor, as he cradled his head in his hands like an injured child. Harry was on top of him in seconds, pinning him to the ground before Jamie even had the chance to come back around from the last hit, Harry's hands were lunging forwards for his face again.
Before he even got a chance to land another punch, Niall wrapped his arms forcefully around Harry's waist, trying and failing to pull him from Jamie's body as Harry fought against him.
"Harry! Mate, you've got to stop!" Niall bellows as he continues to tug at him with enough force to have him stumbling backwards with just enough space for Zayn to reach in and reluctantly pull Jamie up from the ground.
"Niall! Get the fuck off me!" Harry growls with rage, his entire face bright red and his eyes a colour I had never seen before in my life. "Did you not just witness the same thing I did? I'm gonna fucking kill him!" He spits, continuing to fight against Niall's grip.
"Harry! Fucking look at what you're doing!" Niall snaps, harshly grabbing Harry's jaw and directing his attention away from Jamie and instead in the direction of Everly and I. "Look at them! They don't need this! They need you! So snap the fuck out of it. We all want to kill him but they need you more." Niall scolds.
Harry's anger falters slightly once his eyes land on Everly and I. I hadn't even realised how violently I was crying until Harry's face scrunched into a disappointed grimace as he absorbed my appearance. He takes a step forward as a whimper slips past my lips and that's all it takes for his anger to dissipate entirely as he comes bounding towards me.
His right arm wraps tightly around my trembling shoulders pulling me into his chest as his left hand reaches out to take a hold of Everly's shaking hand from next to me.
"Come on you two. Let's get you out of here. Niall and Zayn can deal with him." He spits, not even being able to say Jamie's name without the anger bubbling inside him again.
Everly speaks for the first time since the entire interaction and I'm surprised when her voice doesn't even sound like she'd been crying. I pull my head out of Harry's chest to see that I am in fact correct, her face is pale yes but there is absolutely no sign of crying, her face is just blank. Completely expressionless. "I don't think Niall and Zayn need to handle it." She mutters, "I think those two have got it covered." She points towards the doorway.
Sure enough Hadley and Capri were both standing there with their arms folded against their chests as they practically scream at Jamie who is cowering into the corner like a scared puppy.
Niall huffs out a laugh under his breath before he turns back around to speak to us, "I'm going to go and make sure they're okay but he'll be gone by the time you get downstairs again. I promise. Go and take a breather." He directs towards Everly and I before turning to Harry and whispering, "Make sure you put some ice on her face and your fists, alright?"
Harry nods before disappearing into the kitchen as Everly and I slowly begin to ascend the stairs without uttering a single word to each other.
Actually now that I'm thinking about it I haven't said a word since Jamie's hand collided with the side of my face. My tears have stopped now and my mind isn't going crazy. In fact it's the opposite; it feels entirely empty as I slump backwards onto Harry's bed as I watch Everly walk across the hallway into the spare room.
I lay down, staring at the ceiling as I try to comprehend what the fuck just happened in the last twenty minutes but my brain must be short circuiting because all I can see is just an empty, hollow space inside my usually chaotic mind.
Silent.
Everything inside my head is silent.
I don't know how long I lay there, staring blankly at the ceiling. I know at some point Harry walked in, I didn't see him but I could sense that he'd walked into the room. A wave of comfort I couldn't explain washed over me just from his presence. I think he might have placed something on the bedside table but I hadn't even bothered to turn my head to check. I don't know if he tried to talk to me but a couple of seconds later he appeared in my line of vision, his face tightly knitted in concern.
He didn't try to say anything, only gently reaching his hand out and stroking down the side of my face, causing me to flinch as her fingertips grazed the burning skin that Jamie had tainted. Harry himself winced as he shook his head and gently placed a cool cloth against my burning face. The instant relief had me blowing out a deep breath and shutting my eyes softly as I relished in the cooling sensation.
When I opened my eyes again, Harry was gone. Presumably to check on Everly who had taken camp in the spare bedroom across the hall.
If I concentrated hard enough I could hear indistinct chatter floating its way through the hallway but no matter how hard I tried the voices remained tiny, indistinct mutterings that I couldn't decipher.
By the time Harry came back into the room I could feel myself starting to come back down to earth. My thoughts had started to reappear again, along with the memories. Every time I closed my eyes I could physically feel the way Jamie's hand felt against my skin all over again and it had me snapping myself back into reality.
"Buttercup?"
The sound of Harry's voice pulls me from the depths of my mind like a beacon. I pull myself to sit upright which seemingly surprises Harry as he turns around from the sound of my movement with a slightly startled look on his face.
"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" I croak out, not realising how hoarse my voice had grown.
He strides across the bedroom until he's standing at my feet, slowly reaching out like he's scared I'm going to shatter into a million tiny pieces if he touches me. "You've been laying on that bed for the last two hours, Buttercup, without moving once."
"What?!" I gasp out, fumbling for my phone that is in my back pocket and sure enough, two hours had passed. I'd been laying there for two hours and it didn't feel any longer than thiry minutes at most.
"Shit." I whisper as the realisation slaps me in the face. Ironically, not for the first time tonight. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't even realise."
"It's okay, Buttercup. Are you ready to go to bed?" He gently whispers as he pulls the covers back, gesturing for me to climb under but instead I jump off the bed.
"No. I need to speak to Everly and Hadley and Eden." I list off, "And I need to tidy up and-"
"Stop, Thea." Harry sternly speaks, reaching for my hand to pull me so that I'm sitting across his lap. "You don't need to do any of that tonight. Everly is in bed, she doesn't want to talk to anyone at the moment, I've tried." He deflated huffs. "Hadley and Eden are sleeping in the spare room down the hall. I knew that you wouldn't want them to be far so I offered. You can speak to them tomorrow, Buttercup."
I nod, my shoulders slowly deflating as I take a deep breath. "Is Everly okay? I don't want her to be alone tonight, Harry."
"She's okay and she's not alone. Capri is curled up right next to her and Niall and Zayn are sleeping on the floor of her room like guard dogs." He laughs lightly as he pictures it. "Honestly, you should see them. It really is a sight."
I softly smile, not being able to find it in me to muster up a laugh but feeling much more relaxed knowing that Everly is okay for the night. The question that is haunting me the most though is the one that I can't seem to get out of my mouth.
It must be obvious from my expression because Harry pulls me closer towards him with a sigh. "He's gone, Buttercup. And I promise you he'll never lay his fucking hands on you ever again."
I nod against Harry's chest, feeling myself finally begin to settle knowing for a fact that Jamie was finally out of this house and away from me and everyone that I love and care about.
"Thea?" Harry whispers against my head causing me to pull back to look at his face. He looks exhausted and not just physically but mentally. He just looks fucking tired and it's my fault. "Are you okay?"
I nod as I clear my throat to begin to speak. "I'm okay and I know you think that's probably a lie but it's not. I don't know. I just think that I knew it was coming eventually, so I guess I was already kind of prepared for the aftermath." I shrug. "My cheek hurts like a bitch though."
Harry's entire face drops with sympathy practically gushing from his pores. His large hand reaches out, softly caressing the skin of my cheek as his eyes closely examine my injury. "It's a little swollen and it might bruise a tiny bit on the edge of your cheekbone." He huffs, "but other than that it should be gone in a couple of days. If it's still bothering you, I can go and get another ice pack?"
I slowly shake my head before climbing off of his lap to start undressing. "No. It's okay, Sunshine. I think I just want to go to sleep."
"Okay." Harry nods before climbing under the duvet, reaching his arm out for me to follow him.
I slowly climb into the bed but for some reason I can't push myself over towards his side. Instead, I just remain on the very edge as far away from Harry as possible as I curl tightly into a ball.
I thought that I'd finally gotten away from him. I moved hours away from home to a city he'd never been to to get away from him and that didn't work. I avoided everything that he could be involved with and that didn't work. It was inevitable. There was just never any escaping him but I didn't think he would ever outwardly hurt me ever again. I thought I was finally passed that part of my life.
I was just starting to feel safe. Just starting to feel secure and Jamie just had to come along and ruin it all with just a slight flick of his wrist.
I was never going to escape this man.
Today was supposed to be a good day. Today was supposed to be Harry and Everly's day and I ruined it because everywhere I go, trouble has to follow. I single handedly ruined their birthday.
It was my fault that Jamie was here today. It's my fault that Everly now has to deal with this too. If I had reported him all those years ago, maybe he wouldn't be here doing the same old shit he always did. Maybe he would have grown up or at least learnt some morals but I let him get away with it without consequences and now here we were.
It was all my fault.
"Buttercup?" Harry's voice echoes through the dark room. His thick, deep accent laced with a hint of pain and concern.
"Mhm." I hum, trying my best to hide the emotion in my voice as I try to choke back the sobs that are lodged in my throat.
"Thea." Harry sighs, moving across the bed so that the space between us is closed but I still make no effort to turn over and look at him. "Can I touch you?"
I feverishly nod against the pillow as a short whimper escapes my lips just as his strong arms wrap around my waist pulling me backwards until I'm pushed tightly against his body.
"I'm sorry." I cry which has Harry tightly gripping my body and turning me over so that I'm now facing him instead of the wall but my eyes remain tightly closed.
"Look at me, Buttercup." Harry warns as my eyes flicker open to meet the comforting green of his. "Why are you sorry?"
"Because this is all my fault and I ruined your birthday." I whimper, burying my head in my hands as I cry.
"Oh, Love." Harry coos, pulling my hands away from my face. "You haven't ruined my birthday and it wasn't your fault. None of this was your fault."
"But he wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for me."
"He didn't know you were going to be here, Buttercup. It was just an awful, awful coincidence, It wasn't your fault." He softly reassured me, peppering my forehead with soft kisses.
I nod against his chest and the room falls silent for a moment as I settle down against him. "I think I just want to sleep this day away." I whisper.
"I think so too, Buttercup." Harry nods, pulling me against him and intertwining his legs between mine. "Let's get some sleep. I've got you, Thea. Sleep tight. I'll be here when you wake up." He whisper against my ear before gently kissing my temple.
"Thank you, Harry. Night." I whisper as I snuggle into his arms and slowly begin to drift away into a light sleep.
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Anybody want to join the Jamie hate club??
New chapter up soon hopefully. Life's a little busy at the moment.
Come chat to me about the chapter on insta @spinninoutw8tin and follow my Twitter for updates.
Look after yourselves, always.
J <33