Scarlett White
Flashback
"What the hell, Harry? Is that why you never came back to the party?" Niall asks Harry.
"What? I couldn't leave her, she was fucking drunk," he blurts out.
"And since when are you like this? Now you're her guardian dog?" Niall mocks, crossing his arms.
"We can't leave her here, she will be in danger in this house you know what Bryce is like" Harry mentions to Niall
It had been a few hours since Scarlett fell asleep in the guest room bed. Harry had stayed with her until she fell asleep.
The two of them looked at the still sleeping girl and thought about how to plan to get her back home. They could have easily gone about their business without worrying about the girl, but something in Harry stopped him.
Not knowing the girl very well, Harry had found in her a lot of curiosity about how she reacted every time he approached her or if she wanted to exchange a word in any way he found it fun to scare her or just make her blush.
Which seemed strange to him.
"Alright, this is what we'll do," Harry replied turning to Niall.
"What?" Niall asks, frowning.
"You or Louis, either of you, have to take her home," Harry responds firmly.
"Why Louis? I think he'll have to do it anyway." He shrugs.
"And why not you?" Harry now asks.
"Friend, I have a job that's the same as yours. Zayn wants to see us in the afternoon, you know," Niall replies.
"Yeah, whatever." Harry rolls his eyes and stops looking at the sleeping girl in the bed.
The two leave the room and Harry gets ready to go to the place he had to go early in the morning while Niall looks for Louis to convince him to take Scarlett home.
******
My eyes slowly open to a distant sound that's bothering my ears. I glance around, my stomach churning when I realize I didn't wake up in my room.
I jump out of bed, pushing my hair out of my face and scanning the room. I hadn't returned home, let alone left Bryce's house.
This must be a nightmare.
I grab my bag, slip on my Converse, ready to vanish from this place without a trace, but there's someone showering. I've never felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable.
I'm on my way to silently leave the room without making any noise. I don't even know Bryce that well, so falling asleep at his house made it quite awkward.
I quietly descend the stairs, my teeth biting my lower lip from the growing stress of leaving this unfamiliar house.
"Come on, Louis, it's nothing serious," a guy's voice is heard, making me stop instantly.
Shit
"Yeah, well, then why the hell don't you do it? Besides, why the hell does Harry care so much about that girl?" Louis responds, making me widen my eyes as he mentions me, or so I think.
"What the hell do I know?" the guy replies.
I inch a bit closer to where they are without them noticing. They'd definitely see me leaving the house.
What are they arguing about?
"Just take her damn home, Niall. I'm out," Louis responds, now leaving the kitchen and exiting our area where Niall and I now are.
Louis was the same guy who had gone with Harry to the coffee.
Niall turns around now, finding me there, seeing that he was there listening to them like a creep.
"Oh, hi, sweetheart, I'm Niall," the blonde guy responds with a smile.
I smile back politely. "Hi, I'm Scarlett," I reply.
"So, you heard everything, right?" Niall asks, making me nod slowly.
"You don't have to worry, I can go alone," I tell him, making his eyes widen in panic.
"No way, Harry would kill me," he responds.
"Harry? What's up with Harry?" I furrow my brow.
"Well, your guardian dog wants me to take you home safe and sound," he responds sarcastically, and I smile.
"Oh," I simply respond.
"are you guys fucking or what? Why the exclusivity that he has to take you home?" Niall asks curiously, but it just makes me widen my eyes at his words.
"No, of course not. We're just..." I don't finish the sentence because I really don't know what to say.
What the hell are we? We're not friends, let alone something more than friends.
"Acquaintances," I respond uncertainly.
"Acquaintances, really? Damn, are you the club's girl of the night?" Niall asks, making me blush.
"Yes," I respond.
"Damn Styles, now I get it," Niall laughs, now walking away from me and towards the table to grab some keys, I suppose, from the car.
What do you mean by that?
"Let's go," Niall waves his hand for me to come with him.
Without any complaint, I leave the house with him and head to his car.
Honestly, my head hurts a lot, I can't even feel my body. I feel really tired, so when I get home, I'm just going to sleep. When I check my phone, there were notifications from Zach and Tracy. I wasn't in the mood to see the glow of my phone, let alone text, so I toss my phone in my bag and reply to them when I feel better.
"And tell me, mysterious girl, why do Harry and you talk?" Niall asks.
"I really don't know," I respond. I don't even know why he pays attention to me.
"I haven't given you my address," I tell Niall, changing the subject.
"Well, write it down," Niall goes to the glove compartment on the passenger seat and takes out a piece of paper and a pen.
I nod and write it down. I could feel the headache every time it pulsed more. I needed some pills and sleep.
At least I had taken this day off, it's Saturday so it was good since I didn't have to go to school either.
I hand the piece of paper to Niall and settle into the seat, trying again to fall asleep. I didn't feel like having a conversation, and I know I look like shit, he'll understand.
****
"Hey, bug-eyed, we're here." I feel a movement on my shoulder that wakes me up.
I see we're right in front of my house, making me exhale in relief.
"Thanks, Niall," I tell Niall, smiling politely.
"Yeah, well, whatever," he says shortly after, and I gather my things to get out of the car, but before that, I hear Niall's phone ringing. Niall picks up the phone and puts it to his ear.
"Fuck Harry, I just got to his damn house," Niall impatiently responds to Harry.
I blush when I hear him ask if I was okay, I open the door bidding farewell to Niall again grateful for giving me a ride and head towards my house.
When I open the door, I find Mom sitting awake, with swollen eyes as if she hadn't slept at all.
Though it was concerning, I wasn't going to ask her anything. I go to the kitchen to get some headache pills.
"Where were you?" My mom murmurs as she feels her behind me.
"You don't care," I pop the pill into my mouth and fill a glass of water from the sink.
"I care about you, Scarlett," my mom responds firmly.
I turn to look at her, she looked really messed up. Even though I had told her I wouldn't come home, I don't know why she stayed waiting.
"If you cared, you would have given me that letter, Mom," I reply and walk away from her, leaving the kitchen to go upstairs.
"Don't talk to me like that, Scarlett," my mom shouts, though I ignore her and climb the stairs to my room.
****
After a few hours of sleep, I wake up from bed. I had slept all day and it was starting to get dark. I didn't have any plans for today, so I didn't worry too much about sleeping in. Plus, I didn't want to see my mom.
I still don't understand why she didn't tell me that my dad had contacted me with that letter. What's the problem with being able to read what he said? The only one who could break that letter was me, not her.
Now I'll always wonder what he was saying. Will he send me another letter? I don't know. I hope he does. Even though I resent him, I want to know the truth behind all of this. My mother made me suspicious; if there was nothing to hide, she would have easily given me that letter.
Will he still love me? My father, whom I've needed all my life, wants to be involved in my life? But why eighteen years later? Why couldn't it have been sooner?
These past few weeks, I've only had to deal with drama at home, it really sucks. I miss my sixteenth birthday; I enjoyed that year so much. Now that I'm eighteen, I feel like my life is becoming even more dramatic and difficult.
I gather my painting materials and open the large window in my room, which I'm grateful to have. I felt like painting something, to clear my mind from everything that has happened from yesterday until now. It's really crazy.
I had communicated with Tracy and Zach before passing out in my bed so they wouldn't worry about me. Where have they gone? I haven't seen them in a long time.
I set up my materials in front of me, take a small canvas and place it on my lap for easier access. I take a brush with paint and start painting.
The cold of the night and the silence of the neighborhood was the best combination that could exist. I've been doing this for a year now. It's the best thing that has helped me clear my mind.
Mom had to leave for her shift in a few hours, which means I wouldn't see her for a while, which is good for me. The bad news is that I'll be here with David, but I won't set foot outside of my room.
Focused on my painting, I hear noises downstairs but outside of the house. I look down where the grass is, and I only see darkness. Strange things always sound outside, but I could swear I felt like someone had been walking.
Without giving it much thought, I continue with my work, concentrating, until a small stone lands on my painting, instantly damaging it as I drop the brush.
"Shit," I curse, looking at the small disaster I had made, but what worried me the most was that there was definitely a person watching me, and worse, they were inside my backyard.
"Hey hot stuff, here" I hear a deep voice.
A richly deep voice.
My heart starts pounding when I realize Harry was standing in front of my bedroom window, making it seem smaller than it is when he's close.
"W-what are you doing here?" I stammer, surprised.
I can distinguish a cheeky smile on him when, like a damn stalker, he has stairs to climb up to my room.
He's not serious, right?
As he starts climbing, I immediately get up to remove my things that were going to invade Harry's entry through my window. When I bring everything down to the bedroom floor, I look at Harry.
Suddenly his face appears in front of me, he was wearing a black coat, matching his coat with tight pants and Converse.
"Well, aren't you pretty, hot stuff," his eyes move to my white blouse, matching it with pajama shorts.
I blush and quickly look for something to cover myself. I grab a gray sweater from my closet. When I return, I see Harry looking around my room.
"How did you get here? How do you know I live here?" I furrow my brow, confused. Despite him being attractive, it's a little creepy that he knows where I live and that he's looking at me.
"For this," he takes out of his pocket the piece of white paper I had written for Niall this morning.
Oh, now i get it
I look at him surprised and then nod. I approach him sitting at the window now not knowing what to say after this. It felt a bit... uncomfortable atmosphere.
Harry sits in front of me and my eyes capture his as he looks at me. His eyes are so vibrant.
"Aren't you going to ask me exactly why I'm here?" he teases.
"I... yeah, why are you here?" I ask.
He sighs and looks around the neighborhood as he starts speaking. "I wanted to know if you had been taken home safe and sound," he shrugs.
"I'm fine," I simply respond still confused by his concern.
"Yeah, I can see, hey, want to go somewhere? I want to show you something," Harry suddenly spoke, his eyes now focused on me.
Why is he talking to me like we've been friends for a lifetime? I don't even know him. He makes me feel so nervous when he's near me that it's inexplicable. I still don't really understand what he wants from me.
But I'm going to find out.
"Well, where?" I ask.
"Oh, hot stuff, don't be boring, it's a surprise," he finally whispers mockingly and a smile appears making his dimples stand out on his face.
*****
I'll try to have the next chapter as soon as possible! As such I think now how did the story begin!! so I can't wait for what's coming.
It's like Harry is very quickly with her, right? everything has an explanation, trust me :))
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Chao - Bloom