"What do you mean you only gave her one drink?!" Harry shouts in another room.
Sound really travels in this apartment.
"I got her one cup of vodka when she came in! I honestly didn't give her anything else! I swear, man!" Another British accent yells back. Louis.
"That's not the point, Tomlinson. I would much rather you give her drinks than some random guy at a club." He sighs. "What happens if someone drugged her and you never found her stumbling to the washroom? Huh?!" Harry's voice raises higher with thoughts of losing me.
Does he care that much?
"And no, that does not give you permission to get her drunk," he adds harshly.
"Can you please chill out a little bit, man? You're going to wake up Aubrey if you don't quiet down."
"Who the fuck is Aubrey?" I can hear the hitch in Harry's breathing before he speaks again.
"Fuck, she gave us a different name, didn't she? That's why she said she hated me calling her Lea on the phone." I can practically hear the pieces clicking together in his mine. "Her name is Aubrey, then?"
"Yeah. Josh told me," Louis sighs.
"Wait. Josh was there, too? Why wasn't he with her?" Harry slams his fist down. "Why the hell wasn't anyone watching her! She was God damn plastered!" He yells, and the sound of glass shattering echoes down the hallway and into my room.
"You can't protect her that much, man. She has a life. And, it's not like she's yours or anything. She has her own free will. She doesn't need someone to watch her!"
"And what happens when that free will is destroyed when someone kidnaps her? Did you even hear the full story of when she came here?" Harry argues back in a less harsh tone. Somehow, this tone seems even deadlier.
"She got followed home, so she jumped over the fence. Simple enough," Louis sighs. Glass scrapes across the floor.
"No, not simple. Do you remember saying how high that fence was? Do you remember her crying, her screaming?"
Louis remains silent.
"It wasn't easy for her to get over that fence. She had to have been in a hell of a lot of danger to have the will to climb over a fence that high."
"She was screaming?" Louis asks.
"How else did you wake up, then?"
"Well, Zayn got up and he slammed his door shut, and -" Harry cuts off Louis.
"Hypothetical question, Louis," he spits.
"I woke up to her yelling. I heard her sobbing through the wall. When I walked in, the first thing she did was turning her head to hide her face from me. I went in to comfort her and she wouldn't stop crying. Her head was pressed so hard against me, trying to hold onto any bit of comfort she could. She was scared, so scared.
"You guys didn't see it, but I did. I saw how she reacted when the sound of the doorknob opening rang through the room. Her breathing stopped and she tried to hide herself, bury herself in me. She was so afraid. Someone did something to her.
"Someone did something bad enough to make her flinch at my touch, to want to disappear at the door opening, to want to drink her sorrows out and fuck some guy at the club. Something that makes her walk around with sunglasses and a bandana covering her face."
"I - I'm sorry, Harry..." Louis mumbles.
"I don't understand why I feel so strongly about protecting her. When I saw her crying, it broke my heart. It made me want to pull her to my chest and tell her that everything would be okay. She doesn't deserve whatever she's going through. She deserves peace," he mumbles.
"And don't tell me sorry. Tell her. I swear to god, Lou, if anything happens to her on your watch - I don't care if it wasn't your fault - I will not forgive you. This is the first girl I have genuinely liked that isn't self-obsessed, is famous, or just wants our money. You can tell by the way she acts, the way she talks around us. She doesn't hold anything back. She always tells the truth. So damn humble and honest," Harry leads off. "She's gorgeous, inside and out." I feel my jaw drop. Does he really think of me this way?
My heart flutters in my chest as Harry speaks again.
"I will not forgive you," He repeats, and all is silent but the evergrowing volume of footsteps down the hallway. I shut my jaw and close my eyes before Harry enters my room.
I suppose I'm putting on a good show, because Harry is silent as he walks over to my bed. I flinch just by how close he is. His shadow covers my body as he slowly tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. He whispers something inaudible and walks out of the room.
"I went in there and she flinched, man. She flinched in her fucking sleep. I am going to kill whatever mother fucking sick soul did this to her," Harry says from the kitchen, his voice filled with a deadly mix of concern and anger. Harsh, harsh anger.
"You don't know what happened, man." Louis voice echoes louder than before. Did Harry leave the door open?
As I start to think, I realize the terrible pounding in my head. The terrible, horrible pain of, bump. bump. bump. It feels as if someone is hitting me on the head with a chair without the bloody aftermath.
I open my eyes and sit up against the wall, before noticing Harry sitting in the corner of the room with his head in his hands. He looks so upset. He doesn't even look angry. He just looks... defeated.
"Are you okay?" I ask him, my voice rough from sleep. I ignore the pounding in my head to tend to him.
"You would ask that," he states numbly.
"Harry?" I say. The covers catch on my bare legs as I swing them over the side of the bed. Harry must have undressed me because I'm in a baggy t-shirt and panties.
I try to take a step forward but my head rushes, causing black spots to cover most of my vision.
"Careful!" He scolds as I notice he caught me. But, he was just over in that corner? I must still be tipsy.
"I'm okay. What's wrong?" I ask him.
"Stop asking me what's wrong, love. Does your head hurt?" My hand instinctively flies up to my temples and rubs softly, trying to soften the pain. My stomach flutters at his choice of words. I nod and he rushes out of the room.
"What are you doing?" Louis asks defensively. I hear a cupboard open and a bottle rattling.
"Those are mine, can't you give her Ibuprofen? They work fine enough."
"God, you are so selfish, Lou. She just woke up with a terrible fucking headache and you can't spare two fucking pills. You have all the money in the world, go buy more."
"You and I both know it's not like that." Louis defends himself quietly.
"What's it like, then?!" Harry yells and slams a bottle of pills on the counter. I shutter in fear, picking myself up and dragging myself to the washroom. "When is this going to be over?!"
I curl up in a ball in the corner after locking the door. I hear more muffled screams before a cupboard is slammed shut, and all is silent in the apartment of One Direction.
I drop my hands from my ears to wipe the tears dripping from my eyes. All this screaming brings back unwanted memories... and fear. Too much fear. Too much anger in this house. I need to get out.
A knock on the door stops my heart, and it takes a moment to restart it.
"Aubrey?" Harry says softly. How could he just switch emotions that fast? It's not normal...
"Aubrey, please open the door. I have some medicine for your headache."
"I would like to go home, Harry," I say as stable and strong as I can. There are no hints of tears in my words.
"Okay." He mumbles something else that I miss. "You'll need to come out of the washroom first, unless there's some door to outside in there that I don't know about."
The corners of my lips curl up, and I try to not respond. I fail terribly as a laugh escapes my lips, followed my Harry's hearty chuckle. He acts so different when he's around me.
I get up off the washroom floor and turn the doorknob, facing Harry. He holds a glass of water and two pills in his hand.
"For your headache?" He asks, hesitant to give it to me as if it would set something off in me. I nod and take the glass from his hand before downing the two pills.
"Do you have my clothes?"
He tries to hide his blush as we both remember that Harry most likely undressed me.
"Well, I do, but they're in the laundry because, well, they had some, uh-"
"-Puke. I know. I remember about half of what happened last night. Is there anything else I can wear then?" As soon as I ask him, he moves over to the dresser and pull out a pair of leggings and tosses it to me. Then, he leaves the room for a moment, only to return with a grey, baggy sweater. "I'm sorry about your shoes. Are they ruined?"
"Yeah," he chuckles. "It's okay though. I can just buy a new pair."
"No, I'll buy them. How much are they? Tell me how much and I'll give you the money," I insist.
"Aubrey, trust me. I'll buy them."
"Harry, just tell me how much."
"Four thousand."
"Four thousand dollars? Oh my God, I feel awful," I mumble. "I'm so sorry, Harry."
He smiles at me. "It's okay, honestly. I'm honoured to be your victim. I'm rich, baby, remember? It will barely make a mark in my bank account." His smile grows wider.
I roll my eyes and huff. "Fine. I'm going to change now, so if you'll please..."
"I'll leave you be, then," he says and slips out of the room, silently closing the door behind him.
I tug the t-shirt over my head and place it on the bed before pulling on the leggings and sweater. Well, I tried to pull on the sweater, but somehow managed to get myself tangled during the process. The sweater drops just low enough to reach the bottom of my bra, but won't go any lower.
"Hey, um, Harry?" I yell out.
"Yea? Can I come in?"
"Yep." He walks in and immediately turns on his heel as soon as he sees I'm indecent. "I'm a little stuck, could you please help me?"
He seems a little shocked as he turns around and walks to me. I don't know how, but he untangles my arms and hair from the sweater before tugging it down.
"Thank you," I say with a geniune smile. "Really, thank you, Harry. I felt like absolute shit this morning, but you really helped. And if you hadn't been there last night, I don't know where I'd have ended up."
"It's really not a big deal. I am always, always, going to be here if you need me," he says. "I want to be the first person you call if you're drunk, if you're in trouble, or even if you can't decide what sweater to wear. Okay?" Harry looks straight into my eyes to make sure I understand. I nod.
"Where'd you get those clothes?"
"Well, I hope you don't mind, but I checked your sizes before washing your clothes. I ordered a little bit of everything in your size," he admits sheepishly with a shrug. I can feel my eyes bugging out of my face.
"You what?!" He tries his best to not smile but it slips. "Stop smiling! That is so creepy, Harry! That was the first time you saw me!"
"And I knew that moment it wouldn't be the last," he murmurs.
I blush.
"Hey, at least you have clothes here, yeah?" He says, pulling his curls out of his face. I shrug.
I walk up to Harry and wrap my arms around his warm torso, pulling my body to his. I nuzzle my head in his chest and sigh.
"I really do appreciate it, Harry. Thanks for helping me out, with everything. I might not've made it home without you." I press my lips to his shirt and his breathing increases.
"Thank you," I repeat, staring up at him through my lashes. I smile and his faces splits with one of his own, his face shining.
"I have to go home now," I sigh. I detach my arms from Harry and walk around Harry and walk into the hallway.
The delicious smell of sizzling bacon wafts through the air and hits me like brick, my tastebuds screaming in my mouth.
"Smells good, Lou. Thank you for taking care of me last night." I smile at him and place my glass in the sink before hopping down a few steps.
"It's no biggy. You should be more careful, though. You could've been drugged or gotten-"
"Spare me the lecture. I already got the gist of it while you guys were screaming your heads off this morning," I scold him. He hangs his head in shame at the same time as Harry walks in.
"You... you heard that?" Louis asks me quietly. I nod and turn around.
I hear Harry walk into the room behind me. Whipping around, I point my finger at him with a frown.
"Both of you need to stop it. Right now. You have to stop fighting and apologize." Neither of them say anything. "How about this. If you don't apologize and pat each other on the back, I don't think I'll be coming back any time soon."
By the time I'm finished talking, the two of each other are tangled together, rolling their eyes but looking semi-comfortable.
"Bye, Harry!" I yell and exit their apartment after grabbing my sunglass.
I quickly find my way to the lobby and open the doors, the crowd of people once again proving the fame of the boys I just spoke to moments ago.
"Leanna! What happened last night!" One woman yells at me. I duck my head down and push my way through the crowd.
"Leanna, who's Josh and why was he so upset?"
"What's going on between you and Harry? Is there something between you and Louis?"
"Which one of the boys are you sleeping with?"
All they're interested in is seeing who I slept with. I try to keep my cool as I walk down the sidewalk with paparazzi and fans on my planks.
"Leanna, talk to us! Give us some dirty details of last night! Was it Louis? Or was it Harry?" The same woman from before asks me. "Come on!" She tells me over the blinding flash of the cameras.
"Is Harry better than Louis in bed? Have you had better than-"
"My God!" I yell at her, completely cutting her off. "I did not sleep with one of them! Stop assuming stuff you don't know! I am not the kind of girl who just sluts around with everyone and anyone. I couldn't care less what type of reputation the boys have. I don't care if they're famous, they're my friends. Just leave me alone!" I scream at the woman. Then, I realize the whole thing was probably got on tape. Shit.
I mutter a few curse words and continue to walk forward. Most of the groups has broken off after I started screaming, afraid of what I might say next. A few muttered unkind words before leaving.
I tuck my hands into the pocket of Harry's sweater before picking up the pace and turning onto the next street.
Soon enough, no one is following me. I turn down the deserted road to my apartment and whistle to myself along the way.