The moment I opened my front door Harry barged in, engulfing me in a giant hug. I melted into his warmth, my whole body comforted simply by his presence. We stood in our embrace for an eternal length of time. The only distraction that caught my attention was my mum hobbling down the stairs and coughing purposefully.
I pulled away to glance at her. She was getting dressed up to go and see Roger again and she had been pestering me since the moment I arrived home to help her get prepared.
I just wasn't in the mood.
'Mummy Wendy,' Harry laughed, appraising her outfit with a raised eyebrow. She was wearing black leather dress and a sparkling statement necklace. Her hair was curled precisely around her face. She looked beautiful, especially for her age but I didn't have the energy to tell her.
'Harry darling, finally somebody who will give me the time of day,' she exclaimed forcefully, her eyes piercing into mine. I shrugged and stalked into the living, not giving a damn about how rude I was being.
After a few more moments of chatting, Harry trailed in and perched beside me on the sofa.
'Come on Daisy, what's been going on?' I turned to look at him. Properly. His curly mop of hair was styled up into a quiff and his skin had a radiant glow. He seemed so happy and carefree; I couldn't ruin it by telling him the truth.
'I don't know,' I mumbled, my gaze refusing to settle on his emerald eyes. I heard him sigh and I could almost imagine how he lips would be pursed in thought.
'I should be furious at you,' he said suddenly, his voice lost in thought, 'but I'm not. Do you want to know why?'
His question threw me slightly and I allowed my face to turn to him, a frown etched into my skin.
'Because I know you so well Daisy and I can tell that something is up. You never ditch us and you certainly never run off for days on end without contact. It's to do with Niall, I know that much,' he ran a hand through his hair, tousling it.
I nodded mutely, my mind unable to form a sentence to reassure him I was fine. He would see right through it anyway.
'If you ever need to speak to me I'm here,' he urged, settling his arm around my neck and pulling me back towards him. 'I know you have Lily and the girls for all your other business but I will always listen to you.'
I felt the tears well up in my eyes and I blinked rapidly. How had I gotten so lucky to be blessed with a best friend like Harry?
'Harry I wish I could tell you everything but I can't,' I whispered my grip on him tightening.
'Is it about Robbie?' He asked, his hand rubbing my back soothingly.
'Yes,' I mumbled into his red sweatshirt. I was such a coward.
'Are you in danger?' He breathed. I pondered his question. In the literal sense of the word, I was in grave danger however I knew that with Niall and the gang around I would always be kept safe.
Niall.
My heart seized and I fought against the memories of the day thus far and answered Harry's question.
'Not really, no.'
'Will you really not tell me?' He grumbled in defeat.
'One day you will know. When I fully understand, you will too,' I promised. That was only fair. Until I had gotten to the bottom of the mystery myself it was pointless muddling Harry up in it all.
'Alright, I'll take that,' he chuckled before checking his watch. 'You still up for today?'
Shit, I'd forgotten. The guys had invited both Niall and I to the cinema. In all honesty, with the events of the past few hours it had completely slipped my memory.
'Yeah sure, when are we leaving?' I muttered, leaning back and scrubbing my eyes. I was pretty sure I looked a state but at least I had changed into a more suitable outfit. That is if you can call leggings and a baggy jumper a suitable outfit.
'Cool, I'll let everybody know.'
Whilst Harry busied himself with organizing the day and most probably forewarning them all of my foul mood, I allowed my mind to be transported back to Niall and how the lingering truth of the situation had yet to be revealed.
~~~~~~
Just like Harry had, Lily rushed to pull me into a friendly hug the moment I came into view. I couldn't help the smile that toyed on my lips at her actions. She looked gorgeous as usual and I had no doubt that that had to do with Louis who stood hovering away from us awkwardly.
Clearly things were working out.
My throat felt tight as my eyes slipped over the faces of all of my friends who stood chattering and giggling by the cinema entrance. How had I let myself get so far from them in such a short space of time?
As Lily pulled away she squeezed my shoulders affectionately, a worried expression on her face.
'Daisy are you okay?' I guess I'd have to get used to the constant questioning about how I was feeling. I'm sure everyone would be concerned.
'I'm alright, how are you?'
'Fine, fine,' she brushed off my question hurriedly, her eyes unconvinced about my answer.
'Harry told me something was wrong,' she admitted, smiling lifelessly.
'Everything's fine Lily, I just don't feel myself,' I cast my eyes to look at a near-by bus shelter, anything other than having to look into her innocent and curious eyes. A bunch of people stood, lining up to get on the bus. One person in particular caught my eye.
A boy, no older than me was leant against the frame of the shelter, his gaze fixed upon me, a steely look in his grey eyes. I instantly recognized him but I couldn't put my finger on it. He was quite short and had a tuft of blonde hair was showing under his hood.
I could feel my face contort into a frown, our eyes never leaving each other’s.
'Daisy!' Lily snapped her fingers in my face and I jolted back to reality.
'Err pardon?' I muttered, brushing my windswept hair from my face woodenly.
'Maybe you should head home,' her voice was laced with worry but I plastered a smile on my face in reassurance.
'Don't be silly I'm fine,' I peeked back over to the boy. Sure enough he was stood in the same position except now his eyes were trained in on my group of friends. My eyebrows furrowed.
I assessed them all carefully. Everybody was seemingly engrossed in a conversation. All except Katie. Just like the other night her attention was fixed solely on her phone. Almost as though she wanted to be anywhere but here with us.
My eyes shot back to the boy, but he was gone.
I shuddered.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Louis start to edge towards us. He was also eyeing the spot where the boy had been standing mere moments ago and his movements seemed frantic.
'Come on girls, let's get inside,' he suggested. Lily linked her arm through mine and steered me towards the cinema, completely bypassing everybody who each shouted some form of greeting at my figure.
Louis was hot on our heels.
'Daisy!' Charlie's husky voice called and I rotated my head to see him jogging towards me.
'Alright Charlie?' I asked and he nodded, a coy smirk on his lips.
'You never come out with us anymore,' Khye whined, coming to stand behind him.
'I came out with you like two days ago,' I rolled my eyes and shoved at Khye's shoulder as he attempted to squeeze me into a hug.
Ruby came skipping over, a cheery grin plastered on her face. Katie shuffled along behind.
'Liam couldn't make it today,' Ruby informed me with a pout and I cooed at her, reaching my hand out to pinch her cheek.
'Don't worry, you'll see him again soon,' I teased her and Lily giggled.
'Anyway, yes I'm fine thanks,' Charlie interrupted; he was watching Katie out of the corner of her eye. She had yet to tear her gaze away from her phone. He sighed loudly before smiling at me again.
'Is it possible to have missed you all?' I asked jokily and Harry boomed a laugh.
'Yes, yes it is,' Louis inputted. A crimson colour tinted Lily's cheek as he spoke and I held in a smile.
'Well, all I can say is that I'm bored and hungry standing around,' Jake moaned and I squealed.
'Jakie pie,' I chuckled and Harry pulled him into a hug.
'I've missed you,' Jake said emotionlessly. 'But I'm hungry so basically right now, I don't care.'
Charlie tutted and turned to study the cinema times.
'Right, the first showing starts in twenty minutes so we'll get that,' he decided and a murmur of agreement washed around the group.
We seemed slightly short in numbers considering how many people had been sat around the table at Nando's but I tried to divert my thoughts away from that. Really in my mind, the only person truly missing was Niall.
Oh.
Wait.
‘Where are Bella and Zayn?' I asked curiously, my eyes flitting between Charlie, Harry and Lily who were all standing closest to me.
'Couldn't make it,' Charlie mumbled with a careless shrug. He twiddled with the wallet in his hands and Lily suddenly became intrigued by the hem of Louis' shirt.
'Don't just lie to her,' Ruby all but shrieked in annoyance. 'Don't be a bloody coward and tell her the truth.'
My stomach plummeted.
What was going on? Was Bella okay? Was she hurt?
My eyes locked onto everyone in the group frantically, searching for the answers I deserved.
Khye blushed as I caught his gaze and his mouth parted. I leant forward eagerly, preparing myself for her the worst when Harry cut in.
'Zayn and Robbie are best friends Daisy,' he stated and swallowed hard. I narrowed my eyes.
'So?' I questioned and they all shared a look as if to point out that I was missing the obvious.
Charlie huffed and took my hand softly, leading me over to a corner so we had the chance to talk in private.
Katie suddenly slipped her phone into her jean pocket and started to chat to Ruby, Harry and Jake animatedly. I felt uneasy.
'Daisy...' I turned to stare up at Charlie innocently, his chocolate brown eyes boring into my own. 'Zayn hates you.'
His blunt sentence took me off guard. I laughed shortly.
'That's funny to you?' He asked in bewilderment and I shrugged.
'Not at all, I just feel like I'm missing out on a lot of information.'
Okay, so Zayn hates me. I guess that's fair enough; I mean, I kinda guessed that he would eventually anyway. I'm not upset by the fact that he clearly doesn't want to be in my presence. If the roles were reversed I'm pretty certain the feeling would be mutual.
However, that then leads to my next question. Why wasn't Bella here?
I knew her and Zayn had a thing going on but as far as I was aware they weren't actually official yet. Either she has coincidentally caught a virus and was unable to attend today due to illness or she's decided not to come in order to support Zayn. If the latter is the correct answer then I was left slightly puzzled as to why she would pick a boy she has known no longer than a month above her best friend since forever.
Charlie waved a hand in front of my face to snap back my attention. I really needed to stop zoning out.
'I can tell you all I know,' he promised and I sighed, my eyes briefly running across the empty lobby we were stood in.
I could have just asked about Bella but in actual fact, the one thing that had been bugging me the most was Katie.
Her and Bella were extremely close but that still didn't explain her bizarre behavior. If Lily for whatever reason chose to hate on somebody in our group I wouldn't bother coming if it was going to ruin my own time with everyone.
Katie was glued to her phone and had yet to speak to anyone, which is highly unusual. If she feels uncomfortable being around me and if Zayn and possibly Bella dislike me then she shouldn't bother coming. Especially if she's going to make her dislike apparent.
I'm certain the boy at the bus stop was staring over at her in particular. I'm also certain that Louis was also aware of him and seemed as though he was desperate to remove Lily and myself from his angry glare.
I shoved all of my questions aside and beamed at Charlie.
'I don't want to know anything yet,' I decided and he nodded in understanding.
'Well Dais, if you ever do, don't hesitant to ask,' he concluded with a smirk before leading me over to the food queue.
'Where's Niall?' Lily asked, her and Louis coming to stand by my side.
'It's a long story,' I dismissed her question and delved hungrily into the box of popcorn Ruby brought over.
'I think he's a bit delayed,' Ruby said, her voice muffled by the sheer amount of popcorn in her mouth.
'You are vile,' Jake joked coming to stand beside me.
'Rude,' Ruby gasped before pelting him with pieces of popcorn.
'Your drink Daisy,' Louis said, handing me a bottle of coke whilst I laughed at the scene before me.
It felt good to laugh.
I had successfully barricaded away my feelings and memories both of Niall and the events of the past few days. I felt invincible.
My heart ached but I refused to let it overcome me. I was too strong to be ruined by the boy who was inches away from stealing my love completely.
Suddenly something clicked.
'Ruby,' I called in distress. Everyone's attention shot to me instantly. Even Katie tore herself away from her phone screen to assess my face.
'Yes?' She answered, her voice trembling slightly. Charlie came striding around the group to grab my arm. He rubbed it soothingly whilst I found the energy to ask her my question. My throat felt like sandpaper.
'What do you mean that you think Niall is delayed?' I forced the words to come out and her face relaxed slightly. I wonder what she had been expecting.
'He messaged us all a few minutes ago to let us know he'd be a few minutes late,' she replied with a shrug. My fists clenched by my sides. Harry's eyes flickered to my hands and he shook his head at me sternly.
The only thing that kept me from bolting out the door was Charlie's comforting grip.
'Daisy what's wrong?' Louis asked sharply, his eyes burning into me. He was edgy as well.
A look of understanding was shared between us and I blinked, my heart constricting.
'I saw him too,' I said directly to Louis whose eyebrows rose in relief. Everyone around us frowned in confusion. Perhaps it really was only me and Louis who at seen the familiar boy at the bus stop.
Katie's head shot up again. This didn't go unnoticed by Louis who took a steadying breath and motioned his head in her direction.
I nodded and shot him a warning look, waiting his response.
'At least I wasn't the only one,' a voice said and I felt my body tense. All colour seemingly drained from my face and Charlie's grip on my arm intensified.
As I studied the faces of my friends, every single one of them held a small smile for the presence behind me. Except for Katie.
Something was wrong.
I knew the voice.
I knew the voice but I had no intention of putting a face to it.
I knew for certain that something incredibly worrying was happening and a storm was brewing amongst the calm I had built up for myself. This scared me senseless.
Slowly, as the walls that I had built up around my humanity crumbled into a heap in the pit of my stomach. Every last ounce of courage and fight I had in me evaporated in the heat of body, nothing could go right.
Zayn hated me. Bella probably held some kind of dislike towards me. I felt as though Katie was plotting against me. Robbie could still be bleeding to death on the floor of his apartment thanks to me. And I didn't like my mum's new boyfriend.
With the weight of the world resting on my shoulders, I spun on my heel and ran in the only direction where I knew I could release some of my problems.
The toilets.
-------------------------------------------
Finally an update yayyyy (:
Okay so somehow Zayn has found out about everything that happened between Daisy, Niall and Robbie and therefore is hating on her. Which I think is fair considering they are best friends.
The rest is to be revealed.
xxx