This is a nice long chapter (: ENJOY!
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Louis’s POV
Brianna was pretty drunk when she ditched me on the dance floor. She said she’d wanted to go get another drink. I knew I should have stopped her, but something stopped me, what I don’t know exactly. I went back to our table where I was now the only one. I sat with my beer in my hand, just thinking.
“Hey man, come and dance with us.” Harry approached from the dance floor, sweat trickling down his face. “You look like you need to let loose.” He grabbed my beer out of my hand and left it on the table, dragging me towards Holly and the other boys on the dance floor. I danced for a bit with them but I started to worry. Where had Brianna gone? And why had she been so upset when she’d arrived? She hadn’t told me anything, other than that she wasn’t feeling well. That had obviously been a lie, she’d automatically started to drink and have a good time. I had a feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me… “Louis at least look like you’re having a good time mate.” Zayn shouted at me over the music.
“Have you seen Brianna?” I asked, avoiding his comment. He shrugged,
“I last saw her with you, what’d you do?”
“Nothing! She just said she wanted to get another drink and then never came back…”
“Maybe she’s dancing somewhere else.” I nodded at him, though not convinced. Something was definitely wrong here. I nudged my way through the dancing mob of people towards Holly and Liam.
“Hey Hol can I talk to you?” I shout.
“Yeah sure.” She grabs my hand and the two of us head back to our booth. We’re both a bit surprised however to find Niall and some girl making out in it. I clear my throat to get their attention. Niall looks up, blushing profusely.
“Er.. uhh sorry guys. Vanessa let’s um… go somewhere else.” He grabs the girl by the hand and leads her away from the booth.
“So what’s up Louis? You look a little freaked out.”
“What happened to Brianna before you guys got here?” Holly’s face pales a bit.
“Nothing why?” I give her a stern look,
“Don’t lie to me Holly. Something’s wrong and now Brianna has disappeared and I’m worried. I need you to tell me what happened earlier.”
“Wait she’s gone?” she asks, her voice getting higher with worry.
“She ditched me after we danced a bit, said she wanted to get another drink and then she never came back to dance.”
“Oh my god. No. No no no no. Shit.” She crossed her arms on top of the table and rested her head on top of her arms.
“Hol. Seriously what happened before you guys got here.” I said reaching out and squeezing her hand. She sniffed, obviously holding herself from crying.
“Matt. He, he showed up and I was like you better leave her alone and he was like I will, for now. Oh my god Louis what have I done. This is the second time I’ve gotten her into a horrible situation. Both of them ending up with Matt on the other end. What am I going to do? I’m such an awful friend.” She was sobbing now. I scooted myself towards her and let her cry on my shoulder.
“Hey you know what. We’re gonna find her okay? Let’s go. C’mon, we need to find the other guys.” I took her hand and gave it another reassuring squeeze before we made our way to the dance floor. Thankfully the boys weren’t too hard to find. Harry making a fool of himself was the easiest to spot and wherever one boy was, the other three were. I quickly informed them of what was going on and we all headed to the bar.
“Hey did you see a girl come here and order a drink? She’s got brown curly hair, blue eyes, wearing a red lacy type dress?” I asked the bartender.
“Yeah I seen her.” He said and went back to cleaning beer glasses.
“Well did you want to tell us where she went?” Liam interjected, giving the bartender a stern look.
“Well you didn’t ask that.”
“Look here jackass. Our friend is missing; she came and ordered a drink here. Now you tell us what happened to her or you’re gonna be sorry.” We all ganged up behind Liam, making ourselves look tough, hopefully getting an answer out of the guy.
“Okay geez. Some guy took off with her, back that way.” He pointed towards a back door to the club. We all headed for the door, not bothering to thank that ass of guy. Liam bust the door down, leading us into an alley, a dead end alley that is. I could hear someone crying, I turned towards the noise to see Brianna crumpled on the ground sobbing.
“Guys she’s over here!” I shouted running towards her. But I was stopped by a punch in the face. I hit the pavement hard, my vision going blurry for a moment before I regained myself. I lugged myself off the pavement to see Matt heading for Liam.
“WHAT THE FUCK MAN!? CAN’T YOU JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY? WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!?” I screamed launching myself onto Matt’s back and tackling him to the ground.
“You again?! This should be fun. What do you want me to damage this time?” That son of a bitch. I punched him square in the face, his head hitting the pavement from the force of my hit. He moaned in pain but I kept going at him. I don’t know how many times I punched him before Liam and Harry pulled me off him.
“Louis, man calm down. You’ve done enough damage. The cops are on their way. They can take care of him.”
“How can I calm down when he’s done so much shit to Brianna!? She doesn’t deserve it!”
“Maybe instead of focusing on beating the shit out of him, you should focus on Brianna lying on the ground over there.” Harry said nodding towards where Holly sat with Brianna’s head in her lap. I jogged over to her and picked Brianna up, out of Holly’s lap and back over to where the boys were standing, giving statements about what happened to the cops.
“Yeah here he is.” Zayn says to the cop, “Lou this guy needs your statement.” I nod, placing Brianna in his arms as I approach the cop.
“Sir.” I say nodding at him.
“Name?”
“Louis Tomlinson.”
“And what exactly happened here tonight?”
“Well the guy that you’re taking away, Matt? He’s my girlfriend’s ex.” Did I just call her my girlfriend? Huh, I like the way that sounded, “Erm anyway, he was abusive to her in the past. We had had a recent run in with him where he gave me a concussion and kidnapped Brianna. She escaped but she had a broken collarbone. And anyway he showed up again here tonight, threatening to get her. He took her from the club out here and did God knows what to her. We came out to find her crumpled in a ball over there in that corner and him walking back to the door right there. I basically beat the shit out of him for what he’s done to Brianna and then you guys showed up so… yeah.” The cop was furiously scribbling down notes on his notepad.
“Erm thank you Mr. Tomlinson. We’ll be in touch about what will happen with Mr. – erm what did you say his name was again?”
“Matt.”
“Right. Okay thanks again.” I walked back to our little group. Holly was crying into Liam’s chest and Brianna’s body had now been passed into the arms of Niall.
“Here I’ll take her. Let’s just… go home.” The six of us walked out to our cars in silence.
“Here Hol, I’ll take Brianna home and stay with her. You go home with Liam and the guys okay?” she nodded solemnly and handed me Brianna’s purse. I awkwardly fumbled through it looking for her keys while trying not to drop her at the same time. I finally got to them and unlocked the car, gently placing Brianna in the passenger side. I hadn’t even made it out of the parking lot when I realized I didn’t know how to get her home… I knew how to get to her house from ours, but not from the club. “Damn it.” I cursed under my breath, grabbing my phone and dialing Holly.
“Louis? Are you okay?”
“Huh? Yeah I’m fine, it’s just… I don’t know how to get to Bri’s house from here…”
“Oh yeah. I didn’t think of that. Okay well you’re gonna take a right out of the parking lot and then a left onto…” Holly thankfully stayed on the phone with me all the way to Brianna’s house.
“Thanks Hol. See ya tomorrow?” I said turning the car off.
“Yup I’ll be here.”
“Alright bye.”
“Bye Lou.” I now had another problem on my hands… how the hell was I going to get Brianna inside without waking up her parents? Plus judging by the way Brianna looked right now; they’d hammer me with a ton of questions that I was definitely not in the mood to answer. Then it hit me. The roof. I’d climbed up there before; I just had to hope that Brianna didn’t lock her windows. I picked her up out of the car, closing the door behind me as quietly as possible. I made my way around the back of her house. I’d climbed the tree to get up there last time. There was no way I was gonna be able to make it up there with her in my arms.
“Matt get off me!” she shouted. I slapped my hand over her mouth, hoping she hadn’t woken up her parents.
“Shhh Bri it’s me, Louis.”
“Oh Louis thank goodness.” She said, beginning to cry. We’d have to get inside a bit later. I sat down with my back to the tree, Brianna sitting in my lap.
“Hey, shh you’re okay. You’re safe now.” I said stroking her hair.
“That’s what Holly said when we saw him before we went into the club and now look what happened.” She sobbed even harder.
“What did happen? All we saw was you lying the street and Matt making his way back inside.”
“I – I, he… he” she sniffed, “he raped me.” She spoke so quietly I almost didn’t hear it.
“He what!?” now it was her turn to shush me. “That son of a bitch. I’m gonna – I’m gonna get him.”
“No you won’t. He’ll just beat you up even worse than last time.”
“But he can’t get away with that! You’ll have to go to the police.”
“What’s the use? He’ll just get away.” I grinned at her, knowing full well that he wasn’t getting away any time soon. “What are you smiling about?”
“Zayn called the police on him earlier tonight when I was beating him up. They’ve arrested him and we’ve all given statements… except for you.” I’d never seen Brianna smile so big before. She wrapped me in a bone crushing hug.
“Thank you.” She whispered in my ear, her breath tickling my skin.
“Yeah… we should probably get you upstairs. I thought we should go up the roof way so we don’t wake up your parents. Here I’ll start up first and then help you okay?” I grabbed the lowest branch, pulling myself up to sit on it. I reached my arm down and pulled Brianna up with me. We went on like that until we’d finally made it on the roof. Brianna led me over to her window, which she thankfully didn’t lock. “You’re okay right?” I asked, beginning to head back out the back.
“Louis wait.” I turned, halfway out of the window already.
“Yeah?” I prodded her.
“Why don’t you just stay here tonight? I mean you don’t have a car and I wouldn’t want you to walk all the way back in the middle of the night…”
“You’re sure?” she nodded sheepishly.
“Okay.” I said, climbing back inside. “We should clean you up…” I said reaching up and rubbing my fingers lightly over the newly forming bruises on her face. I grabbed her washcloth from the bathroom and gently rubbed he blood and grime off her face. When I’d finished I smiled at her, “Beautiful as always.” She blushed, turning her attention to the floor.
“Umm Lou do you mind, y’know, turning around while I change?”
“Oh yeah no problem.” I said turning to face the wall. I heard her climbing into bed.
“Okay I’m good now.” She said. I climbed onto her bed with her. She rested her head on my chest and I began stroking her hair again. There was something about it that was soothing. I hadn’t realized I begun to sing until Brianna started humming along sleepily. Soon her humming stopped and her breathing got deeper, indicating that she’d fallen asleep. Not long after that I too was engulfed by the darkness of sleep.
Liam’s POV
I had to drive us all home, since I was the only one who hadn’t had a drink that night. Holly sat next to me in the passenger seat; the boys had passed out in the back. Holly was still shaken about what happened earlier with Matt, I could see it in her eyes.
“Hol… do you – do you want to talk about it?” she shook her head, and turned to face the window. I didn’t pressure her anymore, just took her hand, entwining our fingers. “Well you know I’m here if you want to talk.” I turned my attention back to the road. Holly didn’t answer, leaving the rest of the car ride in a bit of an awkward silence. When we’d arrived at our complex, I ended up having to carry Harry inside because he was so drunk. I couldn’t even shake him awake. Thankfully Zayn and Niall woke up and could manage getting themselves inside. I dropped Harry off at his flat and met Holly back in the hallway. When we got inside, Holly headed straight for the shower. I decided I’d shower in the morning, and grabbed a clean pair of boxers out of my drawer.
“Liam…? Can you grab my pajamas for me?” Holly shouts from the bathroom.
“Yeah one sec.” I grab her shorts and sports bra off the bed where she’d left them and put them on the counter for her. “They’re on the counter.” I shout over the noise of the shower.
“Thanks!” she yells back. I plop onto the bed, taken by a sudden wave of tiredness. I barely have enough energy to give Holly a kiss goodnight when she’s come back from the shower.
“Night love.” I manage before I drift off to sleep.
Holly’s POV
Liam’s just fallen asleep, but I’m wide awake. I lay staring up at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened tonight. It’s like déjà vu, me being stupid and then Brianna getting hurt by Matt. I’m such a horrible friend. I’m so tempted to wake Liam up and talk to him, but he was so tired when we came home that I think better of it. I throw the sheets off me and make my way to the kitchen. I grab a glass of water and try and distract my thoughts by watching TV. I finally settle on watching That 70’s Show, curling up on the couch with a blanket. I don’t know how long I’ve sat there before I hear something moving. I quickly mute the TV, scared that someone’s breaking in. The front door opens to reveal… Niall.
“Niall.” I shout-whisper, “what are you doing?!” He shuffles towards me and sits down.
“Couldn’t sleep.” He sounds much more sober than he did on the ride home, “I usually come to Liam’s when I can’t sleep.”
“Oh. Well I can’t either, but Liam’s totally passed out so he won’t be of much help.”
“Hmm. Well why can’t you sleep? I can’t because I have the most awful headache right now. It keeps waking me up.”
“Do you want some Advil?” I offer. He nods slightly, trying not to worsen his headache. I quickly run to the bathroom and grab the bottle of pills out of the medicine cabinet. I hand him two of the small tablets and my glass of water. He takes the gratefully, setting the glass on the coffee table.
“So what’s keeping you awake then?” he asks again. I sigh,
“It’s just everything that’s happened tonight. That’s the second time that my stupidity has gotten Brianna hurt.” I can feel tears pricking at the backs of my eyes. I sniff trying to hold them back. Niall puts his arm around my shoulders and lets me cry into his t-shirt. When I’ve cried myself dry, I look back at Niall and smile a bit. “Looks like I’ve ruined your t-shirt.” I laugh.
“Nahh I never liked this one anyway.” He smiles at me.
“You really are a great friend, thanks for… thanks for listening.”
“Anytime.”
“You should probably go back to your flat and get some sleep.” I suggest.
“I should but I’m too lazy to get up and walk all the way back there.”
“Your flat is right across the hall you bum!” I joke.
“And it’s such a long walk!” he whines.
“Haha okay fine I guess you can stay. Wanna watch some TV? You did interrupt my That 70’s Show marathon.” I say unmuting the TV. The two of us sit like that watching TV until I feel my eyelids drooping.
“Hey Niall?” I ask.
“Yeah?”
“Who was that girl you were making out with earlier?” I poke his arm playfully.
“Oh,” he smiles a bit dreamily, “that’s Vanessa.”
“Niall’s got a girlfriend.” I tease, my voice deepening sleepily.
“Nah not yet, but I did get her number.” He smiles proudly. I chuckle to myself.
“I wanna meet he-“ I never finish because I was drowned in the darkness of sleep.