There were two people stuck in the burning building of the apartments.
Arlo and another person who we later discovered was the little girl a floor down from us, the one who always lent Arlo her pink bicycle was trapped inside the flames.
"My baby- she's in there! Please- you have to do something! Anything!" A dark skinned, ebony woman sobbed, hugging her cardigan to her shaking body as she desperately pleaded to the officers around her, frantically pointing at the flaming building and clutching onto them in utter hysteria as they tried to calm her.
It was as if I was watching everything in slow motion through an out of body experience, watching myself stand there among the chaos and moving people, staring at the fire that was eating up my home and trapping one of my closest friends and youngest tenant.
Someone placed a hand on my shoulder, turning my pale face to look at them as Harry's green eyes bored straight through mine, my gaze falling to his lips that were moving but his words seemed to echo in the background, drowned out by the crackle of the fire and instructions of the firemen as he framed my stunned, disoriented face with his hands.
I wasn't fully aware that I was talking too, responding back as I found my arm move on it's own, slowly rising and pointing at the burning building in front of us before the name left my lips.
"Arlo."
Harry blinked, and soon his expression morphed into something similar to my own as he slowly released me in disbelief.
With the way Harry maltreated his brother one would question if he truly cared for his twin.
But the initial fear and panic that appeared over his features was a confirmation of just how much Arlo really meant to him, no matter how much he tried to hide it.
Still standing there in shock among the utter chaos I watched Harry attempt to turn and run towards the crackling building, yelling, shouting at the men and police officers who quickly stopped him from going in, holding him back as he kicked and struggled.
"That's my brother! Let me go my brother's in there!" Harry's desperate voice finally snapped me back out of my dazed mindset, the ringing in my ear seizing completely and the slow motion of the entire world resuming back to it's normal speed.
There was a sudden shriek that brought everyone's attention to the third floor, high up on the burning building where the silhouette of a man holding a small body appeared through the thick smoke.
The fire was becoming bigger, stronger and the water from the hoses seemed to do nothing to tame the flames as Harry and I stopped, everyone aside from the police officers and firemen completely pausing in horror as we watched Arlo, face covered in ash and skin red with serious burns as he cradled the limp body of a child to him.
We watched the ladder against the building to the window where Arlo and the little girl were become engulfed in flames and I found my legs moving before I could stop myself, getting closer to the building and bringing my arms up, as if ready to catch any of the two, from the small kid to Arlo's tall six foot frame.
Obviously I wasn't thinking clearly, or at all but I couldn't just stand there and watch.
Harry must have thought the same thing because I felt his shoulder brush mine, making me realizing he was standing besides me, the both of us looking up arms raised as if ready to catch whoever would fall.
In conclusion, Harry and I both looked like dumbasses with open arms in front of a burning building below the third window, standing side by side.
And then, the little girl's mom joined us on my other side.
The officers attempted to usher us away but only more and more tenants that have lived in my building for decades followed our actions, creating a large crowd in front of the building, all of us with arms raised creating a male shift net for who ever would fall just in case.
We were all looking up, preparing for the worst, from the elderly residents to the young large muscled body builder residents right in the middle to help receive the biggest blow if anyone fell down from the apartments.
And someone did.
Some people screamed in alarm or maybe even in preparation at the sight of the small, passed out girl falling out of the window, everyone -even the officers all gathering together to form some type of safety net, our arms and hands reaching up higher in anticipation as we watched the child fall before we caught her, a hundred hands taking the impact of the fall and holding her up before she could hit the concrete floor.
The mother of the little girl immediately received her child, the crowd carrying the small kid like a gentle wave into her arms as she sobbed in relief and joy, cradling her daughter and hugging her close as the paramedics attended her.
Next was Arlo.
Safe to say, he was a little bit heavier.
"Vee- wait don't go in the middle-" Harry tried to warn me but all I could focus on was my friend about to jump out the flaming window as I brought my hands up with wide desperate eyes.
"I got you Arlo! I got you!" I screamed with my arms raised when his tall frame jumped from the window, plummeting down to the frantic crowd below while all I could think about was saving him.
"Vee get out of the way!" I heard Harry yell as I stood there, watching Arlo's body get closer and closer, bigger and bigger until he collided into me, crashing into the crowd and knocking me out until all I saw was black.
HARRY
Dragging my girlfriend's limp body from a crowd of people holding my brother who seemed to be okay from that jump he made from the burning building wasn't how I expected this night to end.
"Vee, Vee how you holding up there," I panicked, dragging her by her arms as her body slid across the pavement while I hauled her away from the commotion, her head lolling to the side.
"Vee, baby look at me, how many fingers am I holding?" When I sat her down against the nearest bench on the sidewalk I cupped her face, staring at her heavy lidded, disoriented expression as I held up two fingers.
Her brown eyes struggled to focus on me before a lazy, sluggish smile spread across her face.
"Is that Calvin Klein? Wow, looks so good Harry...." Vee slurred, reaching out and rubbing the collar of my brand shirt between her fingers as my eyes widened.
"Shit you actually know which brand is which- fuck something is definitely wrong with you come on." I panicked, grabbing her and carrying her in my arms bridal style as she let out a giggle, her eyes crossing slightly and head falling to the sides while I brought her to the paramedics.
"Help! Help her please." I begged to one of the paramedics who immediately approached us.
"What's going on here." He questioned, bringing up a small flashlight and switching it on, shining and checking her pupils as I held her.
"She knows what brand I'm wearing, it's serious." I informed, bringing her to the ambulance and gently laying her on one of the stretchers as I ran a nervous hand through my hair, flickering my concerned gaze between the paramedic and Vee who was still in some type of daze.
I stayed by her side the entire time, holding her hand, taking a break to worriedly pace back and forth before going back to holding her hand.
Pausing to wipe my sweaty hand on my designer pants before holding her hand again.
The fire had already died down to nothing and the crowd of people had dispersed while Vee continued to lay passed out on the stretcher in front of me.
That was when Arlo came into the ambulance, already bandaged and taken care of as I felt him linger at the open doors of the vehicle, a blanket draped around his shoulders, brown hair in a dry tangled heap, a few cuts and bruises over his face and skin, and a sad sorrowful look in his eyes as he stared at Vee.
"Is she uncrushed?" Arlo wondered out loud like a terrified puppy, looking like he wanted to go over and hold her hand as well but refraining from doing so at the sight of me guarding her protectively as she slept, still running my thumb across her skin as I held her hand.
I didn't say anything for a few moments, didn't even look at him as my brows knitted together in irritation and my teeth were grit tightly behind my frown.
"I just wanna know if she's okay-"
"You're an idiot."
My words hung in the air like some kind of sick plague but I in no way regretted the harshness behind my voice as Arlo stood there, his face falling into an uncharacteristically grim expression.
"If I didn't go in I wouldn't have found Maggy and she might have not been reunited with her mom." He attempted to defend himself in a weak voice, mentioning the little girl he saved as I slowly inhaled, still not meeting his gaze, keeping my eyes on Vee.
"But you didn't go in there to save her did you, you went in to save a journal right?" I patronized him, finally turning my head to glare at him as he swallowed, having no answer in return as his focus fell to the floor in obvious guilt.
I let out a scoff, as if amused although that was the complete opposite of how I felt whenever it was concerning my brother before I shook my head.
"You may have everyone fooled here but not me, not this time. You're a selfish person Arlo, always have been, always will be."
I squeezed Vee's hand in mine and closed my eyes to control my breathing, grateful she was here even in her unconscious state.
"Harry, if I could go back and do things differently I would-"
"But you can't go back! You can't undo what she did to me and you can't try to be there for me when you weren't!" I snapped at him, my voice breaking into an overly loud yell, the vein in my neck pulsing and my jaw clenched as I slammed my free palm against the stretcher, shaking Vee's body making me quickly try and stable her in alarm.
"Oh- sorry baby, sorry." I apologized in a sheepish tone even though she couldn't hear me, caressing the side of her sleeping face where her cute paper airplane tattoo below her eye was, making sure she was okay before turning to glare back at Arlo like nothing ever happened.
"You knew she was mentally ill, you knew that she would be there and I would be by myself at home with her." I said, my muscles tensing at the traumatic experience while Arlo watched me, placing one hand on the door of the ambulance.
"Did you even care the least bit?" I questioned, squinting my eyes at him as he stepped forward, inside the vehicle.
"Bro I was a kid, I didn't know any better and I made a mistake." He tried to reason with me, his voice pleasing as my anger only bubbled inside of me.
"I was a kid too but that didn't stop mom from physically abusing me that night did it." I finally said it, causing everything to just stop completely as the tension and silence collapsed over us in that small space.
I said it, I finally said what had been the barrier between us ever since we were ten as Arlo's face pales at my words, a look of horror flickering over his own face already knowing what our mom was capable of.
"You didn't make a mistake, you made the mistake that we promised we'd never make to one another. We promised we'd always stick together when she was home and hide and distract her from one another." I reminded him, my quickened pulse thrumming throughout my body, adrenaline coursing through my veins as Arlo stayed quiet, his eyes glossing over with regret.
"Tell me, how did it feel seeing all my skin scrubbed down to the flesh from mom when you got home huh? All so you could get some stupid guitar." I spat in disgust, my hatred for him somehow growing over the course of the conversation with my reopened wounds.
Vee started to stir, her eyelashes fluttering and a small groan escaping her down turned lips as I immediately turned my attention to her.
"Look who's finally up." I mocked, my voice patronizing but my hand still holding hers while the other carefully brushed a few strands of her curls away from the slight bruise on her forehead.
I felt Arlo watch us, watch me for a moment, as if wanting to say something but leaving once Vee fully awoke.
"Where's- where's Arlo and the girl. Are they okay? Is everyone okay?" Were the first coherent sentences she asked, her body struggling to get up as her head whipped around in alarm while I smiled down at her, trying to calm her and lay her back down.
"Alright, you can calm down they're both fine." I reassured her, noticing her heavy breathing as she tried to relax, squeezing my hand when her eyes fell to our untwined fingers.
"Was Arlo here?" Vee asked, staring up at me with those big brown eyes making my temper simmer at the sight as I smirked and ruffled her hair.
"Yeah, yeah he was." I said.
When the firemen and police confirmed it, they allowed Vee, Arlo, and I to enter her burnt building to try and retrieve or save any belongings that weren't destroyed in the fire.
That was when I remembered Vee's savings she kept in her closet for her son Gus.
There was nothing I could do but watch her, sat on her knees on the charcoaled ground staring at a rubble of ashes inside a badly burnt safe.
At first I didn't get it because I could easily give her the exact amount and more in cash to replace what she lost.
But I think it had something to do with the hard work she put in...
It's kind of hard to understand poor people but I'm working on it.
My eyes shifted to the entrance of Vee's room when Ethan came in, in his stupid too tight black shirt and stupid fucking tattoos and stupid muscles and stupid-
"Hey." He acknowledged me with a nod since I was the one who called him in, just in case Vee wanted her best friend's support or whatever and since it was partially his money too that was lost in the fire.
Shouldn't have fucking called this asshole, dickwad, back stabbing girlfriend stealing cunt hole-
"Hey." I calmly nodded back as we exchanged looks before he brought his attention to Vee who was still completely silent, as rigid as stone while she blankly stared at the open, damaged, safe in front of her on the floor.
"Ron." Ethan breathed out, staring at Vee's small frame with a sympathetic look in his blue eyes as her shoulders slumped.
"Everything, it's just... it's all gone." Her soft voice said, making her sound so small unlike usual as I felt my heart ache at the sound.
I couldn't see the look on her face and I didn't want to because I knew when she turned it would completely wreck me.
And it did.
Vee rose from the ground like a wounded soldier, turning around so I could see her watery eyes, tears ready to spill out at any moment as her lips quivered, trying to stop herself from crying.
I noticed that about her, she always tried not to cry when she clearly was going to, attempting to hold back tears as her gaze flickered over to Ethan who raised his arms up for her, something I would have done if I wasn't too busy feeling physically hurt by the look on her face, making me grit my teeth in irritation.
I crossed my arms over my chest, realizing that Vee needed to be with the person who she felt could best comfort her as I stayed behind Ethan who looked at her expectantly as she ran to him.
Only to pass by him and run into my arms instead, burying her face against my chest as my eyes widened in surprise when she collided into me, seeing her clutching to me like a terrified child as my arms made its way around her and I placed my lips against the top of her head.
Ethan blinked, still standing in his previous with his arms still up to no one like a dumbass before he slowly turned his head to look at Vee in my arms as I whispered comforting words in her ear, giving us a stunned expression.
"Ron, you know you always have a spot at my place to crash." He then offered, composing himself for his sake as I rubbed my hand up and down her back in a shooting manner, pressing her closer against me protectively at his words.
"She's staying with me." I boldly remarked, no way in hell allowing the guy who would toy with her emotions whenever he felt like it to be alone with her in his apartment unless I was there, helping Donald Trump create a wall between the two.
Vee sniffled, calming down and catching my attention as I lowered my head to peer down at where her face was squished against my chest.
"Do you want to stay with me Vee?" I asked her in a soft voice, tucking a curl behind her ear, wanting to respect her choices but at the same time wanting her to hold my cashmere sweater to claw Ethan's eyes out if he so much as tried to persuade her to stay with him.
We made eye contact and she gave me a small nod, her lips in a small pout and a look of exhaustion all over her face as I brought my head up to stare back at Ethan.
Our eyes met and he had that 'what just happened' look on his face.
What happened was that he missed his chance to take care of Vee years ago.
And I wasn't going to make the same mistake.
AN: I just found out I was nominated for the Fanfiction Awards TWICE for Cliché and TSE and that alone makes me so happy like you guys are amazing idk how you all do it.
At first I was like that's pretty cool, but I don't wanna bother my readers to vote so Ima just go with the flow and be like Leonardo DiCaprio, be happy I was nominated and move on.
BUT THEN MY FRIEND REMINDED ME THIS WAS MY LAST YEAR ON WATTPAD SO I SHOULD AT LEAST TRY TO WIN THE HARRY FANFIC CATEGORY FOR CLICHÉ AND THE STYLES EFFECT SO I WAS LIKE SHIT YOU'RE RIGHT! It would mean a lot if you guys voted for me by commenting "+1" on Cliché or TSE in the Fanfiction Awards at thefanfictionawards
If you vote, I love you! If you don't, shit I still love you!
Shout out to @BriiAlcalarita for being so adamant about voting for me btw! You're so cute!