Author's Note: I'm going to apologize in advance that this chapter is so short, but I finally know what I want to dow with the plot of this story again, so I am still currently writing a new chapter as I post this one. Don't you worry, another chapter should be up tomorrow or the next day. Thank you for being so patient with me while I've been on a hiatus of sorts.
-------------------------------
Harry's POV
"Styles, I need your help." my eyes still burning from the brightness of my phone.
"Mikey, what happened?" I asked, looking at the alarm clock on the table next to my bed. It was four in the morning.
"C-can you meet me somewhere? I don't want to talk about it over the phone. It's not my fault. It's not my fault, Styles. I didn't start anything. It's not because of me." I sat up, more concerned now.
"What did you do? Who did you talk to? Where do you want to meet? Can it wait until the morning or is it really serious?" I groaned.
"It's really serious, dude. I need to talk to you. I- I don't know what to do." Michael insisted. "Can you meet me by Frank's soon? I mean, I'm already here. I've been here for a while. I- I called you a few other times. I'll see you in a couple minutes, yeah?"
"Sure, I'm on my way." I sighed. I swear, one day I'm going to collapse from exhaustion and never get back up again. Luckily, Charlotte wasn't in my bed, so I didn't have to worry about her waking up and wondering where I was headed off to now. Frank's was only ten minutes away from my house, so it didn't take long until I saw Michael's red corvette sitting in the empty parking lot. I pulled up next to him and got out of the car. He was leaning up against the driver's side door of the Corvette. He was practically shivering even though it was warm outside. "What happened, Mikey?" I asked. He refused to make eye contact. Instead, he stared straight ahead like he was staring at a ghost.
"I- I- I k- killed someone..." For a second, I heard nothing and then my ears started ringing. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It felt like I was still asleep. Everything was moving in slow motion. I looked down at my feet to make sure that they looked normal. If my shoes were on the wrong feet, I'd know that I was asleep. But I wasn't. My shoes were on the right feet.
"What... What are you talking about?"
"I killed... someone. He's- he's dead, but he was going to kill Calum. Calum was going to die if I didn't kill him, Styles. You have to believe me. Calum will tell you."
"What the fuck..." I said, trying to punch my car, but I couldn't put any force behind it so it was a really lame attempt- like I was fist bumping the metal. "What's wrong with you? You know what the rules are here. You know that we don't kill people. The only way... the only way to keep ourselves safe is to never take it too far. We don't kill... people, Michael..."
"You're not listening, though! If I didn't, Calum would be dead right now. Would you rather it be Calum or someone we barely know? Listen, I'm freaking out. I wish that I could take it back, but if Calum would be dead for it, I'd never take it back. It was worth saving my best friend." Michael's voice started shaking and he got tears in his eyes.
"Don't worry about it, man. I'll fix this." I said, breathing heavy and trying to figure out what my plan of action was. "Stay with me for a while. That way you'll stay under the radar... How long ago did this happen?"
"I drove straight here."
"What the- you're a real dumb ass, Clifford. Where's the guy now?"
"By- by the plaza on 53rd street..." he stuttered. My stomach dropped.
"Please... please don't tell me..." I started, but Michael was nodding. He knew what I meant. "Please don't tell me it was... Barker." Michael kept nodding and I noticed he was crying. He was actually crying. "Why the hell would you do that?! Calum had nothing to do with that guy! That was my deal and my deal only."
"He did. Calum-"
"What did Calum do to him?"
"N-nothing. He was- he was trying to protect me. That's the whole point!"
"Why did he have to protect you?" I asked with a hint of a scoff in my tone. Michael could take care of himself. We all could.
"You know that Charlotte and I went there a few months ago when we were looking for you..." he began. I already felt guilt eating it's way through my body. Once again, all of this was my fault. As hard as I fight to protect my guys, it's always my careless personality that gets them into the most trouble. "He had the police all over his tail..."
"Yeah, I had to go down to the police station the other day. The chief wanted to know what I had on the guy..." I explained. I didn't want to tell Michael that, but it would be better to tell him now. Waiting until later would just make the matter worse. His eyes got wide but he wasn't accusing me of anything.
"W-well, Barker couldn't find me because I haven't been anywhere around there lately, but Calum had been. Calum practically lives over there... Anyway, he had some guys interrogating Calum and he was defending me, but called me down there because he needed some backup... Then Barker actually shows up, which was bullshit. You know he never does his own dirty work. But he came and he was going to kill Calum... and probably me too. I didn't have another choice. Once I- once I did it, all of his guys left. I don't think any of them went to the police though. You know they wouldn't show their faces around there. Especially now that they're all covered in blood."
"Where's Calum?" I asked.
"I- I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"He was freaking out. I'd never seen him like that. I tried to get him to come with me but he ran off. I've called him about fifty times since then, but he won't answer his phone."
"Ok, well we need to get out of here. Right now. Before the police start pulling through."
"What about Calum? We need to find Calum." Michael panted.
"We'll worry about Calum later. He didn't do anything to anyone so it's not like he's going to get arrested. He probably isn't anywhere near here anymore anyway. We need to get out of here unless you want to be arrested and sentenced with fifty years to life. We can't go to my place, though... the police department is going to think that I killed Barker. I was literally just at the station a couple months ago because of him."
"Then when are we going to go?" Michael panicked.
"Don't worry. There's a safe house about thirty miles from here. We'll just go there for now and figure something else out later. I'll call Calum when we get there and if he doesn't answer, I can go looking for him tomorrow morning, but you need to stay inside. Follow behind me. We'll take backroads. That way, we're not likely to run into any police officers. Let's get out of here." I grimaced, climbing into my car again. Charlotte's going to kill me...
When we got to the safe house, I felt sick. The last time I was here was with Louis just before Charlotte had been kidnapped. I never wanted to see this place again, but here I was. Michael was sat on a couch in front of a TV, but not watching it. I tried to call Calum several times, but he didn't answer. I wasn't even sure if he had his phone with him. The sun was already coming up. I didn't want to stay here and I didn't have to. I didn't kill Roger Barker. But I also knew that they'd suspect me. The authorities knew that I was familiar with Mr. Barker. I had clearly told them that the two of us weren't friendly. If they questioned me, it would be a lot harder to defend Michael. I'd stay here for at least a few days. But what about Charlotte... She'll call before the day is over, wanting to know where I am. Things had been relatively quiet lately. She'll freak out when she knows what happened. I sighed and joined Michael on the couch.
Calum's POV
My hands were shaking and still very bloody as I held my phone. It had rung constantly since Michael killed Roger Barker. Michael was calling. Harry was calling. Ashton was calling. Michael must have told them. I didn't do it. I didn't kill anyone. I just watched it happen. It came back to me in flashbacks. My knuckles were still aching and bruised now, from trying to fend off the men that Roger had sent. It had worked for some time. But then I found myself, pinned to the ground, a bar over my neck. I thought that I was going to die. I didn't know what else to do so I called Michael. The look on Michael's face when he saw me there, on the ground again is burned into the back of my mind. It was like I could tell in that instant that he was there to kill someone. That was before Barker had even showed up. Michael being there made all the difference. He tore them off of me and helped me up. He was ready to fight next to me and he did. But then Barker got there and everything got worse again. He had a gun aimed at either of us before we even saw him. But he got distracted. He paid little attention to Michael when he held the gun to my forehead. And Michael stabbed him. I remembered the look on Barker's face as he died. It wasn't the first time I saw someone die. But it was the first time it was my fault. Everyone else ran. It was just the two of us. I could read Michael's lips. He was saying my name, but I couldn't even hear him. I ran. I ran as fast as I could until my legs were aching. I left Michael there. To deal with what he had done alone. Even though it was my fault. And now I could never face him again. I wanted to see myself. I wanted to see what I looked like now that I had betrayed Michael and run away like a coward. I can't believe that I ever thought I was cut out for this type of life. I'm not. There was no mirror in the abandoned church for me to see my face. I tried to make a fist, but it hurt too bad. The sound my bones made, made it obvious that some of my knuckles were broken. I couldn't open my left eye since it got hit, but I don't know how serious it is, only that it's bad enough that it needs medical attention. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to go into public anytime soon to get that attention.
Harry's POV
It was like I had waited all day for my phone to ring, but at the same time, I had been dreading it. When Charlotte's name appeared on my caller ID, I had no idea what to tell her. That I was back in some safe house and couldn't see her. She'd hate me for getting even more involved in all of this when I was trying to do the exact opposite. No, she wouldn't hate me... She always tells me that she never could. But she'd be disappointed. "Hello?" I tried to sound as natural as possible, but that never works out for anyone.
"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to Piper's soccer game later today? I haven't seen you in a while anyway..."
"I can't today, babe."
"Why? What's up?" she asked. She didn't seem concerned yet, but she would the longer it took me to answer. I hadn't thought she'd ask. Now I had to make something up on the spot.
"Uhhh... I'm at this race thing with Michael today, so I won't be able to hang out today... Sorry, love..."
"Oh, it's no problem. That's sweet." she said. "I really like that you guys are hanging out more now... as friends rather than just coworkers." she laughed. "I didn't know that he raced legally." she was still laughing. It made me smile to hear her so happy. Therapy really has been helping her a lot.
"Yeah, anyway... I'll have to call you back a little later because it's about to start." I lied and said goodbye to her.
"Was that Charlotte?" Michael asked after I had hung up.
"Yeah."
"Does she know? Did you tell her anything?"
"No... I don't want her to freak out. She's always freaking out."
"Yeah, I guess...but..." Michael said slowly. It sounded like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. My phone rang again, moments later. It was the chief of police.
"Shit... It's the police." I said quietly to myself, so that Michael wouldn't hear me, but he still did. He stood up and crossed the room as if to listen to the discussion. I could answer and tell them what I knew about the situation. I could tell them that Barker was going to kill Calum, but what difference would it make? I'm not even sure if they would believe me. Calum is missing and I can't tell them where Michael is. But one of them would have had to tell me. How else would I know? I wasn't there. I could pretend like I don't know anything about it at all, but they'll know I'm lying. Of course I know that he's dead. I knew everything about him and practically every move he made. He still owed me money when he died, after all. I declined the call and blocked the number.
-------------------------------------
Author's note: Sorry again that it took me so long to update, I'm the worst person in the world!! But, I really am going to start updating agin more often because I'm getting back into writing and it's summer break. I can't wait to start writing again. I'm so so grateful for all of you!!!! I almost have 100K reads and that's freaking insane to me. Thank you all so so much!!!
Always love, -P