Author's Note: I'm honestly so sorry that I never write. I know that I suck but I'm actually a really, really busy person. I've been trying to finish my portfolio (bc I'm applying to art school lol) I started applying last night, but I got really motivated to write, so here I am. On winter break so hopefully I'll have time to at least write one or two more chapters.
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Harry's POV
"Turn in right here!" Michael bellowed. I jerked the steering wheel and the tires screeched as I pulled into an old church.
"What makes you think he'll be here?" Charlotte asked from the passenger seat.
"He comes here all the time, especially when he's freaked out about something. He comes here when his parents fight." Michael panted.
"Stay in the car, ok?" I said. Of course, Michael was already out the door. "Stop!" I yelled getting out of the car. "Charlotte, stay in the car. I'm serious." I demanded, locking her in. At least she listens to me. Most of the time... I followed Michael to the front of the church. He sprinted up the wooden steps and burst in through the front doors, nearly falling on his face as he did so.
"Calum!" he yelled. "Calum where are you!?"
"Michael, how do you even know he's in here?" I asked. I hadn't hear or seen Calum yet, but Michael seemed sure that he was in here somewhere. I stepped through the front door and saw Michael pointing at a pew. I walked to where Michael stood and looked down at the pew. Blood. And there was a lot of it.
"Calum!" I yelled. "Calum, where the fuck are you!?"
"We need to split up." Michael insisted, sprinting down the aisle. I searched down all the pews and found nothing. There wasn't many places to look. Michael was searching behind the stage. I slid underneath the stage and found nothing but cobwebs, baskets and dust covered and unopened crackers. "Calum?!" Michael shouted as if he had heard him. I heard Michael's heavy footsteps just above my head on stage. I slid out from under the stage and watched Michael race over to a door. The door was locked but Michael kicked it as hard as he could and the wood splintered as a hole was smashed through the door. Michael ripped the door open, throwing the old wood on the floor. "I've got him!" Michael yelled and I scrambled to get up off of the floor.
"Calum, what the hell!?" I yelled. Michael pulled him from the tiny storage closet and dragged him to a pew to lean against. Calum's left eye was swollen shut and the other one was blood shot. Dried blood covered most of his face. You could still see the dark, finger shaped bruises on his neck. Even though it'd been days. "Calum, are you ok?" I asked, kneeling down next to him. He tried to turn his head to respond. He couldn't. Michael took his jacket off and put it around Calum, who was remarkably cold.
"I-" he tried to breathe in, but it was masked as a scratching wheeze. He smelled like shit. His shirt was covered in what I imagined to be throw up.
"Calum, we need to get you out of here, let's go." I said, trying to get him off of the ground.
"N- no." he whined.
"I don't really care if you're scared of getting in trouble or whatever the issue is. You didn't do anything to anyone and you're going to die if you stay here."
"I- I don't...care" he coughed in between choking back tears.
"Calum, I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect you." Michael said, also trying not to cry. I rolled my eyes. This reunion was all far too emotional for me. I was planning on dragging Calum between Michael and I, with his arms around our shoulders, but that obviously wasn't going to work. He couldn't move at all. I forced my arms under Calum's and lifted him from the ground. I tossed him over my shoulder and tried to manage to get through the front door of the church, with Michael following behind me. he was still trying to talk to Calum, but Calum must've been irritated at Michael because he was refusing to answer. Charlotte jumped out of the car and opened the back door. I set Calum down, buckled him in and climbed back in the driver's seat.
"What are we going to do?" Charlotte asked, gripping my arm as I pulled out of the church's 'driveway', which was just a plot of dirt.
"Well, we need to take him to the hospital to start with."
"We can't just do that. You can't show up there with a beat up Calum. They'll think you're up to something. And Michael definitely can't be there. He's supposed to be flying under the radar, but-"
"I need to be there." Michael interrupted.
"Shut up, Michael." Charlotte and I said in complete unison. The power in Charlotte's voice made me smile. I was extremely proud of her.
"Shit..." I sighed. "You're right... What do you suggest then? It's not like I know some undercover doctor that can help Calum. And we can't not get him medical attention. He's going to die if he doesn't see someone soon. I don't know what to do." Calum needed help, but Charlotte was right. Michael and I both needed to keep our heads down for the time being. "I can't believe I'm saying this because there was a time when I would have never let this happen, but... Charlotte..., you'll need to go in with him. I'll drop you off with him by the emergency room. P- pre- Just... pretend to be his girlfriend. Anything that will get you in that room so that you know how he is. Michael and I will head back to my place. Keep updating us until he gets better. Are you ok with that, angel?" I asked, looking over at Charlotte who had wide eyes.
"Sure, sure. Whatever works."
"It's going to be ok, Cal." Michael said from the back seat. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault..."
"No... It's- It's not." Calum wheezed. "It's my fault. I left you. You- you needed someone and I left you."
"You were scared. It's ok."
Charlotte's POV
The second Harry was in park in front of the ER, I jumped out of the car and pulled Calum from the back. I quite literally had to drag him into the emergency room. All he could do was hold his own arms around my shoulders. He couldn't walk or do anything else that was necessary to get him into the building. The ladies at the reception desk all stood up when I dragged Calum in. "Help! My boyfriend was- was mugged. They strangled him. I don't know what to do." Immediately, nurses loaded Calum onto a gurney and whisked him away, me behind them seeing as I was the only person with him. He was in room with big windows acting as the walls. I had to stand outside so that the doctors could work on him, but I could still see.
"What's his name?" a nurse asked as I tried to get a glimpse of Calum's face through the window.
"Calum Hood."
"How old is he?"
"Uh... twenty-one." I answered. I wasn't sure if it was true. I knew that Michael was and I hoped they were around the same age.
"Can we put you down as his emergency contact?" the nurse asked, still scribbling on the paper on her clipboard.
"S-sure." I stuttered. I hoped she'd mistake my nervousness for fear about my "boyfriend's" health.
"What's your name and phone number?" I told her and she scribbled it down. "Where did this happen?"
"Just down the road."
"Were you there when it happened?"
"No... he called me to come get him."
"Do you need us to contact the authorities?" she asked and my stomach dropped. I hadn't thought this part through. I had never been a pathological liar, so it was hard for me to come up with lies so easily.
"N-no, the police were at the scene. I guess the guy is in custody now." I answered and the woman nodded.
Michael: How's Calum?
Charlotte: Not good, but not dead. Getting better every second, I suppose... Now that there are doctors helping him.
Michael: Do you know anything yet? How long he'll have to be there? What his injuries consist of?
Charlotte: I don't know anything yet. We just got here and I'm still trying to give the nurse his info.
Michael: Don't give her too much info.
Charlotte: Some of it is critical to his care and treatment, M.
Michael: :/
Harry's POV
I felt sick about this whole thing. In the long run, it was my fault. Of course it was. You didn't even have to run that long to know that... Michael and Charlotte were looking for me that night. If they hadn't been, Michael would have never gone to Barker's penthouse. To make matters worse, I went to the police. I should have never answered my phone that night. Someone else could have told Chief Harris that Roger Barker was committing tax fraud. Half the city knew it anyway. There was just something about the man that made me trust him. Me. Head of a gang, trusting a police chief. If I had never gone to the police. there still wouldn't have been a problem. Barker wouldn't have thought that Michel had gone to the police. What a dumb ass thought in the first place. As if Michael Clifford would ever willingly show his face in a police station. Everything bad that happened was always my fault. i couldn't think of one good thing that I had caused. I wanted to talk to Charlotte. I wanted her to tell me that I was wrong and that I was responsible for good things. But she was in the hospital with Calum because I couldn't be. Michael hated himself. He thought that everything that had happened to Calum was his fault. He spent most of the time, texting Charlotte, begging her for any new information that she had on Calum, but she didn't know much. When she couldn't tell Michael anything, he would sit on my couch, staring at a wall and checking the time on his phone every few minutes. I sighed and walked to my bedroom. I stared at my bed. The side that Charlotte always slept on was unmade. I laid down on my side of the bed and curled up like a little kid. My chest literally ached with grief. I hated this damn town and everyone who lived in it. For the first time in many, many years, I let myself cry. I just prayed that Michael couldn't hear me.
Charlotte's POV
"You must be in hospitals a lot, huh?" Calum asked a few days later. He wasn't supposed to be talking much, yet he couldn't stop chattering.
"Yeah, every now and then." I chuckled, thinking about all the times I had been at the hospital since Harry had come in to my life, not that it was a bad thing. I didn't mind. I had even started to get used to hospitals. Before, I had hated them with a passion. Now that I was a regular, it seemed more comfortable than it once had. At least doctors know what they're doing. People are safe here, if nothing else.
"Is Michael mad at me?" he asked, turning onto his side in the bed.
"Mad at you? Are you kidding me?" I laughed. "He thinks that you're mad at him, buddy. He's been panicking about it since you ran away. He's in ribbons, thinking of a million different ways he could make it up to you."
"Make what up to me?" Calum croaked. His voice hadn't come back all the way yet. "He literally saved my life. I would be dead if it weren't for him. And immediately after he saved my life, I abandoned him. I completely bailed on him. Because I was scared. And now he's been dealing with all this- shit on his own. He's- he's safe, right? Has he talked to the police?"
"I know that he saved your life... He's just worried because he thinks that he's the reason you ran away. He thought that you didn't want him to kill Mr. Barker. He thinks that you're afraid of him. He hasn't talked to the police... In fact, he's hiding from them. I don't think that's the best idea, but he's afraid that he's going to get thrown in prison."
"Ugh, I could never be scared of him. He's my best friend and he always has been." Calum explained. I nodded because I already knew. Michael had told me the same thing many times in the last few days. "What are we going to do? The police are going to track him down soon. They're going to find him. I'm sure if he just went down to the police station and explained that it was self defense, everything would be fine. There's more than one of us. They have to believe us."
"That's what I suggested, but seeing as he's your best friend, you know that you'll never get that boy into a police station."
"Does he know that he can either go down there and just talk to them or not say anything and get thrown into prison for the rest of his life?!" Calum yelled and immediately began coughing. This coughing fit lasted for nearly ten minutes until I forced him to drink a glass of water.
"Why don't you tell him that when you get out of here? He'll actually listen to that bit of advice if he hears it from you."
"When will that be? When do I get out of here?" he asked.
"Tomorrow. You just have to stay tonight because you need more fluids. Then you're all good." I smiled down at him.
Harry's POV
My hands were shaking on the steering wheel as I drove to the hospital to pick up Calum and Charlotte. Tensions were so high right now. Somehow, I had convinced Michael to stay at my house while I picked Charlotte and Calum up from the hospital. I've lived my whole life like this and somehow, it was just catching up to me now. I pulled up to the front doors and sunk down in my seat, hoping that no one would see me. A few minutes later, Calum and Charlotte walked through the automatic doors. Calum looked much better than he had just days ago. His eye was still very much bruised, but had returned to it's previous, open state. Charlotte helped Calum into the back seat and then got into the passenger seat.
"Are you ok?" she blurted out when we were halfway to my place. I hesitated. I could tell her that everything was fine. She probably wouldn't believe me. But it would be better than having an emotional and long conversation in the car, in front of Calum. I shook my head.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered, turning down another street. She gave me a look that I understood to mean that she knew I was lying, but it didn't matter. I wasn't about to spill my feelings in front of Calum. I turned onto my road. Immediately, I screeched to a halt. The car behind me honked and passed.
"What's wrong?" Charlotte asked.
"Oh fuck no..." There were probably twenty police cars in my driveway and on my yard. Multiple officers were out of their cars with guns pointed at the house.
"Turn around!" Calum yelled from the backseat.
"I can't turn around. Michael is in that house."
"Shit, then go. We have to get to him. They'll kill him!" Calum shouted.
"Calm down. They won't kill him unless he tries to fight them back. I don't think he's that stupid."
"He is!" Calum interrupted. I rolled my eyes and put my foot on the gas pedal, heavy. The second I was parked in the driveway, police officers started walking towards my car. Four had guns in their hands, aimed directly at me. My breath caught in my throat when I realized that Charlotte was in the car with me. If they killed me, she'd have to watch. Besides that, she was in the car. They could kill her too.
"Charlotte, stay in the car." I demanded, stepping out. "Listen, I'm not against you." I told the officer, holding both of my hands in the air. "I'm unarmed and I am completely on your side. I swear."
"Is this your house?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Were you housing Michael Clifford?"
"What? No. Is he here?" I asked and the officer nodded. "Can I see him?"
"No. He hasn't come out yet."
"I'll go get him."
"We can't let you do that."
"Why not?"
"Because we can't let anyone from the outside interact with him."
"You can search me, I don't have any weapons. He already knows you're here. It's not like I'll blow your cover. Listen,... if you don't let me go in there and get him, he'll probably come out in a body bag. And trust me... that's not what you want. I swear to you that I'm on your side. I'll get him and I'll be right back out with him. Give me five minutes. That's all I need. I'm the only one that can get him out of this house alive. And trust me- trust me- you want him alive. You'll find out why. If he doesn't explain when we come out- I will." I explained. The sheriff looked at me like I was an idiot, but after hesitating for ample time, it looked like he might understand. He let out a long sigh and finally nodded, granting me permission to enter my own house.
"Five minutes." he repeated. I nodded. I opened the front door and heard a gasp.
"Michael, don't worry! It's me." I heard his heavy breathing and tried to follow the sound. "Michael, where are you? Everything's fine." I followed the sound until I found myself in my bedroom. "Michael?" I opened the closet door and my stomach dropped. He had a gun pressed against his forehead. "Michael, stop! What are you doing?! They're not going to hurt you! All you need to do is walk outside with me and everything will be fine."
"I can't." he stammered between grit teeth. "They're going to kill me. If they don't kill me now- I'll sit in a prison cell until they call my name, sit me down in a wooden chair- and electrocute me."
"Michael, that is not going to happen. That's crazy. You just have to tell them what happened. They'll trust you. They know that Barker was a bad guy. He's been to prison plenty of times for horrible, horrible things. You've only been to jail for street racing. Michael- stop." his hands were shaking violently but the barrel of the pistol stayed pressed to his forehead. "Michael- what are you doing? Your best friend- Calum is outside, waiting for you. He's not mad at you. He thinks you're mad at him. Is that really how you want to leave him? He hasn't even gotten a chance to see you since you saved his life. He wants to thank you. He's right outside. We can go out there right now and he can thank you. You don't want to do this."
"I- I don't care. It- doesn't matter anymore, Harry. It really doesn't." Michael said. His voice was flat. The second I saw his finger start to tense around the trigger, I lunged for the gun and knocked it from his hand. It hit the floor and a bullet fired, going straight through the plaster of the wall.
"Shit!" My front door immediately flew open and I heard heavy footsteps rushed up the stairs. I threw myself on top of Michael, so they wouldn't shoot him immediately when they came in.
"PUT YOUR HANDS UP RIGHT NOW, BOTH OF YOU!" All of their pistols were aimed directly at our chests. I've been in this situation before, but it seemed more serious now.
"He didn't do anything! He was going to kill himself and dropped the gun!" I yelled, holding my arms up in the air. Michael did the same, despite that his entire body was violently shaking from crying so hard. All of a sudden, Calum and Charlotte appeared in the doorway.
"Wait! It was self defense!" Calum shouted. Three officers pointed their guns directly at Charlotte and Calum.
"Charlotte, what the hell are you doing!?" I yelled, standing up from the ground, keeping my hands in the air. Two officers grabbed Michael from the ground and started dragging him out of the room.
"Where are you taking him?!" Calum called.
"To the station. All of you." Michael was handcuffed, as well as Calum, Charlotte and I. An officer held me by my collar as we all walked back down the stairs. They were dragging Michael as he wouldn't even walk.
"Charlotte, I told you stay in the damn car. Why do you never listen to me?" It was by pure luck that Charlotte and I were shoved into the same police car. Calum and Michael went in separate cars, because as far as the police were aware, Michael was a cold hearted killer.
"I'm sorry..." Charlotte said, looking over at me. I didn't even look back, I was so irritated at her. She could have gotten herself killed- if not all of us! I don't know how she even got in the house, past all the police officers that were outside. "Harry, I'm tougher than you think I am. I can do things too."
"I know you are. But I can't let anything happen to you. When will finally you understand that?" Charlotte let out a frustrated grumble.
"You're so annoying!" she suddenly yelled. "When will you understand that this is not a one sided relationship!? I'm glad that you feel that way, I really am. But you have to start believing that I feel the exact same way about you. I hate it when you treat me like a little girl- especially because I know that that's not the reason you like me so much. You like me because I'm like you. I'm tough and I can do things and I'm not afraid of anything. I'll throw myself into the face of danger just like you. That's why you like me." The door that separates the front and back of the police car suddenly slammed shut- probably so that the officers wouldn't have to keep listening to us argue.
"I know that's why I like you, but Charlotte, I would die if you died or even got harmed. It seems like you're the only one of us that hasn't been in the hospital" I almost laughed. "And I'd like to keep it that way."
"Well, I feel the exact same way about you so I wish that we could stop arguing about the same damn thing all the time and just be together happily and not worry about the other dying all the time. It hasn't happened yet and I tend to think that we handle crazy situations pretty well. So let's just stop worrying about it. And you have no right to be mad at me for stupid stuff like this." I didn't want to admit that she was right, so I said nothing. But I could tell that she knew what I was thinking. I tried to see out of the window of the police car, but of course the windows were blacked out so that I couldn't. The rest of the way to the station, we sat in silence. I had nothing to say and I knew that Charlotte was mad. The officers pulled up really close to the doors and rushed us all in as if they were trying to hide us from the rest of the world. I looked over at Charlotte- expecting to see worry in her eyes like I always did. But there was no trace of it. She was completely expressionless if not a bit amused. What changed...
"Where's Michael?" she asked while we were walking down the hallway. Calum was right in front of us but Michael was nowhere to be seen. I guess he got a here before we had.
"I don't know. Don't worry about it. They're not going to kill him or anything. Once this whole thing gets sorted out, they'll probably let him walk free. I don't see him being sent to prison."
"I'm not worried about that. He's scared. They could hurt him. I'm honestly a little concerned that he's going to hurt them. You know how he gets when he's scared."
"Yeah. I do." I answered bluntly. "No one's going to hurt him, Char. Calm down. Everything's going to be fine." She sent me a sharp look when I told her to calm down. She hates that. I forgot. The officers that were leading Charlotte and I down the hallway suddenly parted, taking us with them. Charlotte and Calum were headed in the same direction but I was going another way. "Where are we going?" I asked, "Where are they going? Why aren't we going to the same place?" I tried to turn around, but the grip the officer had on me was tight. "Charlotte!" I yelled, trying desperately again to turn around and to see her one last time before she was taken away. I had to be sure that she wasn't afraid. She wasn't showing it, but I had that feeling that she was terrified. "Charlotte!" I yelled again, but the officer shoved me forward, hard, away from Calum and Charlotte.
"Why would we put you together? We're not idiots." the officer laughed and I grumbled. He had a decent point.
"Where's Michael?" I asked the officer.
"Red? He's being questioned now."
"I'm ready to talk. Can you talk to me now? I'm ready." I stuttered. I was ready to tell them everything- the whole truth. It would save Michael and protect the rest of us. As long as they believed us. I don't know who Barker knew that could ruin everything for us. After all, he was a businessman. One of his lawyers alone, could single handedly tear us apart for this.
"Not until he's done, kid. Calm down."
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Author's Note: There it is! I'm writing the next chapter now! Thank you so much for all the reads and comments and votes. I am honestly so grateful and never imagined something like this.
Love always, P x