My eyes flashed open and I sat up immediately, but when my vision blurred I was forced to fall back into the pillows, left to stare up at a white ceiling. The room was lit, but dimly, as if someone was being courteous and not blinding me.
I wanted to know where I was, but with my head spinning I couldn't even get a glance at the room I was in. I was grateful, however, for the fact that I wasn't bound or chained to anything. It was sort of relieving in an odd way.
My heart began to pound against my chest when I heard footsteps and distant voices somewhere outside the room. It sounded as if they were coming up a staircase, and then there was a short pause, before I heard a door swing open. I was still attempting to regain my ability to move, but my head was throbbing so badly that my vision was still fuzzy.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds and took a deep breath, ignoring the footsteps that gradually grew closer to me, before willing myself up into a sitting position and looking at who I could only assume to be my captor.
But instead I was met with a pair of green eyes that were just a few shades away from being completely black.
Harry pushed his curls away from his forehead and stared at me. "You okay, baby?"
A gasp escaped my lips as I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. I felt him immediately jut out his hands on either side of me so as not to crush me, but in that moment I don't think I cared whether or not that happened. I was just relieved to find Harry there instead of Seth, as I had expected.
"You don't know how happy I am to see you," I whispered.
"Mm," he hummed. He held me impossibly close, his arms tight around my body, as if he were afraid that I would disappear if he didn't hold onto me tight enough. I didn't mind it.
After a few minutes Harry pulled away and his eyes scanned my body repeatedly, searching for something I realized. I blushed, feeling slightly self-conscious. "What are you doing?" I mumbled.
He looked up at me and grinned at my expression. "I like that color on you," he nodded at my flaming cheeks, which only caused the blush to darken. "But I'm looking for any injuries."
My mind raced. What had happened? I remembered Harry being overly excited and wanting a picnic, so I had headed outside... but after that I couldn't think of the events prior. I had just assumed as soon as I awoke that someone had kidnapped me.
"What did you do?" he asked as he slowly lifted my arms, checking the undersides of them for any marks. "Trip on a rock?"
"No," I shook my head, struggling to recall. The moments after I had sat down in the grass seemed a blur to me, but I was sure I hadn't tripped or how would I have remembered that part of it? I explained my reasoning to Harry and he frowned, clearly unsure now as he slowly lowered my arms once again.
"Did you see anything strange?" he asked.
That seemed to trigger the whole rest of the memory and I gasped before explaining what had happened. I had hoped that Harry might have some clever explanation to this but he only lifted an eyebrow.
"I found you passed out in the grass, no blindfold, no gag," he said quietly.
My mind spun. I couldn't make sense of Harry's words. How had he found me like that when I was certain that I had been gagged and blindfolded prior to being knocked out? Harry stared at me.
"I'm not crazy," I blurted out.
Harry laughed and folded his arms around my back, pulling me closer to him. I sighed and rested the side of my head against his chest. My hands clung gently to the soft material of his dark v-neck.
"I'm not," I mumbled out again.
"I know," he insisted. "I don't think you're crazy. I'm just trying to figure out what happened. Are you sure of what you say? I don't think you're lying, but if you didfall..."
"I'm positive," I nodded. He sighed, his fingers beginning to weave through my hair. I grimaced. "Don't touch my hair. It's gross." It was true. I desperately needed a shower but I had been so caught up in other things that it had literally slipped my mind.
"I don't care," Harry replied before pecking my cheek and pulling away. "But the bathroom's over there." He jerked his head in the general direction and I nodded before standing up and lazily walking towards it.
"I could come with you," Harry added. I glanced at him to see that a playful smirk adorned his beautiful features and rolled my eyes. "You wish," I teased.
He grinned before shooing me away.
The hot, steamy water made me feel less tense. My muscles relaxed under it and for once in what felt like a millennium I could think straight.
By the time I was out, I knew that I hadn't tripped outside, but that someone had really blindfolded, gagged, and knocked me out. I would have thought that it was a kidnapping job but if that wasn't the case, then what was the motive?
I wrapped myself in a big towel and was pleased to find the room vacated by the time I had padded out and was searching through my bag for clothes. I settled on a pair of just-above-the-knee denim shorts and a plain white button down with three-quarter sleeves. I slipped on my ballet flats and headed downstairs to find the rest of the boys all settled around the kitchen table, something not quite as large as Zayn's or Harry's but still fairly big.
There was a seat open for me between Harry and Zayn and I silently took it, not wanting to interrupt their conversation until I heard them say Seth's name.
"What was that?" I asked, causing them all to fall silence. Heavily guarded glances were passed around the table until Harry sighed and looked at me.
"Last night Zayn was doing some...spying, if you will," Harry explained. "He found out that the impact hadn't killed Seth, and actually didn't do much damage at all."
"Sorry," I mumbled.
Zayn laughed. "Don't be sorry. I just didn't note that he had any visible injuries. He was working with someone though... Sykes."
Harry made a noise of disgust. "I still don't understand why the fuck they're working together."
"Who is Sykes?" I asked timidly. I had only met the man they spoke of once, and that wasn't on the happiest terms. Having to play Zayn's girlfriend and watch Harry sit rigid in fury wasn't my favorite thing.
"He's basically the leader of the head gang," Zayn sighed. "It's only because he has so many people in it and he's a ruthless killer. He likes to think that he can shape how everyone else works, and in a way he can, but he's really just a big, powerful person."
"Why was Harry meeting with him?" My voice had gradually grown into a whisper, afraid of the reason.
Harry grabbed my hand beneath the table before answering. "He offered me a deal. But I declined it."
"What kind of deal?" I pressed.
Harry gritted his teeth. "Just a deal."
"What kind?" I was determined to find out what this Sykes person was asking of Harry.
"Alice," Zayn said, his tone low and warning as if to say 'don't push him' but I ignored him. I felt a bit upset that Harry refused to explain it to me. His expression now reminded me of the time he had basically attacked Louis, and that thought fueled me on.
"Just tell me!" I complained.
"He wanted me to fucking kill you!" Harry yelled. The whole table went silent aside from Harry's heavy, angry breathing. I could barely make my voice go above a whisper.
"Why? He didn't even know me..."
"My best guess is that Seth said something," Harry practically growled. "That's why it was so crucial that Sykes believed that you and Zayn were together instead of us two... I don't think you understand how dangerous being with me might be."
"You never explained it," I countered in a small voice.
"Well then let me tell you." His voice was dark and low and terrifying as he leaned closer to me so that we were eye level. "It's fucking dangerous. You would be better off with anyone but me. Come to think of it, Zayn or one of the others might be your safest option, so you might want to consider that."
"What are you saying?" I whispered, my eyes shining with tears as I attempted to fully process his words.
"Don't fucking cry, Alice," Harry spat, his features rearranging into disgust. It sent a wave of shock through me, because Seth had spoken those same words once in a drunken state right before he'd brutally hit me across the face with the back of his hand, so when Harry's hand went up to his curls I immediately brought mine up to cover my face and flinched away from him, nearly falling into Zayn. Luckily his hands steadied me.
Harry let out a breath. "I--"
"I know," I cut him off angrily. "I know you weren't going to hit me. But you're fucking scaring me, Harry."
His eyes softened immediately. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried."
"I just..." I couldn't think of anything else to say so I stood up and left the room. No one called me back.
---
It was lucky that I had watched Louis set up his mini movie theater, therefore I was able to pop in The Nightmare Before Christmas and settle into one of the comfy theater seats. I was about half an hour in when someone's presence entered the room and seated themselves beside me. I didn't bother looking over to see who it was, because I already knew.
"Are you angry?" Harry asked after a few minutes.
"No," I answered.
"It's okay if you are," he insisted. "I don't want you to feel like you have to say something just because--"
"I'm not angry," I looked over at him. "I'm just scared."
"Of what?" he asked softly. "Me?"
"No," I shook my head. "Of everything else. Don't you see it? Everyone is out to get me. Seth. Sykes. Everyone."
"We'll keep you safe," he promised me, his eyes shining with sincerity. I wanted desperately to believe him but I was at a point where I couldn't possibly see how I would get out of this formulating mess alive.
"Why is it dangerous to be with you?" I asked quietly, redirecting the conversation.
Harry took a deep breath and shifted slightly in his seat. "I'm the leader of the most dangerous gang in Bradford--"
"I thought Sykes was," I frowned.
"He has a lot of power, yes, but his power is in numbers and the ability to be completely ruthless," he explained. "But we're more dangerous... for a lot of reasons. Anyway, because of that, people are always out to get me, but I think I'm a bit untouchable. I'm always alert. So what's the one way they can get to me?"
I frowned, uncomprehending.
"You," he whispered. "You're the one thing I care about, and if they took you away... I wouldn't be able to live with myself. You're my weakness, baby... my Kryptonite."
I let his words sink in and I frowned. "But... doesn't that mean you have to stay away from me?"
He entwined our fingers and tucked my hair behind my ear before shaking his head slowly. "I'm not one to follow the rules, really."
"It's still dangerous," I whispered. He nodded.
"It is," he agreed. "I've made a lot of enemies that would like to take me down, but see, the thing is, I won't let them. You're mine. They can't have you."
For once in my life the description of being someone's didn't bother me, because Harry Styles wasn't claiming to own me or to control me. He was expressing the fact that I was his, and in turn he was mine then, too.
I nodded and he pressed his lips against mine. I couldn't help but smile into the kiss, which only caused him to smile in return before he pulled away and leaned his forehead against mine.
Harry's eyes closed and he began humming a gentle tune.
And as we sat there and I stared at Harry's beautiful face, I realized that I was falling hard for this dangerous boy, even though I couldn't, because in the end he wouldn't be mine. I couldn't have him.
He was my Kryptonite too.