Lydia White
"Harry you look great, stop freaking out." I say, following a nervous and pacing Harry around the apartment.
We were going to my parents house today for my mom's birthday. Harry was a mess. He's been more nervous for his than I've ever seen him before.
He was wearing a white buttoned up shirt, with three buttons undone at the top and the sleeves rolled up his forearms.
"We should cover my tattoos. Parents don't like tattoos." he says, fiddling with his bottom lip like he always does.
"I promise you, they won't care." I chuckle.
"Stop laughing at me!" he says with a distressed voice. I cover my mouth with my hand to try and contain my giggles.
It was hard to not find the situation funny. A ruthless, terrifying gang leader being afraid to meet his girlfriends parents. I mean come on.
"Harry, you have nothing to worry about." I cup his face in my hands.
He takes a deep breath and sighs. "Okay."
"We should probably get going." I tell him.
He nods and grabs his keys from the kitchen counter. He holds my hand as we walk out and to the elevator, and all the way out of the building.
We walked past men in red and black jackets. They all looked very intimidating.
Harry was pretty quiet during the drive. He's never done this before, so I couldn't blame him for being nervous. But I know my parents. As long as Harry keeps the gang leader side of him hidden, then they'll love him.
After about 50 minutes of driving, we turned into my neighbourhood. My parents house was a couple houses down.
"It's the white house on the left." I point. Harry pulls into the driveway and parks the car.
He sits back in the seat and just stares ahead. I grab a hold of his hand.
"You're gonna be great in there." I reassure.
"Let's just do it. I don't wanna think about it anymore." he says. I nod and get out of the car. Harry and I hold hands all the way up to the door. I take a deep breath before ringing the doorbell.
Harry squeezes my hand tightly until the door swings open to reveal my mother with her long hair pulled into a bun, wearing a long sundress.
"Lydia!" she says, pulling me in for a tight hug.
"Hi mom." I smile into her shoulder.
"I've missed you, sweetie." she says. I pull away smiling and look up at Harry.
My mom follows my gaze and looks at him as well.
"You must be the boy Lydia was talking about." she smiles.
"I'm Harry." he smiles softly and holds his hand out for my mom to shake.
But to his surprise, my mom reaches up and hugs him as well. Harry quickly flicks his wide eyes to look at me. I snicker, making him smirk slightly. He wraps his arms around my mom to hug her back.
"You can call me Jane." she smiles, pulling away from the hug.
"Nice to meet you." Harry says as politely as he can.
My mom was a very peppy person. Harry wasn't used to these kinds of people but he seemed to be handling it quite well for my sake.
"Come on in, both of you." she says, leading the way into the house.
Harry and I kick off our shoes in the front porch and then I lead him into the kitchen.
My dad was at the counter, finishing up dinner when he saw us.
"Hi dad." I speak.
"There's my girl." he smiles, walking around the counter and hugging me. "How have you been?" he asks.
"Good." I somewhat lie and pull away from the hug. I gesture up to Harry who was standing next to me. "Dad, this is my boyfriend, Harry."
My dad nods at Harry and shakes his hand. "I'm Corey." my dad says.
"Pleasure." Harry nods in return.
"So how long have you known my daughter, Harry?" my father asks.
Harry looks down at me. "About four months." he says.
My dad widens his eyes and looks back and forth between me and Harry.
"Is she as much of a handful as she was with me?" my dad chuckles, making me roll my eyes.
Harry tries to laugh. "She's great, Mr. White. I'm very lucky." he squeezes my hand.
I smile as my cheeks go red. My dad gives Harry an approving nod.
"Please, call me Corey." he smiles. "What do ya say, Harry? You into woodwork?" my dad asks. I shut my eyes and shake my head. This was all my dad talked about.
"Well..." Harry starts.
"Because if you'll follow me to the garage, I have a whole collection of work I'd love to show you." My dad puts his arm around Harry's shoulder and leads him to the garage. Harry quickly glances back at me.
"Sorry." I mouth. I probably should have told him that my father was a forward person.
I smile and walk over to my mom who was chopping some vegetables.
"Harry seems to be growing on your father already." my mom chuckles.
"Seems that way." I nod.
"He seems like a fine young man, Lydia. Very handsome as well." she nudges me.
"Oh my god, mom." I roll my eyes at her comment.
"How did you two meet?" she asks.
Do I tell her the truth? I guess I can leave out a few details.
"Uhm. I was walking home from work one night and we just bumped into each other." I say.
I see her smile as she looks down and chops a carrot into little pieces. "And he treats you well?" she asks.
I smile to myself. "Yeah. He's great." I nod.
"I'm happy for you, baby." she looks up at me.
"Thank you." I softly smile.
I help my mom finish dinner, and call Harry and my father in from the garage. They both came in laughing and smiling widely. It made my heart warm to see that they were getting along.
"What were you two doing out there." my mom arches her brow while setting the table.
"Oh nothing." my dad smirks while nudging Harry, causing him to snicker.
My mom gives me a weird look, which I return.
Harry sits next to me at the table, while my mom and dad sit across from us.
I nudge Harry with my shoulder. "What happened with you and my dad?" I say, laughing quietly.
Harry's lips pull into a smirk and he just looks down at his plate in front of him. "You never told me you had a fear of Mickey Mouse."
I widen my eyes. "How do you know that!"
"Your dad showed me a picture of you at Disneyland standing next to Mickey Mouse and crying." he snickers.
"Oh my god." I slap my forehead with my palm. I was mortified. Yes, it was a weird fear but Mickey Mouse is actually quite terrifying if you think about it.
But I didn't want Harry to know that.
"Don't feel bad, babe. I'm sure you're not the only one afraid of a kids character." he sarcastically rubs my back in sympathy. I swat him on the shoulder.
My mom brings the food to the table and sits down next to my dad. We all start loading our plates with the dinner.
"So, Harry." my mom starts. "What do you do for a living?" she asks.
Oh God.
I look at Harry who pauses while chewing a piece of steak.
"He's a chef." I say the first thing that comes to my head, earning a weird look from Harry.
"A chef? Wow." my dad nods in surprise.
Harry swallows his food and coughs into his fist. "Y-yeah." he agrees, going along with it.
"You'll have to cook for us sometime." my mom smiles.
"Mhm." Harry smiles and nods, but I know on the inside he's panicking.
I think we dodged a huge bullet there.
We finish the dinner and then move on to the cake. We managed to survive the night without revealing anything to my parents.
Harry and I get our shoes on and walk out the door after saying goodbye to my parents. They wave us off as we drive away.
The moment the car is out of sight from the house, Harry sucks in a huge breath.
"Holy fuck." he breathes out.
"We did it." I say.
"I can't believe I kept it together for that long." he shakes his head.
"I knew you would." I laugh. He chuckles and rests his hand on my thigh.
We drive out of my neighbourhood and into the night.
"We're gonna have to get gas." Harry says.
I immediately feel slightly nervous because it was night time and we were out in public.
"O-okay." I hesitate. Harry looks at me for a moment and grips my hand.
"We'll be fine." he says, trying to reassure me.
Harry pulls into an empty gas station. The only lights were coming from the inside of the store.
There were no cars around except for ours.
He parks the car next to a pump and turns it off.
"I'll just be outside." he says before getting out of the car.
I sit nervously in the car, looking all around for anything that could hurt us.
A sleek grey car pulls into the pump across from us, making me sit up straight. I watch the car intently until until the driver door opens, revealing someone I absolutely did not expect to see.
Liam.
I get out of the car and walk next to Harry.
"What are you-"
I cut him off by pointing to Liam who hasn't seen me or Harry yet.
"Liam?" Harry furrows his brows.
Liam flicks his head towards us and then walks over.
"Oh hey guys." he says.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asks, taking the nozzle and inserting it into the tank.
"Im coming back from Eliza's place." he says, rubbing the back of his neck.
I knew about the ultrasound because Eliza texted me the moment she got out of the hospital, but I didn't know that Liam stayed with her afterwards.
"What did you guys do?" I ask.
Liam looks down at me. "Are you sure you want to know?" he says.
I scrunch my nose and shake my head. "No." I say.
"You're disgusting." Harry shakes his head in disapproval.
I walk back to the passenger side of Harry's car and open the door.
"I'm just gonna go over to his car while he fills up, Lyds." Harry says. I nod and get into the car.
I felt slightly better with Harry and Liam here, knowing not much could go wrong if something were to happen.
Harry and Liam were about 50 feet away from me at Liam's gas pump. They had their backs turned to me, having a conversation as Liam filled his tank.
I was so distracted looking at them to make sure nothing happened that I didn't see the person dressed in all black running to my passenger door.
I didn't even notice them until the door was opened and I was being pulled out.
I tried to scream, but a glove covered hand snapped over my mouth.
I was slowly being dragged in the opposite direction of Harry and Liam and into the darkness.
I could feel nothing but terror. The person dragging me was much bigger and much stronger. I was no match for him.
I shouted a very muffled scream into the mans hand, trying to desperately get Harry's attention.
The man pulled me behind Harry's car and crouched down. I didn't know why he stopped until I heard Harry's voice.
"Where the hell is Lydia!" he shouts, panicked.
I could hear Harry running to the car and looking inside...looking for me.
"Lyds!" he shouts. "Lydia!"
I feel my eyes begin to tear up as I was unable to tell him that I was only a couple steps away.
"Did she go to the bathroom?" Liam asks, sounding more calm.
"I- I don't know." Harry sounds extremely distressed.
I can hear Harry slowly approaching the back of his car, making my heart rate pick up.
Before Harry can turn and be able to see me being held by the stranger, the man pushes me out into view and then books it. I land on my hands and knees, heaving and crying.
"Liam go!" Harry shouts in shock. Liam pulls his gun out of his waistband and chases after my captor.
Harry immediately crashes to the ground next to me, grabbing my face to examine it.
"What the fuck happened? Did he hurt you? Are you okay?" he asks so many frantic questions.
I couldn't find any words, I just felt pure adrenaline throughout me. Numb tears were streaming down my face as I forced my eyes to look into Harry's wide ones.
"Its okay." Harry says, pulling me into him.
"H-he just grabbed m-me." I cry into Harry's chest. He holds me tightly and runs his hand through my hair to try and calm me down.
Harry Styles
I held a hysterical Lydia in my arms on the hard concrete.
She was shaking and crying as I tried my best to soothe her.
I couldn't see Liam. There was a forest behind my car and that's where he chased the man into.
I was so angry and hurt that I let this happen to her. I only stepped away from her for a moment and she was almost taken.
"Harry!" I hear Liam shout.
I look down at Lydia who was clutching to my shirt. "Lyds." I say, cupping her face in my hands, making her look back up at me. "Go into the store. Go to the bathroom. Don't talk to anyone. I'll come get you." I tell her.
She looks at the gas station and pinches her eyes shut and begins to shake her head.
"Baby you have to. You can't come with me." I tell her. She looks at me with tears coating her cheeks, but eventually nods.
I help her stand up and guide her body to the direction of the gas station store. She looks at me once more. I nod and then she runs towards the store.
I watch her until she's close enough to the door, and then run to the direction of Liam's voice.
I run into the forest and see headlights to a car. I cautiously walk up to it and almost trip over something on the ground.
I look down and realize that it was an unconscious body wearing all black.
"Liam?" I ask into the emptiness.
Not a moment later, Liam comes out of the backseat of the car.
"What happened?" I ask with wide eyes.
"I followed him out here. I knocked him out and then I heard a kicking..." he starts, making me tilt my head.
"A kicking?" I say, looking for clarification.
"I think someone's in the trunk." Liam mutters, making my heart drop.
I go to the front seat and open the door, seeing the keys to the car still in the ignition. I take them out and meet Liam at the trunk. He draws his gun and points it at the unopened trunk as I slowly unlock it.
Hesitantly, I lift it up. Liam keeps his gun drawn, ready to shoot.
But when I see the source of the kicking, It feels like my knees are about to give out.
The trunk opened completely to reveal Zayn with his wrists taped in front of him.
"Holy shit, Zayn!" I gasp, and immediately begin to pull my weak friend out of the trunk with Liam's help.
Liam uses his teeth to rip the tape off of Zayn's wrists as we help him stand.
He looked the same, except for a black eye and some bruises on his cheek and jaw.
"C'mon mate, you're all good now." Liam says, guiding Zayn back towards the gas station.
"Get him in the car and go home, Liam. I have to go get Lydia." I state. Liam nods and puts Zayn's arms around his shoulder, helping him walk.
I run towards the store of the gas station and barge in. I immediately see a man at the till, he looked to be about 18-20. He looked really confused.
"Hi." I nod, walking past him and knocking on the women's bathroom.
The door creeps open slightly to reveal Lydia's red face and puffy eyes. She sighs in relief when she sees me and I pull her out of the bathroom and in for a tight embrace.
"You're okay." I soothe.
"Can we please go home." she says with a shaky voice.
"Yes baby." I nod into her hair.
We walk past the confused clerk and back out to my car. I look around it and in the backseat before getting in.
We drive away in silence. Lydia was still pretty shaken up, but she had every reason to be.
She had her head pressed against the window and just stared down at her hands.
"We found Zayn." I state, trying to make conversation.
She looks up from her hands with a tinge of surprise in her eyes. "You did?" she asks.
"He was in the trunk of the man's car." I say.
"Is he okay?" she asks.
"Physically he seemed okay." I answer.
I really don't know how Zayn's gonna be. I've never been in his situation but I know that the stuff they do to you can make you go insane. He wasn't with them for very long though, so they may not have even gotten the chance to torture him.
"Well, I'm glad you found him." she says. I glance over at her and see that her face has fallen again and her eyes were lowered to the ground.
"How are you?" I ask with sympathy.
"I'm fine. I'm just a little shaken up." she replies.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I could've stopped him." I shake my head, feeling deep regret.
"You did stop him." she says.
"Lydia. Don't try and justify everything I do. I should have been there. I shouldn't have left you alone. I know better." I say firmly. She was the kind of person that didn't want people to feel bad. But I deserved to feel bad. I fucked up. I couldn't let it slide because she was literally almost kidnapped by The Phantoms.
I'm grateful that I found her in time, however. If I hadn't turned around and noticed that she was missing from the passenger seat then she could be gone by now. My stomach twists at the thought of her being taken away from me.
"How did they even know we were there?" she asks timidly.
"Fuck, I have no idea." I shake my head.
This is why we needed to attack them. They keep getting way too close to succeeding, but we keep getting lucky. We can't get lucky every time, I know that. One of these times, they're going to get exactly what they want.
And now, it's different. Before, they just wanted me. I'm the leader, therefore if they have me...then the whole gang is weak. But now they want Lydia too. Her life is in as much danger as mine is, if not more. This terrified me to no extent.
Once we got home, Lydia practically crashed onto the bed. She didn't even change out of her clothes, she was so exhausted. I tucked her sleeping body into the bed comfortably, then turned the light off, leaving her in the room.
I had to go visit Zayn. It was the least I could do after letting him be captured on my watch.
Zayn's apartment was a floor beneath mine. I went down the elevator and up to his door, knocking lightly on it.
He opened the door and nodded at me, letting me inside.
"Hey, Styles." he says, avoiding eye contact.
"How are you?" I ask.
"Been better." his lips form into a line.
I walk over to his dining table and he follows, sitting down across from me.
I cross my arms on top of the table, tapping my foot on the floor beneath me.
"Listen. I know it's hard, but-"
"You need to know what happened." Zayn cuts me off.
I nod.
"When they took me...they brought me to their 'headquarters' I guess." he says, air quoting with his fingers.
"Where was it?" I ask.
He shrugs. "I don't know. I was knocked out."
"Oh."
"Anyway, they brought me into this cell type of thing, and kept me there for 2 days I think. Then earlier tonight they tied me up and threw me into the back of a car." he says, staring at the table blankly.
"Why did they put you into the car? Do you know why they came to the gas station? Do you know how they found us?" I ask.
"I have no idea." he shakes his head, causing me to sigh in defeat.
"That doesn't make any fucking sense." I stressfully run my fingers through my hair.
"Sorry, Styles." Zayn says.
"I should probably get going." I huff, starting to stand up from my seat.
"Wait. You look like you need a drink." Zayn insists.
A drink did sound really nice right now.
"Maybe just one." I say, causing him to nod and stand up.
"Be right back." he says, turning the corner out of the dining room.
I sit and tap my hands on the wooden table as I wait.
About three minutes later, he comes back with two clear glasses in his hand. He hands me the one in his right hand and sits back down with his own drink.
He holds the glass up in the air. "Cheers." he says.
I pretend to clank my glass with his and then take a drink from my drink.
I knit my brows together as a weird taste fills my mouth and coats my throat.
It was like a burning sensation, but it almost felt familiar.
"What is this?" I say, examining the glass in my hand.
"Just whiskey. Are you alright?" Zayn furrows his brows.
I try to nod, but my head starts to feel heavy. And, before I know it, I'm seeing two of Zayn.
I feel extremely dizzy and disoriented. I look down and see that I'm not sitting anymore.
When did I stand up?
"Zayn?" I ask, hearing my own voice echo in my ears. I try to walk but I begin to stumble.
I couldn't see where I was because everything was spinning.
It wasn't until I felt the cold, hard impact to my head that I realized I was on the ground.
The ceiling spun. I felt like my limbs were too heavy for me to lift or move.
And then all I saw was blackness.
-
uh oh
also, zayn is still a huge part of this book and without spoiling anything, his character isn't reflected in this chapter—hes in all three books.