A couple of days after Indigo, Harry and I found ourselves sitting in Harry's car, that was parked some houses away from Joel's.
I stared ahead, my heart beating quicker in my chest as I thought of what was about to happen, a clear signal that I definitely wasn't as confident about my idea working out as I'd been when I'd first come up with it.
Sure, finding those papers would've helped us a lot, but was it really a risk worth taking? We didn't even know how Joel would've reacted if he'd found someone inside his house, and that aspect concerned me more and more the more I thought about it. Being able to do something doesn't mean that something should actually be done, and it couldn't have been truer in that situation.
There were so many things that could go wrong, and while I wanted to voice my fears to the others, I knew it would do nothing good since they seemed to be just as nervous as I was.
A couple of days surely wasn't enough to prepare ourselves for what we were about to do, but we didn't have much of a choice at that point.
"Let's wait until nine and then we'll go in" Harry said, turning his head to look at Indigo and I, that were sitting in the backseat.
It could be considered childish of me, but I didn't feel like sitting next to him in his car because of our argument. After the last few days I was craving some distance from him, and I would take everything that was sent my way.
I didn't really know why. I didn't think I was necessarily still mad at him for what he'd done, but I was hurt. It hurt me to think about that, it hurt me to look at him and be reminded of that, and while I still trusted him fully for some reason I couldn't make out, I wasn't as willing to spend some time alone with him as before. That detail itself hurt me, because I really liked him, too. Those two feelings couldn't thrive together, and for one to be followed, the other had to be ignored, which made something break inside of me.
I'd never wanted to be so close and so far away from someone at the same time.
And while I knew it was exactly what Joel had hoped to achieve, I couldn't do anything to change it - until that evening, at least.
I checked the time on my phone, taking a deep breath when I read it. "It's nine" I said quietly, my voice a bit shaky, advising the others that the time had come.
Joel wouldn't come back for hours and the dinner had surely started by then, so it was the perfect moment. We would be out of the house way before he'd even consider coming back. It would be easy.
"Stay in the car, only get out if Joel comes" Harry warned Indigo, and then we both went out on our mission.
Thinking about it, getting into Joel's house was the easy part. He always kept a spare key well hidden into the side of the step that brought to the front door, that you wouldn't have noticed unless you knew it was there. Getting out was the much, much harder part.
We got inside and went to the studio upstairs, taking our time around the house to make sure there was nothing Indigo had missed, knowing that we still had some hours before Joel's return.
We started looking for the papers right away, and we found them exactly where Indigo had told us they were, hidden in the drawer next to the desk that faced the library that was next to the window. Harry put himself behind me, using the flashlight of his phone to illuminate what I was doing as I flicked through the pages, looking for any kind of useful information.
I was halfway through the stack of papers, trying to find something interesting, when I suddenly heard a sound coming from downstairs.
I immediately stopped in my tracks, looking up at Harry just to discover that he'd heard it as well, a worried look in his green eyes as he stared at me. He shut off the flashlight of his phone and brought his index up to his mouth, signalling me to be quiet.
I took the remaining papers and folded them, putting them into the pocket of my jeans as silently as possible, not daring to take a single step in fear of making the floor creak and alerting whoever had just come in that we were there.
I heard a feminine voice, that I recognised as Indigo's, speak hurriedly, as if she was scared about something, but I couldn't understand anything she was saying since the sound was too muffled.
There was a low reply and then the front door was violently slammed, making my heart skip a beat. There were some steps coming from downstairs, and it was in that moment that I realised how utterly screwed we were.
I touched Harry's arm to catch his attention and pointed to the window, letting him know that I wanted to find out if I could see anything outside that could tell us what was going on.
He gave me a little nod and I carefully moved past him, making sure I was only walking on carpet to limit the sounds I was making. I slid closer to the library and tilted my head just enough to see if I could see anything that was going on outside, a chill running up my spine when I saw Indigo standing on the opposite side of the street, just in front of the house.
She was supposed to wait in the car. That could only mean one thing.
She was scanning the front of the house, agitation in her movements, but stopped in the instant her eyes met mine. She mouthed something to me, and I furrowed my eyebrows, not understanding what she was saying. She did it again, and then pointed at something right in front of the house.
I looked down, discovering that a car was parked right in front of it, one that it didn't take me long to recognise as Joel's.
I widened my eyes. Joel was home, and we were screwed.
I turned my head to look at Harry, he'd moved in front of the window as well, and was now staring at the same thing with a shocked look in his eyes.
"We have to get out" he whispered into my ear, so silently that I almost thought I'd imagined it, and then pointed in the direction of his own car to Indigo, and I couldn't help but hope she'd understood he was asking her to go get it.
"Any chances we're getting out unnoticed?" I whispered back to him, using the same faint tone he'd used and moving closer to his ear just to make sure he could actually hear me.
He gave me a shrug, letting me know that he didn't really know. "Let's wait for him to stop moving."
I nodded, following the sound of the steps as they moved across the ground floor, widening my eyes when I understood where they were going.
He wasn't going to the kitchen, nor the spare bedroom, nor the main living room. He was coming upstairs.
I looked at the entrance of the studio, my heart dropping when I realised the door was wide open. He had to walk past it to get to his bedroom. "We have to close the door now" I whispered to Harry just as Joel started walking up the stairs, and he quickly moved to the side to let me through when I tried to walk past him.
I took some steps towards the door, trying to be as silent and efficient as possible. I couldn't let Joel discover us.
All of a sudden my foot stepped onto a wooden board and a loud creak resonated through the house.
I immediately stopped in my tracks, my breath halting in my throat, my eyes wide as I stared ahead at the other side of the corridor. The steps on the stairs stopped as well, and for some inexorably long seconds I could feel myself slowly die inside as I prayed he wouldn't get suspicious.
After what felt like ages he went back to walking up the stairs and I took another step, feeling relief wash over me when I didn't make another sound.
He went up the last couple of steps and reached the upper floor, and I widened my eyes, taking another step forward. I had to make it to the door, I just had to. I took another and heard him walk down the corridor, and I felt sick when I realised it was only a matter of seconds until he would walk right in front of the door.
I was quickly pulled to the side, a hand over my mouth and a hard chest against my back, just as Joel walked past. I had to bite my tongue not to let out a scream because of Harry's unexpected action, and I stared at the back of Joel's blonde head as he walked into his bedroom, that was at the very end of the corridor.
"Now" Harry whispered into my ear, and I turned my head to glance at him, detaching my body from his, giving him a quick nod.
We silently made our way out of the room and towards the stairs, stopping every few seconds to make sure Joel wasn't about to get out of his room. We reached the edge of the stairs and I put my foot down, clenching my teeth in the instant I heard it let out a squeak.
"Shit" I muttered under my breath, immediately stopping in my tracks, hoping that the sound hadn't caught Joel's attention.
Unfortunately, though, that wasn't my lucky day.
"Who's there?" I heard him ask from his bedroom and I widened my eyes, looking up at Harry, that gave me the same panicked look.
"Down! Go down!" He hissed just as Joel walked out of his room.
His confused look quickly turned into an angered one and he started walking towards us. "What the fuck?!"
"Shit" I hissed again, getting down the stairs quickly with Harry right after me, looking backwards just to discover that Joel as well was quickening his step.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!"
"Run!" I exclaimed in the second we got to the ground floor, pushing Harry in front of me. He had to go first, because I didn't even want to think about what would've happened if Joel had gotten his hands on him.
He quickly moved us into the darkness of the kitchen, my back against the wall and him in front of me, shielding me from the rest of the room. "Go get Indigo" he said to me quietly before moving to stand next to me, as if he thought I would've actually gone ahead and left him there.
"Are you kidding? I'm not leaving you" I replied just as lowly frowning at him, and he let out a stressed sigh.
"Don't be ridiculous."
I opened my mouth to reply but I quickly changed my mind in the instant I heard Joel's footsteps getting closer, putting my hand over my mouth and nose in hopes of stifling the sounds of my own breathing, that was a bit quicker and harsher than usual, fuelled by the rushed heartbeat, that I could hear into my ears.
"I know you're in here" I heard Joel say out loud, anger evident in his voice. "I will find you and make you regret ever coming here, Harry. This is the last fucking straw!"
I let out a little scream when all of a sudden the kitchen light was turned on and Joel walked inside, a twisted smile on his face when he saw us.
"You won't see the light of day when I'm done with you, you fucking asshole" he spat, his icy eyes focused on Harry.
"Raine, go!" Harry told me, a serious look on his face, pushing me towards the door, but I shook my head, moving closer to him and shielding him from Joel with my body.
"And let you get killed?! Not a chance."
We might've not been in the best terms in that moment, but there was no way I would ever let Joel get a hold of him. He had to stay away from Harry, and I was ready to fight to make sure he would've made it out of there okay.
Joel shifted his attention from Harry to me, raising an eyebrow. "I expected better from you, Raine. I see why Callie told me to go home early, now."
I clenched my teeth. Of course Callie had told him. How could I have been stupid enough not to understand that there was surely a catch with all the information she'd given me?
"Stay away, Joel" I said lowly, trying to be as threatening as possible, and he seethed at my words.
"You should've done that too instead of breaking into my house!" He shouted, fury twisting his features, moving closer to us.
I gulped, resisting the urge to cower away at his reaction. If I'd moved away, I knew there was nothing that would've kept him away from Harry. "I'm sorry" I told him gently, hoping that it would make him calm down.
"I don't fucking care" he replied angrily, "I'm done." He opened a drawer next to him and pulled out a kitchen knife. "Step away from him."
My eyes widened when I saw the weapon, and I shook my head quickly. "No."
"Raine go!" Harry hissed, pushing me away from him and towards the kitchen door, and before I could even realise what I was doing I grabbed his wrist and sprinted out of the kitchen, taking him with me.
All of a sudden his arm slipped out of my grasp and I turned around just in time to see Joel slamming his body into him, making him fall to the ground. He turned around quickly but the blonde boy got on top of him, grabbing the collar of his shirt and smashing his back onto the floor, making Harry's head hit the marble floor with a loud thud.
Harry stilled, stunned for some seconds, and Joel took it as his chance to punch him, but Harry covered his face with his arms, blocking it. He pushed his chest away from his, trying to crawl out from under him, put Joel pushed him to the ground again, raising his knife.
Harry grabbed the wrist of the hand that was holding the weapon, struggling to keep it away from his body, and then pushed it away violently. The knife fell out of Joel's hand, distracting him, and Harry punched him, startling him just enough to be able to roll away from him, quickly getting up.
Harry grabbed my arm, shaking me out of the shocked state I'd fallen into. "Open the fucking door!" He roared and I nodded quickly, looking at him just in time to see that Joel had taken back his knife.
"Careful!" I shouted and Harry turned around, jumping back just as Joel tried to stab him in the abdomen, letting out a shocked sound as the sharp blade touched his skin.
He kicked Joel away and I ran to the door, opening it and turning around, seeing that Joel had gotten Harry on the ground and was now on top of him again, the knife in his hand.
I ran back towards them again, getting a hold of the weapon from behind and struggling against Joel, trying to get it out of his hands. Harry pushed him away again and he fell to the side, allowing me to grab the knife and throw it away into the kitchen.
Joel groaned and I took him by the shoulder and shoved him to the side, helping Harry up and running out of the house.
When we got out we saw Harry's car right in front of the front door, the engine running.
I pulled the door of the backseat open and I thrusted Harry inside before getting in as well, closing it quickly, my heart almost failing when I saw Joel run towards us.
"Start the car now!" I shouted turning my head to look at Indigo, that was sitting at the driver's side.
She nodded and sped away, leaving Joel to run after us for some seconds before giving up and quickly disappearing from view when she took a turn.
I leaned my head back against the car seat, taking some deep breaths to calm the fast beating of my heart, turning my head to look at Harry when the adrenaline began to fade away.
He was breathing just as quickly as I was, his eyes closed and jaw clenched, the golden light of the streetlights drawing deep shadows onto his face. I instinctively reached out for his hand and intertwined my fingers with him as the realisation of what had just happened started to settle into my mind.
Joel had chased Harry with a knife. He'd gotten him onto the ground and tried to stab him multiple times. He wanted Harry dead. It was different from all the other times he'd said it - those were just words. But now, my ex best friend had attempted to kill the boy I liked right in front of me. It didn't even feel real.
"Is it okay if we stop by my apartment? My roommates are home so I can stay there tonight" Indigo said, disrupting the silence, and I turned to look at her.
"Yeah, sure" I replied, and she gave me a little nod.
She parked in front of her flat not too long after and said her goodbyes quickly before going inside, leaving Harry and I to move to the front seats of his car.
"We're going to mine" Harry muttered in the second he sat on the driver's seat and I nodded, having no intention to complain. Harry's apartment was surely safer than mine, and I didn't want to be alone.
The rest of the ride went by quietly, but I didn't even feel like talking in that moment, so I didn't mind. I leaned my head on the car window, resorting to just staring at the dark buildings as we passed them.
We got to Harry's apartment and went upstairs, and I was quick to take off my shoes and sit on his couch, feeling like I could've passed out at any moment because of how tired I was.
He closed and locked the front door and I opened my eyes to look at him, a freezing chill running down my spine when I was finally able to see him in a decent light.
His hair were messy and the look in his eyes was exhausted, but what immediately caught my attention was the front of his light blue shirt, that was shredded and covered by a dark red stain.
"Harry oh my god, you're bleeding" I said, standing up and rushing towards him, staring at him intently as I tried to assess his condition by the way he was interacting with me.
He rolled his eyes at my statement, which made me understand that he was perfectly aware of it. "I'm fine" he muttered, going into the kitchen.
I followed him, having no intention of dropping it in case it was serious. "Please let me look at it."
"I told you I'm fine" he sighed, pouring himself a glass of water and turning around to sip on it, sending me a little glare when he caught me looking at him. "Are you seriously going to keep staring at me like that?"
I glared back at him, hating that he was being so difficult. "Yes because you're fucking bleeding Harry! Let me see if it's bad."
"Can't you just leave it alone?"
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Alright then, what kind of flowers do you want me to order for your funeral given you're gonna bleed to death over the bedsheets?"
Harry let out an exasperated sigh at my words, putting the glass down and walking past me and towards the bathroom. "Be fast, I'm tired."
I followed him into the other room, feeling myself blush a bit when he took off his shirt and leaned back against the sink, giving me a skeptical look.
I rolled my eyes at him and rummaged through his cabinets until I found a packet of cotton pads, wetting a few and using them to clean the blood off of Harry's stomach to be able to see what was underneath.
The cut was long and it went from side to side, making it clear that Joel had to have slashed him, or tried to stab him and slipped, at some point during their fight, but it didn't seem to be particularly deep, and it wasn't bleeding heavily.
"Okay it's actually not that bad" I admitted, and Harry raised an eyebrow at me.
"Told you."
I pursed my lips, still looking down at it. "I think it doesn't need stitches or anything. How long has it been?"
"Thirty minutes."
I nodded, finally looking up at him, focusing on the green shade of his irises in the light of his bathroom not to allow myself to freak out about the fact that he was actually hurt. "Okay, I'm just gonna assume that if it needed some kind of specific care you'd already be dead by now. I hope I'm right. Please don't die."
Harry let out a little chuckle, as if he found my words funny. "Well now that you asked nicely, I'll actively do my best not to. Because that would change so much if I were to die."
"Don't joke about that" I told him seriously, and he tilted his head.
"You're the one that asked me which flowers I wanted for my funeral."
"Just to get you to let me look at it! It's not my fault if you only speak cynicism, Harry" I exclaimed, before putting some disinfectant on a new cotton pad. "Let me disinfect it."
I grazed the cut with the soft piece of cotton and Harry hissed in pain, immediately tensing up and leaning away from me.
I looked up at him, sighing at his reaction, and then gave him the cotton pad. "Do it yourself, then" I told him and he rolled his eyes again, taking it from me and disinfecting the cut.
"Done" he said when he was done, throwing it into the bin, and I nodded, wrapping a little gauze around his waist, just enough to make sure he wouldn't have stained another shirt if he'd started bleeding again. "Can I go now?"
I nodded, moving away from him. "You're free."
He got out of the bathroom and went into his bedroom, and I stood in the doorway, observing him as he looked for a new shirt to put on, trying to understand if he truly was okay from the way he moved around.
"I'm just worried, you know" I told him after he put on a grey t-shirt, "you mean a lot to me and I don't want you to get hurt."
He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. "I don't want you to get hurt either."
"I'm not the one with a target on my back."
"I'm fine" he replied, "I really am. You don't have to worry."
I nodded, walking towards him and wrapping my arms around him. "I'm so glad you're okay" I murmured to him. "I don't know what I would do if you weren't."
He sighed, leaning his cheek against the side of my head and hugging me back just as tight. "I am" he replied, "if he touches you, that's the last thing he'll do."
I rolled my eyes at his words, but smiled anyway. "Classic boy stuff" I teased him, yawning, "we should go to sleep, I'm so tired."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter x
Miki