PART 2 OF THE DOUBLE UPDATE. SWIPE BACK IF YOU MISSED PART 1
Harry Styles
I stare down at the prick I so badly wanted to deck in the face just from his frat boy looking persona. He looked like Niall but ten times more likely to throw up in the pool at a house party. His eyebrows were heavy and dark, but plucked. His hair blonde but more of that dirty blonde type. Kinda like Aven's but darker.
"I'm..Ryan.." He was hesitant to shake my hand, intimidated. I don't know why he was intimidated, I was smiling wasn't I?
When his hand met mine, I clenched harder then normal. His went submissive to my grip as I gave it a hard firm shake like the gentleman I was.
I looked down and saw the silver Cartier bracelet on his wrist, peaking out from the loose white sleeve.
Rich kid.
"Nice bracelet." I fake smiled through my sunglasses.
"Thanks." He pulls his hand back, "It was a graduation present."
I wanted to laugh at the statement, but I held back.
"Of course it is." I nod, still standing at the end table.
"Harry." Aven speaks up, making me turn my head to her side of the booth. She had those black sunglasses on her face hiding her expression, but I know she wasn't pleased with me. "What are you doing here? I said I would be back later.." She half mutters to secretly show me how annoyed she was.
"The guys wanted something to eat." I point over my shoulder to a booth across the room.
They both looked around me to see where I was pointing. I turn my head over my shoulder to get a glimpse of Niall, Louis, Liam and Nova all sitting in a booth like I said. They all were talking and pushing each other around.
"They don't have many table manors though." I shrug and turn my head back to the table I was leaning my hands on. "You mind if I sit?"
"Yes I do mi—"
I sit down next to Aven before hearing her full decline. She slides over as my hip knocks hers, looking at me with a tight jaw.
"Harry this is a bad time." She disguises her anger with a polite tone.
"It's okay babe, I just wanted to meet your friend. I'll be on my way shortly." I smile and extend my arm along the back of the booth so she was under it.
I could tell she was sending me daggers through the sunglasses, but I turn my head away before I gave her much of a chance to let me take it in.
"So Ryan," I begin. "You're an old pal of Aven's?"
He looks at my arm practically around her, a bit of agitation in his eyes. It was satisfying me a bit, seeing how much he already hates me but can't do anything about it.
"I'm her ex boyfriend." He answers with fake curtesy to hide the fact he didn't want me here at all.
"Oh her ex boyfriend, my apologies." I pretend I didn't know that. "Aven did mention something about an ex, I just must've forgotten." I shrug.
I felt a very tight grip on my thigh beneath the table, I didn't have to look to know it was her secretly warning me to shut up. She had a really strong grip, it pinched but I ignored it.
"And sorry you said you were her... casual friend?" He touched upon my introduction earlier.
"Yeah, casual." I repeat without explanation.
"And what does that mean?"
"Whatever you want it to mean." I shrug and smile, Aven gripped my thigh harder, her long nails really digging in.
"Harry's my boss, he's just joking around." She speaks up while death gripping my thigh to purposely cause me pain.
I use my free hand to grab the top of hers, hoping to pry it off unnoticeably as my abs flexed.
"Yeah she's right," I clench her hand. "I'm just...kidding!" I yank her grip off my thigh but the impact makes the top of my hand whack the bottom of the table.
The table shook, Ryan looking abruptly at the surface.
"Leg spasms, happens all the time." I quickly cover up, holding her hand under the table by force so she couldn't pull away and pinch my skin anymore. "Have you guys ordered yet?"
"No, we were just about to look." He answers quickly, looking down at the laminated menu.
"Oh, great." I smile and lean forward to look at Aven's menu on the table. I wasn't actually interested in ordering anything, I was mainly here just to annoy the fuck out of the guy.
"Everything here looks so good." I roll my bottom lip between my two fingers, eyes glued to the menu even though I wasn't actually reading it. "Ryan what were you thinking on ordering?" I asked pensively.
"I'm not really sure yet..." He answer awkwardly while looking at his own menu. He probably is so confused on why I'm talking to him so much.
"Are you more into the top or the bottom?" I ask.
He looks up at me in heavy confusion.
"Sorry?"
"The menu," I point at it. "Are you more into the items at the top or the bottom of it." I clarify with a smile.
He blinked like he was still lost in why I worded that in the way I did, maybe he was even picking up what I actually meant.
"Personally the top of the menu always looks better to me, but Av you would disagree right?" I turn my head to look at her under my arm, she had a very pissed look on her face because she understood exactly what I was really meaning.
"Actually I think the top of the menu looks great." She tries to cover up my innuendo so Ryan wouldn't pick up what I'm trying to say about him.
"Oh baby, you don't have to say that cause your ex is here." I shake my head, flipping it around on her.
Her soft jaw suddenly clenched.
Immediately she yanks her hand out of mine from under the table, impulsively smacking me right in the dick with the back of her hand.
I gasp out uncontrollably at the sudden impact, flinching forward over the table abruptly. The pain was too sharp to hide from Ryan who went wide eyed, I lost my breath for a second and clenched my teeth together.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Did I stomp on your foot?" Aven speaks in fake sympathy, acting like she didn't purposely just hit me in the crotch. "So weird we both get leg spasm..."
I take a deep breath and nod, going along with what she's saying even though that hurt so fucking bad. I heard some snickering laugher in the distance, making me turn my head and see the guys at the table across the room. The were looking at us and laughing a bit to themselves, seeing what happened under our table given the distance.
I take Aven's hand and death grip it in mine again, holding it even more firmly so she couldn't hit me again. Intertwining our fingers together I stick them between my thighs to lock them in place.
"Is there something going on I don't know about?" Ryan was catching on.
"No, Harry's just a little frantic this time of day." Aven covers up.
"Is he like...on meth or something?" He asks her like I wasn't sitting right here.
"Yeah actually, you wanna buy some?" I fired back.
He widens his eyes a bit, not expecting my serious reply. I stared in a straight face, waiting for an answer.
"No." He shakes his head like he was really against the idea.
"Too bad, selling drugs is how I pay for touring." I shrug in a petty joke, sarcasm at its finest.
Well, actually I wasn't completely joking.
"He's kidding obviously." Aven saves, on edge about all of this. "He's also not on meth.." She turns her head to me and waits for an agreement.
"Yes I'm joking of course." I agree. "Just coke and a little bit of paint fumes." I smile with teeth.
"He's also joking about the paint fumes." She quickly talks over me, Ryan looking a bit pissed.
"Yeah, I got that." He answers, giving me a bit of a dirty look. I sensed some attitude in his voice. I really wanted to get a rise out of this character. If he gets up and start shouting at me, it give me the excuse to knock him on his ass.
No one knows how badly I want to stand up and blind him right now with my left fist. One punch and he'd be out cold. I pray he starts an altercation with me so I have an excuse to beat the shit out of him.
Here's how I see it; if he starts a fight with me, I get to kill him and Aven won't be mad at me for it. It's the best of both worlds.
The waitress suddenly comes over with a tray of two clear drinks. She places them down on the table, looking at me and my sudden arrival.
"Would you like something to drink too?" She asks considering I showed up after they ordered their drinks.
"No thank you." I give another fake smile.
God I hate smiling, hurts my bloody cheekbones.
"Alright well can I take your orders?" She asks us as a whole, putting down cutlery in little rolls of napkins.
"Sorry we're still looking." Aven apologizes and looks down at the menu.
"That's okay, take your time." She nods, hurrying off to attend everyone else.
I look down at the cutlery rolls and I undo one.
"So Ryan, you like sports?" I ask pleasantly.
"Aven!" I heard someone else holler her name over the restaurant.
I turn my head and see it was Nova waving her over for something. I glance back at Aven and smile at her, she looked very nervous but this couldn't be more perfect for me.
"Your friend is calling you." I smirk while releasing her hand from between my thighs.
She sends me daggers, knowing she had to leave me alone with her toxic ex.
"Excuse me." She looks at Ryan before thrashing her hip against mine so I'll get up and let her out of the booth.
I don't oblige and slide out so she can get up, standing and smiling at her as she brushes by me quickly. I watch her walk over to their table across the diner, leaving me alone with him.
I sit back down, getting comfortable in my seat. I lift and extend my legs out, putting my feet up on the table and angling them towards the corner. Ryan widens his eyes a bit at my barbaric action, glancing around to see if people are looking. He peers at me in timid shock before turning down to the menu.
"Yeah— I played football in high school." He answers my previous question I didn't actually care about, ignoring my feet on the table.
I grab the sharp knife off the table and draw my eyes up and down the thin blade, twisting it in my hand.
"Quarterback?" I ask while looking at the knife in my hand.
"Wide end receiver." He corrects.
"Play sports now?"
"No. But I hope to get drafted for patriots one day." He murmurs.
"Ah." I nod at his pipe dream, staring down at my dinner knife. "Do you hit woman?"
The conversation went silent.
I glance up from the steel blade, meeting eyes with him across the table. His pupils went large, almost devouring the blue in them. He was caught off guard by my heavy question in such a calm tone. It looked like he was wondering if he heard me correctly, I waited for a response.
"What.." He cleared his throat in uneasiness.
"Women, do you hit them?" I ask again, keeping direct eye contact through my sunglasses.
The colour vanished from his face, every part of him going frozen by question. I leaned forward with my feet still on the table, sipping Aven's clear drink through the straw. I think it was Sprite.
Thank god, my blood sugar was getting low.
"It's a simple question Ryan." I shrug, twisting the knife in my fingertips again. "We're both guys here right? I won't tell anyone."
"No, I don't." He declines, shaking his head.
I tilt my head slightly to the left in amusement, grinning a bit because I was now staring at a liar too.
"Ry, baby— you don't have to lie to me." I smile with teeth, shaking my head because this started to sound humorous to me.
"I'm not." He mutters, getting mad it seemed. His body language displayed how on edge he was by this situation.
"So you've never hit angel?" I get more specific, watching him squirm like a fish out of water. "Sorry, Aven I mean."
A big part of my job is getting answers out of people through my words and intimidation, not to suck my own dick but I do it very fucking well. There was no way I wasn't going to make this guy suffer for what he's done, all I had to do was watch him stifle a bit.
"Look, I don't know what the hell she told you.." He gets guarded.
"Oh she didn't tell me anything," I look down at my knife in my hands, pausing before glancing back at him, "You just look like a pussy that beats women."
His jaw goes rock solid, lump in his throat moving up and down. He looked very angry now, but also embarrassed. This prick has the audacity to be embarrassed by it?
"So it is true then?" I smile with my teeth again. "Cartier bracelet hits women?"
I felt a delicate breeze to my right, making me turn my head to look up at Aven striding back at the table, her sunglasses pushed up on her head. She looked at my dirty sneakers resting on the table mixed with a solid look on Ryan's face.
"Hi baby." I smile, directing my feet off the hard surface and back on the ground.
"What's going on?" She sensed the sudden tension between him and I.
"Aven what did you tell him!" Ryan snaps, slamming his fist on the table so everything on it shook. I caught the immediate fright in her eyes as he snapped so quickly at her, her body flinching while immediate rage sparked in me.
I shoot up tall to my feet and in one boiling action I stab the knife down between his two spread fingers on the table. Aven yelps while Ryan jumps in his seat in totally startle, his eyes almost popping out of his head. I then slam my open palms down so the flat surface stings my palms, leaning over to table at him.
"You raise your fucking voice at her again and I will aim for a place a lot worse then between your skinny fingers." I mutter between my teeth, glaring right into his eyes through my sunglasses.
I feel Aven place her hands on my hips, trying to get me to calm down from my protective reflex, wanting to pull me back but I wasn't budging.
"Harry stop." She whispered as I kept my eyes on him, he stared up at me from his seat in fright of how quick I flipped on him. The knife was still standing up in the wooden grooves of the table.
I didn't realize how the room went silent besides the music.
I stared down at a guy that liked to hurt people weaker then him to dispose all his anger. He hurt Aven for years because he knew she felt too guilty to fight back. He took advantage of her timid persona, simply because he could.
"You're weak and sad aren't you? You were hurting and the only way you knew how to deal with it was take it out on someone you knew couldn't fight back and stand up for themselves. You made it feel like it was her fucking fault! You ruined her and now she's scarred for the rest of her life!" I mutter, but my voice was loud enough for others to hear. "Do you understand that?"
"Harry people are looking, please stop." Aven murmurs while tugging my hips harder behind me.
I blinked with a head shake, realizing I was getting carried away with my words like something was taking over my body. I turn my head to the rest of the diner, seeing how everyone was silent and all looking in my direction, some with their phones out. This will be all over the internet soon I bet.
I didn't care.
"She was never your possession to push around." I mutter back to him.
He stares up at me with a clenched jaw, finally I pulled back and stood up straight next to Aven. He wasn't worth any more of my time.
I snake my arm around Aven's waist, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a hundred dollar bill. I tossed it on the table, knowing it was more then enough for whatever he was gonna order for lunch.
"Contact her again and see what happens." I state clearly before turning us both around, walking out with her.
I pull her out of the restaurant without saying another word, my hand firmly griping the hip of her shorts. I felt eyes on us but I didn't care, I just wanted her away from that asshole. But the second we got outside, she swatted my hand off her hip and pulled away from me. The next thing I knew she smacked my chest in anger, pushing me with a triggered look on her face.
"What the hell was that!" She shouted in frustration on the sidewalk.
My eyes widen.
"Do you see the way he snapped at you in there? I was sticking up for you." I defend immediately as she crossed her arms over her stomach.
"You told him the secret I told you! I promised him I'd never tell anyone about our unstable past." She argued.
"Because he manipulated you! Don't you understand how fucked up that is?"
"Harry you're not perfect either." She shakes her head.
"Believe me I know that, but I don't get physical then make you keep the secret to save my own fucking ego!" I was astonished on how much she was fighting me on this.
For once I'm not trying to be the bad guy here.
"But instead you get me affiliated with...you know what in order to earn your protection, right?" She cocks her head to the side, a condescending tone in her fragile voice.
I froze for a second, taking a breather.
"That's different circumstances." I state in a quieter voice full of caution.
She rolls her blue eyes, shaking her head.
"Yeah, of course it is." She mumbles under her breath in disappointment, turning around and walking down the sidewalk. "It always fucking is."
"Aven that's business and you know it." I start following her down the busy sidewalk.
She doesn't answer, or maybe I just didn't hear, I don't know. All I knew was that she kept striding down the sidewalk with me right behind her. I reach out and grab her hand to stop her from walking, I just want her to talk to me.
"Av.." I grab.
"You know what Harry," She turns around and stops walking. "I asked you very nicely to leave this situation alone, I begged you. You are the only person I ever told that secret to, my best friend doesn't even know. You told me this morning how you wanted to earn my trust, but then you go pull shit like this in such a conniving manor!" She keeps her arms crossed.
"I was doing it for you."
"No! You showed up to that diner with a purpose to cause chaos and feed your fucking tough guy ego. If you even had a thought of me during that, you would've just listened to me back at the bar when I begged you not to approach him. I saw the way you were all over me in there, trying to show off and make him jealous, telling him we're casual friends? You ignored all my signals to stop and leave, and the minute I stepped away you jump the opportunity to confront him about abusing me years ago? Harry that's so fucked up!" She spills in utter rage, really looking like she didn't want to see me again.
"I know what guys like him do. He doesn't know how to express his anger so he takes it out on someone he knows will shut up and receive it. He knew you were timid and impressionable, so he used that to make you a human punching bag. He made you feel guilty for it too! He made you feel like you deserved it and now you have to go the rest of your life always feeling that way!" I slowly spoke louder to get my point across, I was so frustrated.
"You don't know anything about what our relationship consisted of for those two years, you don't get to walk in here and think you know everything about us!" She argues.
"I was standing up for you!"
"I stood up for myself when I finally broke up with him a long time ago! You don't know how much of a big deal that was for me, finding the strength to leave a toxic relationship. I road this ride already and today was suppose to be about forgiveness and closing this chapter in my life that involved him, not bring up the past all over again. This meant so much to me and you ruined it!" She started to get teary eyed while spilling her heart out.
"I didn't mean to hurt you during this, I was trying to help you. You still get nervous around him, just sitting there for those fifteen minutes I saw how much your energy changed. You are a different person around him, it's like he still controls you."
"I have scars from that relationship, ones you know nothing about." She mutters, wiping under her left eye to stop a tear.
"I'm sorry if you don't want to hear this, but I've known the real you longer then he ever did in your whole relationship. Since this tour, think about how much you've changed, how much more real and free you are—"
"Why? Because I smoked a joint with you in a football field and got you off by a penthouse pool?" She said in a frustrated mutter of disbelief.
I froze, my chest getting a little heavy and my throat going tight. I didn't expect that response and that's not where I was going with it.
"That's not what I meant..." I murmur in sincerity, slight shock she just said that.
"That's not being the real me," she shakes her head in disbelief, a tear stumbling down her cheek because she couldn't control her emotions when she was frustrated. "That's me adapting to you."
Her words left me silent, but it didn't matter because she stormed away before I couldn't even get a sound out if wanted to. I didn't follow this time, how could I?
I let her go.
She disappeared within everyone on the sidewalk, people too drunk and distracted to focus on what subtle public fight just went down. My jaw clenched, my hands balling into fists. In a flash of rage I turned and kicked a menu board stand outside of a building. I cussed with it as the chalkboard scrapped against the sidewalk and fell over.
I'm not playing cat and mouse, if she can't see what good I was trying to do then she can run for the hills. For her I've held back a lot today, what happened in that diner was nothing compared to what I would usually do. I'm not going to be obedient to her and her needs, I'm not who she wants me to be. I tried to help for once and she just saw it an a conniving act.
So she can run, I don't give a shit anymore.
Aven Brooks
I stormed through the crowded sidewalk, arms crossed over my stomach as I tried my best not to cry. My emotions were over the roof, I felt so humiliated about what happened in that restaurant. Harry completely ignored my wants and went along to do what he wanted. I don't regret anything I told him back there, I have a right to be upset.
I understand a part of him was doing this for me, but I know it was mainly about him. He knew I didn't want trouble like that, it's not me at all.
He doesn't seem to understand I told him a secret that no one knows, and I only told him that secret because he pried it out of me. What makes him think he can accuse my ex boyfriend about it?
He hasn't been in my position, he doesn't know what I've been through and what I've conquered in my time with Ryan. It was very hard for me to break up with him, to escape that abusive relationship. I've spent countless nights crying alone when I was with him, convinced it was my fault for being abused.
Our breakup was very rough for both of us, it took me three different tries to make it final because he just wouldn't let me go. Then we went a while of him constantly showing up at my work, calling me, showing up at my house, texting my friends, everything. He was crazy possessive, trying his hardest to get me back. The last time I saw him in person, we had a fight at my work and he left.
Then he started texting me again, but since it was when I was going through a hard time on tour and was craving a piece of my old life, I texted him back. He was calmer, more civil. So naturally I was civil too. We had a casual conversation, and for the first time it felt like things could be put at peace and we could finally move forward.
So that leaves today, when I ran into him. As much as I didn't want to see him, I wanted to go to lunch so we could have one last conversation of closure and I could keep Harry away from him. I saw how soft Ryan was, and it reminded of me of when we first met. I wanted to have closure with that Ryan, not just the person he became during our relationship.
But when Harry came in and caused hell, he took that option away from me. Now Ryan thinks I've been going around spilling all our secrets, he's probably infuriated.
I continued to fly down the sidewalk, hoping to god Harry wouldn't follow anymore. I haven't heard him nor feel his hands grab me, so I think he finally gave up and let me go. My stomach was turning, I felt so sick about this situation. I just wanted to be alone, I didn't want to be here anymore. I was sweating like mad, the diner was hot to begin with and the tension between Ryan and Harry made it more humid. I needed to tie my hair up because I could feel the sweat rolling down my neck.
"Aven." A voice called my name, I didn't want to talk to anyone.
But I turned around and saw Ryan walking up to me along the sidewalk, I quickly wiped my tears, needing to give him an explanation.
"Ryan...listen I'm so sorry about what happ—"
He grabs my arm and yanks me over between two buildings, taking me out of direct public. I clenched my jaw a bit as his grip was very tight on my upper arm, stepping me in a shallow alleyway right next to the busy street.
"Let go." I pull my arm down but he doesn't disengage.
"What the fuck happened in there?" He whisper shouts as my back was against a cool brick wall.
"I–I don't know, I swear I didn't plan tha—"
"What did you tell that junky?" The anger in his face was hard for me to see, it reminded me too much of the past.
"He's not a junky." I was quick to defend.
"He's a coke head that slammed a knife between my fingers!" He grips my arm tighter, making me yelp.
"Stop." I shove his hand away, luckily he releases this time.
"You told him about our past!" He gets angrier.
"No I didn't." I shake my head, looking out to at the street just a few steps away. I felt very unsafe, my stomach in knots.
"Don't play dumb! How else would he know?" He mutters.
"I don't know—"
"You told him!"
"Stop getting mad at me! You can't talk to me like this anymore." I fight back, but my voice was shaky.
"I'll talk to you how I want when you're spitting on my name in the streets Aven!"
"But I'm not! Ryan I thought we came to a civil friendship, why would I do that?" I shake my head in shock.
"Friendship? This is the first time I've been in actual communication with you since you told me to get out of your life. How would I not assume you're talking shit about me behind me back?" He spills, making me confused.
"What are you talking about! We established a mutual agreement over text. I said we could be friends." I shake my head tears in my eyes.
He looked very confused.
"Aven I haven't texted you in a year." His eyes were rocking back and forth between mine.
"What are you talking ab—"
"What is on your neck?" He cut me off, immediately rubbing his thumb down my tender arch that was blanketing in sweat.
My heart dropped to my shoes when I realized what he was looking at. His eyes were dark in anger, staring right at the hickeys I was hiding with coverup. I forgot about them, and the sweat blanketing my neck was wiping off the makeup.
"You're fucking that douche bag singer, aren't you?" He clenches his jaw.
"No." I quickly shake my head back and forth, knowing he was only getting angrier.
"Are you fucking kidding me!" He was becoming really heated.
"Ryan, he doesn't know anything about us." I was welting in tears because this was triggering our past way too much. I was still so scared around him like this, even if we weren't together anymore.
"One word to the press about what I did and he'll ruin me Aven!" He spits in a frustrated anger towards me, cutting me off.
I swallow with my back against the hard wall, tears brimming my eyes as I stared up at him. He had a look of absolutely disappointment mixed with rage, I couldn't believe this was happening.
"Maybe you shouldn't of done it then Ryan." I answer quietly, but my words were built with nothing but the little courage I had against him.
I couldn't process what happened next until I felt the harsh impact to my cheek, a head ponding sting that lit my skin on fire. My head flew to the side, a gasp leaving my lips as I realized he just hit me across the face.
I immediately placed my hand on the fiery skin that made my eyes more glossy then they already were. I tilt my head back up to look at him in shock, not believing he just did that to me. I was embarrassed and ashamed, even though we were alone in this alley.
I met eyes with him, seeing how angry he is and how much he didn't regret what he just did. In the past, he would always look guilty after getting physical with me. But there was no remorse in his tainted blue eyes.
"W-why did you do that?" I held back my tears, holding my cheek.
"You'll ruin me, don't you understand that?" He mutters as he was still mad, taking my wrist and yanking it down so I was forced to let go of my cheek.
"I didn't d–do anything to you though.." I started to cry.
"Stop lying to me!" He shouts between his teeth.
"I'm no—"
He slaps me, again. I gasped out at the sensitive skin getting harsh contact for a second time. My head started to spin because it really hurt, a tear shooting out of my eye.
But before I even got to react, I saw a fist come from my right and nail Ryan in the side of the face. The impact made him fly to the left, his body hitting the cement alley ground in one hard motion.
My breath escaped my lungs as I looked back up and saw Harry standing where Ryan once was. He looked right through my glossy eyes, his hands gently pushing the hair back out of my face immediately. His green eyes stared at me in guilt, he must've seen what just happened.
"Are you okay?" His voice was strong of concern.
I nodded, wiping my tears quickly in the shaky mess I was.
His thumb grazed my irritated skin, it must've been so red. He stared at it for a second in what looked like guilt. The gentle gesture I didn't have time to process was a meaningful feeling. His eyes laced back to mine before speaking again.
"I'm sorry, but you're gonna hate me for the next few minutes." He whispers while pulling back.
Before I responded, Harry turned back to Ryan who was recovering from the hit but getting slowly back up with anger and a bloody nose. As he got on his hands and knees to get up, Harry aggressively flies his foot into his stomach. I flinched as Ryan huffed out a pained breath and collapsed back onto the pavement.
"C'mon football player, you can dish it out but you can't take it?" Harry squats down next to his body in this alleyway, taunting him.
I was frozen in place, this felt like a nightmare, my worlds colliding. Like usual in violence, I freeze up. I didn't know what to expect, there was no holding Harry back anymore.
He grips the back collar of Ryan's shirt, yanking his body off the ground. Barely on his feet, Ryan gets dragged out of the alley and into the public sidewalk where Harry chucks him.
Ryan fumbled across the pavement, everyone around gasping at the sight and jumping back at the sudden violence. I find the feeling in my legs and hurry out there, terrified of where this was going.
"Get up!" Harry shouts down at him in taunt, getting heated now.
I immediately notice how everyone was tuning in, pulling out their phones. My stomach dropped, I physically clenched as tears started streaming down my face. I didn't know what to expect, my voice was gone.
"So you like to hit woman but you can't even hit me back? Come on Cartier." He taunts, everyone's eyes widening.
Ryan unsteadily gets up to his feet while Harry stood patiently and waited, hands intertwined behind his back. Once Ryan turned to look at him, he took a swing that was too slow. Harry dodged the punch and fired one back with ten times more impact. Everyone gasps at the straight hit right to the nose, cocking Ryan's head back to where he stumbled.
Despite the hit, he kept balance on his feet, this time charging back at Harry and swinging again. He nailed Harry right in the nose, hard enough his head shot to the side. I flinched at the hit he managed to get on Harry, but before I knew it Harry hit him back again like he didn't even feel it.
Ryan fell to the ground and Harry made sure to go down with him, continuing to punch . He pinned him down by the throat at started going ballistic on his face, punching him over and over again. My stomach felt sick at the sounds of his fist nailing Ryan's face over and over again like he'd never stop.
He didn't fight back, but I don't think he could. Everyone continued to film on their phones but no one was doing anything, stopping this. I was solid like cement, but flinching every time Harry hammered my ex boyfriends face in.
As his fist kept going, you could see how bloody this situation was getting. His rings started to be blanketed in red until you didn't even realize he was wearing rings anymore. Ryan had no fight left, having Harry punching him in the same spot over and over.
I ran up behind Harry and yanked his shoulders with my weak grip, knowing this had to stop.
"Harry!" I shouted, but he didn't budge. "He's done!"
I tried grabbing his elbow that kept flying back in an impending hit, but it was no use. Harry was in his own world, doing what he wanted until he was satisfied. Ryan was covered in blood, not moving anymore.
"You'll kill him!" I shouted. "Harry please!"
No one was helping, I couldn't get him to stop. I was panicking, knowing he would kill him if this kept going. I yanked his contracting shoulders over and over again but he was much bigger then me.
His teeth were clenched, and blood started splattering up his face from the hits. He looked dead set on killing this man. I don't know if he'd ever stop. My heart was racing so fast, I was freaking out thinking I was going to witness the murder of my ex boyfriend.
"Harry!" I heard another voice, making me look up through the tears to see Niall, Louis and Liam pushing through the crowd. I step out of the way as they all run up behind him instead. Liam and Niall whip Harry back by the shoulders, forcing him to disengage and fall back on the pavement.
"Let me kill him!" Harry fights as Niall and Liam hold him back, Ryan laying barely conscious on the pavement.
Right at the same time I hear a police siren and everyone backing away. A cop car slams into break next to the curb, flashing lights. Two police officers jump and and run up to the bloody scene, immediately going for Harry who was fighting his friends resistance.
"Stop!" The police shout, heading right up to Harry on the ground with a bloody nose and a crimson dyed knuckle.
Niall, Liam and Louis looks like they've seen ghosts as the cops grab Harry off the ground. The same time another police car rolls up too.
Yanking him to his feet, Harry kept resisting, squirming from the cops grip as they drag him over to the car. The three guys stepped back and let it happen, glancing around and seeing also everyone else filming.
"He was defending me!" I shout in objection, but no one seemed to listen.
The other cops grab Ryan off the ground, barely conscious. They examined him quick as the others slam Harry into the hood the the vehicle, he was still resisting. They cuff his wrists behind his back, his temple to the vehicle as he was bent over with clenched teeth.
"Harry Styles—you're under arrest. Anything you say will be held against you in a court of law." They start reading him his Miranda rights as the cuffs locked him in place, knowing his name given his celebrity status.
They yanked him up off the hood, making him stand up straight as they continued to exclaim his rights. At this time Ryan managed to get up to his feet with blood covering his face, he was also being arrested.
A tear trickled down my face as this whole situation escalated so quickly. I couldn't process how quick this was all happening, how they were both getting arrested.
Harry gets pulled over to the back of the car, police push his head in and into the back seat, slamming the door. The window was open and when they locked him in there he looked out at me.
Blood was still dripping down from his nose and into his mouth. He gave me a small smirk, not one ounce of worry on his face as his teeth became tainting red.
"Daytona baby." He shrugs like this was all a big joke, almost laughing about it. I couldn't believe how causal he was about all of this, he was getting arrested.
"Fuck Harry." Niall said to my right, shaking his head in grief.
"Take her back to the hotel." Harry instructs him, referring to me.
"I'm going to the police station." I oblige, my eyes glossy.
"No point. I'll be back in an hour." He declines as a thought crossed my mind.
I ran up to the side of the car, right to his open window. He looked up at me as I gripped my hands on the windowsill, staring down at him.
"It was you, wasn't it." I spoke quietly as the cops got in the front seat.
He froze, staring up at me in uncertainty of what I meant.
"The texts." I add. "I was never texting Ryan awhile back, it was you this entire time."
He froze, staring up at me as his face went quiet. He lost the sadistic playfulness in his features, and that transition alone told me how much I was right.
I couldn't believe it.
He swallowed as guilt took over his features, my eyes watered more because I felt so stupid. If I knew those friendly texts weren't from Ryan, I never would've met up for lunch today. Everything would've been so different and none of this would've happened.
"I was gonna tell you eventually." He whispered in fault, my chest aching.
The car started driving, honking so people on the street would get out of the way. My eyes stayed on his as he drove off with a neutral look on his face, keeping eye contact with me until the very last second.
//
please continue to sign petitions, use your voice and educate yourself.
lots of love xx