subside. // haylor au

twenty seven

"Caleb, where are they-" Harry growls, but before he can say anything else, two guards which held both boys captive let go of them and they fell to the floor with a loud 'thud'.

I immediately rush to the floor, getting them up as fast as possible, but also checking up on them at the same time.

I gasp as the bruises and blood on their faces become apparent and I quickly wipe them off before any blood comes gushing out. I absolutely hate it. I despise it. There's nothing more hurtful than hurting others, especially if it reaches a high extent that leads to death. That's inhumane and something that no one in their right minds would do. The bruises appear larger than a normal one and I start to panic, however Zayn knew what to do.

"Shit, are you alright?" He quickly opens his kit.

"Of course, I'm alright I have four bruises and two major cuts that have blood gushing out of it," Louis gives him a thumbs up and a smile, "Cheers, mate."

It's amazing how much humor he has in him even when he's extremely injured.

"What the fuck, mate?!" Harry shouts at Caleb as he pulls out a gun, but my instincts come towards me and I step in front of Harry.

He did this for a reason. No human being in the world would possibly threaten someone and injure them so harshly and let them go without having them dead.

"Get out of the way-" Harry starts to shout at me, but I cut him off.

"He wanted to threaten us, Harry," I speak as Caleb's expression dims. "He wanted to show how much power he had so that we can surrender. Think about it, it's not worth it. Yes, he's injured, but don't let your guard down, he's trying to destroy us, Harry."

"Smart lady you have in your hands, Styles - I'm impressed," Caleb speaks and I glare at him with the most deadliest eyes I can muster.

"But you're too late."

Two guards pull up towards me and grabs me by the throat.

One of them pulls out a knife and my heart beat grows faster by the millisecond that passes by.

"Shit," I curse as my actions are decreased due to lack of space to move in.

Their big gloves increase the tightness of the hold and my movements are lessened.

I've been in this position too much for me to cry. No tears came, but there was only anger and frustration. I'm the victim after all, but I'm just so fucking tired of all the grasps and the tight holds I've been through that all I want is to fight back. All of those things didn't make me weak or afraid anymore. I want to be strong.

I don't want to be scared or frightened about the thought of being terribly threatened or worse on the verge of getting my throat sliced and my life taken away from me within a second. I want to fight that. I want to be able to get grip of myself and escape from that hold.

It's like some kind of reality struck me and I finally had a mindset of nothing but survival and the need to actually do something for myself.

"You assholes," I try biting one of the guards, but all I got was a punch that made me squeal.

"Stay still, darling, it'll only be quick," Caleb smirks and I've never wanted to see anyone disappear more than this moment ever in my entire life.

I want him gone. Gone from my life. Far away from my problems and no involvement with him what so ever. Caleb Hudson - I want you fucking dead.

-

Harry's POV

I pull the gun back out as one of the guards hold a deadlock on her. She's not escaping, no chance. With that kind of untrained strength, she's not gonna make it. I know Caleb and his men pretty damn well and judging by this situation, it's going to be tough. My mind races as she tries to escape with her tiny little hands trying to break free from the grip, but it's not moving a single thing.

My heart races at the thought of her getting hurt and my feet quickly move to the large pocket of money behind all the chaos, just sitting there waiting to be the solver to the entire fucking problem.

"Here, take the money, now and let her go. Please, Caleb," I technically beg him.

"Aw, little Harry begging for his girl," Caleb coos and my heart punches itself as the answer comes out from his mouth, "No."

And for a moment, my concern took it's high extents as I feel hot tears soaking around my eyes and thats how the oblivious truth comes to me. I am afraid. No - not just slightly afraid, not the ones where you get scared if you find yourself lost or stranded, this one is an indescribable kind of 'afraid'. It's those ones where you don't know if you can handle it. It's when you actually care about someone that the thought of losing them makes your heart cringe. And I am utterly, a hundred percent horribly afraid. I am afraid of losing her.

I'm not afraid of getting a bullet through my heart, or getting a knife dragged across my throat - but I am certainly and absolutely afraid of losing her. No matter how hard I try to block those feelings - I'm not capable of not being worried. And it's the first time that I've felt this way. Real, utter, genuine concern and frightened.

Sweat starts to drip down my forehead and lands to the floor from my chin.

My mouth becomes dry.

"After a while, I decided that I didn't want the money. I wanted her life. Her father did too many things, Harry. And I couldn't forgive her for that," Caleb throws a frown at me as his eyes reek of nostalgia.

My hands shake and the feeling of uneasiness flows in me and I look at her eyes. I expected to see pale, blue eyes that consisted of a lifeless soul, waiting to die - but instead, I saw bright ones. The ones that looked like rare sapphires that would take a million years to find in a mine. Those eyes were filled with fire and anger and everything I looked for in this situation and they gave me a boost. I don't know how or why or how I even felt it, but I just knew that she's not going to give up this easily. And last, but not least, I saw a connection. I saw something special and it wasn't normal for me. I felt something greater than any source of power or energy I've ever experienced.

It made me come to a conclusion.

Those eyes says she's ready. She's not going to give up. She's ready to fight. Fear starts being replaced with confidence and my mind starts racing and coming up with possibilities of what I could do - to get her out of this situation. I need her to live. I'm not letting anything happen to her. I'm going to protect her. This person I meant several months ago turned into a person I love. I am in love with the thought of her. I am in love with her. Utterly, absolutely and deeply in love.

—

CAN I GET A HELL YEAH FOR HARRY FINALLY REALIZING HIS FUCKING FEELINGS SORRY FOR KEEPING THIS SO LONG FROM YA'LL I HAVE EXAMS NEXT WEEK BUT FUCK THAT I'M WRITING THE NEXT CHAPTER ILY