Poison (discontinued)

20

Rose's POV



I don't even know how to comprehend what Harry admitted to me. My dad was left for dead in my front yard while I lay sobbing uncontrollably next to him. I blamed myself for him dying. It was always my fault because I didn't call the ambulance. I didn't call the police. I didn't even call for a neighbour. I saw what was happening and I ran straight out into the middle of it. I could have just stayed inside and got the phone but I didn't. I was irrational. But now, now I can shift some of the blame and self-hatred for my mistakes onto someone else. They weren't looking for my dad. They were looking for Harry's drunk, abusive, drug addict dad. Not only was he abusive towards Harry but me as well. I shiver at the thought. All these memories I had locked away somewhere are flooding back. I can't handle it. I need to hear my mum's voice but I can't put her through this. She struggled enough as it was when it happened. I can't bring all these memories back for her too. I don't know who else to call so I pull out my phone and dial Louis' number.


"Hello Rose?" He answers on the second ring. I don't even know why I'm calling him. I let out a sob and the tone of his voice changes to that of worry. "What's wrong?"

"I- I need to talk to someone. Is th-this okay?" My sentence comes out in sobs. I feel pathetic crying into my phone but what else am I supposed to do?

"I can come over if you want?" He offers.

"Yes please," I don't know if my words are loud enough for him to hear let alone understand but he does.

"I'll be there real soon." He says and ends the call. I have no idea what to do with myself until he gets here so I decide to make us something to eat.

There's cake batter everywhere when I hear Louis knock on the door. I didn't feel like anything decent so I decided to make cupcakes which are baking in the oven. I'm sure I look like a mess with red puffy eyes and flour spread all over me but I don't care right now. Not even a little bit.

"Hi," I answer the door. Louis is wearing a pair of grey track suit pants, a plain white t-shirt and a maroon beanie. He looks cute.

"Hey," he looks at me sympathetically before pulling me into a hug. His arms don't feel as big as Harry's and he's a lot shorter. I scold myself for thinking of him right now. He notices the mess of scattered utensils and cake mix all over me and my kitchen. "Looks like you've been cooking up a storm."

"You could say that." I shrug and half smile at him.

"Did you want to talk about whatever's upsetting you or did you just want to get your mind off it?" He asks getting back to the real reason he's here.

"I don't know." I look up at him. I must seem really strange. I call him up and ask him to come over and I don't even know what I want him to do.

"Well how about you talk to me and if it gets too hard or upsetting we can do something else instead?" He suggests. I guess it doesn't sound too bad. I don't know how much I'm going to be able to say before I burst into tears again but I nod anyway agreeing to his offer.

"I don't know where to start," I admit fidgeting with my fingers in my lap.

"Start from wherever you like." He pats my knee with his hand. The small action soothes me but only the slightest bit.

"Well, um, Harry and I, we were neighbours when we were little. We were best friends actually." I watch as Louis' eyes widen then return to their normal size. "I don't know if he's told you and it's not really my place to say this but for this to make sense I'm going to tell you anyway. Well, h-his dad was a drunk and a drug addict."

I have to stop to recollect myself and my thoughts. With the hand resting on my knee he begins to move his thumb back and forth in an attempt to calm me. I take a deep breath and continue.

"One day I-I was out the back with my dad when someone knocked well banged on our door. My dad when to get it and I heard someone yelp and I," I can't finish my sentence because tears rush from my eyes. The sobs return and I can feel my chest tightening.

"Sh, sh, it's okay," Lou tries to calm me once again but it doesn't work. It only aggravates me more.

"NO ITS NOT OKAY. I RAN OUT TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON AND I WATCHED MY DAD BE BASHED TO DEATH. I RUSHED OUT TO HELP HIM BUT THE GANG ONLY SLAPPED ME AND HELD ME DOWN AND MAKE ME WATCH. AND YOU KNOW WHY THESE MEN WERE AT MY HOUSE?! YOU KNOW WHY THEY WERE BEATING MY DAD?! BECAUSE HARRY TOLD THEM THAT DES STYLES LIVED NEXT DOOR! THEY WERE LOOKING FOR HARRYS DAD AND HARRY SENT THEM TO MY HOUSE. HARRY WATCHED THEM HURT ME AND MY DAD. HE DIDN'T EVEN GET HELP HE JUST WATCHED!" I scream the words at Louis and he looks taken aback. I feel bad for yelling at Louis but if feels good to let some of my anger out. "I'm sorry." My voice is now small.

"It's okay. I- I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." He apologizes. I hate it when people do that. I hate it when people say they're sorry for your loss because it's not their damn fault.

"Don't apologize when it's not your fault. I wanted to call my mum but I didn't want to bring back all the horrific memories she has of that time. Harry was here only hours ago and that's how I found out he was the reason those guys came to my house. I don't know what to do Louis. I promised him I wouldn't hate him and I'd try to understand but I can't. I never imagined he would tell me something like this."

He pulls me into yet another hug and I'm thankful for it. What am I or are we supposed to do now?

"You can hate him all you want. Feel whatever it is you need to feel. Give it time and you'll know what to do." He sounds so wise but I know deep down time has nothing to do with it. As soon as I realized Harry was Thorn, my Thorn I knew I could never hate him. He was there for me when I was little even if we both had no idea what to do. But I just have so much anger and I need to let it out. Harry is the perfect target but I can't do that. I need space. I'll drive myself insane if I'm near him.

"Thank you Lou," I squeeze my arms tighter around him before pulling away. "Can you drop me somewhere on your way home?"

"Of course I can," he seems confused at why I want to be going somewhere at one in the morning but he doesn't question it.

"There's cupcakes in the oven if you want one. I'll be back in a second." I smile and head to my bedroom to pack a bag.





Harry's POV


Fuck. I thought there might have been a chance she wouldn't kick me out. A chance she'd forgive me on the spot but she didn't and I can't blame her.

I pull on a pair of gym shorts and a plain black t-shirt before shoving some tape and gloves into a bag along with a water bottle and a sweat towel. I throw my bag into the back seat of my car and drive straight to the gym. I'm pretty sure I ran a red light but I don't care.

As soon as I reach the gym I make my way straight to the punching bag in the back corner. I'm disappointed when I find someone already using it. I take a seat on the bench to wait until the girl using it is done. It only takes me a second to realize that girl is Rose. Before even thinking about it I'm standing next to her and the bag trying to make conversation.

"Uh, hey Rose." I'm not sure how she's going to react to this. She punches the bag harder and faster once she heard my voice. "You okay?"

That was probably one of the dumbest things to say. Of course she's not okay. I pretty much just reminded her of the worst time in her life and then made it worse by adding her little best friend to the mix.

"Look, I really am sorry." I try to apologize again and this time I finally get a response.

"Go away Harry." Her request is simple and I nod leaving her alone at the punching bag. At least she spoke to me right?

I return to the bench and continue waiting for her to finish. As time goes on she punches the bag harder and faster. The defined muscles in her arms are straining against her skin with every movement. As her speed and strength increases she begins to make noises like grunts, growls and sobs. I watch as she breaks down in front of me. I don't know whether to comfort her or stay away? I would probably just make things worse but I can't just sit here. She's stopped punching and is sitting on the floor crying. Her breathing is heavy as her chest rises and falls rapidly. I have to do something. I don't say a word and walk over to her and pull her from the ground into an embrace. She doesn't fight it so I'm going to take that as a yes she's okay with it.

"Let me take you home," I whisper in her ear. She nods once and follows me to my car. I don't see her car anywhere in the lot so I don't know how she planned on getting home. We don't speak and she falls asleep with her head planted against the window. I don't want to wake her and I don't want to go through her bag so I decide against taking her home and bring her back to my place.

I carry her in bridal style and find Niall on the couch watching the soccer. He looks at me and I give him a stern look making sure he doesn't speak. I lay Rose down on my bed but don't change her because I don't want to invade her personal space or anything. I leave her there and return to the lounge to sit with Niall. I guess this is where I'll be sleeping tonight.

"Who was that?" Niall asks when I open a beer that he had sitting on the coffee table.

"Rosella." His eyes widen when I tell him.

"What? I thought you hated her after she kissed you," he admits. I don't know why he'd think that. I only walked out it's not like a yelled at her or anything.

"No. Far from it." I look away from Niall and take a swig from the bottle on my hand.

"So why'd you bring her here?" He asks and pulls his snapback from his head and throws it onto the single lounge chair.

"To look after her." It's true. I do want to look after her and maybe when she sees that she can forgive me.

"Why's she your responsibility?" What is this? Twenty questions?

"She's not. It's my fault she's upset so I'm just making it up to her." Her smirks at my answer. "What?"

"You've turned all lovey dovey," he laughs at the disgusted look on my face.

"She's not my girlfriend." I tell him to stop him from assuming things.

"Sure, sure." He pokes me hard in the shoulder. "I've missed you bud," he sighs and sinks back into the lounge.

"Don't get all lovey dovey on me now." He laughs at my use of his own words. I hate to say it but I've missed this.









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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you guys so much for the 1000 reads! That's incredible! I honestly never expected to get that many reads. Like ever. Anyway I want to know what you want to happen! Is there any boys you want involved more or do you have ideas for other characters you want introduced? I'm open for anything. I have an idea for another fanfic once I finish this one so let me know which boy you want it to be with! I hate to do this to you guys but I won't be updating until this chapter reaches 3 votes. It's not a lot so it shouldn't take too long. Please vote/comment/share! Anyway, you're all fabulous so don't ever think different. Love you guys! Xx