The Lyre: Harry Styles Fanfiction

Hides Behind A Cigarette

(Liam)

My heart broke two days ago.

Cheryl.
She told me everything.

Without thinking, I tossed the ring next to her, where she sat on the bed.

Desperate to busy my mind with anything other than her, I buried myself with work, but this morning, I decided to call Niall.

He was about to pick Gwen up from a friend's house and take her to the university orientation.
I said I'd go with him.

On the way there, he told me Gwen was with Theo a couple of nights ago.
I looked at him in shock.

"Have you called Cullen?"
"Hm-mm", he said, shaking his head.
"What? Niall, he's going to kill you if he finds out that you knew and didn't tell him, Mate"

We pulled up to an enormous beach house that I didn't recognize. Niall got out of the car and headed to the front door with Gwen's bag and that juice she likes, but I stayed put with my thoughts.

Gwen was probably thinking that no one would find out about her seeing Theo.
Niall was the only one who knew about it.

I lowered my head, thinking about the position that Niall was in right now.

A few minutes later, Niall and Gwen came walking toward the car.
When Gwen saw me and my grave expression, her face changed from carefree to anxious.
She knew Niall told me.

Once she climbed into the backseat of the Ferrari, I got back in and the three of us sat for a second. From the passenger seat, I turned my head to the left.
"We made a deal", I said, seemingly to Gwen, but Niall knew I was talking to him, too.

We rode in silence until we got to the Rosewater campus.

"If Cullen finds out, what's the point of me even going to this orientation then?", Gwen said, sardonically.

"When did Theo come back?", I asked, still in shock that she was with him. Niall jerked slightly in his seat at the sound of Theo's name.

"To hell with this. I'm not leaving", she said, barely audible, then spoke up.
"Let me out, Liam. Please".

I sighed and let her out.
As she walked away, I got back in the car and looked at Niall. His eyes stayed fixed on the dashboard.
He didn't have to say anything for me to know what he was thinking.

When he finally spoke, his tone was low.
"I know we made a deal, Liam"

We both thought back to that night that we "made a deal".
It was the night that we all saw Gwen's bruises. The night Niall was arrested for assaulting Theo.

We left the jail and came back to Niall's house.
Niall and I took Cullen into a room, alone, and with as little detail as possible, told him everything.
Gwen meeting Theo.
Niall finding her with Theo that night.
Gwen at Theo's house the next day.

I explained Gwen's sensory disorder and was quick to tell him that I had prescribed her medication for it.

Cullen sat through it all without a word.
He looked like he was going to either explode with anger or start sobbing.