Ever Since New York

Chapter 8

Harry Styles

I woke up to find Birdie curled up against me, my arms wrapped around her waist.

I carefully moved away from her and stood up, grabbing my phone and running a hand through my hair.

She's so beautiful.. 

I look down at her, how the lines in her forehead cleared out as she slept and how her lips puckered a bit.

Shaking my head, I walk over to her and gently brush a stray hair away from her face before kissing her cheek gently.

I look around for a shirt and open my dresser, sliding a blue t-shirt on.

I walk out of the room quietly, only to be confronted by Louis in the hallway, anger and confusion written all over his face.

"Why the fuck is my sister in your bed, Harry?" he demands, his voice hard.

I sigh quietly and look at him, shutting the door quickly and quietly so as not to wake up Birdie.

"Nothing happened, I swear." I tell him, holding my hands up.

Louis shakes his head and scoffs. "Don't lie. I know that something's been going on with you two. I see the way she looks at you, Harry. Like you're her knight in  fucking tattooed armor." he says.

I bite my lip and grab his arm, dragging him down stairs and into the living room. "Okay, I'll fucking tell you. Just promise you won't get mad, okay?" I tell him, looking into his eyes.

Louis nods and crosses his arms over his chest, looking at me. "Go on. Tell me. And Harry...if it is what I think it is.." he trails off, shaking his head and laughing a bit.

I swallow hard and gesture for him to sit on the couch.

Louis sits down and I sit a bit away from him. "Okay, so...It was Birdie's birthday. We were out dancing and drinking. God, Louis, we were all so drunk." I tell him.

"I wasn't drunk." he states, looking at me.

I chuckle a bit and then nod. "Okay, well, the rest of us were really trashed. You were talking up this girl and Niall and Liam were dancing and Birdie just looked so alone.

So, I walked up to her. I asked her to dance and we did. We danced and had fun, drank and just hung out. Then..." I trail off, looking down.

"Then? What then? What'd you do?" Louis asks.

"Then, I kissed her." I say, looking at him again.

Louis sits still, his jaw ticking and his fists clenching. "Is that it?" he asks me quietly.

I shake my head and lick my lips nervously. "After we kissed..we went back to her place and one thing led to another..I was there when you came over the first time." I confess.

Louis is quiet as he nods and looks away from me.

I open my mouth to speak, only to be stopped by Louis's fist hitting my jaw.

The force of his hit knocks me off of the couch and onto the floor with a shout.

"You fucked my sister?!" he shouts, climbing over me and hitting me again.

"Lou, I-" I try, covering my face.

He grabs me by the color of my shirt and lifts me up, his fist hitting right on my nose.

"Fuck!" I cry out, pushing him off of me.

I quickly jump up and wipe my nose, my hand coming away with blood on it.

"Calm the fuck down!" I shout out at him as he marches over to me.

Louis raises his eyebrows in shock and reaches out, grabbing a fistful of my shirt and stepping up to me.

"Calm down?" he asks quietly. "Calm down?!" he shouts.

Louis raises his fist and hit me again, shoving me against the wall, causing a few pictures to fall off, the glass and frame breaking.

"You lied to me!" he says with one hit.  "You fucked my fucking little fucking sister!" he exclaims as he hits me again.

I block a few of his hits with my arms, covering my face.

Liam and Niall come rushing down the stairs at the commotion.

"What the hell is going on?" Niall asks, the gasps at Louis and I.

Liam comes forward and grabs Louis's arms, pulling him away from me.

"I thought you were my friend!" Louis shouts as he hicks his short legs out, nailing me in the thigh.

"I am your friend!" I shout back, wiping the blood from my lip.

Louis finally calms down a bit and shakes his head. "No, you're not."

His words hit me like a bus, my heart breaking a bit. "Lou..." I whisper.

He gives me a disgusted look and shakes Liam off of him. "Fuck off. Get away from me." he snaps.

Liam lets him go and raises his hands in surrender. "Go cool off, man." he says, looking at Louis.

Louis scoffs and walks to the kitchen, opening his liquor cabinet and grabbing the vodka.

Niall comes over to me with a wet rag that I hadn't seen grab and put it against my cheek. "What happened?" he asks me.

I close my eyes at the pain and shake my head, then snap my head towards the stairs when I hear Birdie's voice.

"What the hell happened?" she demands, walking down the steps, looking at the broken pictures and the glass on the floor.

She gets to the last step and covers her mouth when she sees me, her eyes wide with worry.

"God, Harry, are you okay?" she questions, coming over and gently brushing her fingers across my cheek.

I wince and nods, glancing over at Louis.

Birdie follows my gaze and I can see the pain and the heartache in her eyes before she's even said anything.

"Louis, what did you do?" She asks, walking towards him.

I hear him scoff as he turns, taking a bit sip from the glass he'd poured. 

"Not what you did, that's for sure." he says, glaring at her.

I watch as Birdie walks toward him slowly.

"Lou, I'm so, so sorry. I was going to tell you, but-"

"But what?" Louis interrupts, setting his glass down.

"You didn't want to tell me that you whored around with my best mate? Or that you didn't want to hurt me? You have never, not once lied to me. And then Harry comes around and now you're nothing but lies. You're a fucking liar!" he shouts the last part.

Birdie flinches and we all watch as her eyes begin to fill with tears.

"I knew you'd react like this..I really didn't want to hurt you, Louis. You're my brother. I-I love you." she tells him.

Louis walks up and stands inches apart from her, looking her up and down with hurt and disgust in his eyes.

"I don't even know you anymore." he whispers, then walks past her, his shoulder ramming into hers, causing her to stumble as we all watch his walk away.