Redemption [h.s]

twenty-nine

I glanced at Harry and then at Louis again, unable to form any kind of words.

"It really looks like he omitted that little part when he asked you to be his girlfriend, princess" Louis said smirking. "I told you, Harry. Saying the truth right away is really important."

I looked at Harry, who was standing next to me, not saying anything, so still and silent that I almost believed he was no longer close to me until my eyes met his. "Harry?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly, silently begging him to say something, anything that could've told me that what Louis was saying wasn't the truth.

But he said nothing. He kept staring at me quietly, his usually light green eyes completely black in the darkness of the night.

"He's not saying anything because he knows it's the truth" Louis said, coming closer to us. "Don't you, Harry?"

Harry's gaze left mine and fell on him.

"Harry, please" I begged him, but he completely ignored me.

Louis smirked. "You can't run away from your past, you can't start anew whenever you please. This is the real world, Harry. It's time for you to understand that." He looked at me. "And you should be careful who you hang out with. I think I'll leave you two to it, now. You have a lot of things to talk about. It will be funnier to leave him to tell you everything."

Just like that, he walked away, as fast as he had come around.

Neither of us moved. I was still trying to process what Louis had said. Harry, my Harry, had killed a person. Even though my heart refused to believe it, his protracted silence made me feel like Louis hadn't lied at all.

"Harry?" I asked again, hoping that he would've just said something. Anything. I just wanted him to speak, to tell me he hadn't really done what he was accused of. Earning no reply, I moved until I stood right in front of him. "Harry, please."

He looked into my eyes, unshed tears in his. "I can't" he said, his voice breaking midway.

"Please" I whispered to him.

He shook his head. "I can't" he replied, his voice so low that I struggled to hear him.

"I want to be on your side. Believe me, there's nothing I want more. But you need to tell me what really happened" I told him, reaching out to touch his hand, but he winced as soon as my skin came in contact with his, and retracted it.

"He's right. I killed a person."

My mind went back to the conversation he had had with Gemma just a few days before. "I never rushed you to talk about something. But you have to, now."

"What do you want me to tell you? Do you want me to say it's not true? Lying won't change the truth" he said lowly, glaring at me.

"Please, Harry. I just want to understand."

He blinked fast, looking at the wall next to me. "There isn't anything to understand."

"There is, instead. Please, don't push me away now" I pleaded.

"Just leave me alone."

"What?" I asked getting closer to him, hoping to have heard him wrong.

"I said, leave me alone" he replied, looking everywhere else but at me.

"Harry, please. Don't act like this."

He got closer to me, until there were only a few inches between us. "Leave me alone" he said again in a warning tone.

I closed my eyes for a second, not believing that it was really happening. "I'll just go at Liam and Niall's. Come find me when you'll decide to talk about it" I told him, giving up. I gave him one last glance, but he didn't make a move.

I walked past him, in the direction of the house we had just left. When I reached it, I turned around. He was nowhere to be found, and his car was gone.

I rang the doorbell again and one of them buzzed me in. Before walking in I closed my eyes for a second trying to calm myself down, not wanting to cry. I inhaled deeply and made my way up the stairs. Even though I had tried not to make it obvious that I was upset, my effort became vain in the second I stood in front of Niall.

"What's wrong?" He asked right away.

Only when he asked that the gravity of what had just happened downed on me, and a sob broke through my chest.

His eyes widened. "Oh no." He rushed next to me and he hugged me tight. "Do you want a cup of tea?" He asked me as we walked into the house, but I just cried harder.

When Niall closed the front door, Liam hurried in the living room through the kitchen door. "What happened?" He asked as I sat down on the couch.

"I have no clue" Niall replied worriedly, "What did he do?"

I just shook my head, letting them know I didn't want to talk about it.

Niall disappeared for a few seconds, and came back carrying a sleepy Berry in his hands. He sat next to me and he put him on my legs.

"What the hell are you doing, Niall?" Liam asked him, not getting him.

"Cats are the best way to cheer people up" he explained his point, and Liam just shook his head murmuring something that sounded like "I can't believe you.".

I let out a small laugh as Berry started playing on my lap, and they turned towards me.

"What happened?" Liam asked again.

"It's kind of stupid" I mumbled. "We just argued" I added after a while.

"Did he leave you alone on the streets?" Niall asked in disbelief.

"He didn't, I told him I would've come here."

"Do you want to sleep here tonight?" Liam asked, and I nodded.

"I was hoping you would've asked that."

"Niall, what about you get the guest room ready?" Liam told Niall, wanting to be left alone with me. When he complied, he looked at me. "What happened exactly?"

"Just... Just a mess, honestly. We were so happy and all of sudden everything fell apart" I replied, looking down at my finger that was scratching the surface of the couch.

He looked at me waiting for me to say more, but I didn't.

"I don't feel like talking about it."

Niall walked back into the room. "The room is ready."

"Do you mind if I just go? I want to be alone" I asked them, wanting to leave the chaos of the living room and hide away in a silent place to think.

"Don't worry about it" Liam replied, "Are you sure you don't want that tea?"

"I'd rather not" I said, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Now go" he replied with a little smile.

I went into the guest room, closing the door after myself, and took my shoes off, sliding on top of the duvet on the bed and hugging the pillow. I fell asleep only at 1am, after having stared at the white ceiling for hours.

I woke up a few hours later in the middle of the night and checked my phone, hoping to find any kind of text from Harry.

But there were none.