Recovery / / h.s

Chapter Ten.

Harry's POV.

"Dammit!" Niall shouted at the television screen. He flipped his hair out of his eyes and stuck his tongue out in concentration, the metal of his tongue ring glistening from the rays coming through the large window.

"Five bucks says Niall comes back in the last quarter," Ashton mumbled as he settled back into his seat next to me. He opened the book in his hand and used his finger to help him read.

"You're on, Irwin," I laughed. Niall sucked at Fifa, Zayn would kick his ass hands down.

"Both of you shut the fuck up," Niall exclaimed as he furrowed his brows in FIFA concentration.

All of us had gathered at Liam's place at noon. As far as I knew, he wasn't planning on throwing another party anytime soon. His parents had installed those cameras that you could view from online and told him if they caught him drinking again they would kick him out. He was the biggest asshole I had ever met, I didn't care if he got kicked out or not. He deserved too.

Liam had been unusually quiet. He hadn't made any side comments and he hadn't complained once since any of us got here. I was enjoying it, to be honest. Liam was an asshole for no reason. He had a big house, he could have any girl he wanted, and he had money. He had everything any one of us guys would kill for.

"What are you reading? Fucking nerd," Liam huffed, settling into the chair. I guess I spoke to soon.

"Don't fucking talk to him like that," I warned, twisting my lip ring between my fingers. I knew he could stand up for himself, but that doesn't mean that he would. Ashton was my only friend, I'd be damned if anyone ever made fun of him.

"Whatever, man," Liam said. If it had been any of the other guys, Liam would have argued back, but he knew better than to mess with me.

"Why are you such an ass all the time?" I asked, causing all of the boys to snap their heads in my direction. I could feel their glares on me as I spoke again. "You actually have the perfect life, there's no reason to be an ass."

Liam shrugged. "Coming from the biggest dick I've ever met in my life. I think the real question is why you're such an ass.

Before I completely blew up, I walked straight out of the house. Liam wasn't worth the fight. He was just a punk with a big ass mouth.

"I can't believe you did that. Are you feeling alright?" I heard a voice call behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know that the voice belonged to Ashton.

"I'm fine," I mumbled angrily as I made my way to my truck.

"Are you sure? You usually would have beaten the shit out of him right there, dude." If it had been anyone else following and badgering me, I would have completely fucked them up. But Ashton was Ashton. It would be like hurting a puppy. Even I wasn't that cruel.

"Get in the truck," I demanded as I climbed into the drivers seat. He obeyed, literally scurrying to get into the passenger seat before I started up the engine.

Ashton silently stared out the window as I made my way out of Liam's family's estate.

"What book is that, anyway?" I wondered, nodding my head in the direction of the paperback that sat in his lap.

"It's nothing, man," he said sheepishly, trying his hardest to shield the cover from me. I craned my neck to look at the book's spine.

"I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life," I said with a laugh. I watched Ashton's face light up from the corner of my eye.

"You know Gatsby?" He asked hopefully.

I nodded my head. "I'll beat the shit out of you and deny it profusely if you tell anyone, but I love reading. I wouldn't call Gatsby a favorite, but it's definitely up there."

"What's your favorite then?" He asked. Even though I had my eyes on the road, I could feel him watching me. I had him interested now.

"Stay Gold, Ponyboy," I mumbled, hoping he would get the quote reference to my favorite book.

"Interesting," he said thoughtfully.

"What?"

"I just never pictured you as an Outsiders type of guy. I didn't picture you as a reading type of guy at all, actually," he laughed. I rolled my eyes and elbowed him in the shoulder with the hand I wasn't using to drive.

"Aside from being the huge nerds we are," he started, taking a deep breath. "What the fuck is this and why is it in your car?"

I looked over at him. In his right hand, he held up a tube of pink liquid. On the label, it said lip gloss.

I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn't taken any girls home in my truck since i started at the station. There was only one person that lip gloss could belong to.

"Lily," I chuckled, shaking my head. That girl pissed me off more than anything, but I hadn't been able to get her out of my head since our little musical rendezvous last week. I liked talking to her. I never wanted to open up to her, but she just had a way of making you feel safe, like one of those people you could confess murder to and they wouldn't think of you any differently.

"What?" He asked, flipping the tube in his hands over and over.

"Lily-" I tried to remember her last name, but i realized that I just didn't know. I would have to ask her about it on Monday. "She's the girl from work I was telling you about."

"The bitchy one?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the door. Ashton always seemed to be making beats with something. I had learned to drown it out.

I literally cringed. "Don't call her that."

He put his hands up defensively. "Alright, man. But why was she in your car? I thought you didn't want to fuck her."

"I don't!" I defended. "I took her to Smith's, that old ass record store, yeah? I guess she didn't even know who the Killers were. I had to enlighten her."

He scoffed. "Mate, I know you pretty well. So, I find it hard to believe that all you did was take her down to that junk record store."

I shook my head. "Nothing happened, honest. I mean she's a lot better than I thought, but she's still kind of stuck up."

I wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of knowing I had been wrong about Lily. She was great and all, and hanging out with her once was fun, but I could never picture myself actually being her friend. She was Lily and I was Harry and we just didn't match up.

"I think you like her," he mumbled. "Even if it's just a fraction of a feeling, it's there."

"Maybe you should keep your thoughts to yourself," I said harshly. I didn't like anybody. Feelings, to me, were nonexistent.

"You're in denial," he said with a scoff. I was close to stopping the truck in the middle of the bypass and telling him to get out.

"And you're a fucking idiot," I snapped. "I don't like Lily. Stop before I kick your ass."

He laughed. "Alright bro, whatever you say," he said, sarcasm obvious in the tone of his voice.