HIRED GUN // H.S AU

forty-five

AMARA

You're my assignment.

You're my assignment.

You're my assignment.

I choked after the words left his mouth, shoving my shoulder against his when I pushed past him. I felt a tear drop onto my cheek as I stormed out of the hotel, wiping it viciously with one hand while the other knocked on Louis and Zayn's door. I breathed deeply when the door opened to reveal Louis, his cheery face falling when it landed on my broken one.

"What happened? Where's Harry?" Louis grabbed my wrist to pull me inside, looking out the hallway for Harry.

"Don't bother, he's not coming," my voice broke on the last word, Louis looking even more confused when another year escaped my eye. I couldn't hold back the tears when he pulled me into his chest, patting my back as I broke down.

"He's heartless." I pulled back from Louis after a couple minutes, feeling drained and tired, wiping my eyes that were surely red and bloodshot. Louis stayed quiet as he sat me on the couch, grabbing a blanket from a cupboard.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Louis smiled as he tossed the blanket over me, my body reclining to lay down on the surprisingly comfy couch. I shook my head at him, declining his offer silently. He looked at me sympathetically, patting my shoulder twice. We both jumped when a loud crash was heard next door, the sound of glass breaking following immediately after.

"I'll be back," Louis smiled at me, walking out of the hotel the same time Zayn walked in. They exchanged a couple words quickly, before Zayn came in fully and locked the door behind him.

"Do you have any idea why Harry's throwing shit around like a mad man next door? He just got shot, he seriously needs to tone it down," Zayn laughed humorously as he walked towards me, clearly oblivious to the whole situation.

"Because he's a dick," Zayn stopped laughing when he saw my expression, pursing his lips. I closed my eyes when I heard another crash, trying desperately to fall asleep so I could have a break from my thoughts.

"What did he do?" Zayn was more brave than Louis, diving straight into it. I stayed quiet for awhile, Zayn's question floating in the air unanswered. I opened my mouth to answer it, being interrupted by the code of knocks at the door. I held my breath as Zayn opened the door, letting it out when only Louis appeared behind it.

"He's okay," Louis sat at the end of the couch where my legs were, lifting them to rest on his lap.

"I don't care," I mumbled, lying through my teeth. I didn't want to care, but I couldn't help the part of me that relaxed when Louis revealed Harry was fine.

"Yes, you do."

I ignored Louis' remark, watching the TV as Zayn called room service for food. I smiled when he ordered butter chicken, realising he knew my favourite when he turned to look at me as he said it. These boys were growing on me, and I was glad I had them while Harry was being a bitch.

"He can't help it, you know," Louis tapped on my legs, his gaze not leaving the tv when I turned my head to look at him. I knew he was talking about Harry, and I was annoyed by the fact he was taking his side.

"Help what?"

"Harry doesn't show his emotions very well, he doesn't like talking about his feelings. It took him years to talk about that kind of stuff with me. He was brought up to be tough and not have feelings, he was taught showing emotions was weak and unmanly. He's trying, trust me," Louis professed, Zayn listening closely and nodding in agreement.

"Harry doesn't care for many people, he finds it hard to. He's been through a lot of shit, his emotions were void until Lou came into his life.  He still has trouble, and you can't blame him. You don't realise how much he does care for you because he doesn't express it in words, but it's so clear. It's obvious to anyone with eyes," Zayn admitted, their revelations making me rethink it all.

"Can I just stay here for the night?" I closed my eyes, feeling myself drift off when they both hummed in approval. My legs were taken off Louis' lap as I fell asleep, surrendering to sleep happily.

————————

I woke up to the code of knocks sounding on the door, my head shooting up in confusion as my eyes fell on the lit-up clock on the wall, reading 3:06am. Had Louis locked himself out accidentally?

I pulled myself out from under the blankets as the round of knocks were repeated a second time, my feet tapping against the tiles as I tip-toed to the door. I shivered as the cold wind hit me, my fingers flinching when they twisted the cold doorknob.

"Hey, babe!" I almost slammed the door in Harry's face when he leaned on the doorframe, his eyes bloodshot and his words slurred. He was drunk, completely shit-faced.

"What are you doing here?" My face stayed hard as I talked to him emotionlessly, not being able to stop my arms from reaching out to hold him up as he stumbled inside. His body tumbled into the bathroom, my arms helping him to stay up before he fell onto his knees in front of the toilet.

I winced as he hunched over the toilet bowl, emptying the contents of his stomach repeatedly. My hands bunched his long hair up, tying the band around my wrist into his hair to form a makeshift bun. I cursed to myself as I rubbed my hand over his back, hoping he'd forget this ever happened when he woke up tomorrow. I wasn't sure if I was ready to forgive him.

"Why are you so good to me," Harry finally sat back, leaning against the bathroom wall beside me. I mirrored his position, our legs splayed out while our backs rested against the tiled wall.

"Believe it or not, I care about you Harry," I acted shocked as I said it, his head falling to the side to look at me. His jade eyes held the most emotions I'd ever seen in them before, recoiling as I looked into them.

"I care about you, too," Harry whispered, as if he was too scared to say it. I tried not to feel to hopeful and not let the words get to me, he was drunk.

"You should tell me when you're sober," I hummed, surprising myself when I brought my hand to his face, skimming my knuckles against his cheek. His face leaned into my hand, kissing my knuckles briefly.

"Do you not believe me?" Harry frowned, my body freezing when his body leaned into me, his head falling into my lap. I thought he fell asleep, his breathing shallow, but I realised he wasn't when he hummed a soft tune.

"All I am to you is an assignment," I stated bitterly, his humming halting when I'd let the sentence escape my lips.

"You're not just an assignment to me, love. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

My heart clenched after he said the words, sucking in a deep breath as I wished so badly he wasn't drunk off his face right now. I wish he'd said these words to me yesterday, before I'd broken down. But, he didn't. And I wasn't sure if he was ever going to remember this conversation in the morning, or repeat those words to me ever again.