crumble | h.s

part four

Lydia's POV:

It had been a week since the shooting. James was out of the hospital now but he still wasn't allowed to come to work. He hated hospitals. He always said that they made him feel diseased and dirty.

Tonight was my first night shift since James' shooting. I was dreading it. I knew the night would be filled with anxiety and uneasiness. Everyone would be on high alert. I picked up my phone to check the time.

7:00

Time to go.

The night was going by slowly. It was a Monday night so no one was around. I was washing some dishes in the back when Wendy walked in and smiled.

"You can go home. It's a slow night and you need some rest, I can tell." she said, taking the dish rag out of my hand.

"Are you sure? It's really no trouble for me to stay." I smiled at her. She returned it, holding her hand out in front of her and shaking it.

"Lyds, you've been uneasy all night. Go home and sleep." She then pulled me in for a hug. When she released me I nodded at her.

Then the bell rang, signaling that a customer had just walked in.

"Shit." Wendy whispered, "Ok, you can go home after you take their order." she laughed. I chuckled and grabbed a notepad, walking out of the kitchen.

Harry's POV:

I was sitting in my bedroom when I realized the house was dead quiet. Since all the boys and I moved in together it was never silent like this. Something was up.

I sat up from my bed and yelled out, "Lads?"

No answer.

Making a grunt of annoyance I walked out of my room and yelled for them once again only to be met with silence. I shuffled around the house until I reached the kitchen. My eyes set on a note on the dining table.

'Boys and I had to take care of some business. We'll be back soon - Louis"

I slammed the note down on the table. "Fucking idiots." I said through clenched teeth. I grabbed my phone from my back pocket, dialing Louis.

When I got sent to voicemail I felt a wave of anger overcome me.

"You better have an a brilliant reason as to why you didn't tell me, your leader, where the fuck you were going. If you ever pull this again you'll be sorry" I said, leaving a message. If there was any sort of business to take care of then I should have been involved.

I needed to cool down. I figured I'd drive around for a while until I could compose myself. I hopped in my car and drove around until I saw a familiar building.

The diner.

I smirked and figured I'd head in, for old times sake.

I walked in and sat myself in front of the bar, noticing they had fixed the whole place up from the last time I was here.

Someone walked out of the kitchen. It wasn't until she looked up at me when I realized...

Shit.

Lydia's POV:

I couldn't help but freeze in place when I saw him. He was sitting alone at the bar wearing a red flannel and black skinny jeans. He had sunglasses over his eyes which allowed me to only be able to see his mouth, which was giving me a half smile.

I coughed slightly and made my way over to him, notebook in hand. It was hard to tell if he recognized me from the other night.

"What can I get for you?" I asked him, trying not to make it obvious that I knew this man.

He took his sunglasses off, placing the temples between his teeth while scanning the menu.

He slapped the menu closed and looked up at me, showing off a smirk which revealed a dimple which I didn't seem to notice the first time I ran into him.

"I'll just get a water and some fries." He states, still smirking.

"Okay." I nod. Normally, I was so good with people. I had no trouble with making conversation and taking orders, but Harry was causing me to fall apart into an awkward mess. I turned around and started to walk back to Wendy, silently cursing myself.

"Hey, Lydia." I froze. The familiar raspy voice called from behind me. I turned back around to see Harry smiling, showing off his teeth and his dimple. My mind was racing as I could only wonder what was about to happen.

"When does your shift end?" he says, fiddling with the rings on his fingers.

"Uhm, I- I'm actually off right now" I reply hesitantly. Immediately, he smiles again.

"You walking home again?" he chuckles, referring back to the night we bumped into each other. I was unsure how to answer him, because I was, in fact, walking home again. I sold my car to buy my apartment and the diner isn't very far. Since then I've been saving up for a new car.

"Uh, yeah actually." I chuckle, "I am." His eyes widen a little as if he was shocked by my response. He scratches the back of his neck and looks down, then back up at me.

"If I remember correctly, the last time I let you walk by yourself you were followed by some creep." He smirks.

"Okay, but I've also walked home plenty of times before that night and nothing's happened." I say, crossing my arms, waiting for his response. He looks down, playing with his rings again.

"You know in movies...when someone is about to do something and they say something stupid like 'oh what could go wrong'." he says, looking up at me. My face fell and immediately he knew that he had got his point across and freaked me out.

"Okay, okay. What are you getting at here, Harry?" I smile slightly.

"Let me take you home."

oop.

hey :) i know this story's moving kinda slow but a lot of shit goes down in this next chapter and there's so much more coming. i know it might seem all over the place right now but i have so many ideas for this book and everything is planned out...so all the loose ends will come together throughout the story. it's just getting started.

also make sure you pay attention to the little things ;)