crumble | h.s

part eleven

Harry Styles

"I don't get why it's such a big deal that you two kissed." Niall says as we all stand around the kitchen counter. Both him and Louis drink from their beers as I drink from mine. 

"I didn't want her to get attached or anything. I was just trying to pry some info out. Now she's hurt and we're in a situation we were never meant to be in in the first place." I reply. Louis and Niall share a look. Suddenly, we hear the door open and all three of us peer out to see who had entered. 

In came Liam. His hair was a mess and he wore the clothes that he had on at Temptation. Louis snickers and points at his state. 

"How was your night, Payno." He says, smirking. 

"Back off, Tommo." Liam threatens. Louis chuckles and turns back to me.

"See, Liam hooked up with what's-her-face and it's no big deal!" He says. I had completely forgotten about Eliza. I had dropped Lydia off at her place without any knowledge of Liam being there. 

"It's not like that, you don't get it, Lou." I reply, throwing my hands in the air. To be fair, I didn't get it either. This whole ordeal was so confusing and irritating. 

"Styles," Liam says, walking into the kitchen. "I drove your Lydia friend home this morning." he continues. I raise an eyebrow at him, trying to seem unfazed. "She told me something about her apartment being broken into." I pinch my eyes shut. Louis and Niall turn their attention towards me. 

"Woah, what?" Niall says, blinking. I let out a sigh and look at my friends who were awaiting an explanation. 

I lean with my elbows on the counter, rubbing my face and then taking a breath in. "Two men broke into her apartment, but they didn't take anything. They were looking for us. I think they might have watched us leave the club together." I say. The boys stand there, taking in every word of what I was saying. 

"You think it was a personal thing?" Louis says. I nod in response. I had spent every moment from dropping Lydia off to right now thinking about who could have done it. My main suspect was the Phantom member who was staring Lydia down at the club.

It wasn't the fact that I kissed Lydia that made me want to avoid her. It was the fact that she was put in danger because of me. Her home, where she should feel safe, was invaded.  It was such a weird feeling to want to protect someone outside of the Kings. Normally, I wouldn't care what happened to someone on the outside such as Lydia. 

But I knew from the moment I met her that she was different. 

I come back to reality and cough. "Anyway, I need to stay away from her. And Liam, you need to stay away from Eliza. We don't need to drag others into this." I say. Liam rolls his eyes, but eventually nods his head in agreement. 

"The Phantoms are pissed that you killed Luke, Harry." Louis speaks abruptly. We all snap our heads to look at him. 

"Zayn told me he's been getting letters. Letters from the Phantoms, saying they're looking for you, probably because you're the leader." He continues. 

"How the fuck did any of them find out where Zayn was?" Liam says. 

Louis shrugs. "They have people everywhere. I think we're almost outnumbered." He says. 

"The Phantoms are always looking for me. The most they've done is send some idiot to our house to take pictures." I say, anger and annoyance coating my voice. 

"That 'idiot' is the reason they're out for even more blood now, Haz." Louis replies. 

I sigh in irritation and turn to head to my room. 

"Where are you going?" Niall speaks. 

"I haven't slept at all. I need to get some rest before I can figure any of this bullshit out." I say. The boys nod as they watch me trudge up the stairs. 

Lydia White 

1 week later...

It had been a week since the break in. A week since Harry and I kissed. I had picked up some more shifts at the diner, so I was distracted from any thoughts of him. I just wanted to focus on myself. 

Today was James' first shift since the shooting. He was fully recovered and back to his normal self. I couldn't help but check up on him every now and again, just to make sure he wasn't tiring himself out. He would only respond by chuckling and assuring me that he was just fine. 

I was finishing cleaning a booth when Wendy came up to me and smiled. "Isn't it your break?" She laughs while I glance at my watch. I had totally lost track of time. 

"Yeah, I guess it is." I laugh. 

"It's mine and James' too." she replies. I smile as I happily follow her to the break room. James was already in there, eating his lunch. 

"There she is." James smiles. I laugh and sit down next to Wendy. 

"How's your day back so far?" I ask James. He finishes chewing before answering. 

"It's alright." He says smiling slightly and nodding his head. I smile back in satisfaction. I was so happy that he was better. 

"I'm trying to get the cops back on this case. It's like they just dropped it completely." Wendy says with a slight annoyance in her tone. I shake my head and frown. I almost lost one of my favorite people and the police were treating it like it was nothing. It's like I might as well try and find the pieces of shit who did this on my own. 

I look over at James. His face had fallen and I noticed his eyes widen a bit before speaking up. "Let's just not get the cops involved. Let's not get anyone involved, for that matter." Wendy and I look at him in confusion. Why wouldn't he want to find who did this to him? 

"It happened, it's over. I want to move on." He continues.

I look down in wonder. I get that James wanted to forget about what happened to him, but I just couldn't. 

- 

heyyy. sorry i know this was a short chapter. 

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