Deception - H.S

Chapter 2

It's been four days since the concert and I still have not recovered form it. We barely left the house, Ayla offering to go out if it was absolutely necessary since she was doing better than I was. I knew I had to leave the apartment eventually so when Deception's management contacted us asking if we were still interested in meeting the boys since we did pay for the backstage passes, I accepted. I was shocked to see that they were letting people meet them considering they were being shot at less than a week ago.

They ensured us of our safety and arranged for us to meet in a private setting tomorrow which was still in the same location as the show. That made me slightly nervous but what better opportunity to force myself to leave the apartment, right?

Once we get to the place, I ask the first person we see where the boys were and the tall man points at one of the doors saying, "Niall is in there and the rest of the boys are sitting in the lounge being useless." I would ask further questions but the person seemed pretty busy so I walk in the general direction of where the man pointed.

I tell Ayla to go to the lounge while I go get Niall. She squints her eyes at me, "Something is wrong, you are being weird." She walks backwards towards where the lounge is supposed to be, pointing at me while doing so.

"What? No, nothing is wrong. I'll be right there." I quickly say before she shrugs and walks away.

I knock on the door but there was no reply so I do it once again, louder. My stomach clenches in nervousness, feeling my palms get sweaty. I take a deep breath, smooth my hands over my skirt and slowly turn the doorknob to open the door. I poke my head in there and quickly scan the room only to see Harry and not Niall. The man said Niall was in here.

He was on the couch with his arms spread out on either side on the back of the couch. A girl in a pair of denim shorts and some cropped top straddling him and kissing his neck. His eyes meet with my own, a menacing smirk growing across his lips.

As soon as my extremely slow brain registers what happening, I start rambling, "I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry. There was a man outside who said the Niall was in here and I thought that the rest of you guys were in the lounge so I was just going to get him because we had these backsta-"

I get interrupted by Harry "Why the fuck are you still here if you know this is the wrong room?" He taps the girl's shoulder twice with two fingers, and she gets off of him. She gives me a really nasty look, followed by an eye roll before leaving the room.

Harry runs his painted fingers through his hair before tilting his head back, looking up the ceiling. He only had a few fingernails painted on each hand which I found odd. Did he not have time to do them all?

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to interrupt." I try explaining how this was just a misunderstanding but before I can think about what to say next, Harry gets to his feet, rushing towards me to close the space between us and making me flinch at the sudden action as I take a step back to create some distance but the door closes behind me.

I was now stuck between him and the door, his emerald green eyes peering into mine with rage, a furrow between his brows, "You ruined my evening, what are you going to do about it?"

"I-I didn't mean to..."

"That is not what I asked." His one hand was placed on my hip while the other was on the wall beside my head, giving me no other option except for standing there with weak knees.

"Are you going to be a good girl and do something for me?" He licks his bottom lip, leaning further in so our faces were merely inches apart. I could smell tobacco on his breath, along with the light scent of his cologne, the combination of it feeling pleasant.

"N-no. I can't..."

He halts, stepping away only to grab my arm and pull me so he could open the door, "Then get the fuck out!" He yells in a voice that made me flinch again, turning so his back was facing me and going towards the couch.

I apologize once more, rushing out and closing the door shut. Why the fuck was he so mad at me when he just met me? Harry Styles was rude and arrogant, that was now confirmed.

"Hope?" I hear a familiar voice calling from behind me. I turn around to see the guy I'm actually here to meet. "Hey Niall. How are you?" I mumble and give him a small smile.

"I'm great, I'm glad you came." He wraps his arms around me to engulf me into a tight hug. He rubs my back while doing so, feeling a sense of warmth and safety like I always did with his hugs.

"Let's go meet the others." he slings an arm around my shoulder guiding me towards where Ayla previously went. We enter the lounge and I see three large white couches in a U-shape with a dark coffee table in the middle. Liam and Louis sit on the couch in the middle, with Ayla in between them. Niall sits on the couch to their right and I follow him, taking a seat beside him.

"This is Hope Whitlock, the best friend." Niall bluntly speaks, making Liam and Louis raise their brows. Niall really put me in the spot here. "So, she does exist." Louis gives an impressive nod while Liam chuckles.

They look at me like they want me to give an introductory speech like we used to do in middle school. I think I'll get a heart attack before I even get to know them.

"Best friend?! What do you mean best friend?" Ayla exclaims, staring at me like she was about to launch a shoe at me and I press my lips into a line looking at her. I told myself I'll tell her but didn't have with the whole almost dying thing.

"Uhm... I kinda know Niall. We went to the same high school and we were best friends. We were actually always together, that is until..." I glance at Niall, "he joined the band n went away two years ago." Ayla stares at me with her jaw open.

"And you didn't think to mention this before?" she speaks through clenched teeth, her tone was giving away that she was irritated but that didn't scare me. I knew it would make her mad whether I told her now or if I did it earlier, she will get over it eventually.

"I'm sorry, I'll explain later." I whisper, non-verbally gesturing with my eyes that I didn't want to get into it around the boys.

"Anyways." casually ignoring my newfound relationship with Niall, as she gives a wide smile and starts talking about something different.

<3 A.