Deception

Chapter: Seven

Chapter: Seven

"Do you really want to be downstairs for this?" Henry questioned once I'd finished crying in his arms.

We'd done this all in the same room as Megan and how we didn't wake her, I'd never know. Then again, he was right. She was just that tired. It didn't disturb her. As much as I felt protective enough of her to want to stay in here with her, I still feared I'd someway disturb her with my presence and I wanted to know what they were going to talk about. There had to be a time they actually told me things.

"Yeah, I want to know what's going on. I suppose you guys don't really want to tell me?" I guessed.

"Oh, this is something you'll hear about eventually, even if you don't listen tonight. Actually, I was referring to Niles being down there."

"So he is here?" I sighed.

"Yes, they're all here. I didn't know if you'd be ready to see him, all things considered."

"Well, I don't n want to see him but I also do if that makes sense."

"Of course."

He opened the door, allowing me to go out first before carefully shutting the door behind him. I felt a little better walking downstairs with him, but that quickly subsided when I saw the rest of the guys and Clary here. I looked around for Lily, but didn't see her anywhere. Had she decided to stay at Victor's or maybe with Tam and Max? I looked over at Clary, feeling like I needed to thank her for what she'd done to help Niles. Unless she'd led a hate campaign against me, but I couldn't blame her if she had. I deserved the hate for hurting him with my words.

I felt that he was looking at me, but I couldn't meet his eyes. I was such a coward in that regard, but I wasn't ready to do this tonight. I focused instead on the others, who all looked as weary yet focused as I felt. We'd all been troubled recently, but this was the first sign of them even coming close to being on the same page here. I was thankful, if nothing else, that this solidarity was happening.

"Everything was alright when you dropped them off?" Zeke turned to Louis.

"Yes, Max was still a little upset, but she assured me with some rest she'd be okay. Aubrey knows something is wrong, but we've managed to keep the gist of it from her so far. Tamron's finally taken the initiative to be the strong one as much as he can. Lily promised to help him with that, and what Britt said to him really helped earlier. He's still going through a lot, but this is a start."

"Lily decided to go with them? I thought she was staying with Clary?" Liam turned to her.

"That was the plan originally, but she decided that the others might need her. I think it was a good move," Clary commented.

"It's something we all need to consider moving forward. Once the holiday season is over, we all need to leave Victor's. Stay at the dorms or stay in your house. No need to stay there any longer," Liam continued.

"Jay and Mattie are going to be okay?" I questioned.

"To keep things as normal as possible, but we've spoken to them and they also want to leave his home as soon as possible," Niles informed me. and my cheeks flushed and my heart fluttered as I looked away from him.

After what I said, he was still going to answer my questions and communicate with the ones I loved because he cared about me and them. For all the bad he'd done, he was still a good person at heart. Perhaps it wasn't fair of me to hurt him as I had. Now, how had I become the one in the wrong here?

"Me too," I muttered.

"Liam told us Megan was asleep?" Louis asked.

"Yes, she's completely out of it. I'd say she'll sleep for a while. That's why I was so accepting of us having this discussion here and now while she's sleeping. We'll include her later, but for now, she can't handle it. She's not in the right frame of mind. Then again, neither am I, but if you'd seen her today, you'd understand why I have to protect her from this world. I've always tried to."