One Plus One

Chapter Forty

"How did you get in?"

"I know where you keep the spare key."

Jamie's voice was low and void of emotion. I was terrified to turn around and be faced with him, but the only way I could stand my ground was to show him he wasn't getting to me. I bravely turned in the doorway and was met with a tall, ghost like figure, head to toe in black.

"What do you want?"

"It's been a week you know, Marlie. A week since Jaz died. I've spent most of that week in hospital, wishing for someone to tell me she was ok. But I was never going to hear that was I? No."

"You don't have to tell me how long it's been, Jamie. I was there. I watched it happen."

"Yeah. You and your dickhead boyfriend. Is that where you've been hiding? Is he trying to protect you?"

"I don't need anyone to protect me. You can try and scare me all you want, Jamie. It won't work."

He scoffed at my comment.

"You will need someone to protect you soon, Marlie."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jamie deeply laughed, reminding of something out of a horror film.

"I don't know how you're living with yourself. Jaz is dead because of you."

"Jaz's death has nothing to do with me. It was you."

"Oh was it? I wasn't the one who brought the past into the present. That was you. And now look at the mess you've made. I'll be making sure you learn you're lesson. Don't you worry about that."

Before I could say anything else, he brushed past me and down the stairs. His threat was circulating in my mind but for some reason, I wasn't scared. I knew that he would never get anywhere near me, not as long as I had Harry, Brody and Lily watching out for me.

*****

I finally returned to work the following week. I felt like a stranger as I walked in, it felt like such a long time since I'd last been in the studio. Strangely, I was on my own. Craig was nowhere to be seen and although I could see the girls' bags, they had no owners present. I searched through my bag for my phone and trawled through my contacts for Lily's number. The phone rang out. I could hear the vibrating in her bag. I walked over and on top of her bag was a note.

"Marlie,

Come to studio 4 when you find this.

Lily x"

LILY'S POV

I was hoping Marlie would come in and find the note. The girls and I wanted to do something for her to try and cheer her up. She hadn't exactly had the best couple of weeks. Thankfully, Craig helped us out. We knew she was in need of a job more than any of us, so we organised for some scouts to come and watch her showcase piece. Fingers crossed they were going to like what they saw.

I saw her head appear in the doorway. She looked incredibly confused as she slowly pushed the door open.

"What's going on?" Marlie asked.

"We wanted to cheer you up, and help you out a bit." I began. "This is Anna. She's casting for a couple of music videos. We invited her to have a look at you."

"Are you serious?! Thank you so much!"

I saw Marlie's bright white smile again. I couldn't help but reciprocate. The shine came back to her eyes, the same shine I'd seen when she and Harry first got together. As I watched her perform her routine, I began to understand why she created it. I could see the story. It was about him and her. A girl fighting an inner battle, going against everything she's ever known and has ever been told. It made me think. It was time I changed too. I wanted what Marlie had. The way Harry looked at her, no guy had ever looked at me like that. If anything, they'd looked right through me. I don't think I'd ever had feelings for a guy. It was alien to me.

I glanced across to the doorway and there he was. The curly haired boy of her dreams was gazing at her thought the window, totally in a trance. His eyes sparkled through the glass of the window. They never left her for one second. He was stuck on her. I was beginning to believe what Marlie told me about him. Harry wasn't an objectifying sex maniac. He was falling hopelessly in love with my best friend.

HARRY'S POV

I didn't think this girl could get any more amazing. Marlie had constantly surprised me in more ways than one.

"You've fallen hard, mate." came Brody's voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're falling in love with her. I see the way you look at her."

I turned my gaze back to the window. Marlie had finished her routine and stood fiddling cutely with her t-shirt, waiting for the feedback.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Harry Styles settled down. I do have one question."

"No I haven't." I bluntly said.

"What?"

"You were gonna ask if I'd slept with her. The answer is no."

Brody widened his eyes at me. I could tell what he was thinking. I didn't want to push Marlie. Marlie would do things in her own time and in some ways I preferred it. It made me feel closer to her, like she was letting me in bit by bit. But maybe I felt closer to her than she did to me. I had never felt so close to a girl, I'd never wanted a girl so much as I wanted Marlie. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

Brody left me standing outside the door. When I looked back inside, the girls were spinning Marlie around in the air and screaming. She'd done it. She'd got in. I knew she would. I spotted Lily looking at me. She signalled for me to enter the room. I cautiously pulled open the studio door and stepped inside. Marlie's silver eyes were aglow when she spotted me. She charged at me, smiling wildly, and jumped at me. I caught her and she wrapped her legs around my waist, clinging onto me tightly.

"Well done, gorgeous. I'm proud of you."

"I can't believe it."

"You better start believing it. You're amazing."