birds // hs

16. Fight Club

It was a long, awkward walk back to the party and after our encounter with Harry, Zayn and I were both out of party mode.

So we sat on the back of someone's pickup truck and drank cheap beer, which led to him getting drunk and leaning against me. But because I knew he needed a designated driver and I really didn't feel like getting wasted, I just sipped on my beer and barely even felt a buzz. Mostly I was having fun watching Alex and Niall attempt to dance to Usher. It was interesting.

Even more interesting than that was the later appearance of Harry, who had changed into some dark shorts and a white shirt that showed off his rippling muscles and familiar tattoos. He grabbed a beer, talked to some girls and got their numbers, and even decided to dance with some out of town-ers to keep them entertained.

It was more than difficult to watch him grind on them and touch them, his hands planted firmly on their tiny waists as I just sat there and stared dumbly. The way his body could move with a perfect stranger's was making my heart lurch in terrible ways and honestly I felt like I was going to be sick. And it wasn't from the alcohol.

*Harry's POV*

The girls in front of me were stunning. Every one of them was tan and skinny and beautiful, but somehow I wasn't thinking about them. Yeah, I danced with them and yes, I did let them stuff their numbers in my pocket but I had no intention of calling them.

I wanted Rachel to see me. I thought that if she saw me with other girls, she would want me again. Maybe then she would run to me and just let me hold her. That's all I wanted- to hold her.

"Let's get out of here," the blonde in front of me whispered in my ear as her hand pulled lightly on my curls.

Something about this felt wrong. Her hands were foreign on my skin and she didn't know how to touch me, had absolutely no idea that I didn't like people touching my hair. There was only one girl on the planet allowed to touch my hair and she was sitting by my best friend, his head on her shoulder and her wide eyes beginning to droop with sleep.

"Uh, no thanks," I muttered, removing her hand and stepping away with a slight smile. "Sorry."

"What the hell? I thought you wanted to-"

I wasn't even listening. I was looking around for Rachel, who had somehow disappeared in the two seconds I looked away from her. Zayn was still on the truck bed, his head lulling on the side as he drifted in and out of sleep. But where was Rachel?

"Sorry," I repeated to the girl in front of me. "Uh, go talk to that guy. He likes you."

I pointed at Liam and hoped he was sober enough to entertain the girl. After all, I was trying to treat girls better lately.

After searching the entire party and looking down the shoreline, I finally went back to Zayn and shook him awake.

"Wh-What the hell?" He grumbled when I jerked him upright.

"Rachel, where did she go?" I questioned him harshly. I didn't care about hurting his feelings, all I wanted to do was talk to her. I needed her so much more than she knew.

"I-I don't know mate, some guy came and took her."

"Who? Who took her?"

"I don't know, man," he whined, trying to lay back down. "His name is like Gary or Gerald or some shit. I don't know."

I felt my whole body stiffen. "Griffin?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"You let him take her? Why would you do that?"