No Control • hs

twenty-one

The temperature continues to increase and sweat is dripping off of all of our bodies. "Does anyone have their phones?" Harry asks taking his shirt off because of the heat.

"Mine's in the car." Liam says.

"Same here." I say, taking a magazine off of Liam's desk and fanning myself.

Niall and Zayn explained to us all about how they pulled everything off at the apartment complex. What they didn't explain is how they knew we found out the two were working together all along. After they told all of this valuable information, they locked Liam, Harry, and I in Liam's bedroom and stuck a wedge in the door so it was almost impossible to get out. Along with that, the heat generator started and mixed with the humid summer air, we might as well have been locked in a sauna.

"Wait." Liam says, his brows knit together a if he is thinking about something. He walks over to his closet, opens it, then starts throwing clothes out.

"What are you doing?" Harry asks. There's a board that blends in with the wall on the left side of the small closet. Liam pries the block of wood off of the wall and it leads into a moderately sized wooden box.

"Liam what are you doing?" I ask, "This isn't getting us out." He pushes on the front of the box and it opens.

"It's a secret tunnel through the cabinet in the bathroom." he says climbing through it. I follow, and then Harry. It's a bit cooler in the bathroom, but not by much. We slowly walk out of the bathroom and we all look around, darting our eyes in each direction. "I don't think they're here."

"If they were just going to leave, why did they need to lock us in?" I say, pulling the wedge out from under Liam's door.

"If they kept us here, that would give them a head start at getting somewhere else...our apartments." Harry runs out the door and we drive all the way back. The three hours pass slowly, the duration of the trip, music filled the science between the three lifeless bodies that sat in the car.

Once we arrived, Harry jumped out of the car and jogged to the elevator. The number turns yellow-orange, then the elevator carries Harry, Liam and I up to our floor. We stop at my door. "Unlock it." Harry says, looking at me expectantly.

"Why mine first?"

"Peyton, unlock it please." Liam chimes in. I fish the keys out of my purse and I stick it in the keyhole. I pause, and something inside me feels different. I feel like on the other side of the door, there is going to be something other than my nice, clean, filth-free apartment. Harry effortlessly rests his hand on my hip and slowly turns the key for me. My heart drops as Harry and Liam search the rooms. Tears well up in my eyes and one streams down my cheek. I look at the open cabinets, tipped-over chairs and the broken glass. The floor is flooded with water. The shattered glass swims in the water that fills every crack and crevice in my apartment. Waves created by Harry and Liam's footsteps crash against my feet as I watch my apartment get taken over by the thick coat of water that now covers my floor.

Harry's hand lightly presses on my back and tears start barreling down my face. Harry holds me in his arms and rubs on my back. "It's going to be okay." I can't answer.

  I settle my head in his neck and I'm sure his shirt is saturated in my tears by now. I couldn't help it, my apartment is ruined, flooded, and I'm going to have to pay for it all. I'm pretty sure Harry whispered something to Liam as we were exiting the room, but I could hear it while my face still rested in the fold of Harry's neck. I calm myself down a bit as we enter Harry's apartment. The floorboards creak as we enter his room. I've stopped crying, but my eyes are still watery. He sits on the edge of his bed and he starts rubbing my back again.

"You okay, babe?" I take my head out of his neck

"Yeah...sorry."

"Sorry?" He scoots back, "You don't have to apologize." Harry leans into me and I rest my lips on his and he kisses back. Harry breaks the kiss, smiling widely.

"Do you want to stay here until your apartment is fixed?"

I smile. "I'd love to."