Rupture // h.s au

40. "Your dad."

Harry

We were all gathered in mum's room, because Autumn was still not well enough to make it all the way to the tower, where we normally had our meetings, so we had to relocate, because this meeting concerned her. Louis, Niall, Rick, Liam, and even Zayn, were gathered around the bed on which Autumn sat, chatting within themselves until I felt the need to grasp their attention.

" What is this about, Harry?" Rick asked, being the eldest and the most responsible between the rest of us. All eyes turned to me, as I stood by Autumn, attempting to tame my scattered thoughts.

" Alright, as we all know by now, Autumn was brought here by Liam, against their father's will. They came for her once before, and now that we have Liam too, I don't believe they will let it rest for long. They're probably working on a plan to attack right now, which gives us little time to prepare." My eyes moved between each of them, disregarding Autumn, as to not distract myself, because I knew she'd look in distress, and I'd feel the need to make it better, but I wouldn't be able to. For now, I had to focus on keeping her safe, without risking our own camp.

" So, what do you suggest we do?" Louis questioned, leaning against the coffee table, unable to carry the weight of his body quite yet. I signaled towards the chair, offering for him to sit, but he shook his head, standing a bit taller, composing himself.

" I don't know yet, which is why I brought you all here. We first need to all be on the same page, so if anyone has anything to say, to oppose what we're discussing here, say it now, so that we can resolve and move past it. Because once we begin figuring out a plan to keep both Autumn and our camp safe, that's that, there will be no arguments or disagreements, or doubt concerning whose loyalty lays where, understood?" Subtle nods came from each of them, after a moment of hesitant silence.

" She saved pretty much every ass in here, so," Zayn reasoned, with a slight shrug, as he sat himself down onto the empty chair, knowing that he shouldn't put much pressure on his healing leg. I could see her, slightly smiling, nodding in appreciation at Zayn, as he returned it, against his normally agitated, uncaring, self.

" I second that." Louis interjected, raising his hand in agreement, as Liam silently nodded in confirmation.

" Niall?" I urged, raising a skeptical eyebrow, waiting for his verbalized confirmation, almost daring him to object.

" I didn't know I had a call in this, but if you're all in, then I guess-"

" You guess? How about you take that stick out of your ass and show her some gratitude for once? Ever since you came here, you've been spreading absolute bullshit about her, feeding it to us, but we're not taking that anymore, Niall. Either you're with us or you're not. A decision. Now. I don't need some weak ass guess."

" Harry," She tugged at my hand, causing me to break my stubborn gaze with Niall, to look down at her. She shook her head, as if telling me that it wasn't worth it, that she wasn't worth it. And I'd never understand, why she could fight for anyone and against anyone, but when it came to her own self, she was convinced that it wasn't worth the fight. My lips parted, prepared to offer her a speech to put her doubts to rest but then Niall spoke.

" You're right. Yeah. I've been a dick, and I'm sorry. But, what I've seen from her, it's- Anyway, you're right. I'm in."

" No, Harry, Niall is right-" She began to speak, just as Rick declared that it was settled, urging us to carry the discussion along. I willed myself to look away from her, confused by her consistent self-doubt. That wasn't like her. And her eyes, had something dark to them, something not angry or bitter as Autumn's eyes had always been, but something... sad, almost, fearful. I had to remember to ask her about that later on.