Ripped Away (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Harry opened his eyes to a dimly lit room. He lay still, searching around with his eyes in hopes that he’d recognize something.

Seeing nothing, he lifted himself up off the ground. Two spotlights suddenly came on, each placed directly over top two people standing across the room. Squinting, Harry took a cautious step closer. When his eyes came into focus, his heart stopped.

One of them was Louis, who looked beyond terrified, standing atop a table made entirely of glass. A rope hung from the ceiling and was twisted around his neck.

The other was hanging by the neck, feet dangling over a pile of shattered glass.

It was Crystal.

Harry’s eyes widened in horror. Her body swung ever so slightly, as if she had only just fallen. With that one exception, Crystal’s body hung motionless. Lifeless.  

Suddenly, there was a terrible cracking noise that sent shivers down Harry’s spine. His head whipped to see Louis looking down, witnessing the glass table beneath beginning to give under his weight. Louis looked back up at Harry, his eyes wild with fear.

Crash.

The only thing preventing Lou from falling was the rope around his neck.

Screaming out, Harry willed his feet forward. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t budge.

He glanced down in confusion, and he noticed he’d been holding something in his hands.

Rope.

~

With a violent twitch, Harry awoke in a sweat. Awesome. More nightmares.

Rolling over, he checked the time on his alarm clock. Three a.m. Ugh.

Although he was growing used to all the bad dreams, he had to admit, this one frightened him. He’d always been the helpless observer, but this time, he’d been the killer. It was unrealistic, since he knew he’d never hurt Crystal or Louis. Yet, still, there was a feeling deep in his gut that he couldn’t shake, a burning fear that the dream held a deeper metaphorical meaning.

Deciding that he couldn’t trust himself to fall asleep again, he turned on his bed lamp and pulled Crystal’s journal out from under his mattress.

So, something weird is happening.

I guess I saw it coming. I mean, you don’t befriend one of the biggest celebrities in the world and not expect it to catch up with you. Lots of people follow me on Twitter now. I have thousands of subscribers on YouTube. People are even recognizing me in the street. Life as I know it is changing, all because of Harry.

And I think I like it.

I mean, sure, there’s a lot of hate rolling in, but that’s to be expected. Some random normal chick getting to know Harry Styles personally? I know I’d be jealous too. Sometimes I wonder, why me? Why was I so lucky as to get his attention, to have him want to meet ME, of all people?

Then, I remember: he’s just a person too. Just another human being.

But a very, very special human being. At least to me.

Harry smiled and held the journal close to his chest for a moment. She was more than special to Harry. She was his whole life.

Groggily, he continued reading:

I got a call today. It was kinda weird. I didn’t expect it at all, so it really caught me off guard when I found out it was Harry’s manager. He introduced himself a little, and then went straight to business. That guy’s gotta be on an über tight schedule.

Anyways, he just wanted to know a little about me, how I met Harry, how often we spoke. He said he needed to keep track of these things, which I can understand. If you’re in charge of a multi-million dollar group, you’re gonna want to know the inner workings of their lives. At least I’m pretty sure that’s normal. How the hell would I know?

He was very pleasant-sounding, and said if I had any concerns I could call him up. I’m not sure what kind of ‘concerns’ I’d need his help with, but I was grateful nonetheless.

The strange part of the call came at the end, though. He asked if I’d keep it a secret from Harry. He said Harry got upset when he learned about his managers snooping in his private life, which is technically exactly what he was doing. I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I agreed anyways.

I just hope that won’t come back to bite me in the butt.

Upon finishing the entry, Harry shook his head. Of course his managers approached her. He should have known that they would.

He decided he wouldn’t let management occupy his thoughts, and read on:

HOLY MOTHER OF SWEET POTAOES I HAD THE MOST AMAZING WEEK OF MY LIFE.

Okay so last Wednesday was Harry’s 23rd birthday, and he was having a big party to celebrate with all his friends. He called me and said he really wanted me to be there, so he was paying for me to fly over to London whether I liked it or not.

Of course, I didn’t. I have a thing about paying for myself.

But, in this case, a plane ticket wasn’t something I could afford, so Harry didn’t have to plead as extensively before I gave in. He really wanted me there, but secretly, I wanted to go even more badly than I let on. Hello, it’s London freaking England!

February 1st was a Wednesday, but my trip lasted from Monday to Sunday. Thankfully, exams had just ended, and so I wasn’t missing any class. Harry must have known and was probably taking advantage of that fact, but I wasn’t heartbroken.

The first few days Harry took me around the city, showing me touristy things like Big Ben and taking me on the London Eye. We were approached an awful lot, and there were a lot of pictures involved, but despite how exhausted I was, it was crazy fun.

I also got to meet the rest of the band! Holy crap are they ever nice. I mean, I knew they would be, but still. I’m so honored to have met them.

When Wednesday finally rolled around, I was partying with people I’d never seen before, and big crowds of strangers equals a very anxious and claustrophobic Crystal. But Harry never let me leave his sight, always staying nearby and introducing me to all his friends as ‘The Canadian YouTube Girl’. I must say, it was quite flattering to know he had talked about me. They seemed pleased to meet me, which made me feel much more comfortable being there. I’ll admit, I didn’t think I’d fit in.

Anyways, the point. It was the dead of night, just after one a.m. Harry and I were dancing (not well, mind you) and it got super warm. We had both worked up a sweat, and he asked if I wanted to go outside to cool off. I agreed, and upon stepping outside, a bunch of people ran out with us. I didn’t think anything of it, until they split off into two groups, unraveling a big banner with the words, “Will you be my girlfriend?” Harry stood in front of it with his arms spread out, the biggest smile on his face.

Of course, I broke down in tears.

It was the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever done for me. On a day that was supposed to be all about him, Harry made it about me. About US. Ooh, I get shivers when I think of it!

I’m back home now. And Harry hasn’t stopped texting me since I left.

Bottom line: I am the happiest girl in the entire world, and most definitely the luckiest.  

~~~

Hey y'all!

See? My chapters can have happy endings! Haha, as I whisper to myself, "Not for long..."

Sorry this is being posted so late at night, I promise I've been working on it for a while! I get distracted easily, that's all. 

Responsibilities. Meh. 

Anyways, I won't bore you with my usual lengthy babble...have a good night and I'll see ya next week! (hopefully, we're not quite finished with diplomas but I'll do my best!)

Ta ta for now!

Crystal xx