Ravaged // h.s. au

15.

Gypsy

Harry had Niall by the collar of his shirt, pinned against the wall by the front door. Hazel was shakily hiding behind my back, holding onto my shirt, stopping me from interfering. Harry had furiously knocked on my door, and Niall was the one offering to open it, but as soon as he did, Harry locked him into that position. He had no weapon in hand, and Niall had dropped his. Something told me, Harry didn't need one. The rage coursing through him, was imprinted on the redness of his normally pale skin, and the darkness of his usually bright eyes. I had only seen him so out of control once or twice, and it always meant that he had had enough, or that he had felt something a bit too deeply, taking it too much to heart. Harry tended to be like that, I remembered. It was why I had fallen for him so deeply, so easily; the burning passion behind his eyes, the way he gave his heart out to all those surrounding him, how he seemed to care for the world, even when the world didn't care for him at all.

" What the fuck did you do, Niall? Tell me, what the fuck did you do?" Harry roared, his arm fiercely holding down Niall's neck.

" I- I don- I don't know what you're talking about." Niall couldn't talk. Niall couldn't breathe. And I pulled my arm out, attempting to reach out to Harry, but the opened door was kicked wide, and in came, Louis and the new girl, and Liam. Liam was the one to push Harry away from Niall, catching him before he almost collapsed to the ground in a heaping mess, while Louis held both Harry's arms over his head, restraining all his movements. The new girl asked if I was alright, and I weakly nodded, keeping my arms surrounding my sister.

" He fucking did this, he fucking helped them. Let me go, Louis!" Harry yelled, fighting with all his will, against Louis' headlock.

" I will when you're fucking sane again. We haven't even heard him out yet."

" Heard him out? He betrayed us all. He helped that son of a bitch get away. For all we know, he might have been the one who killed Rodriguez's wife." Niall had been mostly silent, massaging his throat, and attempting to recollect his breath, while keeping his gaze shamefully on the ground. But when Harry yelled those brutal accusations, his gaze hardened, and he lifted it firmly to meet Harry's.

" I didn't kill anyone, Harry, don't you know me at all?" He roared, his voice raspy, and restrained, by the lack of air, I presumed.

" Apparently I don't."

I didn't realize it, but I had taken slow steps towards them, now standing between Harry and Niall, my eyes blankly moving between them in utter disbelief. Niall had always been one of our closest friends. He was one of Harry's best men. He wouldn't do that to us, to me. He couldn't.

" Is it true? Did you- did you do what he's saying, Niall?" I shakily whispered, feeling my voice trembling with the possibility of the weight of approaching betrayal. It was silent, until Niall sighed, shaking his head weakly. And I knew. I knew it had to be true.

" Oh God." I gasped, putting a hand to my mouth.

" Just hear me out, Gypsy. It isn't what you think it is. I wouldn't do that to you." Liam's grasp on him had fallen, as he pulled himself away, almost as if burned by the confession. Niall took a couple of desperate steps towards me, but I couldn't help but retrieve away from him.

" You're not going anywhere near her!" Harry boomed, struggling against Louis again.

" Please, Gypsy." Niall whispered.

" Okay, okay, stop, stop, stop." I put a hand to Harry's chest, and another to Niall's. I felt like I was suffocating, between the two walls closing in on me. I just wanted it all to stop. I needed to think and breathe and the world seemed to continue to spiral out of control.