Fire (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter 13

“So, what happened?” Paige asked me from across the room. Her house was fairly big, although nothing compared to mine. She pulled a can of beer out of the fridge and offered me one too, I nodded my head and she threw it over from her kitchen.

“Well, I get the impression most people saw, he took me upstairs and…well. It doesn’t matter.” Paige jogged towards me. Beau and Aubrey – two of Paige’s friends – sat on the counter watching the football.

“No, it really does matter, this is serious. Did he…you know…violate you?” She asked, a slight awkward edge to her tone. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the details; I’d only known her for a week, well 5 days. Just as I was about to fathom a lie Beau and Aubrey piped up from the kitchen.

“YES! Fuck yeah bitches!” Aubrey screamed in Beau’s face. Beau’s arms were crossed over her chest, her long chest nutty hair resting on her forearms. She looked at Aubrey in a derivative manner.

“Arsenal is a pile of wank.” Beau pointed out to Aubrey. I could tell they were good friends, even though they were throwing insults at each other and dealing harsh injuries out as well. Aubrey hit Beau on the forehead with the back of her hand, and spurted some more casual insults.

“Guys, pipe the fuck down!” Paige shouted behind her. They both threw her a middle finger when she turned back to face me, as did Paige, as though she’d seen it already. They all laughed in harmony, their faces all lighting up at the same time. It confused me how happy they were without the popularity that so many desired. They were all beautiful, but in a more unique way. Aubrey’s purple flowing hair, Beau’s unnaturally blue eyes and Paige’s striking…dazzling smile.

“Anyway, even if you don’t tell me, you should really tell someone.” Paige said to me. I was confused by her…she was so willing to give out good advice yet she seemed to have a really tough life. I didn’t know much about her, but from what she’d told me, she hasn’t had a great time of it either.

“The thing is Paige…me and Harry…we’re kind of…together?” I said with a minor inflection at the end. I earned a few glares from Aubrey and Beau at the last comment, Paige looked at me in shock, not quite believing my words.

“What?” She asked. A serious and less joking ring to her words. “No…no, no, no. He’s done it again! That fucker!” She swore, anger in her tone. Aubrey looked at me with a pained look in her eye; Beau was resting her palm on Aubrey’s back, gently rubbing up and down. I sensed something had gone on between them two, and I felt guilty immediately.

“What…what’s wrong?” I asked. I was confused as to what Paige meant when she said “again”. Paige placed her palm on her face, softly shaking her head as she carried on speaking:

“He’s done this before, he does it all the time, and he’ll do it again.” Her voice was drained; she’d said it before, to another girl just like me, possibly to Aubrey. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t accept the fact that Harry was like this…yet it was so believable. It seemed like Harry, after all, he did try and rape me…but no, he couldn’t…he wouldn’t. He said I was different, and now I knew what he meant. I stood up from the red plush couch and paced around Paige’s house, not being able to stand still. I felt like crying, Harry was a womaniser.

Aubrey hopped off of the counter and walked over to me. Her expression was glum, yet held the most emotion I’d ever seen conveyed on one face. She swallowed hard before speaking to me:

“You’re different.” She said, in a low monotone, exactly how Harry did. He’d said it to her as well. My heart stopped. Aubrey’s hand was on my shoulder, trying to coax a response from me. My eyes welled up and I could feel myself breaking down, knowing that all the trust I’d felt towards Harry was misleading…I knew now that he didn’t care.

“What’s wrong?!” Aubrey asked me, panic in her pitch. Her voice was soothing, but it never numbed the pain I felt inside of me.

“Harry said that-t-t to me too.” I sputtered, her eyes grew wide, not realising what I meant. Her mouth opened wide, and she let out a little chuckle, along with a beautiful smile.

“Oh no love, that’s not what I meant.” I looked up at her, hopeful. I noticed Beau and Paige were standing side by side, eagerly looking over to Aubrey and I, who were standing in the kitchen. “You are different.” She said, spacing the words out, making sure I understood. Her eyes held certain sadness, but maintained a happy glow at the same time. I knew it was a mask. Inside…she was dying. I took her hand in mine, kissed her on the cheek and looked deep into her eyes, knowing that she loved Harry, probably still does. I smiled at her, reassuring her everything would be okay. She nodded and smiled back.

“Paige, I have to go, see you on Monday.” I said, skipping out of the house along with my beer and satchel.