Boys like you *Harry Styles*

2.

Cooper's head felt like it was about to explode when the cool summer sun shining through the opened window forced him to open his heavy eyes. He groaned, reaching out his arm to pull Amber into his chest just like he always did. His hand fell and landed on the soft mattress with a light thump, his fingers now curling around the clean white sheets where she had once lay.

"Amber?" He choked, shooting up and into a seated position as fear kicked in.

"Amber?" He called out, louder this time.

He could feel drops of cold sweat gather on his forehead, the tips of his fingers tremble and the muscles in his chest tighten. There was only one other time in his life when he felt like this - when he felt a sudden rush of panic that seemed to wipe away any rational thought he had - when he his mother walked out on him and his brother.

Cooper could remember how his mum would always tell him that she would keep him safe, safe from the dangers of the world. She had failed him, and she had failed to mention that the biggest danger he would face in life would be himself. She used to sing him to sleep and tell him the anger he felt was just a silly little phase that he would grow out of, but he never did. In fact age only increased the anger he felt because each year he would lose another person and each year he would lose hope. She also promised him that she would never leave and she did, so maybe everything she had ever told him was a complete and utter lie.

Scrambling to his feet, Cooper pulled a t-shirt over his head and hurried towards the stairs. He couldn't quite understand why his mind was telling him that she had left him, but it was. It was screaming at him, taunting him and pushing him to run. By the time he had reached the bottom of the stairs he was panting heavily, his heart now pounding against his chest., his breaths so heavy that he couldn't hear the chatter coming from the kitchen. He skidded around the corner and came to an abrupt halt when he saw multiple pairs of eyes on him - Amber's included. He breathed in a breath of relief and then stepped back in embarrassment, aware of how flustered and confused and frightened he looked.

Amber stepped forward and placed her mug of tea down on the table. She looked up at him with worry in her puppy like brown eyes, and choked. He looked like he had just woken up from a horrifying nightmare - nightmares she knew he had. There had been many nights when he would wake up in a state of panic, struggling to breath. But every time she asked what his nightmares were about he simply shrugged and told her it was nothing for her to worry about.

"Cooper, are you ok?" She asked in a soft and gentle voice, almost like she was talking to a delicate child.

"I'm fine." He whispered, feeling the back of his throat ache. "I just - I thought you had - never mind. It's fine."

"Are you sure?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side. "You don't look well."

"I said I'm fine." Cooper breathed out, trying his best not to snap. "What time is it anyway?"

Usually he wouldn't allow himself to sleep in so late, but last night had drained him both mentally and physically.

"It's four." Zayn grumbled, speaking to Cooper for the first time in months.

Cooper's eyes glared over at the boy who was now looking back at him with concern, as though he knew something that Cooper didn't, as though he feared for Cooper more than Cooper feared for himself. Scarlet was beside him, smiling at Cooper with a smile that seemed somewhat forced and he knew why. She was worried too, but Cooper didn't think there was anything for them to worry about. He was fine. Completely fine.

Nodding, Cooper stumbled backwards and ignored the uneasy stares that were now being forced upon him. "I need to go and get ready. I'm meeting Callum in an hour."

Zayn's eyes widened at the mention of Callum's name. No one had yet mentioned it to him yet. "Callum?" He screeched, coughing as he choked on his coffee.

"Yeah. It's a long story, I'll fill you in later." Cooper mumbled in response.

"Do you - do you want me to come with you?" Zayn asked, putting his pride aside knowing how much this moment meant to Cooper.

Cooper shook his head and smiled weakly. "No. Thanks for the offer though."

Turning on his heels, Cooper made his way back along the hallway and to the bottom of the stairs, unaware that Amber was following behind. He smirked slightly when he heard her footsteps on the stairs, and looked over his shoulder to see her smirking back at him.

"Can I help you?" He teased, turning around to face her.

Giggling nervously, she walked up another step and stood on her tiptoes so that she was level with him. "Actually," She blushed. "I was thinking that I could help you get ready."

He reached out and grabbed her, holding her against his chest as he carried her up the remaining stairs. She squealed and kicked as he threw her over his shoulder, holding her with a gentle grip that made her feel safe. He lay her down on the bed and hovered above her, sandwiching himself between her legs as he leaned down to kiss her swollen lips. He shivered as her fingers danced along the length of his spine, wrapping around the bottom of his loose grey t-shirt. He pulled back and gasped for air, allowing her time to yank his t-shirt up and over his head before dropping it to the floor. Her small hand wrapped around the back of his neck, forcing him down so that his lips smacked against hers once more.

"You're going to make me late." He mumbled against her lips as his hand travelled along the inside of her thigh.

"Then you had better hurry up then." She teased, giggling in surprise when he jerked her closer, pressing himself against her in need.

"You asked for it."


Callum and his friend Jake turned the corner, laughing when they saw the police vans parked along the street they had fled from the night before. Stuffing his hands into his pockets for warmth, Callum came to a stop outside the bank and leaned his back against the wall, gesturing for Jake to stop. It was summer time but the air was still chillingly cold, despite the fact the the sun was almost blinding. Jake dropped his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out with the sole of his supras before reaching up to readjust the red snap-back cap on his head.

"Trust Cooper to be fucking late." Callum scoffed in amusement.

Jake squinted his eyes as the blazing sun burned his irises, and then - when he looked into the near distance - he could see a familiar and built figure running towards them. He shook his head and lowly chuckled before nodding his head in Callum's direction. Callum pushed himself off of the wall and smiled when he saw his older brother - panting and out of breath - slowing down when he spotted the two younger boys.

"You're late!" Callum yelled, mockingly looking down at the watch around his wrist.

"I can't say no to my girlfriend, blame her." Cooper insisted, finally coming to a stop by his brothers side.

"Cooper. Cooper Albano...has a girlfriend?" Callum choked, eyes wide. His brother had never been with the same girl more than once when he was younger. Callum never saw Cooper as the type to ever have, or to even want to have a girlfriend.

"Yeah. Why is that so hard to believe?" Cooper asked, slinging his arm around his brother shoulder, leading him down the street as Jake followed on.

"I just never thought I would see the day that the almighty Cooper Albano was whipped." Callum threw his head back, a little more amused by the idea than he perhaps should have been.

"Shut it, mini me, at least I can talk to girls. Anyway, she's going to come and meet us in half an hour so behave." Cooper demanded, lightly smacking his brothers back before flinging open the door to the café in front of them.

The two younger boys followed Cooper and wandered off to a nearby table while he went to the counter and ordered three large, strong black coffee's. Cooper looked over his shoulder and smiled at the sight of his kid brother. Cooper couldn't believe how tall he had gotten, or how much stronger he looked. He was still young and goofy, but he now walked with his head held high. He had the Albano eyes - the type of eyes that no one could look into without feeling a little fear. The kind of eyes that held a darkness that would make you think twice about switching off the lights at night. He looked like...well he looked like Cooper.

Cooper forced one coffee cups under his arm and carried the other two by hand, weakly smiling at the people he passed as he made his way over to the table where his brother and his friend sat. Callum jumped up and took the cups from his hand, earning a genuine and thankful smile from his brother.

Cooper was just about to sit down when Callum whispered something that broke his heart. "Why didn't you come back, Coop? Why didn't you come home?"

Sinking into the leather seat, Cooper choked and struggled to hold back his tears, but somehow he managed. He always managed. "Your dad didn't want me to. I thought I was doing what was best for you by doing as he wished."

"He's your dad too, Cooper." Callum insisted, shaking his head. He couldn't quite bear the thought of them not having the same father, even though he knew it was true.

"No, Callum." Both Jake and Callum moved back as Cooper's voice raised. "He's not. He never was. He's yours."

"He still brought you up." Shuffling uncomfortably, Callum looked down at his hands. "He may be useless and a bit of a dick, but he was out dad."

"Yeah, he brought me up and he also made me feel like an outcast. He didn't want me there, Callum. He put up with me for mums sake. When she left he was waiting for me to fuck up so that he could get rid of me - and he did." Cooper could feel himself getting angry, but he pushed it down for the benefit of his brother.

"But -" Callum stuttered, unsure of what to say.

Cooper breathed out and closed his eyes over, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It doesn't matter to me who my dad is. You're still my brother, Cal." He opened his eyes back up and smiled when they met clear blue of Callum's, who was now nodding in agreement.

"Just don't abandon me again." Callum mumbled, blowing into his burning coffee before he took a sip.

Cooper rolled his eyes and half smiled. "I was keeping you safe, idiot. You knew I would come back eventually."

Callum peered at his brother from behind his coffee cup and smirked. "I don't need you to keep me safe. Haven't you heard about me, bro?"

Cooper laughed and scoffed obnoxiously. "Heard of you? What the fuck are you talking about?"

Callum glanced over at Jake who had kept silent up until now, and the boy pushed himself closer. "Callum has made quite the name for himself, you know, underground. He's the undefeated bare-knuckle boxing champion."

Cooper's eyes widened in shock. He knew his brother could fight, he was the one who taught him how, but this was something he never expected to hear. Callum had never been the violent type, and Cooper had only taught him how to fight in case one day he couldn't be there to protect him, but something had obviously changed in the year Cooper had stayed away.

Smiling proudly, Cooper turned to his brother and gave him a nod of approval before adding, "I could still kick your ass though."

"Yeah. Yeah." Callum chuckled, knowing that even though Cooper was joking, what he had said was true. Callum could do everything that Cooper could, but Callum had the heart to stop. Cooper didn't know his own limits, he had no control over the anger that had managed to consume him.

"That's what happened the other night." Jake interrupted, feeling like a spare part. "Those boys that we were fighting with bet a lot of money on Callum losing, so when he won they wanted someone to blame."

"Good job I was there to help you, you need to be more careful Callum." Cooper sighed.

"You mean like you helped me the first time?" Callum regretted his words the instant he had said them. He knew that Cooper did everything in his power that night to stop the boy who had stabbed him.

"They paid for what they did to you, didn't they?" Cooper whispered, feeling ashamed at the thought of his act of revenge.

"Yeah, and now you're paying for what you did to them - it haunts you. It's a viscous circle and you don't know how to get off, or maybe you just don't want to." Callum could feel a lump form in the back of his throat as he spoke, he knew that Cooper did what he did with good intentions, but somehow it always made things worse.

"No." Cooper demanded darkly. "I won't feel bad for hurting the people who hurt you."

Callum released a long breath and leaned forward, placing his hand on Cooper shoulder, subconsciously tightening his grip. "I'm not saying you should, because I would kill someone if they hurt you too."

Cooper was just about to reply when he felt a familiar pair of cold lips linger against the side of his cheek. He could feel the side of his lips curl up into a smile, and when he pulled away and looked around it was her smile that he saw. He shot onto his feet and wrapped his arms around her tightly, grinning as he caught a glimpse of Scarlet and Hailee who had decided to join her. He placed a soppy kiss to her cheek and then gentle nudged her forward, sending her straight into the view of Callum, who was now shyly standing to his feet. The one thing Callum never had was Cooper's confidence. He was the shy brother who always seemed to turn red in the company of women. But to one girl in particular - Hailee - the colour red seemed to suit him.

"Callum, this is Amber...my girlfriend. Amber, this is Callum...my brother." Cooper couldn't quite grasp what he had felt when he introduced them, it was a mixture of pride and peacefulness. He had gone from having no one left, to having two people who meant the world to him by his side. The only thing missing, he thought to himself...is Harry.

Amber smiled widely and took the shy boys hand, and felt like she already knew him. He was exactly how Cooper had described him to be in his many stories about the Albano brothers and the trouble they used to get themselves into. It was like meeting a character from your favourite book.

"It's nice to meet you." Callum mumbled nervously, hoping she wouldn't notice that his palms had now began to sweat.

"You too, I've heard a lot about you." She smiled warmly, and dropped her hand back down to her side.

"And this is Scarlet, Harry's girlfriend." Cooper choked his words out as though mentioning Harry's name brought him pain. "And this is Hailee, Amber's cousin." He croaked, knowing that Hailee didn't care much for him, and he understood why. He knew that he wasn't good enough for Amber, but it still hurt that people kept reminding him of the fact.

Cooper sat down beside Amber and pulled her onto his lap, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Oh, and this is Jake. Scarlet, you remember Jett, right?" Cooper asked, watching on amused as Callum's eyes widened when both Hailee and Scarlet sat down beside him.

"Bradly's friend?" Scarlet asked, only remembering him vaguely as the boy who seemed afraid of Cooper.

Cooper nodded and laughed, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Yeah, well this is his younger brother."

Jake scoffed and licked his lips. "Younger. Hotter. Better. Stronger."

"Cockier." Callum teased, blushing when everyone turned to face him.

Cooper laughed, throwing his head back as slight dimples indented his cheeks, and when Amber caught sight of how happy he looked, she relaxed into his touch, smiling as his thumbs rubbed circles onto her lower back. She leaned down and pressed her lips to his ear while the others spoke among themselves.

"I promise I won't leave you." She whispered, making his heart race. "I know that's why you were so panicked this morning, you thought I had left. You sometimes talk about it in your sleep. But I'm not going anywhere, Cooper. I lo-"

But before Amber could get the words out, Scarlet was screaming Cooper's name. He pulled back and looked up in fright, confused when she forced her mobile phone into his hand.

"What is it?" He asked, looking into Scarlet's hope filled eyes.

"It's Bradly, he wants to talk to you." Scarlet screeched, hoping that it would be news of Harry's whereabouts.

Cooper looked to Amber who smiled at him reassuringly and pushed herself off of his lap so that he could get up. He nodded and licked his dry lips, tightening his grip around the phone in his hand. He knew what Amber was about to say and he wanted nothing more than to finally hear her say it.

"Hello?" He seethed, placing the phone to his ear as he walked away from the group.

"I have news." Bradly stated.

"You found Charlie...Harry?" Cooper asked, holding his breath.

"I haven't found Harry but I've found someone who can lead us to him." Bradly spoke, and Cooper could hear the excitement in his tone.

"Yeah? And who would that be then?" Cooper asked, looking over his shoulder to flash Amber a weak smile.

"The snitch. Niall. Meet me at Marco's in an hour and don't bring the girl. This could get messy." And with that information, Cooper hung up the phone.

Cooper spun around and headed straight towards Scarlet, handing the phone back over to her. "I need to go." He mumbled, hurrying past her and towards Amber.

He stopped just before he reached her and turned to a concerned looking Callum. "Callum you go back with Scarlet and I'll see you later, ok? Take Jake with you and none of you leave the house until I get back."

Callum went to argue, but Cooper's look said it all. He was begging Callum to stay here, with the girls, to keep them safe.

"Cooper, where are you going?" Amber panicked, grabbing onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It's about Harry. I need to go." He whispered into her ear, holding her close.

She shook her head and buried it into his chest, her fingers now fisting into the material of his t-shirt. He held her for a moment, enjoying the warm feeling that spread through his chest. He hated leaving her, especially when he knew that he may not come back.

"But - what about you?" She asked, placing her hands to his chest as she looked up at him with glazed over eyes.

"I'll be fine, baby." He insisted, taking her face in his hands, stroking her soft cheeks with the pads of his rough thumbs.

He pressed a lingering kiss to her lips and then pulled back to look at her. In this moment there was nothing else that mattered than what he had to say next.

"I love you too." He croaked, and then ran towards the door before she could do anything to stop him.

But he loved her, she thought. He really loved her.

But little did Cooper know, someone had followed behind him.

Violent winds blew through the empty streets of London, whistling a chilling tune as it whirled the heavy rain in every possible direction.

Max Bolton stepped into the church, his soaked shoes and the frayed ends of his stonewashed jeans squishing as he slowly began to walk. He looked up at the stained glass windows and shivered when his eyes landed on the religious imagery. He knew he shouldn't have been there, but he had no other choice. He had been told to follow the orders of the boy he was now forced to shadow, the boy Charlie had forced to be his mentor. Little did Charlie know, Max was someone he had met a few years ago, someone he should have recognized straight away but blindingly didn't. Perhaps this was because Max had change drastically from a young boy into a man.

His mentor Harry rarely spoke to him, and the only time he ever noticed Max's presence was when they were in a fight or taking care of business, or when - on the rare occasion - he would mistake Max for Cooper. But other than that it was as if no one else in the world existed.

He shook his head and continued to walk, shying away from the candles that had been place along the aisle to light the church that had been effected by the city's blackout. He thought that at any moment god would make the blazing candles tip and that he would be set alight. His kind - murderers - weren't welcome here and he knew it by the way the minister looked at him from behind the red curtain. He looked at him like he were the spawn of satin himself, and perhaps in his heart, he was.

He came to a stop and swallowed down hard when he saw the back of Harry's head, his curls messily poking out from behind his grey beanie. Harry was on his knees, clasping his hands together in front of the large cross that hung on the wall. Clearing his throat nervously, Max slowly approached. He had known Harry eight months now and he still feared him the way he had when they first met. He knew who Harry was before they had met, his older brother had told him stories about the devil with no heart to scare him. He didn't like the way that Harry looked at him. There was no life behind his eyes. He was empty inside. He was heartless.

Max came to a stop and stood by Harry's side, swaying nervously in his spot. His trembling fingers now reaching out to tap Harry's tense shoulder, and as he did, Harry's eyes flew open in rage.

"What are you doing? What are we doing here?" Max whispered nervously, taking a small step back in fright.

Harry tilted his head to the side, warning the younger boy with his now dark eyes. "Praying for my sins." He croaked, before turning his head back to the front, focusing his eyes on the cross once again. "And for her."

"Her?" Max asked, chuckling nervously.

Harry nodded his head in slow motion, the pain he felt inside apparent by the frown lines that now appeared around his lips. "The reason."

Max snorted and shook his head in disbelief, eyes wide. "You've lost your fucking mind. Now, come on. We have to get this job done for Charlie."

Max turned on his heels, chuckling to himself at the sheer insanity of Harry. He took a step forward but froze in his spot when he felt a coldness behind him, a coldness that chilled him to the bone. Harry towered above the boy from behind and curled his fingers around the boys collar, forcing his body back around to the front. Max felt his knees give way when Harry kicked each one, forcing Max to kneel. Crouching down beside him, Harry placed his ice cold lips to Max's ear and whispered, "We'll go when I say we go. Unlike you and the rest of his pathetic, worthless little followers who know nothing of real pain, Charlie King does not own me."

"T-Then why are you here?" Max stuttered, trying not to choke on his own words.

"The easiest way to take someone down is to do it from the inside, and you're going to help me. You no longer work for Charlie, you work for me. Because trust me when I say this, Max. I don't fear the devil because the devil takes shelter in my heart. And if you cross me, I'll kill you." Harry hissed, his voice dripping with determination and venomous poison.

Max nodded slowly. "I'll help you."

Harry smiled a twisted smile and gently patted Max on the shoulder. "I was hoping you would say that. Now, look at the cross, put your hands together and beg for forgiveness."

But the one thing Harry didn't know was that helping Harry was Max's plan all along.

And that the fear he showed was really just an act.


Niall cried to himself as the rope that bound his hands behind his back bit into his flesh. If he could have bit down to ease the pain he would have, but his mouth had been gagged with a soap-soaked rag. Niall was confused by this at first, until Cain told him that his snitch mouth had to be washed out with soap. The taste made him want to be sick, and knowing that he couldn't was almost as bad as the pain his injured body felt. If he was sick, he knew that he would choke, so he cried instead.

Jett sat on a table in the far end of the room, laughing as the defenceless boy desperately tried to free himself. Jett smiled smugly, knowing that if Niall thought this was bad, he was going to be even more afraid when he saw what, or who, was coming next. In the world in which they lived being a snitch was a crime worse than any other.

The room in which they both sat was dark, lit only by a few candles and a torch that had been placed in front of Niall, and which now begun to burn his eyes. The last thing he remembered was walking down the street, heading to the bus stop when Jett and Cain grabbed him. Then he woke up here, bleeding and in pain.

"I bet you regret it now, don't you?" Jett asked calmly, standing to his feet.

Walking over to stand in front of Niall, Jett bent down and looked into his eyes. "Working for Charlie, betraying the friends that would once help you in this situation." Jett tsked and shook his head, but was soon standing up straight when he heard the steel door open.

He looked over his shoulder and smirked when Bradly, Cain and Sam entered the room. Sam, who had only recently joined the boys, hurried over to Jett's side, unsure of what to do with himself. He - like most of the others - had been forced into gang life by his father.

Cain stood silent but tall like he always did, and his silence alone had always been enough to run his victims blood cold. Bradly shrugged his coat off of his shoulder and slung it over a near by chair before he rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt. Looking towards Cain, Bradly said nothing, but Cain seemed to understand anyway.

Niall's watering eyes widened when he saw Cain move behind him, but to his surprise nothing happened. Cain placed one hand on Niall's shoulder to steady him, and with the other hand freed the rag that covered his mouth. As the rag fell to the floor, Niall sucked in a needed breath and lowly began to pant.

"What do you want?" Niall croaked, the back of his throat burning as his heart raced in fear.

"Information." Bradly shrugged. "We want to know where Charlie is."

Niall laughed and looked away. "And what? You think I'm going to tell any of you. You don't scare me."

Bradly chuckled menacingly and reached into the pocket of his smart black trousers, pulling out a small and shining pocket knife. He popped it open and the sharp blade shot up, glistening even in the dully lit room.

"Then I guess I'll have to find another way of getting you to talk, seen as asking wasn't enough."


Cooper turned the corner and looked up at the neon lights that flashed above the run down bar on the deserted side street. The sign - apart from the missing 'o' - spelled out the word Marco's. It was a bar that Harry and himself used to drink in when they were younger, and it was the one bar in the whole of London that the police never dared to enter. It was gang territory and it wasn't safe for anyone who entered.

Feeling a rush of excitement run through him, Cooper felt guilty. Excited was a feeling he had no right to feel, he told himself. Especially when he knew his excitement was dangerous.

He looked up and behind him when he heard the sounds of faint footsteps, and when he did, his eyes landed on Scarlet who was now trying to hide behind the nearest wall. He cursed under his breath and lowly growled, he should have known she would follow him.

"I can see you, Scarlet." He breathed out impatiently.

Scarlet cringed and stepped out from behind the wall, approaching Cooper with an uneasy anxiety. She knew he would never hurt her, but the angry look in his eyes made her shiver. She painted on a nervous smiled and relaxed when he laughed once and shook his head.

"You shouldn't have come here." He admitted.

"I had to come. This is my fight too." She demanded, strongly standing her ground.

"I know." He told her, placing his hands on her shoulders. His expression changed into something more serious. "But this is going to get ugly, Scarlet. Are you sure you can handle it?"

Nodding her head, Scarlet cleared her throat and forced all of the nervous thoughts out of her mind. "I can handle it. Niall drugged me. He betrayed us. I hate him."

Dropping his hands back down to his sides, Cooper sighed and nodded in agreement before turning on his heels.

"Then keep up and stay out of trouble."

Scarlet stumbled and hurried her step, following behind Cooper as he hurried towards Marco's, ready to take down anyone who stood in his way.


Niall had finally stopped screaming and gave into the pain. He could feel his own blood trickle down his cheek like the tears he had once cried. Looking up with hatred in his eyes he scowled, looking from one face to the next. "You won't kill me. You don't have the guts."

Bradly was about to reply when he heard a solid and determined knock on the door. He smiled sinisterly, instantly knowing who was on the other side of it. Niall swallowed down hard, suddenly feeling a terrifying shift in the air. And he couldn't help but notice that he wasn't the only one in fear. Jett looked like he had seen a ghost before the person on the other side of the door had even been revealed.

"Maybe not," Bradly beamed, placing his hand over the door knob, curling his fingers around it. "But I can't guarantee that he won't." The door flung open and Niall cowered back, the scared blue of his eyes meeting the darkness in Cooper's.

"Miss me?" Cooper smirked, tilting his head to the side as he walked in, stepping aside to revel Scarlet standing in the doorway.

"I told you not to bring her!" Bradly screamed, enraged.

"And since when did I take orders from you?" Cooper asked mockingly, never once taking his eyes off of Niall.

Bradly stayed silent, but looked at Cain with a look of irritation before he decided to let the subject go. If Scarlet wanted to be here, he thought, she had every right to be.

Niall looked away from Scarlet out of shame of what he had done to her, but Cooper wouldn't let him. Grabbing onto Niall's hair, Cooper forced him to look up. Niall yelped at the sting of his scalp and gritted his teeth to block out the pain. Scarlet looked into his eyes with nothing but hatred, and stepped forward. Raising her hand, Scarlet dropped it and allowed it to connect with Niall's cheek. And she felt strangely proud of the mark the impact had left on his skin.

"Why did you do it?" She asked, refusing to show any signs of weakness.

Cooper let go on Niall and flung him back, crouching down beside him as his body fell to the floor with a loud thud that made the room shake. "Answer her, and tell her the truth." Cooper insisted.

Niall spat and looked up at Scarlet in disgust, finally letting his true colours show. "Because I was sick of it. Sick of everyone treating Harry like some sort of god. Sick of following in his shadow. Charlie came to me, told me that he would make me bigger than all of you. I did it because I could. Because working for Charlie gave me power. And you, well you were an easy target. You're pathetic." Niall laughed, stopping only when he could taste his own blood in his mouth.

Cooper laughed along sarcastically while Scarlet froze in surprise. She didn't know what she expected him to say, but it certainly wasn't that. Maybe, deep down, she expected him to feel a little remorse for what he had done. But he didn't. He felt nothing.

"I'm stronger than you think." She whispered, looking down at him with empty eyes. "I'll prove you all wrong. I'm not weak and I'm not pathetic." She smiled, backing out the door when Cooper gave her a look that told her she should wait outside.

She turned on her heels and nodded before looking over her shoulder and smirking as she happily said, "Goodbye Niall."

Cooper grabbed onto Niall's collar and lifted him into the air, laughing as Niall kicked and screamed. Cooper looked over to Bradly, Cain, Jett and Sam and spoke his next words sternly, "You should wait outside. What I'm about to do is for Harry. Now, go. Go wait with Scarlet."

Bradly nodded in understanding and forced his boys out of the room, glancing at Cooper and a terrified Niall one last time before he stepped out and closed the door over behind him.

Cooper slammed the chair Niall was sitting on back down on the hard floor and walked around it in circles, throwing his arms across his chest. Niall knew what was coming. He knew Cooper and he knew that when he hated someone he would show them no compassion. But it was when Cooper came to a stop and looked at him with the stare he recognised as the famous 'Albano death stare,' that he knew he was as good as dead.

"You know," Cooper sighed with a forced look of sympathy, "For a moment I had actually considered letting you live, but then Charlie would think I'm lenient." Cooper leaned into his side, pressing his lips to Niall's ear. "So me killing you is me sending him a warning. Letting him know that I'll kill anyone who gets in my way."

Niall swallowed down hard and closed his eyes over, knowing what was coming next.

"Now, if you tell me where I can find Harry, I'll make it quick and easy. If not, well, you know how it goes. So what's it to be Niall?" Cooper whispered. "Easy or painful?"



Scarlet jumped back in fright and gasped when she heard the sound of Niall's tortured scream, but was surprised at how quickly it faded out. She looked around at the four men who surrounded her protectively, but none of them could bring themselves to look her in the eye. Gulping down heavily she looked at the steel door as she heard footsteps approach. The door soon flung open and Cooper stepped out, closing it behind him quickly so that Scarlet didn't have to see Niall's body.

Scarlet couldn't help but notice how pale a usually tanned Cooper looked.

Pulling a clear white handkerchief out of his pocket, Cooper carefully cleaned the red blood off of his fingers and tossed it in Jett's direction. Jett caught it in his hands and looked at Cooper with terror filled eyes. "Take care of the body, will you?" Cooper asked, politely.

Jett nodded and nudged into Sam's side, urging him to follow on. Bradly watched the two younger boys walk away and waited until they stepped into the cold room before he stepped forward and looked at Cooper questioningly. "So, did you get anything out of him?"

Cooper nodded and looked to Scarlet, who was desperate to know what he had found out. "What?" She asked. "Did he tell you where Harry was?"

"No, but he gave me the name of someone who might." Cooper looked unsettled.

"Who?" Scarlet asked. "Cooper, what's the name?" She begged, unable to take the suspense any longer.

"Ryan..." Cooper choked, tears filling his bright blue eyes. "Albano."

"What?" Cain gasped, speaking for the first time this evening out of shock.

Cooper spun around to face both Bradly and Cain and nodded in disbelief.

"That's impossible, Cooper." Bradly scoffed, irritated by what he assumed to be lies.

"Coop, who is that? Who is Ryan?" Scarlet screeched, grabbing onto his arm, feeling almost as confused as Cooper was. "Is he related to you?"

"He's my brother." Cooped sobbed, unable to hide his emotions.

"Yeah, your dead brother." Cain hissed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Apparently not." Cooper's voice trembled.

Scarlet, unaware of what was going on, wrapped her arms around Cooper and held him close, just like he had done for her when she was upset over Harry. Cooper had become her best friend - her brother, and he was the only person she trusted now that Harry was gone.

"You buried his burnt body, Cooper." Bradly screamed.

"We buried a body. But according to Niall, Ryan faked his own death to escape Charlie. He had done to Ryan what he's now doing to Harry. So to set himself free he killed Ryan and became Max Bolton. My brother is still alive, and he knows where Harry is."