If I Leave This World (~Harry Styles~)

Chapter 12

"Harry, at least tell me where we're going." I pleaded. We were walking down the stairs, careful not to run into any doctors or nurses who would question where we were headed. Harry was walking in front of me and I stayed close behind him, constantly pestering him him and trying to get him to say where he was taking me.

"I can't! It's a secret." He hummed, clearly enjoying taunting me. I groaned and follow close behind him, on the lookout for familiar faces.

"You know, there's no way we'll get away with this. Dr. Chen said he was going to check on me and they'll see I wasn't in my room and then-"

Harry shushed me for what had to be the tenth time today. "Payton, live a little. If we get caught, the blame's on me. Would you rather just go back to your room?" He asked with a smug smile on his face, obviously knowing my answer.

"Well, no, but-" I couldn't deny that I wanted to go with Harry, and I fumbled for the right choice of words. Harry just laughed and gently took my arm, continuing to lead me down the hall.

"Stay real quiet," He said in a soft whisper. We were approaching a turn and I stayed close behind Harry just in case someone came around the corner and I had to hide behind him. Suddenly I froze in my tracks.

"Harry, stop!" I tugged on his arm and we both froze. I gestured for him to listen and I could faintly hear a familiar voice coming down the hallway towards us.

"That's Annie's voice." I said nervously. I would rather have anyone else on the hospital staff catch me trying to sneak out over Annie. I felt my face pale and frantically looked around for an escape. Before I had any time to think, Harry grabbed me and pulled me into the nearby janitor's closet. When I opened my eyes, it was pitch black except for the weak light from the lamp hanging above us. I was pressed close to Harry in the enclosed space, and he still had his arms around me. I let out a shaky breath and gave a light laugh before looking up at him.

"Good thinking." I said in a barely audible whisper.

"Thanks," Harry laughed. We listened as Annie's voice grew louder and louder as she came closer to us. I wasn't surprised to hear her complaining about the long night she apparently had yesterday. I instinctively ducked further into Harry's chest when she walked right by the closet to further hide myself. We stood in silence for another moment after she passed us to make sure the coast was clear, the only sound coming from us being our soft, shaky breaths.

When we decided it was safe to leave, Harry opened the door and I untangled myself from his arms before stepping out.

"That was close." I whispered, fixing my wig habitually.

"Safe to say I saved the day on that one." Harry said with a cheeky smile. His hair looked tousled and he flipped it before placing his dark green beanie back on his head. I blushed when I thought about what this scene must've looked like, with me stumbling out of a janitor's closet and him following with a wide smile and messy hair. Wait, what? I quickly snapped out of it and checked to listen for anyone else coming.

"Payton Moore, what do you think you're doing?" I suddenly heard a familiar voice. I turned my head and, to my horror, saw Annie tapping her foot impatiently at me, her presence demanding an explanation. She must have been checking on a patient in a room close to the closet and heard Harry and I just now. By the angry look on her face, she clearly had just seen us stumbling out of the closet and knew we were up to something.

"Shit," I heard Harry mutter under his breath as Annie paced towards us.

"What do you think you're doing here, young man?" She glared at Harry.

"I'm uh... Harry Styles. I'm Payton's friend." He explained, probably unsure of whether or not Annie would already know he was. By the confused anger etched on her face, it was clear she didn't.