Dangerous Love

05.

The boys all spaced out within the living room, refusing to look at one another, as well as refusing to look at me. It was only when Evie entered the room, did I then speak up.

"Would any of you care to tell me what the hell is going on?" I questioned the group, however more so aiming the question at Dan and Phil.

Dan and Phil shared an uncomfortable glance at one another, before speaking up.

"Listen, this wasn't supposed to happen tonight, you weren't supposed to be involved. I'm so sorry, it won't happen again, I promise!" Dan exclaimed.

There was an awkward silence, before one of the other boys spoke up.

"It wasn't their fault, don't be mad at them. We fucked up, & needed help from the guys. We didn't know you were with them, otherwise we wouldn't of put you in danger." His Irish accent was apparent when he was speaking, which contrasted with his harsh demeanour.

Dan and Phil awaited my response with pleading eyes, hoping I would forgive them and all would be well, but I couldn't & they knew why.

My brother. He was murdered because of gang violence, and now Dan and Phil where putting themselves in the same danger all because of being in some stupid gang. I had already lost one brother, I wasn't prepared to my best friends too.

Before I knew it, I broke down into tears and ran out of the room. My heart was ponding out my chest, whilst I continued to run out of the house. I got to about halfway up the street before collapsing onto the sidewalk. The tears kept streaming down my face, as I allowed myself to replay my brother death in my head again and again and again. I had spent so many years blocking the memory out of my head, but now in this situation, it was the only thing I could think of.

{Flashback}

"RUN AVA" Sean screamed, whilst he attempted to fight of the attackers.

It was as if my feet were glued to the floor, as I couldn't find it within me to run away from this potential crime scene. Breathing was becoming difficult, as my heart was beating rapidly and my breaths where becoming quicker and shorter. Tears where staining my face as I screamed at the attackers to stop.

"AVA RU.." My brother shouted, however was interrupted when a knife sliced his throat. He quickly collapsed to the floor, and within seconds he was dead.

{End of Flashback}

My thoughts where interrupted when someone tapped my on the shoulder. I quickly flinched & jumped up to see who it was. I could hardly make out who it was due to my watery eyes, however after a couple of seconds of awkward staring, I realised who it was. It was the boy that had saved me from the restaurant. I let out a breath of relief & quietly sat back down. He copied my actions and sat down next to me on the sidewalk.

"I'm not going back in" I quietly said, after a few moments of silence.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to bring you back, I just wanted to see if you were okay?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

"You don't even know me" I chuckled, finding it bizarre that he was worried about me.

"Yeah true. But I know of you, Dan and Phil never shut up about you and Evie." he teased. This brought a smile to my face, as it was nice to know they still talked about us, even if we didn't see them most of the time.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked. I looked at him before shaking my head.

"I'm Harry" He announced, whilst holding up his hand to shake. "Harry Styles"

I shook his hand, before replying. "Well Harry Styles, I am Ava Hart, it's nice to meet you" I giggled, finding this greeting far too formal for my liking. He grinned back at me, revealing a dimple which made my cheeks flush. Dimples were always my weakness. Once realising this handshake had gone on for about 10 seconds, we quickly let go of hands and returned back to our original positions.

"It's not what you think, you know." He confessed.

"What is?" I questioned, unsure on what he was talking about.

"We're not just some "Idiotic Gang" what your mum kindly referred to us as." He announced. I looked down at my shoes, feeling slightly guilty for my mothers harsh remark. "We're not just fighting for the sake of it. We're trying to make a difference. Do the right thing. Some of the shit that's been done by these other gangs is not right, and it's only going to carry on if we don't stop it." he admitted.

I sighed, refusing to make eye contact with Harry. I knew he was right. Dan and Phil were not the type of people to be violent for the sake of it, but it was still hard to believe they were part of a gang. They seemed so innocent, it wasn't right for them to be planning schemes and attacks. I swallowed the lump in my throat, before replying.

"It's just.. well what happened with my br.." I began to tell him about my brother but decided against it, as I hardly knew him and didn't want to burden him with my traumatic past. I took a deep before starting my sentence again. "The thought of losing them makes me feel physically sick"

Harry seemed curious as to why I had suddenly changed what I was going to say, but didn't question it. He didn't say anything for a while, which left me to imagine what it would be like if Dan and Phil were killed. The thought made me want to throw up, cry and scream at the same time, but thankfully for Harry's sake, I didn't.

"You know Ava, you really don't have to worry about losing Dan and Phil" Harry said, interrupting my thoughts.

"How so?" I asked.

"Because I would never let anything bad happen to them. I could never forgive myself if something did happen. The guys and I brought Dan and Phil into this lifestyle, therefore it's our duty to protect them at all costs. We ain't gonna let them get hurt Ava, I promise." He said, holding out his pinky.

"A pinky promise, really? Sorry are we 7?" I laughed, however obliged to the pinky promise.

"Wow someone's sassy, bloody hell. I was only looking for a pinky promise and here I am being absolutely roasted for it!" Harry exclaimed, which I think was his way of lightning the mood, which I was thankful for.

We sat there for a few moments until Harry stood up. "Come on, let's go back inside, it's been a long night." He yawned, whilst offering me a hand to get up. Whilst walking back to the house, Harry warned me to be nice with Dan and Phil as it wasn't their fault we were in this mess, but I was still angry at them for not telling me about being apart of a gang. We tell each other everything, so by them not telling me this, god knows what they are hiding from myself and Evie.