Marvels Of Fate

He's Here Now

Harry's POV
What the fuck did I just do? I tug at the strands of my hair as I step out of Liam's house. I'm so fucking screwed in the head. Instead of making a beeline for my car - like I should - I seat myself on the porch steps and relive my mistake. Though it didn't really feel like a mistake. But I can't start this again. No! Mus will always choose others happiness and safety over us and I just can't let myself become collateral damage again. I glance around the porch, searching for an answer. A way. Anything! Anything that lets me be happy for once. Alas, the whole universe seems to only want my doom. My failure. Years ago, I molded myself in a way where I completely shut out my heart so that I didn't feel pain in the future. The method worked, until she returned. Until Mus came back, lifted the shutter yet again and now she's pulling my heart out again. I won't be able to recover this time. I just won't. With hasty fingers, I retrieve a cigarette from my pocket and a lighter. The minute I place the lit up cig in my mouth, I feel my mind calm down a notch. Just seeing that cloud of smoke go up in front of me, gives me immense satisfaction. These little sticks have helped me in loads of situations over the years. Oh, how I praise the inventor of cigarettes. As I'm taking another puff, my eyes travel upwards. Mus is standing near her window, staring out at the garden. Deep in thought, like me. We both have a lot of thinking to do, but I know her final decision. She'll run back to her asshole fiance, Carter. I know how much she's suffering, I can easily tell through her books. Mus' pain is reflected in them; every word drips of her unhappy life with that man. I'd never want to tell her, but I've read every book that she's published and the worst part is, they went from happy endings to sad. They went from young love to unhappy marriages. That's not what she had planned, I know. However, how can I make her see reason, when she wants to live in a bubble? Frowning, I take a long drag. But what're you doing? My subconscious snaps. Living with a girl who's making your life a living hell. A woman who has no character and with who you see no future? Fuck, Rain! I'm in no mood to hear her yap in my ears tonight. I glance back at Liam's house and make a snap decision; I'm crashing here.
*******
Thudding footsteps and loud voices, makes me open my eyes. I fumble around the bed for my phone, and check the time. It's just nine in the fucking morning. Why the heck is everyone awake? I sit up, glancing around the room, confused. Ah, right, Liam's place. I lean forwards and lift my jeans off the ottoman. As I put them on, I glance around the room, searching for my shirt. Where the heck did I throw it? Frowning, I get off the bed and head towards the door. Seeing me shirtless won't kill anyone. I yank open the door, making it slam against the wall.
"Sorry!" I yell to no one in particular. The house is clearly alive with chatter downstairs and I can hear dishes and pans being clattered around. Heavy male laughter enters my ears; laughter that doesn't belong to my band-mates, or any of our parents. Confused, I hastily head downstairs.
"No, I mean, yeah." I stop in my tracks. Wait, I've heard that bloody voice before. My pace quickens as I enter the kitchen. My eyes practically pop out of my head. What the fuck is he doing here? The one place that he hadn't polluted until now. Narrowing my eyes, I saunter over to the fridge, as if all's well in the fucking universe.
"Oh, hey Harry." Carter addresses me, making me turn around. I offer him a tight smile.
"Hi, Carter." I say, trying to push in some amount of niceness in my tone.
"Long time no see, huh?" Carter taps his fingers against the bar counter.
"Yeah." I answer curtly, opening the fridge door. Liam is situated in front of the stove, tossing about some pancakes. He gives me a brief warning look that says 'bite your tongue, or else.'
My life is clearly going through a bad phase. I take out the milk and move onto the glasses cabinet.
"Liam, I couldn't find castor sugar. But I got this." Mus says, entering the kitchen with a brown bag in her hand. She places it next to the stove and saunters over to where Carter is seated. She hoists herself onto the stool next to his and immediately, his hand lands on her upper thigh. I suppress an eye roll.
"Morning Harry," Mus greets me.
"Morning," I offer her a genuine smile. Her face looks fresh today, but I don't miss the way she's leaning away from Carter. So clearly he isn't the reason for her good mood. I watch the two of them from the corner of my eyes as I pour myself a glass of milk and warm it up. Carter whispers something in Mus' ear occasionally and laughs. However, she only offers him a tight-lipped smile. He keeps leaning into her, but she keeps leaning onto the other side. Liam is watching my every move, as if I'll blow up at anytime. God, if he only knew the amount of self control I've developed over the years. As innocently and nonchalantly as I can, I seat myself beside Mus. Instantly her head spins toward me. In a brief second, her eyes flit across my chest and then land back on my face.
"How come you crashed here?" She asks me, smoothly removing her thigh from under Carter's palm.
"I was too tired to go home, I guess." I reply, shrugging my shoulders.
"Oh," Mus murmurs.
"Babe, can you show me to our room?" Carter says, getting off the stool. Hesitantly, Mus gets off and steps out of the kitchen. I stare after her, sighing.
"He's here now, Harry, back off." Liam says, his back still turned to me. I just stare at his back, not knowing whether I should lie or give in. In the end, I just keep my mouth shut and continue drinking the milk.