She's Not Afraid

"You Don't Listen Hard Enough"

The next few days brought change to the household. For one thing, they were all living in the same place again for the first time in months. With Eleanor coming home and needed to stay in bed, Louis thought it best to have her in the main house again, instead of the small cottage that they used. Zayn and Emily were barely using the pool house, because that would mean spending time with just each other and neither of them wanted that, because once alone the tension would set in between them. And, Sofia wasn't a top priority, not because they weren't worried, but because she genuinely seemed to be doing better. She had settled in, and laughed more. She didn't fight training, and no longer seemed to act like the weight of the world was on her shoulders. She still hadn't told Harry though, and that was starting to get to her.

Liam had put on a full search party trying to look for the people who had shot at them, but so far they had come up with nothing. That made everything more dangerous, because whomever shot clearly knew who they were, but they didn't know them. It made Liam feel safer knowing that every one was in one house, he felt like it made them less vulnerable. But he wasn't going to rest until he figured out who had targeted them and what they wanted, which meant that no one else was going to rest either.

Harry Styles sat on the sofa, as Eleanor lay next to him, with Louis sitting across with them in a chair. He was avoiding her glare as he filled her in with what had been going on at home the last few days, and she and the baby were recovering in the hospital.

"You what?!" Eleanor snapped at him, Harry looking at Louis to avoid her glare.

"I officially called off the engagement," Harry said, still avoiding looking at her as her eyes got narrower.

"And why would you do an idiot thing like that?" Eleanor hissed at him, "She basically announced that she was your fiancé in the hospital, why would you take that away from her?"

"I'm not taking anything away from her," Harry said, looking over at Eleanor, "I'm taking the pressure off. We're trying to fix our relationship, and the pressure of being engaged wasn't helping. We were both feeling the pressure, and it wasn't fair. We are barely acting like a couple, let alone two people that are supposed to get married. It was a mutual decision. She thought it was for the best too."

"Harry, what else is she supposed to say when you said that you wanted to call off the engagement?" Eleanor snapped, "I can't believe you would do that, you two are supposed to be with each other! I don't understand why you both don't seem to understand that!"

"I told you she wouldn't take it well," Louis said, as he looked pointedly at Harry.

"I know were supposed to be together," Harry explained, as he ignored Louis, "Which is why I'm giving us a clean slate. There's less pressure this way. We were supposed to be married in 3 weeks El, and every time we looked at each other, I know that's what we were both thinking. Now with the engagement off the table, we can just let this naturally fix itself, we don't have to force something back together quickly. Believe me, it's for the best."

"Whatever," Eleanor hissed, rolling her eyes, "How are you two anyway? Are you actually fixing anything?"

"I think so," Harry said, as his eyes furrowed in thought, and he leaned back on the couch, "It's like when I first moved in here, honestly. There's a tension between us and it's awkward but electric. But were talking and laughing again, I feel like I have my friend back. But it's like we don't remember how to touch each other yet, but I'm sure we will. I still get the feeling that she's keeping something from me, that's not helping anyone. But, I just want to give her time. I don't want to spook her. Not when she's doing so well. She hasn't taken anything in 5 days."

'Is that why you've been so nice?" Liam asked, as he entered the room with Danielle and Niall, "Because you don't want to spook her?"

"I suppose," Harry said, "Why?"

"Because it's been weird," Niall said, "The two of you have been so nice and polite to each other, and the rest of us aren't quite sure what to make of it."

"It's not like I'm making an effort to be nice, she just hasn't done anything that would require otherwise," Harry defended and he glared at Niall and Liam who looked unsure.

"Where is everyone?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Zayn is training Sofia," Liam said with a smirk, "I'm sure she's loving that. Daisy and Danny have gone back to her apartment, I think their both going to stay there for now. Ella and Emily are out at the shopping mall with David. Something about him needing more clothes."

"By themselves?" Eleanor asked, looking up at Liam from her spot on the couch, he eyes laced with concern.

"Of course not. Andy went with them," Liam said. He had been very clear that no one was to go anywhere by themselves until he felt it was safe.

All of them looked up at the noise coming through the door, and looked relieved when they saw it was Sofia and Zayn, laughing at something, with their arms draped around each other. Harry pushed down the jealousy that he was feeling, and tried not to glare at the two of them too much as they came barreling into the room.

"How did it go?" Liam asked

"Pretty good," Zayn said, though he avoided Liam's gaze.

"Why don't you tell them the truth, Zayn?" as she plopped down next to Eleanor, wrapping her arms around her.

"She may have gotten in one or two good hits," Zayn said quietly, sending a glare over to Sofia.

"I knocked him on his ass twice," Sofia said, smiling widely.

"Good for you! Girl power! Show these men whose boss!" Eleanor cried, raising her fist.

"Girl power?" Sofia asked, looking down at her amused and confused, "My God, they must have you on a good drugs."

"They do," Eleanor said, nodding her head, "Want to keep me calm and collected while I'm resting up."

"Can I have some?" Sofia asked, laughing. Everyone glared at her, and she raised her hands in surrender.

"It was a joke," she said.

"Get a new one," Zayn growled at her.

"Or you could get a new sense of humor," Sofia said.

"Or I could knock you into next week," Zayn hissed.

"I mean, you could try," Sofia said shrugging, "But I believe I was the one knocking you around today." She smiled even wider and Zayn groaned, stomping out of the living room and towards the kitchen.



***


When Sofia came from the bathroom and into her kitchen she found all five boys standing around the counter, looking intense, and whispering.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked as she looked at them in confusion, they all jumped not expecting her to be there.

"Jesus Christ, Sofia," Niall snapped at her, glaring.

"You're in my kitchen!" Sofia snapped back, "What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing," Harry said, "Nothing for you to worry about anyway."

"That statement makes me worry," Sofia said, looking at the other four boys, "Did something happen?"

"We think we got a lead, that's all," Liam said

"Why do you look so upset?" Sofia asked, as she reached into the fridge for water.

"Because I don't like where the lead could go," Liam growled, "Why don't you mind your own business?"

"This is my business," Sofia snapped, "Besides I'm sure I'll be used in whatever plan you make up, so I don't know why you're trying to keep secrets from me."

"You should talk," Louis growled, making the room tense as Sofia stared at him in disbelief.

"Sorry," he said quickly, as Harry looked around at all of them, and for what seemed like the hundredth time this week, felt like he was outside of something.

"So, are you scheming or just gossiping?" Sofia asked, ignoring Louis who was now pouting at her.

"A bit of both," Liam said, "Apparently I've been a bad husband this week, so I'm taking Danielle out for dinner. Louis is on Eleanor watch. Ella is on Louis and David watch."

"Hey!" Louis barked, trying to look offended, while Sofia snorted.

"Niall is going to do a little trailing tonight..."

"By himself?" Sofia asked.

"You think I can't handle myself?" Niall asked her, raising his eyebrows.

"I think you were shot at 5 days ago, and that it would be stupid to try and find things out by yourself," Sofia snapped

"It's at the club, so he's going with Daisy and Danny," Liam explained, "You'll meet them there later. But as of right now, you, Em, Zayn and Haz are on your own for dinner. I'm taking my wife out." Liam then walked out of the kitchen and through the door.

"And break," Louis said, as if they were a sports team getting ready for a game.

"It's been a while since we've doubled," Harry said to Zayn, before glancing at Sofia, "Could be fun."

"Yeah, I agree, then we can go to the club," Zayn said. Harry looked at Sofia in question and she agreed, shrugging.

"Louis, can I talk to you?" she asked, "I'll meet you two in the car." Before walking toward the door, with Louis slowly following her, smart enough to look scared. When they reached a place of privacy, Sofia rounded on him. Louis immediately held his hands up in defense.

"Before you bite my head off, I'm sorry," Louis said, pleading with her with his eyes.

"That's not okay, Lou!" Sofia snapped, "You can't just say stuff like that off handedly, it's not fair!"

"I know, I know," Louis agreed, "I was wrong, but at the same time, you have to tell him, Sofia. I think he knows something is up. We've all kind of relaxed and he's still spinning. He knows that you're still hiding something. And it's not fair not to tell him, especially since we all know. Plus, I think it'll really help you to talk about it with him."

"I don't want to talk about it at all," Sofia snapped at him, "I just want to move on. But I know I have to tell him, and I will, on my own time, and not because you keep hinting at it. Are we clear?"

"Tell him by tomorrow, Sofia," Louis said, his eyes growing serious, "Tell him by tomorrow or I will."

"Excuse me?" Sofia barked

"You heard me. This isn't fair to him. He deserves to know. And you keep putting it off. So, either you tell him by tomorrow. Or I will," Louis said, before walking away and leaving Sofia stunned behind him.


***


The four of them were in the car, Zayn and Harry in the front talking about things under their breath, while Sofia and Emily were in the back. Zayn pulled onto a familiar street, which made Emily nudge Sofia and point to an old alleyway. The girls giggled in remembrance, which caused both the boys to look back at them. As Zayn parked, Sofia noticed that it wasn't as busy today. Then she remembered it was a weeknight, and it was cold, and people were probably at home eating with their families, instead of going out and facing the cold air.

As they all tumbled out of the car, the boys carried on their conversation, as Sofia and Emily linked arms following behind them. Not quite sure which restaurant the boys were going to, they stayed quiet, laughing to themselves. It was just beginning to lightly snow, and Emily stopped suddenly in the middle of the street to look up at the falling snow. Sofia stopped with her, smiling at her friend, who seemed happy for the first time Sofia had gotten home. She wasn't quite sure what was going on with Emily and Zayn, but she knew it was nice to see her smile.

"Oi! What are you two doing?" Zayn called back to them, just noticing now that they weren't behind him.

"Do you hear it?" Emily asked, looking at Emily.

"You know I never do," Sofia said, as she watched Emily look back up the sky.

"You don't listen hard enough," Emily said quietly, still staring up at the sky.

"That's what you've told me," Sofia said, rolling her eyes, but allowing her friend to enjoy herself.

"Girls!" Zayn yelled, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Shhh!" Emily hissed at him, which startled everyone, Zayn glared but Sofia just laughed, because she knew that Emily wasn't trying to be rude to Zayn, she was just trying to listen to the snow.

"I love the sound of snow fall," Emily said gently, still staring up at the sky.

"I know," Sofia said, "First snow fall of every season, this is exactly what we would do."

"You weren't here this year for that," Emily said, "I had to sneak out all by myself for the first time since we were 12."

"I'm sorry," Sofia said, "I'm here now." Emily looked at her and smiled, before looking at the alleyway across street.

"Do you think it's still there?" Emily asked, as she nodded her head towards the alley.

"I'm sure it is," Sofia said, and before Sofia could stop her, Emily was walking across the street, ignoring the yells coming from Harry and Zayn. Sofia followed quickly after her, as the two girls disappeared into the alleyway.

"What the fuck?" Zayn mumbled, running across the street with Harry and following them in the alley. It was dark and eerie, and not a place that Zayn would want either of the girls. But when he found them, they were staring at the wall, giggling to each other.

"What the fuck are you two doing?" Zayn spat, as he grabbed Emily, "Let's go."

"Relax Zayn, we were just remembering," Sofia said, as Harry approached them.

"In an alley way?" Harry snapped, "Would you two knock it off and can we go get dinner?" Sofia noticed that Zayn was whispering angrily to Emily, who was trying to pull away from his tight grip.

"We aren't playing games," Sofia said, as she pointed to the wall, Harry looked over to see a child's handwriting on it. Emily and Sofia, Friends Forever. He looked over at Sofia who was smiling at the wall.

"We wrote that when we were like 10," Sofia said, "I totally forgot about it until tonight."

"Remember how mad our parents were? We snuck out of lunch and went exploring. We wound up following a dog back here," Emily said, finally yanking herself away from Zayn who was still glaring at her.

"Running into an alley at the age of 10?" Harry
growled, "Why do I feel like that was your bright idea?" He looked down at Sofia, who was grinning.

"In my defense, the dog was very cute," Sofia said, shrugging. Harry tried not to smile, but he couldn't help it.

"Enough of this," Zayn barked, "I'm cold. This is stupid. Let's go get dinner." He grabbed Emily's hand, pulling her back out through the alleyway, while Sofia shook her head at him.

"What is up with them?" she asked Harry

"I don't know," Harry said, shrugging, "I know that they had some major issues when you were gone. Zayn was a total dick. But I thought things were getting better between them." He offered Sofia his hand, unsure if she would take it, because he wasn't quite sure they were at the hand holding stage yet. But she did take it, without hesitation and allowed him to lead her out of the alleyway.



***


"Harry would you stop it?!" Sofia yelled, as she followed him back through the door of their place. Harry didn't stop though, he just kept stomping, throwing his coat on the ground, and slamming his way into the kitchen.

"I don't know why you're being like this!" Sofia screeched, "Nothing happened!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Harry growled, "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

"WHAT ARE YOU SO UPSET ABOUT?!" Sofia screamed, "HE'S A FRIEND! WE WERE JUST DANCING!"

"YOU don't get to dance with other fucking people, Sofia!" Harry growled, as he stomped towards her. Sofia backed up and suddenly she was against the wall, with Harry towering over her.

"I walked away for two seconds, and when I came back you were all over him..." Harry growled, "You always have to be all over someone, don't you?"

"That's not fair," Sofia hissed, "He asked me to dance. You went to go get a drink. What was I supposed to do?!"

"SAY NO!" Harry yelled, "YOU FUCKING SAY NO! GOD DAMNIT!"

"I stopped dancing with him the minute I saw you," Sofia growled, "You didn't have to make such a God damn scene!" She pushed past him, and was walking towards the living room.

"I don't want you fucking dancing with other people," Harry growled, "You know that. I don't know why you are acting like this is some big damn surprise! And you know what, the dancing with some asshole is just the cherry on top of the cake tonight."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sofia growled, "What else did I do wrong?"

"Well for one, you let the waiter flirt with you, and you flirted back," Harry growled, as he glared at her with anger.

"He was taking my order, and believe me Harry, I wasn't fucking flirting back, I couldn't even think straight, I was too busy wondering if you were going to leave bruises on my legs from holding them so god damn tight," Sofia hissed, "Why don't you skip the fucking bullshit with the flirting and the dancing and tell me why you are really mad?"

"THAT IS WHY I'M REALLY MAD!" Harry exploded, "WE'RE IN FUCKING LIMBO AND YOU FIND IT EASY TO GO OUT AND FUCKING FLIRT WITH OTHER YIGNORING ME SO YOU GET YOUR WHORE ON WITH SOME FUCKING TWATS AT THE CLUB AND RESTAURANT!"

"I wasn't ignoring you!" Sofia hissed, "You would barely talk to me tonight after we sat down. You just held me like a possessive prick and glared at everyone."

"Fuck you, Sofia," Harry spat, "I'll hold you any God damn way I want." He stomped over to her, grabbing her by the arms and getting into her face, "You are mine. You are fucking mine. You don't belong to the waiter, or to the fucking twat on the dance floor –"

"His name is Kyle.." Sofia hissed

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!" Harry yelled, as he shoved her back, "YOU AREN'T HIS, YOU'RE MINE. NOT LOUIS OR ZAYNS OR NIALLS – MINE!"

"Harry, what the hell are you talking about?" Sofia asked, staring up at him in confusion, "What do they have to do with anything?"

"You think I haven't noticed you and Louis whispering to each other, or that you wanted to kill him before we left. Or you and Niall – he's always checking up on you these days. He's making sure your okay. And Zayn, you two can't get enough of each other. Hell, tonight it was like Emily and I were interrupting your date with each other. You've been disappearing with him a lot lately –"

"I've been training with him, Harry. Have you lost your mind?" Sofia hissed, as she stared up at him like he had three heads.

"Don't look at me like that," Harry spat at her, "Don't fucking look at me like I'm crazy. I'm not fucking crazy. Something is going on and I know it. And I've tried to ignore it, and I've tried to be patient. But you are all hiding something from me, and I'm sick of acting like I'm dumb. I'm sick of acting like I don't feel out of place. What are you all keeping from me, Sofia?"

"Harry this isn't the time..." Sofia said, her eyes softening as she realized what Harry was really angry about, "I had every intention of telling you, I'm just waiting for the right time."

"Fuck the right time, Sofia," Harry growled at her, "I want you to tell me now. I want you to tell me what the fuck has been going on. What does everyone else know that I don't?"

"Harry please –" Sofia choked out, as she felt the air in her lungs start to fade. She looked into his eyes and realized that he wasn't going to back down from this, he wanted to know and she was going to have to tell him. This wasn't how she wanted to do this, she had a plan. She was going to tell him in her own way. She heard Louis voice echo in her ear, she had to tell him before he did.

"Tell me, Sofia," Harry growled, "Don't make me beat it out of you."

"Don't threaten me!" Sofia snapped

"It wasn't a threat," Harry growled, as he launched himself towards her, pushing her against the wall, and grabbing her so she was forced to look at him.

"That was a fucking promise," Harry hissed, "Now enough. Fucking tells me what is going on."


***


"What are you doing?" Zayn asked, as Emily paced their room.

"What are we doing?" Emily asked, facing him, tears coming down her face.

"Em, what's wrong?" Zayn asked, as he tried to move towards her, but she stepped away.

"Did you think tonight went well?" Emily asked him, looking him the eye.

"I think it went fine, until Harry and Sofia made a scene at the club, why?" Zayn asked, his eyes confused as he stared down at her.

"Oh my god, you think tonight was fine," Emily hissed, shaking her head, "You think that tonight was a good night? You didn't touch me once, unless you were pulling me somewhere. You didn't ask me to dance. You barely talked to me."

"What are you talking about?" Zayn growled, "Of course I did."

"No you didn't!" Emily screeched, "And I didn't miss it! And this is how it has been. Things have changed between us Zayn, we aren't the same couple we used to be."

"What the fuck are you on about?" Zayn hissed, "You're being ridiculous. You're just upset because I yelled at you in that stupid alley way.."

"No, Zayn," Emily said, her voice quiet and gentle, and catching him by surprise, "I'm mad because all we ever do anymore is yell at each other, and pretend that things haven't changed..."

"What's that supposed to mean, Emily?" Zayn growled, as he leaned against their wall staring at her. Emily glanced away from him, looking out the window.

"There was a time where you would have appreciated me listening to the sound of snow fall, but tonight it just annoyed you. And there was a time where I would have appreciated you ordering my drink, but tonight it just made me want to hit something. What I'm saying Zayn, is we have been broken for a long time, we've changed. And somewhere along the way, we didn't care enough to fix it. What I'm saying Zayn is, I can't live like this anymore..."

"Emily..." Zayn choked out, his eyes growing wide as he watched tears stream down her face, "What exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying the same thing I've been saying for months, Zayn," Emily said, her voice defeated, "Only this time you are hearing me. I can't do this anymore."