Two Pieces

"Back To Work"

"She needs to go back to work," Liam said, glancing around the table where the boys all sat, "she needs to something that feels comfortable, and she feels comfortable when she works."

"But isn't that the point?" Louis asked, "We're trying to pull her out of that mindset, I think working will only make it more confusing."

"I agree," Zayn said, "I thought once she cracked, everything would come pouring out. I thought that confrontation would make a difference. But, she just seems to have crawled even deeper into herself."

Since the fight with Harry, and admitting that she wasn't okay, Sofia had been quiet. She had been a model prisoner, and she hadn't pushed limits or broken rules, but she was still closed off. She had made no effort to open up, just more of an effort to hide.

"I think if she thinks she plays the part of fine well enough," Niall said, "She'll be fine. I mean, you have to admit she's been on her best behavior. We haven't had to pull her out of any jail cells."

"Yeah, but she hasn't opened up either. Nothings changed, she's just hasn't been actively destructive," Liam argued, "I just think she feels totally upside down, and we need to give her some normalcy."

Everyone looked at Harry. Sofia had been quiet, and she had been closed off. But her dynamic with Harry had shifted. A bond had been created, even if she would deny it.

"What?" Harry asked, looking surprised as he glanced around at the boys.

"Oh come on, now isn't the time to pretend like you don't understand her better then any of us right now," Zayn said, rolling his eyes.

"She actually talks to you," Niall said.

"Not about anything important," Harry mumbled, frustrated.

"Yeah, but you've helped her with homework, and you drive her to school, and I don't know, you two just seem to be together a lot..." Niall said.

"Yeah, but she's not exactly opening up to me," Harry said, "We talk about bullshit, and she pushes my temper. It's not exactly a therapy session."

"Yeah, but if anyone would know how to handle this," Liam said, "It's you. I don't want her to pretend, I want her to open up. I feel like she feels like we cornered her, and now that she's admitted she's not fine, she's got to hide it more then ever."

"I think she should work," Harry said, shrugging, "She has to start trusting us and we have to start trusting her. If she thinks and feels that we still trust her instincts and the way she does her job, she'll feel more comfortable. She'll feel like we have her back instead of like we're ganging up on her. And I think working gives her stability, even if it's fucked up. And she needs that."

"So, we put her back to work," Liam decided, "We use her tonight."

The boys all agreed as Danielle and Eleanor walked into the kitchen.

"What'd you decide?" Danielle asked, sitting on Liam's lap.

"She goes back to work," Liam replied, "Tonight."

Liam glanced up at Danielle, before looking at Eleanor. He wanted them to agree on this too. He wanted everyone on the same page when it came to Sofia.

"I think it's a good idea," Danielle said, "I think Sofia is most confident when she's working, and she could use a confidence boost right now."

"I agree," Eleanor said, "I think she feels like she's weak right now. And it's important for her to know that can be strong and capable on the job, and still have feelings and emotions. I think it'll be a good to show her the balance."

"Great," Harry said, jumping up, "So we're all agreed."

He left the kitchen to go and sit on the front porch, Louis following him.

"Where's your head at?" Louis asked, leaning against the porch.

"I'm good," Harry replied, "Why?"

"Oh come on, Haz," Louis said, "You never talk about your past or how dark you were. And all of sudden last week your past caught up to you, and you went a little dark. Not to mention, you threw up some of your biggest regrets and secrets. For Sofia, which is interesting if you ask me..."

"Don't read too much into it," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"How's Caroline?" Louis asked, "You kinda threw her under your dark bus..."

"She's fine," Harry said, gruffly.

Louis was about to respond, but voices came from the end of the drive. Sofia had just arrived home from her last day of school with a group of people. Louis watched as she smiled at a boy he didn't know, clearly flirting with him. Louis glanced at Harry who grew stiff as he watched the boy brush Sofia's hair out of her face as she giggled.

"You're looking a little green there, Harry," Louis said, with a knowing smirk. Harry glared up at him for a second before sighing.

"You know," Harry said, his voice serious and quiet, "All these guys.. they don't really care about her, they just think she's fit. I'd just .. I'd hate to see her fall for one of them."

"Well, you care for her," Louis said, holding his hand up as Harry tried to deny it, "Don't let her fall for one of them. Make sure that doesn't happen. Look out for her, look out for her heart."

"She doesn't want anyone looking out for her heart," Harry scoffed.

"Maybe she doesn't want it, but she needs it," Louis said, "And maybe you do too."

"You're really pushing this Sofia thing," Harry said, standing up and looking at his friend.

"Well, it's not very often I see you care so much about something," Louis said, shrugging.



***


"We're done!" Katie yelled, dancing around the kitchen as Sofia smiled fondly at her, picking at grapes in front of her as she sat on the counter.

"I'm so excited for summer and to relax and to celebrate that we only have one more year left!" Emily said, with a giant smile on her face.

"I take it from the noise in my kitchen, your last day was a good one," Liam said, walking in to the kitchen. Danielle and Eleanor laughed at his pretend stern voice.

"How'd your exams go?" Liam asked his sister.

"Fine," Sofia said, shrugging, as everyone else seemed to pour into the kitchen.

"Fine?" Louis asked, "That doesn't sound promising."

"I did fine," Sofia said, before popping a grape into her mouth. She grinned as Harry nudged her to reach for a grape playfully. Everyone else in the kitchen shared a knowing look as the two interacted, Sofia pushing the plate further and further away from him, causing Harry to reach further over her body before giving up and shoving her playfully.

"Sofia, tell them," Katie said. Everyone looked at Katie in confusion.

"What?" Sofia said.

"You tell them, or I will," Emily said, giving her a knowing look. Everyone straightened up at her words.

"It's no big deal," Sofia said.

"It is a big deal!" Katie argued.

"Tell us what?" Liam said, his voice thin.

"It's stupid," Sofia said, shrugging.

"Why don't you let us decide that?" Louis pushed.

"I got an award for an art thing," Sofia said quietly, trying to push it off as nothing.

"What?! Sofia that's amazing!" Danielle exclaimed happily.

"It's not a big thing," Sofia said.

"It is," Liam said proudly, standing up, "Can we see?"

"Here!" Emily cried happily, shoving the drawing at Liam. Everyone stood around to get a look at it. It was a black and white drawing with a girl looking down, hair covering her face. From her head grew angry looking animals with beautiful flowers growing in between. In writing through out the painting it read, "She slept with wolves without fear, for the wolves knew a lion was sleeping among them."

"Sofia," Eleanor gasped, "This is beautiful."

"It's just a drawing," Sofia said, hopping off the counter.

"I didn't even know you drew," Liam said, his voice a bit sad looking up at his sister.

"I don't," Sofia said with a large sigh, "Dad always said it took up effort I could spend doing important things."

"Well," Danielle said, "This is important. Do you mind if I get it framed and hung?"

"You want to hang it?" Sofia asked, confused. She had never had anyone appreciate something she did if it wasn't a job.

"Of course I do," Danielle said, "It won an award, that should be celebrated."

"I mean, if you want," Sofia shrugged. She was trying to blow it off, but everyone knew it meant a lot to her.

"We do, right Liam?" Danielle asked.

"Of course," Liam agreed.

"Okay, well," Sofia said, "I'm going to change.. get out of this uniform for the summer."

"Okay," Liam said, "Hey uh, can you work tonight?"

For the first time in days, Sofia's eyes lit up. She looked at him with confusion, and then a little excitement.

"Yeah, of course I can," Sofia said, "What's going on?"

"We just got a tip about this guy who's been asking one too many questions," Liam said, "And he's a frequent visitor to the local strip club..."

"Are you calling me a stripper?" Sofia said, cocking her head at her brother. There was humor in her voice.

"Of course not," Liam said, rolling her eyes, "I just figured a dancer might catch his eye."

"But no clothes will come off," Zayn clarified, gruffly. Sofia laughed at him.

"I'll be ready by 10?" Sofia asked

"10 is good," Liam said, nodding.

"Oh! Let's go figure out what you're going to wear!" Katie said, clapping her hands excitedly.

"First night back in the game," Emily said, "It's gotta be something good."

"As long as it's not removable," Niall said.

"Uh, actually," Sofia said, looking at Harry, "I have a new black dress I think I want to wear."

Harry bit back his smirk, and chuckled lightly, shaking his head at her.

"I think I know what dress you're talking about," he said, "Good choice."


***


"You want to what?" staring at as wife and blinking several times as he turned to her in their room.

"I want to throw her a party," Danielle replied, ignoring his look and going through the closet for shoes.

"My sister? The one who I just yanked out of jail? You want to throw her a party?" Liam scoffed,
"Sure, let's just celebrate her stupidity!"

"It's for her birthday," Danielle reasoned.

"She doesn't deserve a party," Liam barked, sitting down to tie his shoes, "I'm not rewarding her behavior. No, absolutely not."

"Liam, her birthday is ignored every year," Danielle said, "If she was lucky your dad would throw some money at her. She's never had a real birthday party! With friends from school and family!"

"Sofia's tradition for her birthday is to get royally drunk and fall into bed by the end of the night," Liam said, rolling his eyes.

"I know," Danielle said, "And that's why I think a party is a good idea. We can keep an eye on her, she can have fun but we can intervene if it get's too much. I think it'll help!"

"She doesn't even like birthdays," Liam argued.

"You didn't either until I started celebrating them with you," Danielle pointed out.

"So you want to throw a party for a bunch of teenagers?" Liam asked.

"Liam, she's going to get drunk anyway," Danielle said, shaking her head, "At least this way, we can be in on her fun and part of her day. Our pool and hot tub will be open, and we can have food, and make it an outdoor thing."

"You realize she got disgustingly high at her last party?" Liam asked, standing up, his voice tight. He was still angry about that night, he still worried about it.

"We will all be here for it," Danielle said, "You can shut the whole thing down if you see something you don't like."

"Why would you do this for her?" Liam asked, "It's not like she's been good to you..."

"Because she's my sister," Danielle said, crossing her arms, "And she deserves to have a real birthday. And if she's not going to let us into her life, maybe we can force our way in a little bit."

"Well, it's clear you've already made up your mind about this," Liam said, "You've probably already thought out all the particulars."

"I've called a few places about food and stuff," Danielle said, giving her husband a smirk.

"So why bother asking me?" Liam barked, crossing his arms.

"Because I knew you'd say yes," Danielle said, her smile growing.

"Oh you did, did you?"

"Yeah, I did," Danielle answered, "Because at the end of day, no matter what she does, you love her and you want her to know that you love her."

"So a party equals love now?" Liam scoffed.

"You can do this one of two ways, you can let her do what she does on her birthday and know that you won't be apart of it and she'll probably go behind your back and it'll probably get out of control," Danielle said softly, stepping toward him and putting her hands on his arms, "Or you can do it my way and be a part of your sisters birthday for the first time in years."

Liam looked down at his wife who was making complete sense.

"I guess she should have a real birthday," Liam admitted, through tight lips.

"So, party?" Danielle asked, looking excited.

"Don't spend all my money on this," Liam said, giving her a knowing look.

"Our money," Danielle quipped.

"Okay. Don't spend all our money on this," Liam repeated.

"It'll be fun, I promise," Danielle said.

"Oh yeah, cause partying with my little sister is always so much fun," Liam scoffed sarcastically. Danielle laughed, before kissing him quickly and going back to the mirror to finish her hair.

"You know, if we get everyone in on it, I bet we can surprise her," Liam suggested gently. Now the idea of the party was exciting him. Danielle looked at him through the mirror with a wide smile.

"Are you conspiring with me, Liam Payne?" Danielle asked mockingly.

"I've just resigned to the fact your going to do this anyway," Liam said, "Might as well get as much fun out of it as I can – and a surprised Sofia is always fun."

"Think we can pull it off, she's hard to surprise," Danielle asked.

"She doesn't expect much when it comes to stuff like this," Liam answered, his voice a bit sad, "You saw her with that art project today."

"I know," Danielle said, turning, "It's a big part of the reason I want to do this. We said we were going to do things differently, and her birthday should be important – just like her art should've been."

"You amaze me," Liam said, stepping toward her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Well, I try," Danielle joked, before laying her head against his chest.

"I know this hasn't been easy for you," Liam said softly, "I know we had plans and this whole thing has thrown a wrench in them..."

"We'll get to our plans," Danielle said, but Liam could hear the upset in her voice.

"Thank you for being so good through this," Liam said, kissing her head.

"There's no other way for me to be," Danielle answered, squeezing him tight.


***

"I just don't get it," Louis growled, as the music blasted around him, "How do we have nothing on these fuckers? How are they always one step ahead, and how the hell haven't they been seen yet?"

"I don't know," Liam said, shaking his head, "We've never seen anything like this. I mean, it's like their invisible."

"It's a problem," Zayn snapped, "I mean, it's one thing to blow up the warehouse, but to fucking scratch your car? That's like, making it personal. They're following our personal moves."

"This conversation is giving me anxiety," Danielle said, taking a deep breath and looking around.

"Don't be nervous, babe," Liam assured her.

"Do you see this?" Niall asked, walking up and pointing over to Sofia, who had not stopped dancing since they arrived, "I mean, she's moping around the God damn house for a over a week now, but you give her a dance floor and she's the fucking energizer bunny. Does she ever get tired?"

"No," replied Louis, Zayn, Liam, and Harry at the same time.

"Uh oh," Eleanor said, nudging Harry, "Caroline just showed up, I think that means you have to take eyes off of Sofia."

Harry looked up, with wide eyes, as he saw Caroline walking up the steps. He wasn't thrown off enough to assure Eleanor that he was just making sure Sofia was okay.

"You trying to get laid, Harry?" Niall asked, looking over at him with amused eyes.

"I didn't invite her," Harry snapped, before turning back to his drink.

"You're not going to say anything to her?" Danielle asked

"Maybe if I ignore her, she'll get the picture," Harry said, before taking a sip of his drink.

"Maybe, but will Sofia?" Louis asked, with a grin. Harry looked up again, to see Sofia walking toward them. Harry could see the fire in her eyes, and the frustration in her walk.

"Fuck my life," he mumbled to himself. He wasn't sure how he found himself caught between two girls, one he didn't want and one he was pretty sure didn't want him.

"You're fuck buddy is here, Harry," she said, her voice casual and calm as she sat next to him.

"She's not my fuck buddy," Harry said in a sing-song voice, shaking his head.

"Maybe someone should tell her that," Sofia said, "Or maybe you should stop fucking her and it'd be more clear to her. A little desperate showing up here isn't it?"

"Little jealous you commenting on it, isn't it?" Harry quipped back.

"Listen," Sofia said, changing the subject, because she would never admit to feeling jealous, "If this dance guy is here, he's not coming out of the shadows. I mean, I've done everything except jump up on
the bar."

"You will not jump up on the bar," Harry growled.

"I could though," Sofia said, loving how annoyed she was making Harry, "A stripper would."

"You're not a stripper," Liam barked.

"And you could," Harry snapped, looking at her, "But it'll be the last thing you do."

Sofia laughed but caught the warning look from Liam and Zayn that told her to quit while she was ahead. Her amused eyes turned hard as Perrie approached their table.

"Hey babe," Zayn murmured as she sat on his lap, handing him a drink.

"Yeah, suddenly I need a drink. Or ten," Sofia announced standing up, rolling her eyes at the pair of them, before she walked toward the downstairs bar. She leaned on the bar, waiting to be served.

"Ice, ice baby," a voice came from behind her, Sofia turned to see Harry staring at her with a tiny grin, "Are you ever going to be civil with her?"

"I don't like her," Sofia replied.

"You sound pretty jealous," Harry said, trying to keep his voice casual, "I thought you didn't want Zayn."

"I don't," Sofia said, "It's not about Zayn. It's about her. I don't trust her."

"I don't really like her either," Harry admitted, causing Sofia to laugh.

"What can I get you two?" the bartender said.

"I'll take a whiskey and water," Harry said.

"I'll take two shots of tequila," Sofia said, with a charming smile.

"Yeah," the bartender said, biting his lip, "I can't give you anything but water."

Harry laughed as Sofia's face fell, and then turned into a glare.

"What?" she snapped

"Bosses order," the bartender responded looking up at Harry, who just looked amused, before walking away.

"Not funny," Sofia mumbled.

"If it helps, you're allowed to add lemon or lime," Harry said, before taking his drink and walking away.

"You're on a tight leash," a voice came from beside her. Sofia looked over at a pretty looking brunette, humor in her grin.

"You have no idea," Sofia responded, also with humor, before grabbing her water.

"I think I do," she answered, and it was then that Sofia noticed the heavy make up on her face. She was covering a bruise. That lit a fire of rage inside Sofia. The brunette grabbed her drink quickly, and turned, showing off a small setting sun tattoo on her shoulder. Sofia wanted to compliment the beautiful art, but it was too late, the girl had walked back into the crowd.


***

Sofia laid lazily against Harry's chest in the booth they sat at, tapping away at her cell phone. She was bored, and sober, and her feet hurt. She couldn't get that girl out of her head, the anger from her bruised face eating Sofia up inside. How many times had she covered up bruises? How many times did she have to show up somewhere pretending she wasn't injured or hurt? How many time did she make a joke about something that just wasn't funny?

She just wanted to go home and sleep off the girl in her head, who had brought back too many memories of Sofia's relationship with her father. Not that she needed more of those.

They had been at the club for hours, and no one appeared out of the shadows. As far as Sofia was concerned, the night was a bust and they should call it.

"I'm just saying," Niall said, moving his hands as he talked, "They always say you can't send a man in to do a woman's job, but you can't send a god damn woman in to do a mans job either."

His words hit Sofia hard, causing her eyes to narrow in thought.

"What did you just say?" Sofia asked loudly, looking over at him.

"Oh don't start with your feminist shit," Niall side, rolling his eyes, "You know I think women are great, and smart, and capable! I just know for damn sure there are certain things men should do instead of woman."

"That's it!" Sofia said, sitting up fast eyes wide, as she thought it out, "Oh my god, that's how they're doing it!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Zayn said, looking at her like she was crazy.

"I thought you paid the bartender to not give her alcohol," Louis said to Harry jokingly.

"They're sending in women," Sofia said, "Those son of bitches are hiding behind women."

"The Suns?" Liam asked, his eyes skeptical.

"I just saw a sun tattoo on a young girl, real young. I didn't think anything of it but now..." Sofia explained, "If you think about it – it's brilliant. We have been looking for men. A big group of suspicious men."

"But we would never look for a woman," Liam said, sitting up, thinking about it.

"They're playing at misogyny," Sofia said, "We
wouldn't even think to be suspicious of a woman. We wouldn't never think of a woman as a threat."

"It's true," Harry said, "When we went through the security footage from the shooting, we were looking for men. It didn't even cross our mind women could have been involved. You think women shot up the club?"

"No," Sofia said, shaking her head, "No. They wouldn't send in women for that. But, they could have easily sent women in to feel out the club, and get the places to shoot from inside. In fact, the girls probably got the guns in..."

"How Niall asked, "You can't exactly hide a gun in your dress..."

"No," Sofia said, "But you can hide a gun in your purse. And our security will let groups of women in, no questions asked. They could easily gotten guns in, and then The Suns showed up at the club for the first time that night and got their guns from their women."

"And we would never look twice at car with a woman in it behind us," Louis said, "That's how they've been following us so easily. They used a blind spot."

"Exactly! They're hiding behind women," Sofia said, "That's how they've remained so invisible. And we played right into it. It's a mans world, why would even think about women?"

"And we don't kill women," Harry said, "So, they feel safe. Because even if we did figure it out, we wouldn't kill them. That leaves them safe to keep doing what they're doing."

"Fucking cowards," Zayn hissed, "That's a fucking stupid thing to do, that puts their girls in a lot of danger."

"I don't think they care," Sofia said, "This girl with the tattoo, she had face smashed in – she was covering it in make up. They're either beating them into submission, or the girls are too scared to not play along."

"I hate these guys even more now," Zayn barked, "I know we talked about making a deal when we found them, but if their assholes and cowards enough to hide behind women, I say we kill them."

"I agree," Liam said, his arm tight around Danielle, as he kissed her shoulder in love and appreciation.

"Could you pick out her face?" Louis asked, "If you saw her in security video?"

"Yeah," Sofia nodded, "Absolutely."

"That's where we start," Liam said, before looking at his sister with a grin, "Good work, kid. I think you just found our first lead."

"Not bad for my first night back out, right?" Sofia said with a confident smile.


***

"You're exhausted, Sof," Louis said, handing her a cup of tea, "We'll do it tomorrow."

"I could do it tonight," Sofia insisted

"Yeah, you could. But there's no rush," Louis said, "We're safe and home and it can wait until tomorrow. You should get some sleep."

Sofia sighed, sitting back in the couch.

"What?" Louis asked, sitting up a bit.

"What?"

"You had that look on your face when I mentioned sleep," Louis said.

"What look?" Sofia asked

"The look used to get when you were 6 and afraid of the dark," Louis said.

"I guess I just haven't been sleeping well," Sofia said, shrugging, "Especially when I'm sober. Which I am, because I was only allowed to have water."

She was trying to change the subject, but Louis wasn't one to be tricked or fooled.

"Bad dreams?" he asked, keeping his voice casual, he didn't want to push her before she was ready, but he had known for awhile that Sofia wasn't sleeping.

"Just restless," Sofia answered, squirming a little.

"Who's restless?" Zayn asked, flopping on the couch next to Sofia.

"You're girlfriend, apparently," Sofia answered, "I mean, she just couldn't wait to get you back here tonight."

"Can you blame her?" Zayn asked, with a smug smirk. Sofia just rolled her eyes.

"What's your problem with Perrie anyway?" Louis asked, throwing his feet on to the table.

"I don't have a problem," Sofia answered, "I was polite, wasn't I?"

"Barely," Zayn said, throwing a glare her way, "I mean, she's scared of you."

"Good. She should be," Sofia snapped.

"You think?" Zayn growled, turning towards her with a scowl.

"Yeah, I do," Sofia said, "Because hell hath no fury like me if Perrie screws this up."

"Like you did?" Zayn snapped, causing Sofia to flinch at his anger. Zayn closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," he apologized.

"It's fine," Sofia said.

"It's not."

"I don't think I'm ever going to think anyone is good enough for you, Zayn," Sofia said, as she touched his face. He leaned into it, "And I know that I sure as hell wasn't."

Zayn bit his lip at her words, knowing that she was telling the truth. It still hurt him, but he knew it was over. It probably shouldn't have even started, but he didn't have a chance anymore. He saw the way Harry and Sofia moved around each other, he saw exactly what both of them would deny.

"I'm just trying to move on," Zayn sighed.

"And I'm letting you!" Sofia insisted.

"You could be a little less cold," Louis suggested.

"Sofia, be more honest. Sofia, be less cold. Sofia, change your personality," Sofia grumbled, mocking them, "Sofia, we hate you the way you are. So change it."

"Can we add Sofia, be less dramatic to the list?" Zayn said, laughing at her. Sofia rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she growled, elbowing him hard before taking another drink of her tea.

"Sofia," Liam barked, walking into the room with Niall and Harry behind me, "This girl you saw tonight..."

"Yeah?"

"What was she wearing?"

"A blue strapless dress, long brown hair, green eyes. She was pretty."

Liam threw his hands into his hair, closing his eyes in frustration.

"Why?" Sofia asked.

Liam looked at his sister with a pained look, like he didn't want to tell her something.

"What's going on?" Zayn asked, sitting up.

"The police just found a girl matching that description..." Liam said, quietly.

"She went to the police?" Sofia asked.

"No Sof," Liam said, shaking his head, "They found her dead, couple of blocks away from the club. It looks like she was mugged."

"She was our only lead," Zayn yelled, standing up, "GOD DAMNIT."

Sofia went cold, trying to process what she was hearing.

"Sof, you okay?" Liam asked

"She wasn't mugged," Sofia said, barely above a whisper as she stood up, "She was murdered."

Zayn tried to stop her, but Sofia walked out of the room.


***


When Harry quietly entered her room a little while later, he found her staring out her window.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said, quietly, shuffling in the doorway. Caring enough to check up on somebody was still new to him, he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"I'm –"

"Don't! Say your fine," Harry said.

Sofia turned to him, and Harry's eyes fell on the bottle of vodka in her hand.

"That's not gonna help," Harry said, walking into the room, pointing at the bottle, "You don't find many answers at the bottom of a bottle. Believe me, I know."

"Not looking for answers, just want to stop thinking, Sofia said, putting the bottle.

Harry stepped toward her, putting his hand on the bottle gently, and pulling it from her mouth. Sofia didn't resist when he took it from her hands.

"I won't tell Liam about this," Harry said, giving her a knowing look, "But if I catch something like this again, you'll have to deal with me."

"You don't scare me, Harry Styles," Sofia responded.

"I don't want to scare you," Harry said, "But you don't want to cross me either. No more drinking on your own. That's a fucking slippery slope."

"Are you going to lecture me again?" Sofia scoffed.

"As many times as I need to," Harry answered, "I know you're upset over this girl."

"She was our only lead!" Sofia said, throwing her hands up. Harry noticed her movements were loose, she was clearly buzzed, "And she made contact with me. And they killed her for it."

"We don't know that," Harry said.

"Oh please, Harry. Come on, you're not stupid," Sofia scoffed, "This girl with a sun tattoo on her makes contact with me, and a few hours later she's dead?"

"You can't put her death on yourself," Harry said, shaking her head.

"I'm not!" Sofia said, getting defensive, "I mean she's the idiot that made contact! What the hell was she thinking?! The minute you make contact, your cover could be blown. Especially if your only job is to fucking watch and report. She did this to herself."

Harry cocked his head at her. Sofia was defensive, but Harry knew she was feeling guilty about it. If she didn't want to admit that, he wasn't going to push her. Especially after she'd been drinking. He'd just try and get her to bed. But before he could Sofia spoke softly.

"I almost asked her about her bruise," she said, "I wanted to. I saw the bruise and it made me angry and I wanted to say something to her. But, I didn't."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Because emotions don't belong on the job. I can't be worried about someone else – much less a stranger. I can't give a shit what's going on in their life. And he taught me that. And now I'm confused about everything he's ever told me. But he's in my head."

"I know," Harry said quietly. Harry wondered if she was going to talk more about her father, but instead she just walked over to her bed, before lying down.

Harry didn't say anything as he walked into her bathroom and got her a glass of water. Walking to her side, he handed her the water. She looked at the water skeptically, before looking at him as if to ask if he was joking.

"Don't fight me on this," Harry growled, "Drink the water."

"There's the voice again," Sofia said, pointing at him, "That voice that gets everyone to do what you want."

"I don't care if it gets everyone to do what I want," Harry said, putting the glass in Sofia's hand, "As long as it works on you."

Sofia sat up, taking a long sip out of the glass. The water felt good, because having Harry sit this close to her was making her mouth go dry. Looking at him she understood how girls found him attractive. I mean, if you were into the bossy, insertive, dominate type.

"I liked your dress tonight," Harry said finally, looking over at her, "I was right about it."

"You think your right about everything," Sofia said with a smirk.

"That's cause I am," Harry answered smoothly, before taking the glass of water and setting it on her side table.

"How are we going to find them if we just lost our only lead?" Sofia asked.

"Is it impossible for you to think about anything but work and a job?" Harry asked.

"What else should I be thinking about?" Sofia asked.

Me, Harry wanted to respond, but he didn't.

"I don't know," he said instead, "Try not thinking at all."

"That doesn't come easy to me."

"Could've fooled me," Harry said, with a smug grin. Sofia glared at him.

"You okay to sleep?" he asked, glancing over at the clock, that read 3:30 am, "It's late."

"I can survive on not a lot of sleep," Sofia
shrugged, "I'm used to it."

"Cause of the dreams?" Harry asked, causing Sofia to look up surprised.

"Because I work late hours," she answered, "And I was trained to survive on little sleep."

"Right," Harry replied, "Well what do you do if you aren't sleeping?"

Sofia looked up at him with raised eyebrows and a wicked grin.

"Oh, gross," Harry said, wrinking his nose, "I don't want to know, never mind."

"I watch re-runs of Friends, you perv," Sofia said, rolling her eyes, before grabbing her remote and switching on the television.

"Oh this is the one wear Ross cheats on Rachel," Harry said, settling next to her.

"They were on a break," Sofia defended.

"Your kidding me right? They were literally broken up for a few hours."

"She called it a break! Can't hold it against him!" Sofia insisted.

"Yes you can," Harry said, "It was clear she was just upset, and he was idiot."

"I don't think you and I are ever going agree on anything," Sofia scoffed, shaking her head and turning back to the television.

"Makes it fun though, doesn't it?" Harry asked, staring at the tv with a smirk.

It didn't take long for Sofia and Harry to nod off as the television made noise in the background. Asleep, Sofia turned toward Harry, her head hitting his shoulder and her arm over his stomach. It startled him awake for a second, but he didn't move her or try to leave the bed. Instead he just turned off the television and fell back asleep. This wasn't the first time this week they had fallen asleep together.