The Girl From My Past {h.s. au} #wattys2018

Chapter 16

I pushed Zayn and Harry both out of the way as I fell to my knees in front of the trash can. I threw up, again and again.

Niall held my hair back, shushing me. My throat burned as more bile shot out of my mouth. Niall wiped my lips and chin with a napkin as Harry handed me a glass of water.

I gulped half of it down before standing back up, wiping my mouth on my sleeve.

"If you're my grandfather..." I began in a hoarse whisper. "Then why were you making moves on me?"

"I didn't know!" Zayn's face scrunched up in disgust. "I found this when I was in hell...literally."

He handed me a crumpled up piece of paper from his pocket. I looked up at him with narrowed eyes before unwrapping it.

Dearest Zayn,

I am sorry, but I can't see you anymore. Harry is starting to become suspicious. He still doesn't know about the baby, though. I'm sorry, but I'm going to tell him that it's his. I cannot live with the thought of him leaving me. I love him. The affair was a mistake. I wish it didn't happen...but it did. And now I'm pregnant. I'm naming her Julia. You've always liked that name, haven't you? Julia Marie Thorne. You can always visit, I'm not that cruel. But please, don't write back.

Best wishes, Caroline

I slowly looked up at Zayn's tear stained face. I handed him back the paper. He took it from me, sniffing softly.

"Caroline was with Harry when we..." He glanced back at Harry. "When we had an affair."

"You what?"

"She kept it from you. She didn't want you to know." Zayn whispered, tears still slowly running down his pink face.

"What the fuck." Harry ran his hands over his face.

"She got pregnant and freaked out. So, she broke off all contact with me. I...Harry, the reason why I killed you..."

My eyes widened. It all made sense. Why Zayn did what he did. Why any of this even happened.

Harry's eyes grew dark. He looked as though he wanted to murder Zayn right there and then. Ironic.

"I killed you because I thought that...if you were gone, we'd be able to be together. With our daughter. I thought that with Edna's ring, I couldn't fail. So, I snuck into your house, late at night. I first had to deal with your parents...which I won't get into detail about. But they saw me. They were downstairs together and I- I just killed them.

And then I went looking around for you. I found you in the attic. I remember you sitting up when you heard my knife scraping against the wall. The fear in your eyes...I grabbed you by the hair, dragging you down the hall and into the bathroom.

I...put you into the shower and killed you without a second thought. That's when I dropped the ring down the drain. I didn't really think much of it, but I did want it. So I just got another one. I didn't think it was a big deal..."

As Zayn finished, I slumped down against the wall. I remember the first night I saw Harry being dragged down the hall by that black shadow.

I made sure that Luci was still asleep before I crept up the attic stairs.

Harry was laying in his bed with his hands covering his face. It almost sounded like he was...crying?

I took a step, wanting to know what was wrong, not caring about my plan anymore.