Remembering How To Love {A Harry Styles Fanfic} [ON HOLD]

Chapter Two

By the time I reach my flat, it's nearly midnight and rain is pouring down in sheets. I hurry inside, pulling the girl along with me. She walked fairly slow on the way here, although I could only guess that she felt weak. Several times, I'll admit, a pang of regret hit me, and I doubted my decision of bringing her here. Of course, that feeling would quickly be overtaken by guilt. It would have been wrong of me to just leave her out there.

I put a finger to my lips, indicating silence. The girl nods her head once and peers around as I lead her quietly into the living room. All the lights are out and it's dead silent. I sigh with relief when I see that no one is here. Now, all I have to do is figure out what to do-

BAM.

I swivell around and see that the girl has knocked over one of the lamps. She glances at me with an apologetic look before she bends down to retrieve the broken pieces littering the carpet. The lamp was the least of my worries. As long as it didn't wake Louis, I'm fine.

Light suddenly floods the room and I feel my heart fall into the pit of my stomach. Great! I'm caught redhanded.

"Harry?" Louis' confused voice makes me turn around slowly. I catch sight of him holding an aluminum bat.

"Why do you have a bat?" I ask, confused. Did he honestly think someone had broken in?

A grin begins to form but it quickly vanishes when he notices the girl. "Who the hell is that?"

"Umm..."

I glance at her, trying to form some kind of logical explaination as to why I have brought home a girl in the shape that this one is in. It's difficult, however, considering she looks terrible. Her blond hair clings to her damp forehead. A stream of blood trickles down between her eyebrows and down her nose. Her dirt-matted clothes are soaked and torn in certain places. Her complexion is pale and her blue eyes are on the bat Louis is clutching.

"I'm sorry," She says quietly, her eyes dropping to the shards of the lamp. I shake my head and glance at Louis.

"Seriously Harry, who is she?" He repeats, eyes locked on her. "She looks like you found her in a dumpster!"

I sigh heavily and explain to him what happened. When I'm done, Louis is already dialing Liam's number in his phone.

-

After repeating what I told Louis to the rest of the band, everyone sits in silence. Niall and Zayn are sitting on the couch, Louis is leaning against the wall, and Liam is pacing the room.

"So you found her in an allyway?" Liam says. I nod.

"Is it true that she can't remember anything?" Niall asks.

"Yeah, she told me when I found her that she can't remember what happened or who she is," I answer.

"Huh. That would explain why she isn't freaking out at the sight of us," Zayn points out. That's true. Not to sound cocky or anything, but practically everyone knows who we are.

"Then what now?" Louis voices the question that everyone has been wondering.

After a short moment, Liam looks at the girl and sighs. "I guess we could keep her here until she remembers what happened," he says. "She's bound to remember, right?"

"And if she doesn't?" Zayn asks.

"Well... we'll figure that out," Liam says, looking unsure of himself.

Silence sits for a moment as everyone takes in the situation. Eventually, it's broken by Louis.

"Maddie."

Confused looks are shot at him as he smiles.

"What?" Zayn raises a dark eyebrow at him.

Louis rolls his eyes, as though what he is about to say is completely obvious. "She needs a name, right? I think it should be Maddie."

"She isn't a dog," I point out.

"Well yeah, I know that." Louis sets the bat down and walks over to the girl. "But eventually she's going to get annoyed if we keep referring to her as 'the girl' or 'Her'."

Everyone agrees quietly and Louis clasps his hands together in front of him. "Now, Maddie, are you absolutely sure that you can't remember a thing?"

She - no, Maddie - shakes her head. "I... I can't remember anything, except when I woke up a while ago in that ally," she says.

Louis decides to interrogate her for a few more minutes, then gives up. "Alright then. Who is going to deal with her?" He asks, turning to the boys.

Again, he's acting as though she's an animal that I found on the streets. "I'll take care of her," I say, striding over. I take her hand but she pulls it back.

"What are you going to do?" She asks, panic flashing across her features.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you or anything," I say quickly, but she still looks unsure.

It then dawns on me that we haven't even asked her opinion on this matter. "Is it okay with you if you stay here until your memory comes back?" I ask, watching her. She considers this for a moment, then agrees.

"Alright. I'll find you some clothes and then you can take a shower, okay?"

She nods, finally realizing her clothes are a mess. I look at her face. The dark red blood stands out dramatically against her pale skin, and for a moment she looks so vulnerable and just plain scared. I can't imagine what could have possibly happened to her if I hadn't found her. I take her hand, and this time she doesn't pull back. As my skin warms her cold hands, I feel something strange stir inside of me. But it quickly diminishes, leaving me confused as I lead her to the bathroom.