Family Ties

Paranoid

Harry's POV

I soothingly ran my hand up and down Liv's arm as she took a deep breath, trying to compose herself, before she started to tell us what had been going on the past couple of days.

"Okay, so it started on Thursday after I got home. It had been a normal day, I'd gone to work, came by here to check on things like you'd asked cause you were gonna be away, did some grocery shopping, picked up my dry cleaning and went home. I took a bath and went downstairs to make something for dinner before Niall called, and I just had this weird feeling that I was being watched. You know that creepy feeling?"

"Yeah..." Hannah said, urging her to continue.

"Well at first I thought I was just being dumb because Niall had only been gone a day and I was home alone, but it kept me up all night. I kept checking the locks and the windows and closing all the blinds, I just felt sick and I couldn't shake it. All weekend I felt like someone was watching me, everywhere I went, to the point that I didn't even wanna change in my own bedroom, I took my clothes into the bathroom to change after I showered. I kept cursing myself for being so ridiculous but I couldn't help it."

"Did you tell Niall?" I asked.

"I thought I was just being paranoid, I didn't wanna worry him. It's not like I had any proof, it was just a feeling." She sighed. "But then weird shit started happening, and I knew something was going on."

"What happened?" I asked, looking over at Han who just looked back at me helplessly.

"Okay so on Friday when I got home, the front door was open. Not just unlocked, but like open a few inches. I know for a FACT that I locked it because I had been so paranoid when I left. I was scared somebody might be in the house, so I called Zayn and he came and checked it out for me and there was nothing. Nothing really looked out of place, and I think I convinced myself that I'd been so frazzled I just forgot to close it all the way. Zayn offered to stay with me or for me to stay with them but I just thought I was over reacting."

"Liv, you should have just stayed with them. Even if it was just to make you feel better." Hannah said, softly scolding her.

"I know, but I just felt like I was so in my head I was being crazy." She sighed. "Anyways, Saturday I puttered around the house and Gem and Rach came over for a while, we went for lunch and then I went to the gym. I think my paranoia was making me more observant because I noticed a car that was parked everywhere I went that day, at lunch, the gym, and then later when I stopped for gas. At first I thought it was a coincidence but I remembered a portion of the license plate and realized the third time I saw it that it was the same one."

"What kind of car?" I asked.

"It was a silver Cadillac, not a classic though. Like 2007 maybe?"

"Liv, why didn't you call the cops?" Hannah sighed.

"Because I'm obviously an idiot. I just kept thinking I was making it worse in my head. Then I went home on Sunday and I noticed little things that seemed weird, that only added to my paranoia, and I decided to go stay at my parents for the night."

"What weird things?"

"Well the light was on to Niall's office, which I know I didn't turn on because I never go in there and he wasn't home. For a minute I thought maybe he came home early but he'd been texting me throughout the day and I knew he was still there. Then there was a window open that I knew I didn't open since I'd been so paranoid checking everything was locked. And there was a bill on the counter, that I'd purposely left out so I remembered to pay it, that was back in the envelope."