Runaway // h.s.

three

charlie

"He WHAT?" Stella yelled loudly, her hands slamming against the table. We were all seated in one of the booths in the bar. Stella, Noah, and I. Randy headed out the minute his shift was over. It was just past 2 am and the bar had finally cleared out. We lived in a small town in San Francisco so most bars emptied out earlier than usual, even on a Saturday night.

"Told me to keep my nose out of his business and everything," I replayed the words that came from Harry's mouth earlier that night, "He definitely has some shady shit going on behind the scenes of that bar."

"Where did you even run into him?" Stella asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "I went out front to smoke a cigarette and couldn't help myself from checking the place out."

Stella's face dropped after hearing about my snooping behavior, "Ugh Charlie!"

"What?" I cringed, "I didn't think he was going to be lurking around!"

"The guy seems like a freak," Noah spoke up, "You guys should definitely stay as far away from him as possible."

Unlikely.

In the months that I've gotten to know Stella and Noah, Noah always acted like a big brother, even to me. He was very protective of the both of us and I could tell this Harry stuff was rubbing him the wrong way.

"That's going to be hard when he works across the street," Stella frowned as she picked at the polish on her nails, "Should I be worried, Charlie?"

I could tell Charlie was worried about the Harry situation. He was a random stranger who came out of nowhere, threatened her business, and then told me to stay the hell out of his way. The average person would be worried, but I had seen much worse in my life and Harry Styles didn't come close to most of it.

"No, Stells," I scooted closer to her in the booth and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, "Don't worry about him. I think he's full of shit and just trying to scare us. You know how men are."

Noah interjected with a frown on his face, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh c'mon," I responded, "It's all a power trip. He's trying to play macho-man to keep us wrapped around his little finger."

"I don't know guys," Stella huffed, "I just get nervous with these kind of things."

"I know," I frowned, "But I've got your back. And Randy is here to protect you too."

"And me," Noah interrupted, "I won't let him fuck with you Stella."

As much as I admired Noah's strength...he wasn't as big as Randy. And he wasn't as broad as Harry. I don't know if he could really put up a fight against Harry. Harry reminded me a lot of the men I used to work with back when I ran my part in New York.

"Anyways," Stella yawned as she stood up from her seat, "I am exhausted from today. I don't want to hear another word about Harry. I think it's time we call it quits."

I stood up too, "Yeah, good call."

I made my way behind the bar to grab my jacket and wallet.

"Charlie?" A voice wavered, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

After quickly collecting my things, I lifted my head from underneath the bar to none other than Noah, eyeing me with a concerned look on his phone.

"Yeah," I spoke softly as I leaned my body against the bar, "What's up Noah?"

"I think this Harry guy is bad news," Noah began, "I'm a little worried he's going to pull some bullshit with you guys."

As horrible as this may sound, I was internally laughing. Only because neither Stella nor Noah knew what I was capable of. They didn't know a single detail about who I was. While it's very touching that Noah is genuinely concerned for my well-being, he really doesn't need to worry about me.