Back For You (Harry Styles)

Part 35

Lucy's POV: 

"Jess?!" I cry frantically, staring at the blank screen on my phone. My breathing has quickened and tears threaten to escape the corners of my eyes. 

"Luce, calm down," Harry pleads, grabbing both my arms and forcing me to face him. "What happened?"

"It's Jess," I begin, taking a deep breath before explaining the situation to Harry. His expression darkens and I can see the fury behind his eyes as I tell him the monstrous things Marcus has done. 

"We have to go back," I plead, tears now freely rolling down my cheeks. I have to go and be there for Jess, I can't believe I just abandoned her and Connor to deal with Marcus on their own. My own selfishness could cost Jess her life. 

"Of course we do." Harry's agreement brings immense relief to me. I would have gone whether he agreed or not, but having him with me will make this so much easier. 

While Harry redirects the cab driver to the airport, I lift my legs up and tuck my knees to my chest, trying to relax. Harry's arms engulf my trembling body and he whispers comforting words in my ear for the duration of our ride to LAX. The fear I am feeling can be only a fraction of the terror that Jess is experiencing at this moment, and the only thing that can even remotely compare to my fear is my guilt. 

"Shhh, baby," Harry coos taking my face in his hands as we slow to a stop. "This is in no way your fault. We tried to help, remember? There was nothing we could do. Jess will be fine, but in order to help her we need to focus on getting out of here."

The truth of his words is what gives me the strength to do everything we can to make it to New York in the shortest time possible. The whole journey is something of a blur to me. We end up having to pay an elderly couple a ridiculous amount off money to get their tickets to New York that leave at 9:00 which is the time right now as we board the plane.

Despite the situation, fans are still rushing up to Harry and bombarding him with questions and pleas for autographs or pictures. Although his heart isn't in it, he still gracefully agrees to whatever the fans ask and I admire him for handling this so well. 

My fear of flying only plummets my discomfort. Harry seems to notice because his hand rests on my thigh and he does not remove it for the whole 5 hour flight. At least I assume so, I fall asleep on his shoulder around midnight and don't wake until the captain announces that we will be landing shortly. At exactly 2:30 AM, we touch down in New York.

I fall asleep again in the cab for another hour until we reach our apartment. I would like to go straight to Marcus's and try to find Jess, but I have no idea where his house is. Furthermore, I want to make sure that Connor is okay and see if he can give us the address to Marcus's. My calls to both Jess and Connor keep going straight to voice mail, causing me to panic slightly. 

Aroused by the adrenaline pulsing through my veins, I run out of the taxi and all the way up the stairs with Harry close on my heels. When I reach Connor's apartment door, I frantically pound on it with both fists, calling his name as I do so. 

"Con-" I am cut off when the door swings open, revealing Connor. He is not at all how I expected him to look. Blood is dripping down his chin from a split in his lip and his right eye is swollen and bruised, but it widens when he sees us. 

"No! No, no, no," he says, whipping around to look back in the apartment. "You guys can't be here, it's what he wants, he-"

A hand suddenly appears over Connor's mouth, forcing him into silence. Connor is then thrown to the floor to reveal his devil of a brother, Marcus standing over him. A menacing smile occupies his face and I have to refrain from slapping him then and there.