Withhold [H.S]

[Chapter 27]

                           Payton's POV

The atmosphere felt so intense that I began to believe the words were crawling all over my skin. I never felt so awkward in my life once I began to feel how tight Harry's muscles were as my back leaned against his chest. Everyone in Harry's gang looked extremely uncomfortable, all of the guys were either looking at each other or bouncing their foot really fast.

I could tell the Venoms couldn't see the deep tension between all of us as they all remained relaxed in their seats with big smiles on their faces. I was starting to struggle with my own breathing since Harry's hand was so tight around my waist. I wondered if he even noticed that he was doing it but when I slightly looked up at him, I could tell he was trapped in his own trail of thoughts.

Since I wanted to play the part and act like I was his girlfriend, I gently placed my hands on top of Harry's and tried to wrap them around my stomach, but he clearly didn't understand what I was intending so he was holding back greatly. I cringed as I gave him a reassuring squeeze on his hand before he surprisingly let go and allowed me to wrap his arms around me fully. He then realized what I was doing and I felt him relax a bit before pulling me closer and scooting up more.

The second I looked up, I almost lost my breath when I saw that all the Venoms were gawking at me. Wow, they were really serious about my appearance. It's like they wanted to investigate on me and know who I truly was. Did they not believe us? Could they see right through me? Or the guys? What happens if they can see right through me?

"Payton, you're looking awfully gorgeous tonight." Luke smiled as I looked into his eyes and forced my lips to curl. "Thank you, Harry picked this outfit for me. He's good at doing that." I smiled as I rubbed his arm to prove that I liked being here even though I truly didn't. The boys began to ease up once they saw how relaxed I was pretending to be and how well I was playing the part.

"I see he has good taste." Luke nodded his head while his eyes slowly raked me. "You know me, I always need to show off what I own." Harry responded with a low raspy tone that created shivers down my spine. "That you do Harry, that you do." Luke smiled before he leaned back in his seat. I could feel Harry's arms tighten around me every time his real name was being mentioned. It was clear that he absolutely hated it.

"So, if you haven't heard already, there's been a lot of feedback on the troublemakers who are destroying our territory." The one with light brown hair and hazel eyes spoke as he looked at the guys. "Yeah, Luke mentioned." Niall said with a straight face and a stern tone.

"We were wondering if you lads would like to join us to get revenge on them, since technically, they've been on your territory as well." Luke grinned evilly as he leaned forward. "You know us, we're always great when we work together." His smile kept getting more evil by the second.

"What kind of crap have they been causing?" Louis questioned. "Breaking into houses, harassing women, stealing and putting graffiti on the walls. Trashing the place. It's very annoying if you ask me." The one with dark hair and brown eyes said.

"And it's in our territory too?" Zayn asked. "Yep. Surprised you haven't seen anything." Luke nodded. "Yeah... we haven't exactly.. been outside much." Liam said slowly.

"How come?" Luke's eyes lit up once he slowly looked over at me. "Busy with inside work." Harry said seriously. "Oh, work.... I get ya." He then chuckled deeply before winking at Harry, making me cringe.

Harry didn't laugh at all, he just sat there with the same old emotionless expression. "Well, would you guys be interested at all?" Luke asked. "You know us, we're always down for some good beatings and torture." Zayn grinned.