Harry walked in, smiled at me, and then his flickering invasive eyes found Nick. “You son of a bitch!” he screamed before swinging his arm back. His punch rolled out connecting with Nick’s jaw.
Nick stumbled back slightly hitting the wall. Niall let out a whimper scurrying out of the way. Aaron’s eyes widen but he didn’t jump in. Nina let out a scream that was a bit much for this situation. Liam seemed pleased by the punch. Then there was me. I stood out of the way, but between Nick and Harry. Harry had risen to his full height, which made him quite scary. Nick pressed himself against the wall, inhaling. Harry released another punch, then another. He kept piling on the pain with a crack each time. This wasn’t like the Dylan fight, this was far more personal.
“Harry.” I squeaked feeling...afraid. I hadn’t feared Harry before, but right now, I didn’t like this version of him.
He ignored me; focusing in on Nick’s face and making it bleed. “You’re a bitch. The mother of all bitches, you know that? I’m sure you do!” Harry kept punching him to the point I made quite possibly the stupidest decision of my life. I threw myself in front of Nick. “Move Katherine!” Harry shouted making me flinch.
“Calm down Harry.” I managed to swallow the knot of fear that arose at the sight of his clenching jaw.
“Calm down! Calm down? No! I won’t calm down! This is beyond calming down!” I tried to hide my surprise at Harry cussing. I mean, I assumed he did, but hearing it changed how I saw him.
“Harry, I’m scared of you! Right now, I’m terrified of you! Niall’s almost in tears, you’ve got your point across.” I tried to persuade him, gently stretching my hand out to him.
“She’s right Harry, come on, you’ve done enough.” This came from Liam who stretched his arm out pulling Harry back.
Harry’s broad chest rose and fell quickly, his face a red so dark it was almost purple. If I hadn’t been scared, the sight would have made me come undone right there. There was a shake to his hands as he stared lethally at Nick with hatred so strong you could feel it. “Now, Nick,” Harry paused catching his breath for a second, “why don’t you tell them who you are and how you’ve messed up our family.”
Nick straightened against the wall, took his hand and wiped the blood from his nose, before he finally looked over at me. “I, I knew Gemma.”
“Come on Nick, you can do better than that.” Liam drawled tightening his grip on Harry.
“Okay, alright, don’t think worse of me Katherine.”
“Hey, did I say you could talk to my girlfriend? No, so don’t!” Harry screamed trying to lunge at Nick once again, only to be cut off by Liam choking him back.
“I was married to her.” Nick’s curly head dropped to the floor as my pity for him dissolved into a bitter taste.
“So you’re the asshole that left her and Leo. Aren’t you father of the year?” I hissed. It clicked then, why Harry would be so pissed. It was somewhat understandable.
“Katherine, Harry, I’m sorry.”
I spoke for Harry when I said, “I don’t care. I don’t. You had ,quite possibly, the best woman alive, and left it. For what? Do you even know how precious Leo is? Or where he’s at because of you?”
“I’m sorry, really, I-“
“Shut up!” I snapped. “This was supposed to be better than prom and I am going to vent right now, you aren’t going to stop me, then we’re going to evaluate the situation. Got it, good. Now, back to my vent. He’s in foster care. Foster care. Now, how do you think I feel about this situation?”
Nick remained silent staring down at his feet. “Well?”
“I’m the biggest fuck up, dick face, on the planet. I know. You know. We all know! Okay? What am I supposed to do? What was I supposed to do?” Nick’s voice cracked with emotion, tears glistening his murky eyes.
“You were supposed to leave and let me have her. You weren’t supposed to have her in the first place!” Every head in the house turned to face Niall. He stepped out of his corner boldly, but looking as terrifying as a baby penguin.
“What?” fell collectively from our lips as he bit his thumbnail.
“I was in love with her. She was my best friend. She would’ve been mine if you hadn’t come along. She chose you, without even considering me. And where’s that got her?” Niall looked to me for a second, his gaze flickering. “Leo should be mine. She should still be here. I shouldn’t have nightmares.”
Then it all clicked, for all of us. Niall’s depression and nightmares weren’t social anxiety, they were mourning. Harry seemed to have calmed down enough for me to slip closer to him. Nina stared collectively at all of us her eyes big and wide. Liam looked at Niall with the most heartbreaking look I’ve ever seen. Nick looked so guilty, but that didn’t stop me bitterness towards him. Aaron made a soft noise filling the silence.
“Yeah?” I asked him rubbing my temples.
“May I suggest something?” he had a smooth voice that was like coffee. He just reminded me of coffee.
“I think that is a novel idea.” Harry muttered pulling me to his side. He smelled of oil and sweat. I reached his mid-chest meaning I was tucked perfectly under his arm. I wasn’t afraid of him, but I didn’t want to see that side ever again.
“Um, well, when my parents used to fight, they both had cool off zones. The therapist suggested it. Anyway, they would go to those zones until everything was better. Then they’d talk it out. I think that might not be a bad idea.”
“It’s actually not.” Nick said elbow nudging his friend in a playful way.
“Let’s try it then.”
“Okay, so Harry, you and Katherine will be together. Liam and Nina will be together. Niall will go with you Katherine and I’ll go with Nick. We meet up at the drive in. We can’t ruin Katherine’s night with shit that she’s come into.” Aaron smiled at me, causing Harry to cup my back.
“Let me go change. You want to start the car?” Harry turned to me tossing me the keys with a smirk. Harry retreated up the stairs as Aaron and Nick made their way to the door. Niall joined my side with another sad smile.
Once Harry was ready, the three of us just drove. I was beginning to wonder, deep down, if all of this was worth it.
a/n: sorry for the delay, but I'm in school and have a lot of work. And Kellin Quinn is Aaron.
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Walk Away h.s punk/au
Fanfiction"I don't know why she's with me, I only brought her trouble since the day she met me." The Script
