Circus (Harry Styles)

Chapter 18.

"Two vodkas" Hannah repeats, and a bar man mixes our drinks.

"Who are you here with?" I ask her, still confused. I didn't even know she was in the audience tonight.

"Niall asked me to stay back" she stands up straight and looks at me with a proud facial expression.
"Alright" I answer, I'm not sure what else she wants me to say. I thought she had feelings for Luke, to be honest. I guess the circus members are having a similar affect on Hannah, too.

I walk towards one of the campfires and sit on a log next to Niall. I seem to have momentarily lost Harry.

"You came!" he smiles at me and pats me on the back, "it's good to see you, Belle"
"Thanks Niall" I smile sweetly, I love this kid. "You were all amazing tonight. Yet again!"
"Shucks, Belle" he laughs, "you're making me blush!"
I laugh at him and take a sip of my drink. It most certainly is a double shot - I cough and splutter at the taste of almost pure alcohol.
"Stop being so dramatic" Hannah rolls her eyes at me, "a little alcohol won't kill you."

I ignore Hannah and return to Niall. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything, Belle the beautiful!" he answers with eager eyes.
"What happened the last time you came to my town?" I say and begin to feel a little nervous, am I being too nosey?

"Ah" he says and looks toward the campfire, breaking eye contact with me.
"Ah?" I repeat.
"The Majesty Brothers older generations were just.." he starts, clearly trying to find the right words to not say the wrong thing, "they weren't the best people"
"How so?" I press.
"Brawls, violence..." his voice trails off.
"Was that Harry's Dad?" I question. I know I'm being nosey but I can't help it.
"Yeah, his Dad and his uncles" Niall says, "but they're not with us anymore. Group vote. Harry is now the leader and we don't tolerate that kind of stuff anymore. Not unless we have to."
"When might you have to?"
"A group of travellers taking over towns aren't exactly always welcome in towns. We do not promote nor support violence but we certainly don't take shit either. If we need to settle something, we will."
I process what Niall is saying and feel a little intimidated

"You're awfully curious tonight, aren't you Belle" Niall smiles.
"Is Harry's last name Majesty, then?" I ignore his comment and continue firing the questions at him.
"Harry took his father's behavior the worst, out of all of us. As children we grew up watching it, most of us accepted the violent ways of our parents. They weren't just violent towards people, you know. His farther was cruel to our animals, to even us. We would work long days and if a performance did not go to plan, the workers 'at fault' would be thrown out of the trucks in the middle of our travels."
"My god" I gasp, this is awful.

"Harry on the other hand was always so strong willed about that sort of stuff. He knew right from wrong, even though he was never taught it." Niall says and smiles to himself, "he changed his name to his Mother's maiden name; Styles, as soon as we banished the fourth generation from the circus."

I am trying to take in all of this new information, but I can't quite piece it all together yet.

"So wait, what happened 10 years ago though?" I ask Niall.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"My father is the sheriff of Rosalind" I explain, "and he most certainly doesn't seem to approve of you lot returning after the last time you were here"

"We caused havoc everywhere we went, Belle" he says and his smile drops, "we have been in a constant battle for the past five years. We have been trying to recreate peace between us and most of the country towns we have stepped foot in. We did some bad things, Belle."
"Oh" I say in lack of finding a better word.

I suppose this all makes more sense now. Dad doesn't tolerate violence, no wonder he is so against them returning. If I could just explain to Dad the changeover in generations, maybe he wouldn't be so funny about me talking to them.