Heroin {harry styles}

23

I wake up way more tired than usual. Getting up at seven a.m. every morning is one of my least favorite things about being trapped at Harry's. Actually, every aspect of being here is my least favorite thing about being trapped at Harry's.

Waking up early is just particularly annoying.

Harry said he wouldn't be here anyways, so I turn off my alarm and lay in bed for a few more minutes.

Apparently I fall back to sleep, because next thing I know someone's throwing stuff at me and I jolt awake believing I'm being attacked.

"What the hell?" I say after my heart returns to its normal rhythm.

I look over to see Niall on the other side of the room, grinning, with his arms full of pillows.

"Harry told me you were supposed to be awake three hours ago. I couldn't resist," he laughs a little.

One again, my heart skips a beat when it drops to my stomach. "Three hours ago? What time is it?"

"Just after ten, why?"

"No no no no no," I mumble, scrambling out of bed in a panic and grabbing clothes out of my dresser as fast as possible to get ready. "Harry's gonna kill me."

Niall grabs a hold of me when I try to run out of the room.

"Where are you going? Relax."

"I'm so sorry I wasn't ready. Please don't tell Harry," I feel the lump in my throat begin to rise and I know that tears will soon follow.

"Layla, I couldn't care less. I wasn't even going to tell him. Why would he care if you aren't awake yet?"

"I have to get up at seven and have breakfast ready by eight," I keep panicking.

"He's not even here," Niall says.

"It doesn't matter. He has rules. And cameras in the house. He's going to hurt me," my voice breaks and the tears prick at my eyes. "He hates me and he said he's gonna do worse things than lock me in a basement and I have to be ready three hours ago!"

"Layla, stop it!" Niall shouts in my face, shutting me up. His grip stays firm on my upper arms as he stares me down until I calm down a little. "Harry's working. There's no way he knows you slept in."

I'm unconvinced. The man knows everything.

Niall senses my uncertainty and continues. "Look, I know Harry isn't the nicest guy. Let's be honest, he's far from it. He's a murderer, a drug dealer, and so much more that you don't even want to know about."

He pauses before continuing. "But despite all of that, he's not going to lay a hand on you. Yes, he's terrifyingly mean when he's angry. But even in that state, he would never put his hands on a girl. He's my best mate, and I know that for sure."

Niall loosens his hold on me as I calm down listening to him. For some reason, I find myself actually trusting him.

"Now go take your time getting ready, and then we have a room to decorate. Harry may not physically hurt you, but I can't say the same for myself. If this room isn't done when he gets home, he will quite literally kill me," Niall smiles, somehow lightening the mood even with his frightening words.

I nod and leave to go get changed. Once I'm ready, I go back out to find Niall standing in the doorway of the original room I stayed in. He looks deep in thought, like he's analyzing every inch of the empty bedroom.

"I'm thinking we put the bed there, then add the shelves around it, and then start moving in the other furniture to see what looks good."

I like the idea so I don't argue with him. Before I can answer him, he takes my silence as an 'okay'.

"Great, lets get started. Help me with the bed."

Niall and I work on the room for a few hours until we finally get the main furniture in places that make it look good. He did most of the work, I just helped move some stuff. I didn't really know what to do though, Harry was right about Niall having a knack for interior design. He seemed to be in the zone when it came to this stuff.

"What have you got to eat around here? I'm starving." Niall asks, running his hands through his hair.

"I don't really know, Harry always makes me cook but gets mad when my food tastes bad so we usually have take out or something," I shrug.

"Guess I'm making us both lunch then," the blonde tattooed man smiles again.

It's weird. I know Niall's in a gang— he's killed people, sold drugs, done drugs, and says some fucked up things sometimes, but behind the tough exterior I can't help but like him. Not in any particular way, he's just a very likable guy.

I wonder what Niall's like when he's doing his work. I can hardly imagine him actually killing somebody.

I follow Niall into the kitchen where he's already getting various ingredients out from all over the place and tossing them into a large pot on the stove.

I have no idea what he's making, but it definitely smells good.

The man knows his way around a kitchen. I'll add that to the list of why it's hard to believe he's really a part of Harry's gang, Destruction.

After Niall and I eat whatever sort of soup or stew thing he made, we go back upstairs to finish decorating. Luckily, Niall was so focused on eating that there was no awkward silence or conversation between us.

When we get back upstairs to finish decorating, Niall gets that look in his eyes again. I can tell he's definitely trying to figure out where to put the smaller decorations.

"Niall," I whisper, not wanting to disturb him but I have a question.

"What do you want? I'm working," he hisses back.

"Why don't you do this for a living?"

He sighs and turns toward me to answer. "I thought about it as a kid, but then I met Harry under some...uh...interesting circumstances and I ended up in Destruction. Plus, the gang pays way better and I get free drugs."

I nod in response and try to change the subject. "That throw pillow would look good on the black chair with the white carpet."

"Layla Summers, you are a genius!" He throws his hands up and walks over to put the silver pillow where I suggested. I can't help but laugh at his enthusiasm.

"Come on, lets finish this I'm getting tired," I yawn and hold up some more smaller decorations. "Where should these go?"

Niall's back in the zone and he just points to the perfect place for every item I hold up to him. We finish the room in no time, which I'm grateful for. I really do need a nap and it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders knowing Harry won't come home to an unfinished project.

I have to admit, the room looks great. It's way better than the barren, off-white disaster it was before.

But it's still not home.

Niall and I end up going downstairs after admiring the bedroom for a minute. We each lay down on separate couches in the living room, dozing off until Niall's phone ringing wakes us up.

"Hello?" He answers the call, not sounding one hundred percent awake yet.

"Yeah mate, I'll make sure she's ready," he looks over at me, but I can't read his emotions.

Niall hangs up the phone and I immediately ask him what's going on.

"That was Harry. You're going out tonight and he said to make sure you blend in with the crowd."

"What does he mean by blend in with the crowd?"

"Let's just say, you probably aren't going to be happy about how much skin he wants you to show. I know the outfit he wants for this, I'll grab it for you," Niall sighs and gets up to go get whatever outfit it is that I'm going to need.

He brings it downstairs a few minutes later and my jaw literally drops open so wide that Niall uses a finger to close it while handing me the clothes.