Friendship Never Ends (One Direction)

Chapter 31

Harry’s P.O.V.

“Stephanie!” I yelled after her. “Steph!” But not once did she ever turn back.

The rest of the boys were glaring at Rachel and I could tell she somewhat regretted what just happened. I don’t think she intended it to happen like that, but there’s no going back.

“Thanks a lot, Rachel,” I scoffed, shaking my head.

“Hey!” Rachel defended, coming closer to me.

“Woah, calm down, guys,” Niall interfered, stepping in the middle.

“It’s her fault!” I screamed in anger.

“Everyone’s at fault here!” Rachel corrected. I couldn’t argue anymore; she was right.

“I know,” I said, defeated.

“I think we all need a group talk,” Liam suggested. I looked around at everybody and they nodded their heads.

“We need Stephanie though,” I added.

“Are we going to wait for her?” Liam asked.

“I-I don’t know, I’m not sure how long she’ll be gone,” I replied.

“Let’s give it a little time,” Louis advised. Silently, we agreed and headed into the cottage.

Stephanie’s P.O.V.

I didn’t even know where I was going; I just kept running and running, down the familiar streets and across the familiar yards. Surprisingly, my body wasn’t tired at all. My brain was, though. I was getting sick of seeing all the familiar places, and soon, I reached the part of town I didn’t really recognize, the part where, you know, you’re told as a kid to never go. My running slowed down to a jog, then to a walk. I was out of breath, but I couldn’t stay in one spot and rest. For some reason, I just needed to keep going, even though I had no idea where.

I was in a scary place. Garbage littered the streets, graffiti covered the walls, and the houses looked old and run down. Not many people were outside for a nice day like this, which amazed me a bit. This side of town doesn’t get much traffic, either, so it also felt like a ghost town. I had something in common with this part of town: we were both lonely.

After a few more minutes, my body finally began to ache and I needed to take a break. I searched around and I found an alleyway with a broken bench perched up on the side of the brick wall. I scurried inside and sat down, enjoying the gross trash all over. Why am I calling it gross? I’m trash, too, so I belong here. 

I was tired of thinking about my dad. I was tired of crying. I was tired of everything. Maybe I was just simply tired. So instead of thinking and instead of crying, I laid on the bench and closed my eyes.

Harry’s P.O.V.

It’s been an hour. It’s been a whole hour and Steph still isn’t back. The nerves were getting to me and I couldn’t stop them. I needed to do something. And that something hit me faster than anything I’ve ever thought of.

“I’m going to find Stephanie,” I announced to everyone in the cottage. I stood up, tied my shoes, and grabbed my jacket.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Liam asked.

“No, I want to go alone,” I responded, opening up the door and walking through. I was halfway to the main house when I heard the door open again. 

“Are you sure you don’t want any of us?” Rachel shouted. From the strain in her voice, she wanted to come, but I wanted to do this myself. Without answering, I entered the main house. My mum was watching something in the den, so I quietly slipped past the room and grabbed the keys to her car. I walked through the rest of the house to the garage and discreetly got in the car, turned it on, and drove away.