We're Okay

Chapter 8

Harry

Harry woke up with a kink in his neck and his feet freezing cold. The couch had been way too lumpy and short to sleep on, so he’d curled up on the floor. It was either that or sleep in bed with Louis, and he knew that he was about as invited to do that as he was inclined to actually ask Louis if he could. The blanket he’d pulled off the back of the couch was short and scratchy, but he hadn’t really cared. He just wanted to sleep before he really snapped on someone.

Now, Harry looked over to Louis’ sleeping form. He was laying on his front, blankets pushed off himself to the end of the bed so they were almost falling on Harry. Harry wondered if that was a deliberate move on his part or not, and figured it wasn’t.

Making as little noise as he could, Harry got up and went to the door before ducking out it and heading down the hall. He knocked on Niall and Gemma’s -- his blood boiled just thinking that-- door.

It took a minute for the door to open, and when it did Niall swallowed noticeably. “Hi.”

“She still in there?” Harry demanded.

Niall nodded and opened the door. Gemma was sitting on the bed, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail. Niall was dressed, too, and when he went back into the room, with Harry following, he stayed as far from Gemma as he could.

“Coming to chew us out?” Gemma asked, her voice steely.

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and then uncrossed them. The thing was, he wasn’t just angry -- not that he wasn’t angry, because he was--, he was hurt. Gemma was his sister, for crying out loud, and Niall had become one of his best friends, closely following behind Liam. And last night? Last night obviously hadn’t been the first time. You didn’t just-- just run away to another city together without having some kind of past history.

He figured that they must have been doing this behind his back for quiet sometime, and that was like a stab in the chest. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that this always happened to him, no matter who it was, he couldn’t rely on anyone, really, to tell him the truth or be honest with him or to be there for him. Except maybe Liam.

“I just--,” Harry shook his head. “I just don’t understand how the fuck this happened, honestly. How either of you could do this to me.”

Niall was sat on the couch, looking down at his hands. Gemma, on the other hand, stood up. “Don’t you dare,” she hissed, “make this about you, Harry. You know damn well that this isn’t something we did to you. We did this for us. Yes, I get that you’re hurt. You have every right to be. But don’t act as if we maliciously planned this behind your back just to hurt you.”

“We didn’t,” Niall said honestly. “Really. I-- I don’t really know how it happened. I didn’t know she was your sister when I first met her, honest, and then it just-- it just escalated, and I guess I figured that, as much as I didn’t want you to be upset, I couldn’t stop liking her.”

Gemma looked at him, her expression softening, and that was about it for Harry. “This is such bullshit. You knew I’d react this way. And I honestly can’t believe you guys came here, when you knew I was in London. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?”