Forbidden Territory (H.S) [A.U]

Chapter 8

"Better to trust a man who is frequently in error
 than the one who is never in doubt."

***
HARRY'S POV:

"ARE YOU EVEN AWARE OF THE STORM THAT IS HEADED OUR WAY, MALIK?!" I yell at Zayn as I pace back and forth, running a hand through my hair, tugging at the roots slightly.

"Then what did you expect me to do? Leave you there to die?" He throws back. Niall just stands there watching us silently.

"Don't over exaggerate it. No one was going to die," I mumble.

"Harry, the bullet grazed Irene and was headed in your direction. If I hadn't pulled you at the last moment, you would've been shot. So, I'm sorry for caring about your life."

Okay, now he's making me feel bad.

I stop pacing around and look at him directly, "That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you dragging me out of there. Do you even know how perfectly that frames me?! You don't know Irene! She doesn't trust me in the first place and leaving her there like that just gives her another reason not to!"

"So you wanted to stay there to protect her?" Niall asks as he raises his eyebrows.

"I-- I mean yeah, after all it was in Malevolent's land and she was my guest. It was my job to."

"And how were you planning on protecting her without a gun, H?" Zayn seethes and I just glare at him.

"Plus, she didn't need protection. Irene herself is known as someone who doesn't even flinch while pulling the trigger. And she had her guards there too. I'm sure she is safe." Niall adds. "Why didn't you have your gun with you though?"

"I handed it to Zayn before going inside. I wanted her to start trusting me a bit.. I didn't want her to feel unsafe around me. The world already holds me accountable for her father's death. I didn't want another thing coming my way..." I trail off.

After a moment of staring at me, Niall responds, "Well I understand your point but being honest, that was a stupid move even if you were just trying to gain her trust."

Well it seemed like a pretty good idea at the time.

"Whatever. But right now, I'm pretty sure she will be here soon to blow my brains out. She probably thinks that I was the one behind it. Hell, the last thing she said before the shooting was that for all she knows, I called her there to kill her." I groan as I rub my hands over my face.

The fuckin' irony.

"Or you could just prove that you weren't behind it." Zayn shrugs.

"Yeah, I'm just going to say, 'I know that I left you all alone and ran away but I wasn't the one behind this at all!' And she'll believe me right?" I scoff, sarcasm dripping from my words.

"If you say that, it would probably take her less than five seconds to shoot you. But I was well aware that I'd have to look into it all even if people from Armistice weren't there. This is a threat to us, on our territory."