Mute // hs.

Chapter 2

"Excuse me?" I managed to choke the words out as I towered over her. Her head snapped up from it's previous position, resting on her knees. Her eyes were bloodshot, one of them lined with dark purple bruises.  Several cuts and scratches ran all the way up her arms and face, making me wince at the sight of them.  

Finally acknowledging my presence, she tensed almost immediately and hid her face in her hands. I bent down towards her eye level and waited for her to open up again. Finally she did, peeking through her fingers to see if I was still there. 

"You're hurt, do you need some help?" I croaked, reaching out to gently stroke one of her cuts. She winced and yanked her arm away from me, rapidly shaking her head back and forth.

Sighing, I ran my fingers through my curls, separating them from my forehead. This girl wasn't giving in.  

"Can you tell me your name?" I whispered gently. She let her hands fall to her sides and looked  at me with wide glassy eyes, still not saying anything. Finally, I reached out and grabbed her hand, hesitating a moment to see if she would react. She didn't. 

"I'm Harry," I whispered quietly. The girl stared at me.

"Come with me," I said, nodding my head towards the sidwalk. She shook her head violently, slipping her hand from my grasp to hide her face as she began to sob. I watched as she cried, biting my lip uncomfortably. 

God, why did I feel so bad for her? Mentally sighing, I stooped down once more and gently wiped strands of her hair away from her tear streaked cheeks. She looked up at me, sniffling. I beckoned for her to stand up and she obeyed, slowly rising to her feet. 

I noticed her limp and looked at her sympathetically. "We need to get you to a hospital," I gasped, staring at her wounds. She sighed and looked down at her feet, ignoring my desperate looks.  Slowly, I eased her from the alleyway, careful not to hurt her.  Suddenly she stopped, biting her lip and keeping her gaze locked on her shoes. 

"C'mon, what's the matter babe?" I whispered, kneeling down to stare up at her. She winced and turned away. "Oh god, what did he do to you?" I gasped. The girl just let out a loud sob in response, staggering into my chest. Surprised, I slowly wrapped my arms around her small form. 

"Hey shh," I cooed, rubbing circles into her back. She sobs grew quieter and quieter until she looked up at me, her cheeks wet from tears, looking absolutely exhausted.  

"Harry..." A low voice growled from behind me. I whirled around to see someone standing on the sidewalk, not two feet from us. Gasping, the girl hid her face in my chest, hiding herself. I wrapped my arms around her subconsciously and stared up at the figure, my mouth agape. 

"Harry!" The voice growled again, making me wince. Suddenly I realised who it was. Tousled brown hair, deep blue eyes, muscular form, it was definitely him. 

"L-Louis?" I said hesitantly. Louis nodded and stepped forward, revealing more of his features under the moonlight. 

"And just what in the hell are you doing, Harry? I don't have time for another one of your flings, get in the car and let's go!" Louis sighed, gesturing towards the running vehicle parked next to him. I frowned.  Louis started tugging at my jacket, separating me from the girl. She let out  a low whine as I was mercilessly pried from her grasp. 

"Lou! God, just wait a damn second," I breathed, clawing at Louis' fingers. Louis scowled and let go of the collar of my jacket and I staggered forward.  "I'm not leaving her, Lou. Something happened to her." 

Louis spun on his heel, putting his hands on his hips. He raised an eyebrow at me as if to say,  "Are you kidding me?" 

"I'm serious Lou! Look at her!" I raised my voice, gesturing to the girl. She winced and looked to her feet, clasping her hands in front of her chest together tightly. I half expected her to say something but she didn't. Her eyes kept glancing up from her shoes to look at Louis before quickly looking back down again.