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"Come again?" I asked quickly, a shocked look in my eyes, refusing to believe the words that had just left her mouth. There was no way that Niall had done something like that. Niall treated Harry like a brother, and he cared about him. It didn't make sense for him to do such a thing.

Ella's gaze drifted to the side for a quick second, seeming to be worried about something. "I said it's Niall" she repeated, starting to become a little restless. She put her coat on the back of my couch, next to which she was standing, sending me a careful glance.

I nodded slowly, taking in her words. I couldn't believe that Niall had been behind that whole mess, and I couldn't understand why he'd done it. More than only doing it, he'd clearly come up with it, and that was kind of extremely fucked up. Why would he have gone that far just to push me away from Harry? I really had thought that he liked me, until that moment. And Ella had helped him. I'd thought she'd come back to me and apologised because she cared, but in reality she'd only done it to get me to trust her. "You gave me advice. You acted as if you didn't know" I said quietly, not being able to detach my eyes from her blue ones.

She shrugged at my words, a hint of carelessness evident in her actions. "Well I knew you wouldn't have told Harry anyway. And of course I did, Niall asked me to see if the texts were working" she replied, looking at me as if the answer was obvious.

"But why?" I asked her, confused, trying to understand what was behind it all. Why had Niall got to that point to separate Harry and I? It didn't make any sense, especially considering that he'd been the one that had pushed us together at first.

She twirled a strand of her blonde hair around her finger in an unconscious action, puckering her lips. "He knew you wouldn't have just left him out of nowhere. He also knew how insecure you are though, because that kinda shows a lot, and took advantage of it" she said, her voice a little more cheerful than it should've been.

"I have his phone number though" I said slowly, glaring at her from where I was standing next to the door of the living room. I couldn't believe it. It usually didn't take me long to see that a person was sketchy, considering that I wasn't overly trusting, but I would've never guessed that Niall was behind that whole mess.

She shrugged, her blonde hair shining of golden highlights as it caught the light of the setting sun coming from the window. "He got another phone" she said, staring at me as if I'd just asked the most obvious question on the planet - which I had, because he'd obviously had to get another device to send those texts anonymously. What concerned me, though, was the level of dedication he'd put into the whole thing. What had Harry even done to him, for him to react so violently?

I stared at her for a few seconds, that felt way longer than they actually were. "Get out" I said all of sudden, surprising both her and myself.

"What?" She asked, her eyebrows slightly raised, as if she simply refused to believe I'd told her something like that.

"Get out" I repeated, starting to feel annoyed by her behaviour. I knew I had to do something about the whole thing, I couldn't simply let Harry's life being ruined just because Niall had decided to get some kind of revenge on him all of sudden, and inexplicably so.

"Alright, damn" she spat, grabbing her black coat from the back of the couch and putting it back on before walking past me and out of the door.

I took a couple of steps forward as soon as I heard the front door get shut loudly, watching her walk down the street from the glass of the window. I stood still in the middle of the living room until I couldn't see her anymore, and then I turned sharply and walked into the hallway, stopping in my tracks right away.

What was I supposed to do? My first idea was to call Harry, but after everything it wouldn't have surprised me if he'd refused to answer his phone. And if he had, how could I have told him what I'd discovered over the phone, and be sure he wouldn't have done anything stupid? I wouldn't have forgiven myself if he'd got into even more trouble because of that.

I sighed as the realisation of what I was supposed to do struck me, and I took my coat from the hanger, making sure the phone was still in the pocket before exiting the house and locking the door. I tried it once to make sure it was indeed locked before turning around and walking towards the bus stop. It would've come in handy to have a driving licence in that moment. I shook my head, checking the times and discovering that the next bus would've come in five.

I waited in silence and impatiently, feeling as if my restlessness had increased considerably by the time the bus came.

The ride wasn't too long, but long enough for me to think of all the possible outcomes of what I was about to do at least twice, and by the time my stop came I'd got way less nervous about it all and way angrier.

I got off the bus and quickly made my way towards Niall and Harry's house, not wasting time in walking to the front door and ringing the doorbell when I reached it.

Niall opened the door and gave me a confused stare, that told me he had no idea of what I was doing there. "Sierra? Hey!" He said cheerfully, not letting the confusion overtake him for long.

"What the hell?!" I hissed at him, suddenly deciding that there was no reason to save the appearances. He'd played me, and I hated both him and myself for it. Him, because he'd used me to get his own selfish revenge, and myself, for falling for it. I'd always praised myself for being the kind of person that saw right through people, and I couldn't believe he'd gone under my radar just like that. More than only mine, Harry's too. He seemed to trust basically nobody, but I knew he'd trusted Niall, and that was what made the whole thing even more screwed up.

He gave me a funny glance, as if he just couldn't understand what I was on about. It wasn't surprising though, he'd been so stealthy in his actions that I was pretty sure I would've never found out if Ella hadn't told me. "Uh, what?" He asked, seeming even more confused than before. He sent a quick glance inside, the sound of the TV could be heard from the living room.

I looked around quickly, discovering that there were no cars in the driveway, which meant that we were completely alone in that moment. I quickly stepped inside the house, not wanting to make it anyone's business but ours. "You perfectly know what" I said lowly, sending him a glare from where I was standing next to him. I usually was quite shy - and especially quiet - but there was nothing I hated more than being played, especially by someone I trusted. The fact that Harry had trusted him as well made me even more angry at Niall. He knew how hard it was for him, way better than I did as a matter of fact, and still he'd decided to do something as fucked up as that. I wondered if he'd even wanted Harry and I to be together at some point, or if he'd matched us with the only intent of doing all he could to separate us later on.

"Oh" he said, his eyes widening as he understood what I was talking about. He took a step towards the door, putting his weight on it to shut it, the sound reverberating in the almost silent house. He walked past me and into the living room, where he picked up the remote and turned off the television. "You know, don't you?" He asked quietly, turning around and staring at me somewhat defensively.

I stepped hesitantly into the living room as well. The windows were open, but the sun had disappeared, and without the light coming from the TV screen, the room was enveloped in mild darkness. I looked at Niall as he flicked something on the opposite wall, and all of sudden a yellowish light enlightened the room. "Yeah, Ella told me" I said lowly, trying my best to make my voice appear steady, not wanting him to think that I was intimidated by the situation - which I knew, but he didn't, and I wouldn't have made him understand that in that moment he had the upper hand.

"Ella?" He asked, and even though I didn't reply, he knew. Who else could it have been after all, if not her? "Fuck, I knew I shouldn't have trusted her" he sighed, passing his hand over his face.

I frowned when I realised that he wasn't anywhere near remorseful for what he'd done - in fact, the only thing he seemed to be regretting was having trusted Ella with his fucked up plan. "What's wrong with you!" I spat all of sudden and he gave me a shocked glance, but I didn't care. "I thought we were friends! Why did you do something like that?"

"Trust me, I had no interest in hurting you. Harry was my target" he said easily, an unbothered look coming over his face, and he leant against the back of the couch, seeming to be quite sure in his actions when he realised I wasn't about to hit him or something.

"Target?! Are you even listening to yourself?" I said exasperatedly, a shocked look on my face as I heard him talk. Why was he so angry at Harry? He didn't seem like the kind of person that would've cared about someone enough to make their life a living hell.

He crossed his arms over his chest, an icy expression into his light blue eyes. "You haven't had to spend the past five years living with him!" He hissed, glaring at me as if I'd just insulted him. "You have no idea of what he's like."

"That's no excuse" I replied, even though I knew that he did have a point. It was true, I didn't know Harry as well as he did, but, for how much I knew of him, I knew he'd never done anything to Niall that could justify his deep dislike of him.

He shook his head at my words. "He was always drunk, or high. Always. And my parents wouldn't even fucking care" he said, gesticulating wildly, anger evident in his voice. "If it had been me, they would've flipped shit, but no, since it was him, everything was fine" he continued, almost spitting the last word through his teeth. "My mum was always there justifying his fucking actions and playing him off as some kind of angel sent from above! You don't know what he's been through, Niall, you don't know how he's feeling. That's no fucking excuse! He's a fucking mess and they refused to see that."

I stared at him, the shocked look not leaving my face, not being able to believe his words. Had it all really happened only because he was jealous of the way his parents treated Harry? That was absolutely nuts. How had something like that turned into that fucked up game of revenge? I sent a quick glance in the direction of the window, noticing a light suddenly turning off outside. "So you decided to send me those texts anonymously? Was there even a hint of reality in what you were saying, or did you just text me whatever in order to get me away from Harry?" I told him, suddenly feeling the need to scream in anger. I couldn't believe I'd taken into so much consideration what was basically the rambling of a jealous child.

"Reality can be subjective" he replied, shrugging. "Everyone kept staying by his side! I had to make them see it" he hissed again, as if it could justify his actions in some way.

I shook my head, not believing how stupid I'd been. He'd played me, but he'd only done it because I'd let myself be played. "You put the drugs on him too, didn't you?" I asked for confirmation, seeing it as a quite logical connection considering he'd just said he wanted everyone to leave Harry, for some fucked up reason.

"Of course I did" he replied, shrugging again, and again not seeming to be the slightest bit remorseful. "It was a bit hard to find that stuff 'cause he doesn't take stuff that heavy. That's why I knew everyone would've flipped shit at it" he added, once again shocking me with how meticulous he'd been. "I must say Zayn was a problem to me, but apparently Harry thought the drugs were from him so he pushed him away all on his own."

All of sudden I heard the sound of the front door getting shut behind me, and I turned around just in time to see a disheveled looking Harry enter the living room. His hair was messy and his cheeks were a bit red because of the cold outside, his clothes were the same he'd been wearing when he drove me back home earlier that day, but they seemed a bit crumpled up, as if he'd put them on quickly and carelessly.

"What?" He asked quietly, a hint of confusion in his green eyes, not as if he hadn't understood what was going on, but as if he simply couldn't believe it.

"Harry" I whispered, already knowing that that situation wouldn't have turned out well at all. On one side, I was glad that he'd discovered what was going on as well, but on the other, I knew that was probably the worse way he could've found out about it.

I glanced between him and Niall, the air in the room seemed to be frozen all of sudden. Niall was staring at him with his eyes wide, probably resembling my own expression in that moment, and a hint of fear was in his blue irises. Harry was giving him a death glare from the other side of the room, and he didn't even seem to have acknowledged my presence in the room as well.

It took Harry a couple of seconds to react to it, but when he did, it was harsh, and way more violent than I would've ever expected from him. "You put the drugs in my pocket?!" He spat, throwing the coat he was holding over the couch in a harsh move before stepping quickly towards Niall. "I'll fucking kill you."

"Harry don't" I said quickly even though I wouldn't have minded letting him hit Niall because he definitely deserved it, grabbing his wrist and using it to stop him from reaching the other boy as I moved in front of him, putting my hand on his chest to stop him from acting impulsively. "Don't do that" I added looking at him in the eyes, trying to get my point across, even though he wasn't even paying attention to me, his eyes still burning into Niall's.

"Why would you do something like that?" He growled at him, anger evident in his irate eyes, but didn't push me away to reach him.

"Because you have everything so damn easy, that's why! You fuck up all the time but it was as if everyone was blinded. There were no consequences, no anything" Niall raved, gaining some of his cockiness back when he knew he wasn't about to get attacked, suddenly making me feel the need to let Harry go. "You are so selfish, Harry. You only think of yourself, never of how others are doing. You could see my parents weren't treating us fairly but you clearly didn't care!"

He narrowed his eyes at him, surprising me with his harsh reaction. I was sure I'd never seen him that angry before, and if I hadn't known he wasn't a violent person I would've surely feared him because of our closeness in that moment. "Excuse me?" He hissed at him, his chest suddenly pressing harder against my hand when he instinctively tried to get to him.

"You had it so fucking easy, I'm tired of that!" Niall said, raising his voice all of sudden, finally letting out all his pent up anger at him.

"Easy?" Harry said, raising his voice as well, a bewildered look into his green eyes, as if he couldn't believe the words that had left Niall's mouth. To be fair, neither could I. "I've never asked to be here! Don't you think I'd rather be with my family if I could?" He asked him harshly, his voice breaking slightly towards the end of the sentence.

"Well maybe you should be!" Niall snapped back at him, making my mouth fall open at how messed up his reply had been.

I inadvertently gripped the material of Harry's sweater tighter, feeling his rushed heartbeat against my touch, his wrist slipping out of my fingers as my grasp on him loosened up.

Harry seemed to be equally as shocked as I was, a dark glare burning into his eyes. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He spat, pushing against me harshly again, trying to get to him, his actions more rushed, somewhat urgent.

I gripped his forearm again, stopping him from lashing out at Niall. "Harry, don't" I said quietly again, hoping to calm him down enough to convince him not to hit him.

Niall took it as his chance to speak again, safe a few feet away from us. "I tried so hard to accept you and help you, but you never fucking cared!" He shouted at him. "You disregarded me completely, just like you do with everyone else. I'm done now. I dream of the day you'll leave this family for good. You don't belong here, you never did" he continued, his words cutting through the boy next to me like knives.

I let go of Harry and quickly covered the distance between Niall and I and, before I could even realise what was going on, I felt my hand collide with his cheek, hard. "Fuck you, Niall" I said, my eyes wide as soon as I realised what I'd done. I'd never slapped someone before, but I couldn't find a single part of myself regretting it.

Niall looked at me, equally as shocked as I seemed to be, clearly not having expected something like that to come from me as well, and for a few moments there was only silence. "What the hell?!" He shouted all of sudden, and I instinctively took a step back, meeting Harry's eyes, that were carrying the same bewildered look mine were.

Niall took a step forward, and Harry took one as well, wrapping his fingers around my wrist, even though I was sure Niall would've never even touched me.

"You will tell your parents what you've done or I will come back here and do it myself" I spat, suddenly taking a step forward to stand between Niall and Harry again, glaring at Niall as I spoke. I would've never done such a thing, but Niall didn't know that, and as long as I would've managed to sell it, it would've been the truth in his eyes.

Niall glared at me as soon as I spoke. "Seriously?" He asked, as if my words had come unexpected. Had he really expected me to side with him in that whole ordeal? It was simply ridiculous to even think about.

"Don't try me" I hissed at him, hoping that my aggressiveness would've been enough to make him believe what I was saying.

Apparently it worked out, because he seemed to get even angrier. "Don't tell me what to do" he said, raising his voice again, and I blinked quickly, feeling my nervousness settle in and a slight wetness in my eyes.

I stood my ground, Harry's grip hard on my wrist, staring at Niall in the eyes, ignoring my instinct, that was telling me to cower away as I always did. It was Harry's life on the line in that moment, and there was no way I would've let Niall fuck it up even more. He had to be the one telling his parents, because they certainly would've never believed Harry.

Apparently though, Niall either didn't know that or actually believed I would've told his parents everything, because he gritted his teeth harsher before speaking. "Fuck you Sierra, I thought you were cool" he spat.

"Don't ever play with people like that again. It's fucked up" I hissed back at him, furrowing my eyebrows when I realised that Harry still hadn't let go of me.

I turned around quickly, realising only in that moment how upset he seemed to be. His jaw was clenched and he was still glaring at Niall, his posture tense, to the point that I doubted he was breathing at all.

"Harry" I said quietly, completely ignoring Niall. I was about to say something else, but I turned around, noticing that he was still looking at us, and completely monopolising Harry's attention. "Come here" I said, walking past Harry and towards the front door, using the fact that his fingers were still wrapped tightly around my wrist to get him to come with me.

I opened the front door and we both finally stepped out, closing it and standing in front of it, in the dim yellowish light coming from the windows of the living room. I reached down, using my fingers to gently pry open Harry's grasp on my wrist, my eyes not leaving his. I finally managed to free my arm, but I didn't let go of his hand.

"How are you?" I asked him quietly, trying to read the look in his eyes, but unsuccessfully. It was as if a curtain had fallen between us in the second his grip had loosened, and I had no idea of what he was thinking in that moment.

"You should've let me hit him" he said instead, his voice low, making it clear that he was very upset about everything that had happened.

I sent a quick glance in the direction of the window, one curtain was pushed to the side, and I could see Niall arguing with someone on the phone. "If you'd done that, you wouldn't have been in the right in his parents' eyes anymore" I told him, glancing back at him. His hair was even messier than before, making me want to pass my hands through it. But I didn't, of course.

"Yeah, that's true" he said, an exhausted look suddenly taking over his features as the rush of adrenaline dissipated. "We need to talk" he added quietly, brushing his fingers through his dark curls.

"I'm sorry I let Niall's shit get to me" I said quietly, and truthfully. I wasn't sure it changed anything between us, considering that what had happened had been much more than the simple texts Niall had sent me, but I felt the need to tell him anyway.

He shook his head. "Not about that" he said, making it clear that he intended to talk about our situation more than of what Niall had done. "Not now, though, I'm not in the right mood for that."

"What about tomorrow? I'll be at home for the whole day, you can just let yourself in when you come around, because I'm not sure I'd hear the doorbell, considering that I listen to music while I clean around" I said, widening my eyes when I realised how much I'd actually rambled.

"There's a spare key under the pot next to the front door" I added, knowing that it was too late to take it all back at that point. Might as well have given him all the information. "Or just call me or something" I added again, trying to make my previous words appear less weird. I shut my eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again, wondering what even had just happened to me. I hadn't rambled that much in front of him for the past month, at least. There was just something about him in that moment, in the wild but exhausted look in his eyes, in the way the yellow light coming from the windows and the darkness of the night designed shadows on his face, in the messiness of his hair, that made me feel as if I was standing in front of him for the first time.

"Alright" he simply said, not seeming to be surprised or taken aback by it. "How did you get here?" He asked all of sudden, changing topic quickly.

I shrugged. "I took the bus" I replied, sending a quick glance in the direction in which I knew the bus stop was.

He nodded, taking his car keys out of his jeans. "Come on, I'm driving you home" he said, unlocking the car in the driveway as he walked towards it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. x

Miki

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