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"Harder, Harry."

"That was hard, Cameron."

"You can do better then that."

Irritated by her constant pushing, I punch the glove covering her hand with as much strength as I can gather. A loud smack echoes around the gym and she steps back on an unsteady foot at the force. I smirk at her in triumph when she immediately pulls off the glove and shakes her hand, wincing as she does. Breathing heavily, I pull off my own gloves and tuck them under my arm while walking to my water bottle that was sitting against the wall.

"Alright, I felt that hit through the glove. I'll give you that."

Swallowing down a large gulp of water, I look up with narrowed eyes to see Cameron wiggling her fingers. "Good. Now are we done for the day?"

"Why are you so eager to leave? You're head wasn't in it today. Is something wrong?"

No. Yes. No. I don't know. "No," I shake my head after a moment and purse my lips. "I mean, I don't think so."

She sips on her water and strands of her gray hair stick to the side of her face. Her eyebrow arches and she screws the cap of her water back into place. "That doesn't sound so convincing."

I grunt, tossing my water bottle back on the floor and shake my head. "Em has been acting kind of strange the past week, ever since we came back from visiting home."

"Strange how?"

"She's...jumpy." I state, licking my lips as I remember how she had been skittish lately, jumping any time a door slammed or there was a creak on the hardwood floors of her apartment. "She seems scared."

"Hm," Cameron muses, eyebrows pulling together while she leans against the wall in front of me. She crosses her arms and I almost laugh when I catch two of the other guys in the gym checking her out. If only they knew she didn't bat for their team. "Well did something happen to her back at home?"

Besides the fact her mum was a bitch and changed the locks to keep her own daughter out? "No, I don't think so. Nothing that should be making her jumpy at least." I mumble and she shrugs, reaching to pick up her gym bag and sling it over her shoulder. I do the same, running my fingers through my slightly damp hair. Man I needed to shower.

"'Maybe she's just going through stuff. Be patient with her, whatever it is I'm sure she'll tell you eventually."

"Yeah." I nod, thinking back on how she hadn't even told me about what happened with her mum until the next morning while we were eating breakfast. She had been fairly quiet from the moment we woke up but not once did I ask her what happened. She opened up and told me on her own, so maybe if something was really bugging her she would eventually tell me.

"Did you ever hear back from Louis?"

My thoughts shift from Em and to the text I had also received on Tuesday from Louis, relief flooding through me just as it had then. The confirmation that Zayn was in fact still locked up made my shoulders that had been tense since the day I asked instantly slumped. But then as quick as the relief had came, confusion replaced it. If it wasn't Zayn running into Em, then who was it? You're being paranoid. It could simply just have been a rude pedestrian. A stranger. No one that was out to get her. Yet something in my gut was telling me it was someone we knew...

Not wanting to dwell on it any longer, I shook the feeling off and pushed it to the back of my head. "Yeah." I finally say when I remember Cameron right beside me. We begin to head towards the exit of the gym. "He's still locked up."

"I told you," she playfully swatted my arm and I rolled my eyes. "You're just paranoid. Which makes sense, after what you two went through..." I look away when she mentions what happened months ago, the guilt of the lies I had told her weighing on my shoulders. She knew about it but not the full truth. Not the part that it was me who kidnapped her to begin with. She only knew what the rest of the world did; that I was kidnapped alongside her.

"Yeah." I clear my throat in discomfort but she takes it as if the mention of the kidnapping brings me discomfort. It does, but not for the reasons she thinks. Cameron instantly drops the subject and falls silent as we walk outside, the cool air hitting my sweaty face. I pause on the sidewalk, glancing at Cam to see her pulling out her phone. "You walking with me today?"

"Nah." She waves her phone and a mischievous smirk pulls at her lips. "The girl I'm seeing is picking me up. We're going to her place." She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively and I snort.

"I swear, sometimes you're more of a guy then I am."

"No, I just like sex with girls. Sue me."

"Whatever," I laugh and exchange a quick hug with her. "Have fun." I pull back and a cheeky grin spreads across my face as I walk backwards and wave. "Use protection!"

"Dickhead, you know we can't get pregnant! We're both girls!" She bellows, loud enough for bystanders to hear. My laugh bellows in the increasing distance between us and I send her a dramatic wink.

"I know! That's why I said it!" Even from here I can see her face turning red when she realizes there were other people around who heard her. She shoots me a glare and flips me off. I beam at her. "Byeeee!"

"Fucker!" Is all she yells back but there's a smile on her face as she waves to me. I turn around then, sighing as I walk and simultaneously dig into my gym bag to pull my phone out. The screen lights up to show me a missed call from Em and I unlock the screen to call her back. Pressing the phone to my ear, it rings three times before it clicks and there's shuffling.

"Hello?" Em answers, sounding a little breathless and winded.

"Hey," I smile at the concrete as I walk, one hand shoved into the pocket of my gym shorts. "You okay? You sound out of breath."

"Yeah, I just ran from the kitchen. I left my phone charging in my room."

"Ahh, okay. Sorry I missed your call, I was at the gym with Cameron."

"It's fine. How was it?"

"Okay, she was so pushy today." I scrunch my nose at the reminder of her punching me in the gut several times. "What'd you do after you got off work?"

"Homework, then took a nap." She laughs lightly and my lips tug into another grin at the sound of it. "Until Liam barged into my room and woke me up." She grumbles and this time, it's me chuckling.

"Sorry baby."

"Eh. He wants to go clubbing tonight. You up for it?"

"Tonight?" I almost whine. Today had been long, and I just wanted to lay in bed for the rest of the night and watch cheap TV with Em.

"Yes, it is Halloween." She points out and I grumble. I stopped enjoying Halloween the moment society deemed me being too old to go trick or treating. I personally don't think you're ever too old to receive candy but fuck, whatever.

"Fine. I'll go if you want to."

"Okay," I can hear the excitement in her voice and the sound of it makes the whole idea of going seem not so bad. "Lila and Anthony are coming too. Anthony said he would head over here with you if you agreed to come."

"I'll talk to him when I get home."

"Alright. You have to dress up too."

I groan, turning the corner of my street and running my fingers through my hair. "What why? I don't have a costume."

"Firstly, because the club is costume mandatory. And haven't you seen those 'do it yourself' tutorials? Throw something together."

"Well what are you going to be? You don't want to do that couples costume shit, do you?"

"I'm an independent woman who don't need no man, so no." I roll my eyes but still cough up a laugh. "And I'm not sure. I'm currently looking through my closet; I've only got a black dress." She sighs in exasperation. "Lila said she had something I could borrow so I'll probably wear that if it fits. If not I'll have to wear the black dress and cat ears. Which is basic."

I laugh and walk up to the entrance of my apartment building, walking through the building and towards the elevator. "Whatever you decide to wear you'll look beautiful in."

She hums and I can hear the smile in her voice when she speaks. "Okay sweet talker. What are you going to be?"

I smirk, remembering the comic book character Em once told me she had always had a small crush on. The idea sounds even better when I think of an old t-shirt I have stashed somewhere in my closet and a white button up. "You'll see."

She groans in annoyance but huffs and agrees. "Fine. Come by the apartment around eight thirty. We're heading to the club an hour after that."

"Okay love. See you then."

"M'kay, bye I-," she stops and coughs awkwardly. "See you." She rushes out then hangs up quickly, leaving me slightly confused. I pull the phone back, shaking my head as I walk down the hallway that would lead to my apartment door. Unlocking it, I step through and automatically hear voices in the kitchen. A low groan comes out when I recognize one of the voices belonging to Brad. I thought after living with the lad for a while he'd grow on me, but it's been almost two months and I still don't like the bloke.

I head down the hall and poke my head into the kitchen, Anthony's eyes falling to me and I can see the clear annoyance on his face. Relief fills his expression once seeing me and he's quick to escape the kitchen, subtly pulling me out with him. "Thank god. I was getting sick of having to keep a conversation with him going."

"I can hear you."

We both look back to see Brad leaning against the counter, shirtless and his hair mussed up. He looks like he just rolled out of bed. My jaw clenched when I see him drinking straight out of my carton of orange juice. The one that has my name written on the front in bold sharpie.

I walk over with wide steps, snatching the carton out of his hand and glaring at him. "I told you to stop drinking and eating my stuff."

"It's not like your name's on it."

I turn it, pointing at it roughly. "It is, arsehole."

He smirks, a snort coming out of his mouth. " 'Arsehole' ." He makes fun of my accent and my hand clenches into a fist at my side. "Think you might of meant asshole, Harold." He snickers and I roll my eyes, turning my back to him and shoving my carton of orange juice in the back of the fridge. I hear another door open and close and when I stand back up, I see a tall blonde walking around the island of the kitchen in a lose t-shirt. She smiles at the three of us before walking up to Brad, who plants a sloppy kiss on her mouth.

"Hey, babe."

"Hi." Her voice is high pitched, and frankly very annoying. "I'm thirsty."

"We've got orange juice." He moves around me, pulling out my carton that I had just put back. I inhale a deep breath, shaking my head and walking out of the kitchen. I didn't have time to deal with his shit and it was nearly gone anyways. I really needed to invest in a mini fridge for my bedroom...

After walking out of the kitchen, I meet Anthony back in the hallway who follows me to my room. "You going to the club tonight?"

"Yeah, I told Em I would."

"Cool. I'll text Lila that I'll head over when you do then." He says, leaning against my doorframe while pulling out his phone. I toss my bag on the floor and open one of my drawers, looking for that pair of blue jeans I rarely wear. "What are you going to be?"

"I've got an idea, just have to see if it fits." I tell him, now pulling out a long sleeved white button up and tossing it onto my bed along with the jeans. Now I needed to find that t-shirt, and also...

I turn to Anthony with furrowed eyebrows. "Do you happen to have black fake glasses?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

E m m e l i n e

Finishing up my makeup, I ran the matte red lipstick across my top and bottom lip. Carefully making sure I stayed within the lining of them before I screwed the cap back on, stepping back to look over myself in the mirror one last time. I was unsure about wearing this 'swat' costume Lila had let me borrow. The top was tight on my chest and my breasts felt like they were about to spill out over the top if I wasn't careful. And the leather bottom half of it was a little snug around my hips that I feared it would rip if I sat down.

"Whoa, you look hot."

I look over my shoulder to see Lila standing at my door in a tight red dress and devil horns on her head. Her strawberry blonde hair was curled and the liner around her eyes were dark as night, making her green eyes stand out.

"Right back at ya." I tell her and she playfully winks, her heels clinking against the floor as she walked across my room. She plops down on my bed while I grab my phone off the charger, seeing that it was almost eight thirty. I tuck it in the small pocket on the side of the dress along with some cash and my ID.

"So what's Harry going to be?"

"Don't know, he wouldn't tell me. What's Anthony going to be?"

"Vampire." She wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed, slipping the black knee high heeled boots on and zipping them up.

"A devil and a vampire. It fits." I nod, putting my other boot on. "What time is-,"

"The party has arrived!" I hear through out the apartment, just as the front door closes. The sound of footsteps moving down the hall is heard before I see Liam and Andy standing at my doorway. Andy's white shirt is ripped and his face is pale, fake blood smeared across his throat while Liam's face is painted as the joker and he's wearing a pasty yellow colored wig.

"You look terrifying." I tell him and he looks me over once, holding his finger up and waving it at me.

"And you, are not wearing that. Change."

I look down at my outfit, standing up and frowning before taking another glance at myself in the mirror. "Why? What's wrong with it?"

"What's wrong with it is that it's too tight, too short, and your boobs are about to pop out."

"Shut up Liam, leave her alone." Lila defends me, standing up and slapping her hand against my ass. I yelp in surprise. "She looks foxy."

"Agreed."

Liam swivels around and elbows Andy in the ribs, to which he winces. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that." Liam mumbles and Andy shrugs, turning his back and walking into the living room. I arch my eyebrow at Liam and cross my arms.

"I'm not changing Liam. This is the only costume I could get at the last minute."

He huffs, mumbling something incoherently under his breath before rolling his eyes. "Whatever. We brought your alcohol as requested, we'll be in the living room."

"Okay." He disappears into the other room and still feeling self conscious over what he said of my dress, I glance at the mirror again. Fiddling with my straight hair and pressing my lips together unsurely.

"Don't listen to him, you look great." Lila reassures me, squeezing my shoulder before heading out my bedroom door. I follow her out, turning the light off and walking into the living room. Liam and Andy are both planted on the couch, their feet thrown up on the table and a bottle of beer in their hands. I look through the bag of alcohol they bought and pull out the large bottle of apple Smirnoff that was purchased for me. Plopping back into the love seat, I cross my ankles and pop the bottle open before taking a sip.

"What time is Harry getting here?" Liam asks.

"Probably now." I shrug, my eyes flickering to the TV when Lila turns it on.

"Hm," Liam nods and by the look I see on his face I can tell he wants to say something. "How was your visit home?"

The bottle in my hand stops midway and a large ball appears in my throat. I try my best to swallow it down, the news of finding out Daren Malik was currently dating Niall's mom sitting at the tip of my tongue. It was something I had decided I would keep to myself for now. Plus, it's not like I knew whether it was really his dad or not and it didn't seem worth the trouble to bring it up to Harry. If it wasn't really his dad it'd be worthless, and if it was, well I didn't want to worry Harry. I'd probably never see him again anyways.

"Fine." I said after a long moment, blinking at Liam and looking away when he gives me a funny look.

"Your mom called my mom and my mom called me..." He tells me, hinting at the fact that he knows my mom locked me out of the house. I don't respond, making it clear I prefer not to talk about it at the moment when I take a large gulp of the alcohol. My cheeks were puffed out as I met Liam's gaze with an even one, swallowing down the green apple flavored drink.

He sighs loudly, shaking his head at me and the sound of someone knocking on our door saves me from having to say anything else. Lila shoots up from where she sits, doing her best to run in her heels as she went to the front door. My mood has plummeted slightly at the reminder of my mom that I take frequent sips from my drink, gaze firmly focused on the TV screen.

It isn't until I feel hands on my shoulders squeezing lightly do I look up, and I nearly go into cardiac arrest when I do. My jaw just about hits the floor, eyes moving steadily over Harry's costume. From the big red 'S' on his blue t-shirt, to the white fitted dress shirt over it that was only halfway buttoned up, to the black squared nerd glasses he had on his face. Fuck me. His short hair was even combed, a loose strand falling over his forehead.

"Holy fuck." I spluttered with out thinking, standing up on my feet and letting one of my hands fall on his shoulder. "Harry. You dressed up as my favorite super hero? My crush?"

"I believe my name is Clark, baby." He smirks at me and I just about melt when his dimples pierce his cheeks. They complete the look so well. His hands rest on my waist and his eyes move over my body, lip tucking between his teeth. "Jesus Christ. You look sexy."

"Yeah?" I ask a little gently, tucking my hair behind my ear. I really had been self conscious about wearing this out tonight but the way Harry was eyeing my body was reinstating my confidence.

"Yes," he breaths, leaning down until our foreheads are pressed together. His hand on my waist glides down and he fingers the hole of my tights. "These fishnets have my mind running wild." He mumbles, then flicks the handcuffs attached to the belt loop of the leather skirt. "So do these."

I grin, lifting my arms up to wrap them around his neck. "Maybe I can handcuff superman later."

He grins cheekily, closing the small gap between us to plant a kiss to my lips. It doesn't last long before I hear the sound of someone coughing obnoxiously loud. Pulling away, I look past Harry's shoulder to see Liam scrunching his nose at us.

"Can you not talk about fucking each other in front of me? Thanks."

"Sorry." I laugh but Harry flushes slightly, avoiding eye contact with Liam. I sit back down on the love seat and pull Harry down beside me, my tongue licking my bottom lip where I taste whiskey. Eyebrows furrowed, I glance at Harry and notice for the first time that his eyes are slightly red.

"Have you already started drinking?" I asked him, his arm coming around my waist.

"Yeah, Anthony and I had about four shots before we got here." He says, looking down at me and smiling. "Why?"

"Your eyes are a bit red." I tell him, laughing when he only grins more.

"I was fine when we left but they started to hit me when we were walking here." He chuckles, his arm around me squeezing me once. "But I'm okay though."

"Not for long." I sing, holding my big bottle of Smirnoff up. "You're sharing this with me."

"Are you trying to get me trashed?" He asked, an amused smirk on his lips. I shrugged, taking another large gulp of the alcohol before passing it to him. My face scrunches up slightly when it goes down and I watch Harry take a drink with such ease.

"Possibly. I want you to have fun tonight." I tell him, wrapping my own arm around his waist and leaning into him. I get a whiff of his intoxicating cologne and it only makes me snuggle closer into him until my mouth is close to his ear. "Besides, it's not like we can make a mistake of us hooking up. It won't matter since you're my boyfriend."

He hums, nodding in agreement before turning his head and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You are absolutely right."

"I'm always right."

"My mum told me to always agree with a girl when she says that even if it's not true, so yes, you are always right."

"Your mum is also right."

He chuckles. "Yeah."

We spend the next hour drinking and talking, the game cards against humanity being pulled out a half hour before we have to leave. I was getting tipsy quite fast and I was convinced Harry was borderline drunk with the way he seemed more outspoken and laughed at the smallest things. He was being silly as well to the point where it was adorable and I wanted to pinch his cheeks. And his humor through out the card game had me choking on my drink. He was very good at making sure the cards he put down went well with the black card. The boy had a dirty mind. Even Liam was snorting in amusement whenever Harry's card was read aloud. Of course, none of us knew it was his card until we declared it the winner and he reached for the black card with pride.

"I've got five cards, I'm winning." Harry announced, grinning deviously when he eyed my cards. I along with Andy only had two while Lila had three, and both Liam and Anthony had one.

"Seems you're going to end up being the winner because we need to head out." Liam said once he glanced at the time. It was already almost ten. "Harry wins!"

"I win!" Harry shouts in happiness, standing up on his feet and holding his arms out above him. "Yesssssss."

I laugh, shaking my head and standing up. "Yes, Harry, you won."

"Okay so what's my prize?" He asks me, red eyes meeting mine and I can already see the direction his thoughts are taking when his mouth pulls up into a slow dirty smirk. "How about you put those handcuffs to use and give me a repeat of Saturday night when you suc-,"

I slapped my hand over Harry's mouth, eyes wide as I looked towards Liam and Andy. Liam had his ears plugged while Andy was chuckling around the rim of his bottle. My cheeks were burning slightly and I looked back at Harry, his eyes twinkling in amusement just as his tongue poked out to lick my palm. I drew it back instantly, wiping it on his shirt as I shook my head but an amused smile played at my lips.

"You're so vulgar when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk."

"Well, you're getting there." I told him, reaching for my bottle and quickly chugging. I was being a little careless and not pacing myself but I wanted to let lose and be on the same level as Harry. Everything was much more fun when you were drunk with everyone else. Plus, Andy and Liam had already agreed to stay sober enough to take care of the rest of us. So I was free to get trashed if I wanted to.

I handed the bottle to Harry afterwards and he eagerly accepted it, bringing it to his lips. "Don't drink so much, that's it for you until we get there. I don't want you to puke."

"Okay baby." He smiled down at me widely, pecking my lips and setting the bottle down on the coffee table.

"Let's go!" Lila said enthusiastically. Her eyes were a little red as well and she clung to Anthony's arm as he lead her out of the apartment. Harry wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we headed out, Liam behind me to make sure the door was properly locked.

The walk to the subway wasn't long and neither was the ride itself and before we knew it, we were walking through the entrance of the club. The music was loud, strobe lights flickering through the large room. The bar was decorated with fake spider webs and bats hung from the ceilings, black lights lighting up the dance floor and walls where fake blood littered. The bass of the song currently playing could be felt in my chest and my hips rocked to the beat slightly as we threaded through the crowd, Harry's hand tightly clasped around mine.

"Let's sit there!" Liam shouted loudly to be heard over the music, pointing to a table where a few guys were sat. I recognized them as some of Liam's other friends but I didn't know their names. We nodded and he lead us there, where short introductions were made. I could barely hear them when they spoke their names and I was too buzzed to even remember it anyways so I simply nodded and smiled.

Liam and Andy were talking with their friends and Lila and Anthony were in their own world, his arms hung loosely around her waist as they swayed slightly. Harry still had his hand wrapped around mine, but as if knowing what I was thinking he tugged me as he walked backwards onto the dance floor. A smirk was plastered on his face until he released me and started dancing on his own, doing ridiculous moves that I had never seen him do before. He swayed his hips dramatically and I laughed, my eyes pinching in the corners as I did. By now, Lila and Anthony had moved closer to us and were dancing but were also laughing along with me as Harry danced to entertain us.

The beginning of a familiar song by Ariana Grande started to play, one that Lila and I liked quite a lot and Harry started thrusting his shoulder to the beat. His head moved with it as well and I swayed my hips to the rhythm, smiling at Harry as he looked at me. He raised his fist, pumping it in the air as he bit hard on his lip with his eyebrows pulled together tightly. Moving closer to me as he did this, he slung his arm around my waist once I was close enough and swayed us both to the same beat.

"Who knew you could dance." I say into his ear, loud enough for him to hear me over the music.

"I'm kind of drunk, don't expect this every time." He warned me with a smile and I laughed, pressing a kiss to his jaw.

"Drunk Harry might be my favorite."

"Heeeey." He pouted and I kissed it away, unable to help myself with how cute he looked. It was a miracle to me how he could pull off any look he wanted. I wouldn't complain if he wore a pair of glasses permanently. They were sexy on him, just like everything else he wore.

"I'm kidding." I laughed, fisting the fabric of his dress shirt in my hands to bring him closer. "I love every kind of Harry." I said with out thinking, my breath catching once I realized I used the word love instead of like. My heart picked up speed and I suddenly felt very sober. I might have been freaking out on the inside but I kept the grin on my face intact as I gauged Harry's reaction. He hadn't noticed though, or maybe he did. But he merely smiled, eyes half lidded before he bent down to kiss me. It was sloppy but I didn't mind it as his hand cupped my cheek and his tongue slipped into my mouth. He tasted like green apple and smelled like vanilla.

He pulled back and pressed his forehead to mine, but kept his eyes locked with my own. Our swaying coming to a halt, despite the loud music still playing. A crease formed in his forehead and he licked his lips, worry etching his features.

"Em, are you okay?" He asked and my face twisted in confusion at the odd question.

"What?" I said loudly, my eyes flickering back and forth between his. "What do you mean?"

"You've been jumpy," he says, his words starting to slur. "Is it me? Do you not like me anymore?"

My head reeled back and I blinked at him in surprise, quickly shaking my head. "What? Harry, no. Of course I still like you." More than that. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" He asked, lips brushing mine as he brought us closer together. "Cause' you've been acting weird."

I open my mouth to say something when a hard body slams into me from behind, knocking the air out of me momentarily as I stumble forward into Harry. His arm around me tightens to hold me up as he falters on his own feet for a moment, eyes blinking repeatedly just as my turn to look behind me. Just as I do, I see a tall figure with a black hoodie and my eyebrows pull together when I see it. The person stood out amongst everyone else considering every other person was wearing some kind of costume. But this person was wearing a pair of sweats and a hoodie. One that looked awfully like the same one the person who ran into me on the street was wearing.

"Babe," Harry tugged on my elbow and I looked back at him to see his face twisted in worry again. "What is it? What's wrong?" His gaze flickers to our surroundings and I immediately look back to where I had saw the person with the black hood, but they're gone. My gaze sweeps across the crowd quickly and yet, they're nowhere to be seen and for a moment I wonder if I hallucinated it.

"Em?" Harry asks again and I shake my head, along with the feeling of someone watching me away. I was being paranoid.

"I'm fine, nothing's wrong." I tell him, turning back to him and leaning up to press my lips to his. His kiss eases my nerves but not fully, because a feeling in my gut is telling me there was a reason why I felt 'paranoid' about this in the first place.

Something wasn't right.

* * * * * * * * *

Rip to Johannah. I was so sad when I heard the news, I don't even know her personally but I still felt affected by it. I'm so proud of Louis for going on stage and performing just days after she passed. He's unbelievably strong and brave and I admire him so much for it. 😩❤️

Questions:

Favorite part?

Who is this person in the black hood?

I was watching Supergirl whilst writing this and I thought Harry as Clark Kent would be so hot. Why hasn't anyone made that into a fic? Damn, maybe I will.

I'll update again soon, I'm on break now so I'm gonna try to actually finish this story before break ends. Thanks for reading <3