You're Shit At Lying

Chapter 22 - Hidden So Well

SIMON'S POV:
We had now been out for around fifteen minutes, only just arriving at the restaurant. Already, I was growing worried about Harry, and regretted leaving him alone in the house. We took our seats in a booth, and ordered some drinks before deciding what to eat. "Someone should be with him" I spoke aloud, at first not realising my thoughts had become apparent to the guys. Though, they just nodded in agreement. I took my phone out of my pocket and opened WhatsApp. I scrolled through my recents and looked for people active. Only four people.
Lux - Definite no.
Freezy - Definite no.
Tobi - Sat opposite me.
Talia - A possibility.
I clicked on her name and before typing out a message I thought to myself. The two hardly know each other, but then again she's our only option right now. He needs someone there with him, so this would have to do. "How about Talia?" I questioned. In return i just received a 'sure' an 'I guess' and a few approving nods. So I spoke to her.

Hey
Please could you do me a huge favour?
1:26pm

Sure what is it? x
1:26pm

Please could you go to the sidemen house?
Me and the boys are at Nando's but Harry is still there. Already regretting leaving him alone and no one else to ask, because no one really knows the situation. He really shouldn't be alone rn
1:27pm

Yeah ofc I'm with Freya rn so we'll be round there in about half an hour, sound good? x
1:29pm

Perfect thank you x
1:29pm

Talia already knew about what was happening with Harry. Yes, I probably shouldn't have told anyone, but she's my girlfriend. She could tell that something was really bothering me and she asked about it. I wasn't just gonna lie to her about it.
After telling the boys what was gonna happen I sat back in the seat I was in and finally felt myself relax a little. I didn't have to worry about the situation as much anymore, and god, that was a good feeling. It's not like I don't care about harry, because I do. I really really do, it's just that things like this can be very stressful and it feels good to just take a bit of a break from that all. No drama. No fuss.

TALIA'S POV:
I'm not gonna lie, I was a bit confused as to why Simon asked me to check on Harry. Of all people, I thought I'd not be an option, considering I hardly know him. But either way I don't really mind. I'd do anything for Simon. After giving Freya a brief explanation of what has been happening she said she was more than happy to help. Plus, she knows him a bit more well than I do, considering she's been with josh for a very VERY long time. We finished up at mine and ordered an Uber to the sidemen house. I didn't tell Freya that much about it all, considering it's Harry's private business, also I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to know anything about this either. After a short ride we arrived at the destination and thanked the driver as we got out of the car. And it suddenly hit me. What am I supposed to do? Do I have to speak to him? Or am I just supposed to sit on the sofa whilst he's in the spare room? Discarding my thoughts, I walked towards the front door, with Freya by my side. She passed me a key and I unlocked it.

I shot Simon a quick text after sitting down and putting my bag on the black sofa, telling him that we got here, and then after a few minutes we headed upstairs to the spare room.

HARRY'S POV:
I heard the front door unlock and instantly panicked. Why had they come back so early? I shoved the now used blade to the bottom of my draws, and chucked on a black hoodie to cover myself. I stared at my reflection in the mirror for about a minute, with no expression on my face. My face was very puffy from the amount of crying I had been doing, I had been since the boys left, over an hour ago, I looked dead behind the eyes. They were all red and bloodshot, and my eyelashes stuck together. Disgusting as fuck. I redirected my attention back to the sound downstairs. It wasn't the boys. Who the hell was in the house? Is it burglars?
My head started to go crazy with the thought of strangers in the house. I listened carefully and sighed in relief, Freya's voice squeaked from downstairs. I sat back on the bed, steadying myself and breathing deeply. Why was Freya here? And who was with her? It wasn't josh, another girl. Talia? Why the hell are Talia and Freya here?

I walked to the bedroom door, trying to build up courage to go downstairs and greet them.
I can't. I can't fucking do it. I can't leave this room.
I breathed in and out repeatedly, trying to muster enough strength to open the door. It pained me to move. The thought of them staring at me whilst I walked down the stairs, or them having a go at me because I didn't go out for lunch with their boyfriends, terrified me. The room slowly started to spin as my breathing started to become erratic. My hands were clammy as I ran them through my hair. I slowly walked back and forth as I shook, I was breaking a sweat. Small sobs began to escape my mouth as i gasped for air. A panic attack right now, seriously? Negative thoughts began to fill my mind as I cried more intensely, though trying to keep sound to a minimum. Not an easy task to accomplish.

TALIA'S POV:
As we walked up the stairs me and Freya turned to each other, giving a confused look each. Suppressed cries came from a room on the first floor, Harry.
I immediately picked up my pace as I made my way to the guest bedroom and opened it so see a horrible sight. Freya appeared next to me as she gasped. What was infront of us was such a horrible thing to see. I ran over to Harry as i gained his attention, grabbing his hands. I took him through every step necessary to regain a steady breathing pattern, yet I couldn't stop his cries. He broke down. Right infront of us. He lifted his hands up to his face, to shelter himself away from us. I sat next to him and rubbed his back, and before I could say a word, his cries became louder, as he started he choke on his teas.

Freya looked to me, confused as what to do. I mimicked the gesture of having a drink and she ran out of the room. I continued to rub Harry's back as thoughts filled my mind. How did he get like this? What caused him to have such a brutal panic attack? Was it just that, or now something more? A panic attack followed by a mental breakdown? My thoughts dissipated as Freya appeared infront of me with a glass of water. She passed it to me as I spoke to the boy, who had calmed down slightly.
"Drink" I insisted, as I gently placed the glass in his shaky hand, and he did just that. After 20 minutes or so, he had calmed down and was no longer crying. That was crazy. I looked to him and he had guilt and embarrassment written all over his face.
"It's okay, you know. I've dealt with my fair share of panic attacks aswell." I said, as sweetly as I could. I wanted him to know he wansnt alone right now. He looked up to me, confusion glacing his eyes. I softly giggled before i spoke again. "Anxiety's a bitch" I said, keeping it short. He immediately nodded in agreement before he closed his eyes again, and let a breath out. In that specific moment I couldn't help but feel bad for him.

He keeps it hidden so well, but I could just tell.
He's broken, and has been for a while.

Okay so I recently I've noticed that in pretty much every 'sdmn fanfic' published within the past year, Talia has been made into a bitch. So I wanted to do it a little differently, more true to her actual self. :))_

Also sorry for all the changes in pov, just flows better like that :(_