Lucy's POV:
"You shouldn't have run away from me, Lucy, " my father says, and his voice makes my skin crawl. I hoped I'd never have to hear it again, but here he is. I can't move, I can't speak. I'm so shocked to see him standing here, and by the looks of it, he's not surprised to see me at all. He planned this, he knew I'd have to come to the bathroom at some point tonight. He's like a snake, just waiting to strike.
I finally unfreeze and try to run for the door, but a large hand grabs both my wrists as the other is forced over my mouth. He drags me back inside, throwing me to the tiled floor.
My head makes contact with the wall as I slam into it and I see stars. I'm collapsed on the floor but I remember what he does if you're lying down, so I hastily get to my feet before he can start kicking me. Just as I stand up, he shoves my shoulders back and pins me against the wall. The cold of the tile hits my skin, sending shivers down my spine and raising goosebumps on my arms.
"You think you can just leave? Huh? You think that I wouldn't be able to find you?" His breath reeks of liquor as it hits my face. We are only inches apart, his hand still covering my mouth to keep me from crying out. "You might have actually gotten away with it, if you handn't gotten yourself on national television with some famous, good for nothing, pretty-boy!"
"How did you find me?" I ask in a surprisingly calm voice, despite the panic I feel inside. My father rolls his eyes in disgust and spits on the floor, making me cringe.
"I just told you, didn't I? You never fucking listen, you piece of shit!" he screams and slaps me across the face. My cheek stings and my eyes well up with tears, but I don't let them fall. I can't appear weak in front of Charie, or he'll take advantage. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that.
"I flew out here as soon as I saw you on the news. You were with that fuck-up boybander, Harry Styles or some shit? The one who left you? And after all this time you come crawling back to him like the whore you are. You both can go to hell, no one would miss you anyway."
My body shakes with a combination of fear and rage. How dare my father say these things about Harry? He knows Harry, they were close. I'm used to him insulting me, but Harry is where I draw the line. He can't just get away with this anymore. I guess a lot has changed, including me. I won't just sit back and let him hurt me, not this time.
I wrench my hands out of his grip and push his chest back as hard as I can. My father stumbles back but doesn't fall. I try to run for the door, but my high heels slow me down. Dammit, this is why I never wear these things.
I have almost reached the door when a hand grips my arm and swings me around. The last thing I remember is the loud crack of my head hitting the sink and pain shooting through my skull before everything goes black.
Harry's POV:
It had been a while since Lucy left for the bathroom. I've been searching everywhere, but I can't find her. I have the other boys looking for her as well, but so far we haven't had any luck. I was starting to get really worried. What if she got lost? What if some guy was bothering her? The thought of that kept me looking.
After searching the entire club, I come to the conclusion that she might still be in the bathroom. I quickly shove my way through the sea of people, earning dirty looks but I don't care. I need to find Lucy.
I reach the bathrooms and throw open the door to the ladies' one, not caring who sees me. The sight in front of my makes bile rise in my throat.
Lucy is lying in a heap on the white, tiled floor. Blood is seeping out of a spot on her head, and I see some splattered on the sink and floor as well. She is unconscious, and I would rush over and take her to a hospital if it weren't for the man kicking her in the ribs.
He turns to face me when I burst through the doors. His hands are covered in Lucy's blood. I barely recognize him, but I can still tell he's Lucy's father, Charlie. He looks so different from when I last saw him. He has grown a beard and lost his clean-cut look. He looks filthy and drunk.
A glass that was once filled with scotch by the looks of it, it shattered on the floor next to Lucy. Shards of it have sliced her arms and wrists, leaving blood trails on the floor.
I'm so angry that I literally see red. Without thinking, I launch myself at him. We both fall to the floor, and I'm on top of him. My fist makes contact with his face multiple times before he even registers what's going on. When he does, his right fist swings up and connects with my jaw. The pain is not enough to cause me to stop attacking him though.
I punch him until blood spews out of his mouth and his eyes roll back in his head. He's too old and drunk to put up much of a fight. Good. I should stop now, but the sight of Lucy unconscious from what her father has done just fuels my anger.
Lucy. She needs to get to the hospital. I force myself to stop attacking Charlie and run over to Lucy. She's breathing, thank God. Charlie moans and rolls over on the floor, making no effort to get up. Scumbag.
I ignore the searing pain that shoots through my right hand when I pick Lucy up off of the floor. Just as I secure her in my arms, Niall, Louis, Liam, and Zayn burst through the door. Their eyes widen in shock as they take in the scene. There's no time to explain what just happened, so I tell them what they need to know.
"That's Lucy's father. I found her like this and he did it. Make sure that fucking bastard doesn't get away, I have to take Lucy to the hospital. Tell Paul!" I explain, my voice loud and rushed. The boys all nod, still confused, and I take that as my cue to leave.
I burst out of the bathroom, ignoring the shocked and suspicious stares from various people in the club. I run through the building, still carrying Lucy. When I finally reach the exit, I burst through the doors and am relieved when there are no paparazzi. They probably weren't expecting us to come out until quite a while later.
I support Lucy with only one arm as I frantically hail a cab with the other. I quickly check to see if she's still breathing when we get into the car, and breathe a sigh of relief when I hear the steady rhythm of her heart against her chest.
I throw open the door to the cab and shout at the driver to take us to the nearest hospital. As the car takes off, I rip off my jacket and put it on Lucy. Next, I pull off my shirt and try to staunch the flow of blood that's streaming from her head.
I can feel tears forming in my eyes as I look down at the beautiful girl in my lap. I promised I wouldn't let that pathetic excuse for a father hurt her, but it happened anyway. He hurt her so badly, and it's all my fault. I close my eyes and let the tears roll down my cheeks.
I still can't believe Charlie fucking did that! My emotions change from anger to guilt to sadness to worry and then back to anger. I punch the back of the seat, then let out a yelp from the blinding pain I just caused in my right hand. I think I busted it beating up Charlie. I really couldn't care less though, that scumbag deserved what he got and I'd do it again a thousand times over.
The taxi driver stops the car right in front of the doors labeled "EMERGENCY'. I throw some bills at him before scooping up Lucy again and running inside. I stop running once we're in the hospital and whip my head from side to side, looking for someone to help us.
I jog up to the front desk and confront the lady behind it.
"Please, she hit her head really hard and she's bleeding and unconscious. She needs immediate care!" I gasp, out of breath. The lady takes one look at Lucy before standing and hurrying towards us.
"Come with me, sir," she says, and I follow her through the double doors to the hospital rooms. A woman comes rushing toward us from the other end of the hall.
"I've got it, Martha," she says, laying a hand on my bare shoulder and leading us to an empty room.
"Lay her there please," the nurse says, motioning to the bed. I do as she says and carefully position Lucy on the mattress.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?" the lady, Amanda (according to her name tag) asks.
I nod and begin to explain the whole story. I leave out the part about how the man who assaulted her was her own father, that was unnecessary information.
When I've answered all her questions, she tells me I have to leave so she can run some tests and call the doctor. I reluctantly agree and walk slowly back to the waiting room. Once I step through the double doors, I can't hold back my tears any longer.
They are tears of frustration, fear, anger, and guilt. I hate myself for letting that happen to her, I swore to myself I wouldn't let anything hut her more than she's already been hurt. I let her down, and I let myself down. I'm such a piece of shit.
Taking a seat in one of the hard plastic hospital chairs, I bury my face in my hands and try to steady my breathing. The tears find a way to escape my eyes even when they're squeezed tightly shut. I run a hand through my hair, tugging a bit harder than I meant to.
My hand is broken, without a doubt, but I welcome the pain as a distraction from my emotions. I sigh deeply, and feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up and my eyes meet Louis' sympathetic ones. He offers me a small, sad smile, but when I try to return it, it turns out as more of a grimace.
I see the rest of the boys standing behind him, along with Alberto, Paul, and Preston. They're all looking at me, and I notice Niall has tears in his eyes. Him and Lucy have become very close in the past few weeks, and I can see how worried he is. I sigh yet again and lean back in my chair.
"She's still unconscious, and her head was bleeding pretty bad. They didn't tell me anything, they just kicked me out so they could do tests," I fill them all in on what has been going on in the past hour or so.
"Wait, so that man was her father? What the hell?" Louis asks, sitting down next to me. Niall takes the seat on my other side and the rest stay standing. I take a deep breath before explaining to them everything. They already know about how her father used to beat her, but I fill them in on how he moved to LA and the text she received. Once I'm done explaining, I'm totally drained.
"I promised I wouldn't let him hurt her. I fucking promised. I let her down," I say quietly, more to myself than anyone else.
"No, Harry. This isn't your fault. The girl went to the bathroom, you couldn't have known that her psycho dad would be in there," Louis says in a soothing voice. I just nod because I really don't have the energy to argue.
"Where's Charlie?" I blurt out, suddenly remembering how these guys were supposed to be watching him. They all look confused, and I remember that they don't know his name. "Lucy's father," I add, and their expressions darken.
"We called the police," Niall answers, his voice hoarse from crying. "We didn't know what happened, except he hurt her and he was her father. He got arrested and taken to the station."
A wave of relief washes over me when I hear that Charlie got arrested. Frankly, I think he deserves much worse, but arresting him will have to do for now. I relax quite a bit, but I'm still worried sick about Lucy.
"Harry, what happened to your hand?" Liam asks, stepping over and kneeling down in front of me. He takes my right hand to examine it, and I jerk it back.
"I'm fine," I snap. My stupid fucking broken hand doesn't matter. Lucy is unconscious and bleeding through her head, and people are worried about my hand?
I look down at it and see that it's already purple from bruises. There are deep gashes on each knuckle, but the middle one is the deepest. My hand is also covered in a mix of mine and Charlie's blood. Yeah, it hurts like hell, but it's insignificant. Lucy is more important here.
"Harry, come on. We're not gonna hear anything for a while. Just go get your hand fixed. It's not helping Lucy to sit here doing nothing," Liam speaks to me in a soft voice, probably sensing that I could snap at any moment.
I surprise everyone, even myself, when I sigh and nod. I get to my feet and walk over to the front desk, still shirtless. Martha tells me directions on where to go, and I head back through the double doors and into the emergency wing of the hospital. I sit on the clean, white bed and dully answer the nurse's questions when she comes in. She then takes me to get X-rays and confirms what I already knew: my hand is broken.
Nancy, the nurse, then puts my hand in a cast, making me wince. The cast is white and reaches about a third of the way up my forearm. She tells me to keep it on for six weeks, and then gives me a black brace to wear after that. I just nod and agree through the whole thing, not really paying attention. I'm too busy worrying about Lucy and what might happen to her.
When Nancy tells me I can go, I quickly thank her and almost run back to the waiting room. I see all seven men sitting in a row on the chairs and I quickly make my way over to them.
"Have you heard anything?" I ask, shifting my eyes from one to the other.
"No, we haven-" Liam starts but is cut off by another voice.
"Mr...Styles?" I turn around to find the source of the voice. It's the same nurse that was taking care of Lucy. Amanda, I think her name was.
'Yeah, that's me," I say somewhat shakily as I make my was over to her.
"She's awake now, would you like to see her?" Amanda looks at me with kind eyes, patiently awaiting my answer. I nod feverishly and she turns on her heel and starts walking down the hall. I swivel my head to look at the boys, and they all nod and wave for me to go. I give them a small smile before following Amanda to Lucy's room.
When we step inside, my eyes immediately find Lucy. She's propped upright on the bed with a bandage around her head and a confused look on her face. Her eyes are frantically searching the room for something, but when her eyes find me, her face smooths over and she visibly relaxes.
"Harry," she breathes, barely audible. I walk slowly over to the bed so I'm standing beside her. I'm grateful when Amanda leaves then, giving us some privacy.
"How are you feeling, Luce?" I ask somewhat timidly, not really knowing how to act. She frowns as I instinctively reach my right hand up to rest on the bed.
"What happened to your hand?" she asks, taking it in her own. I involuntarily flinch.
"I, uh, broke it. I sort of blew up on your father," I say and she immediately tenses up at the mention of Charlie.
"Please don't call him that. That's a title he doesn't deserve." Lucy is holding back tears, and I can't tell whether it's from the physical pain or the emotional trauma. I just nod and replace my broken hand with my good one, giving her's a squeeze.
"I'm so sorry Lucy," I whisper, and this time I can't hold her gaze. I'm ashamed of myself for allowing Charlie to hurt her. My eyes well up with tears again and I let them fall to the cold tile floor that I'm kneeling on.
I feel two slender fingers slide under my chin and lift my head up. I'm now looking directly at Lucy, who still looks beautiful despite of the events that just occurred. She doesn't even have to try, she was born with incredible natural beauty.
"Harry, you have nothing to be sorry for. From what I've heard, you stopped him from doing further damage," she says softly, trying to soothe me, but I'm shaking my head before she even finishes. She frowns at me, but I have to apologize further.
"Lucy, I swore I wouldn't let him touch you. I broke my promise and I'm so, so sorry!" My voice cracks at the end and fresh tears escape my eyes. Lucy's hand gently cups my cheek, her thumb stroking it.
"Hey, hey. Shhh, Harry. You couldn't have known that this would happen. Please don't blame yourself, that's not helping anything. It'll just make me feel guilty." I glance up at her as she speaks to see that she has a small smile on her face as she watches me.
I sigh for the thousandth time tonight and squeeze my eyes shut. She's right, nobody could have predicted that her father - I mean Charlie - could have found her that quickly. I can't really blame myself or this mess, I can only blame Charlie.
"Okay. Charlie got arrested," I say. She was probably wondering what happened to him anyway. Her eyes widen and a breath escapes her lips. She gives me a genuine smile that I can't help but return. I stand up then bend down to kiss the top of her head, careful not to hurt her.
"So, what's the damage?" I ask, referring to her injuries.
"Umm, she said something like a concussion and a couple badly bruised ribs." Lucy tries to shrug, but then winces. Probably the ribs. Her own father caused these injuries. That disgusting man better go to jail for the rest of his miserable life for what he's done.
I clench my jaw and run a hand through my hair, not wanting Lucy to know how angered I am. She knows though. She always knows. Lucy squeezes my hand, trying to soothe me.
"Look, I'm fine. They said I can go home tonight and I just want to leave as soon as possible." Her voice motivates me to get off my ass and help get her out of here.
The rest of the night is spent with me listening to the doctors and following orders on how to keep Lucy healthy. Once I'm convinced that I am capable of taking care of her, we both walk back out to the waiting room.
Niall is hunched over with his head in his hands, staring at the floor. Liam is on his phone while Zayn and Louis are sleeping. As we approach them, Liam and Niall look up and they both attack us with questions. I wake up Louis and Zayn before explaining the injuries that Charlie inflicted. Since Lucy isn't huggable at the moment, everyone just smiles at her and I drape my arm over her shoulder.
"Let's get out of here," Lucy mumbles. I agree and we follow Paul and Alberto out the doors of the hospital. I don't know where Preston went, but I'm too tired to ask. We all climb into the SUV, Lucy wincing a bit as her torso bends.
I hate seeing her in pain, her pain is my pain. Lucy is a part of me, just as I am a part of her. Neither of us would ever be the same without the other and that's what true friendship is.
Friendship. If I'm completely honest with myself, I've always felt something for Lucy. Something more than just friends. I always suppressed it because I didn't want to ruin what we had, and I doubt she feels the same way anyway. But Lucy has everything I look for in a girl. She's funny, intelligent, talkative when she wants to be, but she's not clingy and doesn't pry. She's also incredibly beautiful, but most of all, she understands me. She never fails to amaze me, and I just don't know what I would've done if she hadn't come to that concert.
I realize that I just admitted to myself for the first time ever that I have feelings for Lucy. It's a relief in a way, that I don't have to hide my feelings anymore because that was actually quite a bit of work. But just because I admitted it to myself, does NOT mean that I will admit it to Lucy. She doesn't feel the same way about me, and if I told her that I had feelings for her, it would ruin the perfect friendship that we've built.
Still, I can't help but admire her beauty and wisdom. Nobody's perfect, I know that, but Lucy is damn close. Yes, I know it's cheesy, but it's true.
I don't realize I'm staring at her until she looks up at me and smiles. I grin back, happy to see that she's basically fine. I think we're all comforted to know that Charlie is most likely going to jail. That's a huge burden off Lucy's shoulders and I'm glad it's happening.
When we pull into the parking lot that hold the tour bus, it's about 1:30 in the morning. Everyone says goodnight and a last 'happy birthday' to Lucy before climbing the stairs to the bunk room.
Soon, it's just Lucy and me in the living room. I walk over to and wrap my arms around her in a loose hug, still being careful not to hurt her. She hugs me back and her hands go to the back of my neck as she twirls my hair in her fingers.
"Thank you, Harry. For everything. Despite everything that happened tonight, you boys still managed to make this the best birthday of my life." Her voice is barely audible, but I manage to hang on to every word. Instead of replying, I kiss the top of her head and take her hand in mine. I then lead her upstairs and after we both change (me in the bunk room, her in the bathroom), I pull her into bed with me.
She starts to object but I silence her and pull her closer to my body, nuzzling my face in her neck. I need her right now, and I know she needs me too. Lucy sighs and relaxes into my body, snuggling up next to me. My last memory is of Lucy's fingers intertwining with mine before I drift off into a dreamless sleep.