The Truth

Chapter 8

Hadley's point of view

I wake up with my arms around Liam, tears stain his shirt, and he snores softly. I get up from the couch slowly and look in the mirror. I look like s**t. My make up stains my face, my hair is a rats nest, and I'm tear streaked. I decide Liam won't mind if I take a shower and use his shampoo and conditioner (which he now uses as his hair is growing out again, he can almost coif it), so I turn on the hotel shower and take off my clothes while I wait for it to heat up.

I step under the steaming water, hoping it'll wash away all the memories from yesterday. I can't believe he said that. After he tried to be with me for so long, and was my best friend, he called me a w***e. I just don't get it. 

I start singing Little Things as I was my hair. Im a crap singer, but I like doing it anyway.

I wash my face with Liam's face wash and then turn off the shower. I wrap myself in a towel and then I'm faced with a dilemma. What do I wear? I don't want to wear my clothes from yesterday, that's gross. Liam's still asleep on the couch and I creep into his bedroom and open his dresser. After a bit of rummaging I find a sweatshirt and I put it on. It's practically a dress on me, but it smells like him and its really cozy. Then I look for sweatpants, but they fall down, not even touching my waist. I decide the sweatshirt is long enough and go without pants.

I go out into the living room and rummage around for food. Liam and Niall share a hotel room, there's GOTTA be food.

"There's gotta be foooooooooood, yummy foooooooooood..." I sing softly, changing the lyrics to Gotta Be You. "Ah hah!" I find a carton of eggs and I start making scrambled eggs. I hear Liam stir.

"Are you wearing my clothes?" He asks in the incredibly sexy morning voice that only boys seem to possess. My morning voice sounds like I'm dying.

"Yeah, is that okay?" I ask.

"It's fine." He assures me, getting up and hugging me from behind. He kisses my cheek, "I gotta pee, then I'll help you with breakfast after." He says and goes into the bathroom. Then Niall emerges from his bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

"My eyes!" I yell, covering my face.

"Oh, sorry." He mumbles, obviously sill groggy. He goes back into his room and comes back out, now with pajama trousers on. "Wait a minute. F**k. Who did I bring home last night? Is she still here?" He wonders.

"Niall, I thought you were dating someone! When we played truth or dare..."

"Yeah, I just wanted it to be Liam and Harry who kissed you." He says, then turns his attention back to the doorway to go see if his lady friend was still there.

"Oh f**k, what did I drink last night?" We hear a girl mumble, and the rustle of covers. She emerges from the room wrapped in the bed comforter.

"Has anyone seen my clo-" we all stop dead, Liam coming out from the bathroom. All four of us have our mouths hanging open, staring at one another. Liam breaks the silence.

"Danielle?" He gasps.

"DANIELLE?" Niall yells, looking appalled at himself. "Oh my god, mate I'm so sorry! I didn't mean- I didn't know- oh my god I fucked your ex." He grabs fistfuls of his hair, wide eyed and staring at Danielle.

Liam shakes the shock off him, noticing me again, still standing there, unsure if what to do. What if, now that he's seen her, he wants her back?

"So, um, Danielle, this is Hadley, my girlfriend." He says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. 

"We've actually met." I say, "um, nice to see you again."

"You've met?" He asks.

"Yeah she came over my house when I was grounded and-"

"Thanked her for making you happy." Danielle interrupts. 

"And threaten me." I shrug.

"Not really threaten! Just offer some... friendly competition." She shrugs.

"For what?!" Liam asks, looking weirded out.

"You." Danielle and I say at the same time. He looks back and forth between us. Oh god, I she going to choose or something? Danielle notices my lack of pants, though she shouldn't judge, being completely naked under the comforter. Niall is still looking at her like, "What the hell?!" 

Just then the phone rings, but we all let it go to voice mail. Harry's voice starts speaking and I groan, "Just what I f*****g need right now." I walk over to the answering machine, throwing my hands up, which makes the sweatshirt rise a little and I can feel Liam's eyes on me.

"Hey Liam, Hadley, and Niall. Um, I'm calling for Hadley and Liam. I just want to apologize. Um, Louis and Eleanor were over last night and they got me a steak to put on my eye, just thought I'd let you know, Liam, cause I know how guilty you get sometimes. I'm sorry for calling you those things, Hadles, I didn't mean them, I was just-" he pauses, stopping himself from whatever he was saying, "I wasn't thinking. And I'm sorry you told me what you did, you shouldn't have had to. It was your secret, I shouldn't have forced you to open up if you didn't want to. Um. Yeah, bye." The machine beeps and Liam looks at me questioningly.

"Dani, I think you should leave now. I'm sorry." Niall says.

"I would, but I don't know where you put my clothes!"

"Somewhere that's obviously not on your body!" I say sarcastically. The next few minutes are spent trying to find Danielle's clothes, and it just so happens to be Liam who finds her underwear. Lacy and red. He gulps, looks at me again, and hands them to her swiftly.

Once she leaves, Niall takes a shower to try to sort his brain out.

"What did you tell Harry?" Liam asks, the curiosity obviously too much. I wring my fingers, "Um... I didn't want to tell anybody, no one knows, well actually, that's not true, Liz drove me because I didn't have my license. I, um, when I was sixteen, I, um, I had an abortion. They were twins. A boy and a girl. I know I wasn't supposed to name them, but Zachary and Michelle were their names." I start to cry quietly, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Who was the dad?" He asks. I just shake my head back and forth, the sobs really coming now. "I don't know! That's the worst part!" I wail, getting up and grabbing my stuff. Thankfully, Liam found me a pair of pants and I run out of the hotel crying so hard I can barely see.

"Hadley, wait! Hadley!" I hear Liam call, but I don't stop.

He wouldn't even touch me.

It's in my car that I finally stop crying. Usually in books and movies its in the car where everything just comes out, when the character cries because they're alone. They yell and wail and swear and sob until there's nothing left, but the minutes I was alone I stopped crying, dried my eyes, turned in the radio and drove home.

I knock on Harry's door. It opens almost immediately and he crushes me in a bear hug.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry please forgive me Hadley!" He says.

"Harry, let go." He doesn't, "Harry, let GO!" I scream, and he immediately unwraps his arms from around me, looking upset.

"What were you going to say on the voicemail?" Okay, that wasn't what I had planned on saying.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." He stammers.

"You were going to say something! Now tell me! You don't deserve secrets anymore!" I yell.

He stands there for a moment, looking torn. He leans forward so his weight is on his toes, then leans back, still undecided. Then, he whispers, very, very quietly, "I was going to say I was hurt."

"And why would you be hurt that I had sex with my boyfriend? Isn't that normal?" I say.

Again a long pause, he doesn't say anything. 

Harry's point of view

I debate kissing her, holding her to me and never letting go. I debate dropping the subject, but finally I settle on the plain truth, "Hadley... I'm falling for you." I say, the words I've so desperately wanted to say finally coming out. I look into her eyes as they search mine. I'm squeezing her wrists like they're keeping me alive.

Finally she takes a breath, "Don't fall for me, I'm not worth hitting the ground and shattering. Please, don't fall for me. Fall for someone who can catch you."

"But, Hadley, I love y-" I start.

"Don't. Don't, Harry, don't love me. You're whole. Liam and I are both broken, and so we're good for each other. I'll just hurt you. And besides, I love Liam." She says sadly. The words come as a slap. I love Liam.

Liam.

"You're happy with him, then?" I ask, feeling my throat close up and the pain of heartbroken-ness well up in my chest, cracking me into a thousand tiny pieces, ready to fall apart in a shower of shards.

"Yes, I love him." She nods, almost as if convincing herself. The pieces burst and I feel all the life whoosh out of me, my breath billowing out and my shoulders slumping.

"Well all I want is for you to be happy. I'll stay away." I say, letting go of her wrists and going back to my apartment. 

A good friend of mine once said "We shouldn't fall in love, we should love, because everything that falls gets broken." 

I suppose she was right, I think, feeling the shards pierce my skin from the inside out. I succumb to the pain and fall asleep.

Author's Note

Reviews please!
I had a completely different version but that will probably come later

Reviews

[Taylor Ann]

I've been sitting at my computer for five minutes straight, just staring at the last three sentences. I just...I don't even know how to respond to them! Harry! But, I thought Liam still had feelings for Danielle, and plus they're back together in real life, so it wouldn't be weird if they got together! *Breaks down sobbing* I thought you couldn't put your characters through pain for more than a few chapters! Poor Harry! I just feel so bad for him!
Please fix this, Sophie, Please!!

[Sophie]

omg in the original version he did kiss her and then told her he loved her and then it skips a line and she's grabbing her clothes and leaving his apartment calling herself a w***e and going all destructive this version is better ok I cried in the first one

[Taylor Ann]

Ah! Are you serious?! I can't even form words right now. asdkfjlsdfkalgjl. That's all I can find. ASKDSLKDFJLSDKGS! I just...I wish she would love Harry. Her and Liam are cute and everything, but...Harry! My stomach literally has a knot in it right now. asdkgjlasd. What have you done to me?!

[Sophie]

I'm sorry D: