Caught in a Lie ~ h.s.

♕ XVIII ♕

♕♕♕

I ran. I didn't know what else to do so I just ran, like the king's office was in flames.

I ran from his office, practically tackling Niall to the ground by accident when we collided. It was clear he had heard all, the guilt on his features painful to see. He tried to console me, wiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb so gently that the contact wouldn't irritate the already bruising skin underneath. He tried reassuring me that all was well and he'd take me to my room, but I wasn't having it.

I ran from the third level with Niall in tow, passing my shocked mother standing at the entrance of her and the king's chambers. There was a look of guilt across her features, as if she'd heard the entire conversation from her room. She tried to call after me, but I continued to run as if I hadn't even heard her. My mother didn't try that hard to come after me.

I ran through the palace, maids and guards alarmed, but said nothing as we rushed past them. I didn't stop running until I reached the garage, the one that housed the vehicles Gwen and I used to drive around the property when we were bored and when we learned to drive. I begged Niall to take me anywhere but here. He was hesitant, trying to calm the raging beast that was me, but I begged and begged until he gave in. He drove because it'd been years since I'd been in the driver's seat and because my tears would have surely gotten us into an accident.

I ran inside the only place I felt safe anymore as soon as Niall put the expensive car into park; the forty minute driving did little to calm me down. He called after me to slow down and wait for him, but I ignored his orders. I didn't bother with the lift so I took the stairs. Running up five sets of stairs felt like child's play with the state I was in, so easy that I was standing before his door before I knew it.

Like a magnet to metal, I ran to him.

"Mary."

I run into his arms the second he pulls the door open. My arms wound around his waist like ropes as I bury my face deep into his tee, fistfulls of his shirt grasped harshly in my hands. He's still at first, my sudden appearance startling to him, but when he feels my body struggling for air he's immediately comforting me.

"What's going on? Mary." I hear footsteps from behind me before Harry's voice is directed in another direction. "Niall, what is happening?" There's silence from Niall and I feel badly that I've put him in this situation. There's another round of silence for a moment, the only sound my sobs.

"She wouldn't tell me; she just forced me to bring her to you." I sob harder against Harry, squeezing him tighter as if he'll disappear from my grasp.

"Um, do you want to come in?" I hear Harry ask, his words vibrating in his chest. His words aren't directed towards me, but the man breathing heavily behind me.

"No, she needs you more than she needs me right now." And with that, the man I'm wrapped around, pulls me back into his flat and closes the door to the outside world. He only asks what's wrong once before leaving the question in the dust and focusing on seizing my tears.

I find myself unable to look up at him, guilt of my actions and anger towards my father clouding my judgment. I shouldn't have come here. This is incredibly selfish of me. Harry doesn't deserve this.

"Baby, c'mon, love."

With ease, Harry lifts me off the ground and carries me deeper into his homey flat, shushing my tears as he goes. I'm set onto the couch, my face still buried against Harry's neck, not wanting to show my face to the world; not wanting Harry to see the bruise that's adorning my porcelain skin. I don't know how he'll react to the damage done to my face.