Niall’s POV:
“She’s finally asleep.” I commented walking back into the kitchen where I found Haley still waiting on me. By her worried face, I knew that she had sobered up in the time that Harry stormed out and now.
“I can’t believe I opened my big fat mouth. I’m a terrible friend.”
I sighed, running my hands through my hair. It was bound to happen sooner or later, there was no doubting that. “Don’t beat yourself up about this, it could have happened to anybody.”
“But, it shouldn’t have been me. He should have found out from her.”
“Hales, he was bound to find out. In the long run, it’ll probably do him more good than bad that he found out now.”
She looked down at the ground, burying her face in her hands. “She’s going to hate me.”
Haley was really upset about this, more than I took into account. I honestly didn’t know how to handle any other girl besides Taylor and even with her I knew the bare minimum.
“She won’t hate you. You’ve been her best friend for far too long and she’s not one to hold grudges.”
Silence surrounded us, and for a moment, I wondered just what Haley was thinking in that complicated mind of hers, the one that I couldn’t figure out. She had removed her face from her hands and was now taking interest in the patterns on the ceiling. Her face was unreadable, and it frustrated me to no end.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that we both deserve to have a large shot of tequila if we’re going to be dealing with the two quarreling lovers.”
“I think you’re right, but not tonight. You need to get home and get some rest.”
She bit her lip, driving me absolutely crazy. No matter how much I would try to deny it, Haley Alexander frustrated me to no end. She was such a fucking tease.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“D-do you think maybe, we, might have, I don’t know… If none of this had happened, do you think something would have between us?” My hand found the back of my neck, scratching it nervously as I tried avoiding eye contact.
“Yeah, but I guess I kind of unintentionally cock blocked myself.”
I chuckled, thankful that she was thinking the same thing I was. For the past two weeks, she’s been all I could think about, and I was not one to think of a girl more than once, as much of an ass as that makes me sound. Haley was different though, a good different, and I was slowly falling for her.
“Maybe it was for the best. Maybe it’s not the time for us.” She added, looking up at me.
“Maybe.”
Silence filled the room again, awkwardness surrounding us as I tried to come up with something to say. She always had me at a loss for words, or had me fumbling over them. The effect she had on me was taking its toll. It was changing me.
“Well, I should be going. It’s getting pretty late.”
I nodded, knowing she was right and that I should be getting onto bed myself. “Yeah, will you do me a favor though?”
“Of course.”
“Go by Harry’s tomorrow? Make sure he’s okay?”
“I was going to anyways, to apologize, but yeah, I definitely will.”
She gathered her bag and keys, as I walked her to the door stopping her just before she went through the threshold.
“Call me, so I know you got home safe.”
She grinned before pecking me on the cheek and scurrying back to her car. I watched her as she went, knowing that Haley Alexander would be mine, soon.
*
Taylor’s POV:
The sun was blinding as it peeked through the crack of the curtains making me groan and roll over in bed. The house was quiet, aside from the gentle hum of the ceiling fan and the faint clatter of pots and pans.
I sat up, becoming aware of the unfamiliar bedroom. This wasn’t my house, nor was it Harry’s or Haley’s. Then it dawned on me, I had ended up staying at Niall’s the night before. He refused to let me drive with my slight alcohol consumption and fragile emotions offering his bed for me to sleep in.
The recall was all I needed to remember what had happened with Harry. The way his face showed just how broken and angry he was, how he told me he couldn’t trust me anymore, how he left, everything just came flooding back into my mind.
My eyes filled with tears and I didn’t even try to fight them, knowing it would do no good. My whole world was crumbling down because of a stupid mistake. A mistake that I made.
The door opened a few minutes later, Niall stood in the doorway peering carefully into the room. One look at me and he had me wrapped in a tight hug, letting me cry into his chest like I had the night before for three hours. Throughout everything, Niall was being such an amazing friend; he constantly held me and just let me pour my heart out to him. He listened to what I was saying, absorbing every single word.
"Shh, Tay, everything’s going to be okay." His arms tightened around me as my body shook with sobs.
"Niall, I can’t lose him. I just can’t."
"You’re not going to. He’s just mad, he needs to blow off some steam."
Niall had always been one of my best friends. We’d known each other since diapers and were always close. He was quite protective over me, especially when it came to guys. Whenever I had my heart broken, Niall was at my house with two pints of Ben and Jerry’s and a few romantic comedies. Not once had Niall ever turned his back on me, even when I deserved it.
"He loves you. You love him. You’ll get through this."
*
After a much needed heart to heart with Niall, I decided it was best to take a shower and rid myself of the obvious smell of alcohol.
"I’ll call your place and let your parents know."
"Thanks Ni."
"Here, these are some clothes Harry left when he stayed a few weeks ago. Thought you’d probably rather where these than some of mine." He held out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt of Harry’s that I’d grown quite fond of. I bit my lip, willing away the tears that wanted to come. I felt pathetic for still wanting to cry, I was wallowing in self-pity. I didn’t deserve to though, not one bit.
"Thanks."
I stepped in the bathroom, suddenly thankful that I could be alone with my thoughts. Usually it was a dangerous thing, but now I needed this. I needed to think about things alone, get my mind back on track.
As the warm water hit my skin, I sighed, feeling comfort from the rising temperature. Steam and the smell of Old Spice gradually filled the entire bathroom as I showered.
Thoughts consumed me, this time on how to talk to Harry, or more so how to get him to talk to me. It wouldn’t be out of free will, I knew that much. Somehow, I’d have to find a way for him to want to talk to me or at least feel the need to. I couldn’t let him be angry with me without getting everything I needed to off my chest.
As I thought more and more about my stupidity, I realized that protecting him was the last thing I was doing, I was only protecting myself. I was selfish, only thinking of myself instead of how Harry would feel about it. For a year, he’d been planning for us, for our future. He’d even said we would live together, and had it not been for my own wants and needs, we would be. We would be happy at Winthrop together, waiting on each other after class, catching up with some lunch at his favorite sports bar, and then spending our nights snuggled together watching some stupid talk show. Our life would have been great, but I had to step in and ruin it all.
The more and more I thought about, the less selfish I felt honestly. He wanted all those things, he wanted to go to Winthrop, he planned everything, he didn’t think about me wanting anything else. For a moment, I found myself quite irritated with Harry’s ignorance. Sure, I didn’t tell him about Vanderbilt, but he didn’t ask either. He didn’t ask if there was anywhere else that I desired to go, he just assumed that I wanted to go wherever he went, which was true to an extent, but still this is my life we’re talking about. My future.
From the time I was five, I knew I wanted to be just like my parents, attend Vandy, major in pre-med and then later go to med school. After I finished my interning and residence at the hospital, I’d come back to South Carolina to work for my parents in their orthopedic practice.
When Harry came along, I could see it all happening with him by my side. He’d be fulfilling his life long dream on the soccer field and I’d be fulfilling mine in the medical field. And though distance would bother me, we’d make it work. We were strong, we could handle it. I knew we could, I believed in us, he just had to.
*
Harry’s POV:
After waking up with a killer migraine and popping a few Advil’s, I trudged down to the kitchen only to find Haley talking fondly with my mother at the table. My confusion must have been written all over my face because she piped up with, “I came by to check on you. Ni said you were sick.”
I silently thanked her for covering up my hangover. “Oh yeah. I’m fine thanks.”
Even the sound of my own voice sounded like someone screaming in my ears at the top of their lungs. I fought the urge to wince, for fear of my mother catching on that I had gone way past my drinking limit the night before. Thankfully, I had remembered to shower before I came downstairs.
"Um, Haz, can we talk?"
"Sure." I led her up to my room and she closed the door behind her. She stood in front of me refusing to look at me and clutching her patchwork bag as if she were afraid to set it down anywhere. Which if I were in her shoes, I would too. There were dirty clothes everywhere, some of my soccer gear spilling out of my bag and giving the room a musty, dirty smell. If Taylor were here, she would have taken the bag and chucked the whole thing into the washing machine before scolding me on my messy room. Then the realization of what happened the night before hit me like a ton of bricks. I wanted to cry, but I was definitely not going to do it in front of her best friend only to have her scurry back to her and say how pathetic and sorry I was.
"Sorry, for the, er, mess."
She shrugged blushing, “S’okay. I have three brothers, I should be used to it.”
"So, what is it you need to talk about?" I fell back onto my bed, looking up at the ceiling and suddenly remembering I was half-naked in front of someone other than Taylor. Damn it, I needed to stop thinking about her. The thought of her only made me more livid than I already was.
I scrambled to find some clothes to put on, trying to make myself presentable. No wonder she wouldn’t look at me. “Sorry.”
Haley nodded, releasing the death-grip she had on her bag as I pulled a shirt over my head. “Anyways, I wanted to come apologize for letting it slip last night. She wanted to tell-“
"Save it, I don’t want to hear it. If you’re going to only talk about her you might as well leave now."
Her arms crossed over her chest as she stood her ground, her lips pressed into a tight line. At that moment, I knew she wasn’t going anywhere, well not soon at least.
"Hear me out."
I huffed, realizing I was fighting a losing battle. “Fine.”
"It’s my fault that all of this happened. She wanted to tell you. It’s been killing her not telling you, trust me."
"How long have you known?"
She lowered her head, suddenly interested in her shoes, “She told me the day she found out.”
"Why you and not me?”
Her head snapped up, taking obvious offense. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? I’m her best friend and now roommate. Don’t you think that counts for something?”
"Well I’m her boyfriend and her supposed to be roommate, that should count for a lot."
"Harry, I get it, you’re pissed about this. I would be too, but she’s literally beaten herself up over not telling you. She knows it was stupid of her to do that, but she was only protecting you!"
"Protecting me from what? The truth? The fact that she’s going to be seven hours away from me? The fact that I won’t get to see her everyday anymore? The fact that she won’t be there at my games, sitting in the stands cheering me on? Because she didn’t protect me from any of that. She ruined all the plans I had for us!"
"What about the plans she had for herself? Huh? Did you ever think that they might differ from yours? Even slightly?"
"They shouldn’t! She should want the same things I want!"
"Harry, that is fucking selfish to say and you know it." She snapped, pointing her finger in my face. Her face was hard, and her voice held strength. As long as I’d known Haley Alexander, I knew she was never one to back down from anything or admit defeat. Which in this case, I now realized, that I had been defeated. "Harry, you have the right to be mad that she lied, but you have absolutely no right to be mad at her for wanting better for herself."
*
Taylor’s POV:
"Thank you so much Ni, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through last night without you."
"It was no problem Tay, really. Just call me if anything else happens and I’ll be there with our two friends Ben and Jerry."
His comment made me chuckle, and for the first time in about eighteen hours, I felt okay.
"Will do." The horn from my mother’s SUV honked impatiently as I hugged Niall’s neck and pecked his cheek quickly.
I climbed into the Tahoe, expecting to find my mother in the driver’s seat, but found Tyler instead. “What are you doing home?”
"Niall sent me a text last night and told me everything."
"Ty, there’s no need to-"
"He yelled at you, he made you cry all for what? Because you got into a school that he wasn’t going to. He’s a fucking dick." He pulled out of the driveway, his jaw set. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly making his knuckles turn white.
Tyler fit the over-protective older brother stereo type to a T. Whenever the slightest thing made me upset, or even worse, cry, he was ready to punch a hole in the wall especially when it came to boys.
"It’s my fault. I was the one who refused to tell him." No matter how hard I tried, my voice remained small. Almost as if I was the little girl with pigtails that he used to chase off bullies for.
"That doesn’t give him the right to do that Taylor."
"Tyler, lay off okay? I can handle my own problems!" I yelled and suddenly noticed just how sore my throat was from crying all night and all day.
“I’m not going to lay off it Taylor! He made you cry and that’s not okay with me!”
“Tyler! Stop it! I don’t want to talk about it okay? So just drop it!” I croaked, sounding even weaker than before. All I wanted to do was go home and crawl into my bed to sleep the rest of this terrible weekend away.
*
Monday was, well, a Monday. Filled with endless classes and the usual dreariness that comes with it. I hadn’t talked to Harry since Friday night, and for some reason I felt that he had no intentions on making amends any time soon.
As I’d gone from class to class, my teachers, who some I’d grown quite fond of, congratulated me on my acceptance. Of course, I thanked them graciously with a smile and went on with my day as if nothing special had actually happened.
To me, everything good in my life meant nothing if I didn’t have Harry to share it with. Yes, we were both in the wrong, but I wanted nothing more than to apologize and move on with our lives as normal.
The day just seemed to drag on and on, and I just was not feeling well at all. My head was pounding, I felt the need to throw up every half hour, I couldn’t focus on any of my assignments and I failed a pop quiz in chemistry. I don’t fail anything. Then during third period French I nearly passed out from exhaustion, causing Mrs. Baker to rush me to the school nurse who called my brother to come pick me up from school. Apparently, I had caught the flu over the weekend.
When Tyler pulled up, I felt sudden relief that I was going home and away from school. Without Harry, I had nothing to look forward to at school. As much as people think I actually like school, I really don’t. I’m merely tolerating it to have a better future for myself. Harry was the only thing that got me through the long days. Now that he wasn’t talking to me, I didn’t want to be anywhere near Rock Hill High School, especially feeling the way I did.
*
Harry’s POV:
The only thing that got me through the day was knowing that Niall and I were going to the gym after school where I could work out all my built up frustration and anger.
As I wrapped up my hands, preparing to beat the shit out of the punching bag, Niall stood behind it trying to talk to me.
“She really is sorry.”
“Would everyone stop saying that? If she was so sorry about it, why isn’t she telling me that?” My fist collided with the bag, and I felt a sense of release just by the first punch. “If she’s so sorry why isn’t she trying to talk to me?”
“She’s waiting on you to calm your ass down so she can have a rational discussion with you.” He muttered, obviously frustrated with me. “You don’t realize what you’re capable of when you’re angry Harry. You turn into this relentless beast that doesn’t stop until someone surrenders.”
His words irritated me to no end, no matter how much he tried to; he would never know how I was feeling. He would never know how betrayed I felt by my own girlfriend.
“Listen, you’re both my best friends and I’m not picking sides. But I am saying that you both are in the wrong. Taylor because she lied, and you because you’re mad at her for wanting better for herself.”
Damn it. That was the second time in three days I’d been told that. It just made it seem so selfish, so low. And it was, the more I thought about it, but I didn’t want to admit that to Horan.
I ignored him, concentrating on each time my fist came in contact with the bag. My anger was slowly subsiding, allowing me to think properly.
"Listen man, I know you’re mad. I get it, I would be too. But, you have to forgive her. You love each other too much to let something like this fuck up your whole relationship."
*
When I returned home from the gym, Haley’s car was parked in my driveway. I sighed, not really wanting to deal with anyone else lecturing me on making up with Taylor.
"Hi honey, Haley’s here. She said you two have a big test coming up and wanted to get a head start on studying?" She obviously didn’t know Haley Alexander, the queen of procrastination.
"Um, yeah."
Haley took it upon herself to march up to my bedroom waiting on me to follow her. My mom handed me a sandwich before I stalked up the stairs.
"What do you want now? If you’re just going to tell me all the shit you told me the other day, you might as well leave because I’m not in the mood."
"Harry, hear me out okay? I’ve been thinking a lot about this."
*
Taylor’s POV:
I was in absolute misery, I couldn’t move an inch without feeling like I was being beaten on the head or about to spill the contents of my stomach. All I wanted was to stay in bed all day. Over the past two days, I’d barely eaten anything because I couldn’t even keep a saltine cracker down much less a bowl of soup. Tyler had taken care of me the first day before he had to head back to Nashville for class, and so now it was just my mother and I.
"Sweetie, you need to try and eat something." She wiped hair from my clammy forehead as she sat on the edge of my bed.
"I can’t." I croaked, feeling pitiful. "I’ll just get sick all over again."
The flu for me had never been this bad, usually mine was just a severe cold, but this, this was the biggest pain in the ass.
"Do you want me to run down to the store and get you some Sprite?"
I nodded just wishing she would leave me be and let me sleep. When I heard the door click shut, I pulled the duvet over my head, blocking out the rest of the world. All I wanted was Harry, I wanted to talk to him, I wanted to be with him.
*
Harry’s POV:
"She loves you, you love her. But college is college; you are both going in different directions. But who’s to say that your plans are ruined huh?"
My eyebrows crinkled with confusion. How could my plans not be ruined after this? After one of the biggest parts of them, caved?
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you guys love each other so much and would do anything for each other, why can’t you guys work on a long distance relationship and then all the stuff you planned happen after college?”
I’d never thought of it that way. I probably should have, but of course, I didn’t. For the past year all I could think about was going to Winthrop with Taylor and possibly starting the rest of my life with her. Not once did I think about us going separate directions, but still making a relationship work.
“Harry, she doesn’t want to lose you and I know you feel the same about her. Please please just talk it out with her. Find a common ground, something that makes you both happy.”
Haley was right, I didn’t want to lose Taylor, not one bit and not in any way. The girl was my everything, my entire world. For four years, she’s owned my heart and not once have I ever wanted or even thought of anyone else taking her place.
“I need to talk to her.”
*
The night was pitch black and there wasn’t a soul in sight as Haley and I drove across town to Taylor’s. The rain had finally subsided long enough for us to make our fifteen minute trek to Woodland Oaks. Haley sat in the passenger seat typing away on her phone while I drove, gripping the steering wheel nervously. Something didn’t feel right. Something felt very off.
"Have you talked to her?"
"No but Niall has, he’s gone by there like twice since Friday night. He said she’s come down with a bad case of the flu." She answered not looking up from her phone.
She was sick? How come I didn’t know and Niall did? I found myself becoming slightly jealous of Horan, although I had no right to be. They did basically share a crib when they were growing up.
"Do you think she’s going to talk to me?"
"Harry, you want to know what I think?"
"No not really but I know you’re going to tell me anyways."
"Got that damn right." She snorted, "I think you worry too much. You never just roll with the punches, you think about things for too long and then when you actually go to do them, you second guess yourself just…"
She kept going on and on but all I could think about was getting to her as fast as I could. I had to let her know that I was coming, that I was trying to save us. My phone was pulled from my pocket before I started typing her a message.
'On my way to see you. We need to talk.'
Just as I was about to hit send Haley pulled me from my thoughts.
"Harry, you’re making me nervous, please give me your phone."
"We’ll be fine, I got this."
I averted my attention back to my phone after checking the ongoing road.
"Pay attention to the fucking road Styles!"
"Shut up!" I lashed back, jerking my phone away from her grasp.
"Harry! Look out!"
All I saw was blinding headlights before everything went black.
*
Taylor’s POV:
After tossing and turning in bed for an hour, I decided that I’d pretty much slept away any of the exhaustion that remained in me. Still, after five days, I felt like absolute shit. I hadn’t even begun to get rid of the flu, even with all of the medicine the doctor had put me on. In all honesty, I felt as if I was getting worse.
My eyes flickered over to my clock on my nightstand, 11:03 p.m. Deciding there was no way I was going to get any sleep, I reached for my remote and turned on Duck Dynasty, a show that Haley and I were quite fond of and never missed.
As I watched, my mind kept flickering to thoughts of Harry. It had been exactly seven days since the fight and he still hadn’t contacted me. Was it really over? Had we actually broken up? Just the thought made my heart clench, but at this point I doubted I had any tears left to cry.
I glanced over at my phone, lying face down on my dresser charging. I pulled myself from the warmth of my bed and trudged over to find that I had thirty-two missed calls and about fifty text messages from Niall.
Before I could even unlock my phone, I heard the doorbell ring. With my parents out for the night, I took it upon myself to trudge down the stairs and answer the door only to find a frantic Niall, his hair quite disheveled.
“Niall, what’s-”
“It’s Harry and Haley, they’ve been in a terrible car accident. We need to go to the hospital right now.”
My heart dropped into the pits of my stomach and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“Come on Tay, we have to go.” Niall urged, grabbing my coat and a pair of rain boots from the closet beside the door and helping me in them. He pulled me outside, making sure to lock the door behind him, and helped me into his car.
My hands were shaking as I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket and dialed my mother’s number. She picked up after the second ring, and I knew she had been on her toes about leaving me alone so sick.
“Mom?” I croaked.
“Hi honey, what’s wrong?” She asked frantically.
“Mom, Harry and Haley were-” That’s when I broke, letting the tears fall freely down my face and my body completely shake with sobs. I couldn’t form a comprehensible sentence; my mind was all over the place, thinking the worst things on instinct.
“Sweetie, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.” Still, I couldn’t breathe, much less speak. The words were stuck in my throat and I was choking on my sobs.
The phone was taken from my hand and Niall put it to his ear, breathing in deeply before saying, “Hi Mrs. Bethany, this is Niall. Haley and Harry were in a terrible car accident earlier and we’re on our way to the hospital right now. It might be best if you meet us there.”
He fell silent, listening to my mother as I stared out the window saying a silent prayer that everything was going to be okay, that they were both going to be okay.
“You’re mom and dad will meet us at the hospital along with Anne and Robin.” Niall spoke gently, gripping the steering wheel tightly. I was still sobbing, quieter now, and I felt a hand grasp mine tightly. “They’re going to be okay Tay, they’re going to be okay.”
*
The hospital parking lot was empty, apart from the few cars of the employees. Niall and I rushed into the ER entrance to find Haley curled in a little ball in one of the chairs, only a small bandage just above her eyebrow. When she looked up, I saw the tear tracks on her pretty face, and that’s when I knew something was terribly wrong. Niall didn’t hesitate to take her into his arms and hug her tightly as if she was going to slip from his grip at any point in time. She cried into his neck, and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe, nor could I speak. I felt my whole world crumbling down.
Before I could process another thought, Haley had embraced me tightly, muttering muffled “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
My arms wrapped around her, clinging to her as tightly as I could wanting desperately for Harry to walk out of the doors and be safe and sound in my arms. But he didn’t.
*
After two hours of sitting in the waiting room, a doctor finally emerged from the doors, looking frazzled. “Styles?”
“That’s us.” Anne spoke up, standing from her chair and following the doctor to the other side of a wall. My heart ached to hear the conversation, to find out any information on Harry that I could. So far, no one knew anything, not even Haley.
Five minutes later, Anne and Robin rounded the corner, fresh tears on Anne’s face as she walked over to her place beside me. “They’re going to have to perform surgery on his leg, there is a possibility that he could be paralyzed.”
My heart dropped, “W-what?”
“The doctor said that paralysis has set in in his bottom half, and that they’re going to do everything and anything in their power to fix it.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the need to cry again. A hand was slipped into each of mine and I opened them to find my mother and Anne’s hands gripping mine. My heart was breaking further and further as we waited, I just wanted to see him.
“Come one honey, we need to get you back home.” My mom said standing up as my dad went to get the car.
“No! I’m not going anywhere, I don’t care if I’m sick, I’m staying, he needs me.” I protested, refusing to move from my seat. “I’ll be fine. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Beth, she’ll be fine. We are at a hospital after all.” Anne spoke softly, I thanked her silently for being on my side.
My mother hesitated before taking in a deep breath and pressing a kiss to my hair. “Call if anything changes.”

Notes

Alright, you guys here is chapter four! I am honestly so proud of it, there’s no need to deny it. I hope you guys liked it and PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT! You honestly have no idea how much your feedback helps me!
Chapter five will be a very emotional one, so fair warning.
Thank you for reading so far, I’ve had a blast planning and writing it and can’t wait to go even deeper into the story with you guys! You have been nothing but supportive and patient with me and I can’t thank you enough! You guys are so amazing and I love every single one of you! xoxo