RILEY’S P.O.V.


“Hey, Cory. Are you hungry?”

I hadn’t seen him in about two days, but that had become pretty typical with him. Ever since Karen and Andy came to stay with his parents, he wanted to be back at the dorm, but he just locked himself away in his room and never spoke to me.

“No.”

That was still more than he’d said to me in a week. I shrugged it off and pulled out my phone. There was only one person who could possibly get through to him.

I dialed Piper’s number and it rang for a long while before her answering machine picked up. I hung up and dialed for Liam next, hoping he could at least relay the general message. After a few rings, he answered in a huff.

“Hello?”

He sounded irritated a little out of breath.

“Hey, babe. What’s going on?”

He took a deep breath.

“I’m watching Andy right now and she’s extremely hyper- Andy, please don’t touch that.”

I giggled as he mumbled something away from the phone to her.

“Sorry, Ri, I’m just not used to this and I never really got the chance to wake up entirely
because Harry woke me up, banging on the door-“

“Wait, why? What happened?”

“Oh, I don’t know exactly. Piper ran off and he wanted to go find her. She did it last night too. It’s probably nothing. They’re together now, but I’m still watching Andy until lunch time.”

There had to be a reason for Piper to run off. It’s not like her to cause drama where it shouldn’t exist.

“Well, you’re a good friend. I’m sure they appreciate it.”

“Yeah, yeah. No! Andy, come on. Can we just watch the telly and eat pancakes?”

I laughed as soon as Andy started chanting an excited ‘yes!’.

“I’ll let you go, Liam. I love you.”

“I love you, too. I’ll call you when she’s gone.”

We said our goodbyes and I started making a pot of coffee. I couldn’t help but wonder what could have been happening in New York for Piper to be upset.


HARRY’S P.O.V.


“I’m sorry Piper, I don’t think he’s coming.”

I felt terrible about everything. Piper filled me in on the situation that was at hand; at least as
much of it as she was familiar with. She hadn’t stopped crying since we made it back to the suite. Her nerves got the better of her and even after I found her Xanax, she couldn’t seem to stay calm. When an hour had passed and there was no sign of Matthew, the tears became more frequent and torrential.

“He has to! Why would he run off again? It makes no sense, Harry!”

I walked over and attempted to put my arms around her, but she thrashed them away in frustration. I knew she wasn’t trying to hurt me, but this whole thing had me feeling jealous. I shouldn’t have felt that way; I should’ve been the supportive boyfriend I always tried to be, but knowing that the man she loved for so very long- her first love- was still alive instilled a bit of fear within me.

I leaned against the wall in the dining area and she finally walked over and fell into my chest, tears instantly leaving drenched stains in my shirt.

“I’m sorry, Harry. None of this is your fault and I feel like such a bitch-“

“No, no. Shhh.”

I stroked her hair as she cuddled into me, sniffing and wailing the entire time. I kissed the top of
her head and tried to soothe her as best as I could. After a few minutes, she retreated and stood in front of me, much calmer than before.

“How about we call down to room service and see if he’s on break or something?”

“Please, Harry. I need to find out where he is.”

I nodded understandingly and picked up the phone that was sitting next to the couch. I pressed the room service button and it rang only once before a woman answered.

“Room service.”

“Umm, hi. I was wondering if Matthew was still working.”

“Uhh... Let me check.”

I could tell that it was an unexpected question.

“Thanks so much.”

I heard mumbling for a moment before she put me on hold. Piper looked at me pleadingly.

“She said she would go check.”

She nodded and paced the floor a few times before settling on the couch, her legs still shaking anxiously. I tapped my fingers impatiently for a couple minutes before someone returned to the phone. It was a man this time.

“Sir?”

“Hello, still here.”

“Umm, hi. Matthew actually quit about an hour ago. He just... left. No explanation or anything.”

“What? Uh- he just quit?”

I saw Piper’s eyes shoot up to meet mine, fear in her eyes. She jumped up and grabbed the phone before I could say anything or even hear the man’s response.

“Piper-“

My voice was stern, but I knew it wouldn’t convince her to do anything but what she desired, so I stood idle, waiting for her to be off of the phone.

“Excuse me, can you please tell me what happened? Where did he go?”

Her eyebrows scrunched together in concentration and I could see her getting frustrated.

“Can you please just give me his address?”

She gave him a moment to respond, but when he obviously didn’t cooperate because she started to refute.

“No, you don’t understand. I’m his- his girlfriend and he’s been missing for over a year. Please, just-“

Her words cut me deep and she purposely looked away, knowing I would be hurt. Before I knew it she was running to the kitchen and pulling out a paper and pen.

“Okay... Okay... Thank you so so much, sir. Yes, alright. Goodbye.”

She hung up the phone and hurried to the bedroom without even glancing at me. I followed her sluggishly to find out what exactly she was doing.

When I made it to the doorway, she was stepping out of my baggy clothes and pulling on her own, sending me into a frenzy.

“What are you doing, Piper? You can’t just go to some address and hope he’s there!”

Her eyebrows scrunched together and she ignored my pleas, searching for her outerwear. I strolled over to her and placed my hands softly on her shoulders. She paused and looked up at me, her lips parted in sadness and confusion. She looked like she was going to cry again and I couldn’t take much more of that.

“I just want answers. I need something. I don’t know what I hope to gain, Harry, but after all this time that I’ve dealt with losing him, I think I deserve a hell of a lot more than a quick re-cap of why he ran away and faked his death.”

I brushed her hair out of her face and surprised myself by maintaining such a calm attitude.

“I know, sweetheart! You deserve so much more, but it’s not always that simple. I think he honest-to-god believes he’s saving you. He just doesn’t want you to get hurt and how are we supposed to know what he’s been involved in? It could be a lot worse than you’re even imagining.”

Her eyes searched my face, probably hoping for me to break and I sure was close. I couldn’t hold her back from this conquest when it obviously meant so much.

Maybe if we brought Paul, we’d be safe and she could at least talk to him again and find the closure she was so desperately searching for.

“Harry, please. I can’t live knowing that he’s out there in danger. It was hard enough when I thought he was dead.”

I sighed and stepped away, running my fingers through my tangled hair. We were both still a mess from our exciting morning.

“Fine, Piper. We’re bringing Paul, though,” she jumped into my arms and pressed her lips tightly to my cheek, “and don’t get your hopes up. Who knows where he’s at.”

She nodded enthusiastically and I knew she wasn’t listening. Her hopes were already beyond
reach. The best I could do was attempt to find this guy and hope to god Piper doesn’t pick up and leave me when all was said and done. I had to try to look past my own selfish desires and realize how important this person was to Piper. She hadn’t given me any reason to believe she would leave me as I feared. She promised she wouldn’t. Didn’t she? Well, she kissed me and I took that as a yes. Maybe I should have viewed that as uncertainty, which wasn’t comforting.

“Let’s just get dressed and go. I’ll call Paul.”

I turned around and started walking to my suitcase, but I was stopped by her timid voice.

“Harry-“

I spun to face her and she quickly wrapped her arms around my waist and lifted up to softly and quickly kiss my lips.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. I love you and I just want what’s best for you.”

I pulled her into another hug and she nuzzled into my neck as I continued quietly.

“But, I can’t pretend it doesn’t scare me that you could possibly change your mind.”

Piper pulled back and looked at me, keeping our hips pressed together tightly.

“Change my mind about what?”

I contemplated putting everything out on the table, but she had already experienced enough for
the day and there was going to be much more to come, so I decided to save it for a later time.

“Nothing. Come on, we should go.”

I turned away and quickly found a pair of jeans and a shirt that I slipped on while dialing Paul.

“Paul here.”

“Hey, it’s Harry. I need you to accompany Piper and me somewhere.”

“Somewhere as in?”

“Just get a car as inconspicuously as possible and we’ll meet you out back in ten okay?”

“Umm, alright.”

He seemed wary to comply, but he knew I didn’t ask for things that weren’t important. After hanging up, I found socks and checked that I had my wallet, phone and jacket.
I turned around to walk into the bathroom, but Piper was standing silently near the bed. I started to walk past her and she caught my arm with her hand cautiously.

“Harry, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

I tried to not sound irritated, but I was a little on edge with everything going on. I wasn’t upset with her in the least; I was just a bit stressed.

“For- what I said on the phone. I didn’t think about it when I said I was his girlfriend. I- I only said that so they would give me his address. I shouldn’t have said it, though. It had to hurt and I’m really sorry.”

I grinned slightly to put her at ease, even though she was right; it stung like an irritated burn.

“It’s okay, Piper. I know how you meant it.”

She smiled weakly and I continued to the bathroom, hurrying so we could get this damn day
over with already.

Once we were both ready to go, not done up in any way, shape, or form, Piper and I snuck down the service elevator and found our way out the back exit. That door dumped us out in a less busy street corner and we easily found a blacked-out town car waiting for us at the curb across the street. I looked around and saw no one who was paying any attention to us, so we crossed the street rapidly and climbed into the car.

Paul sat in the front with a driver and turned around to face us, smiling with slight concern sprinkled over his expression.

“So, where exactly are we going?”

Piper pulled out the piece of paper from her jacket pocket and handed it to the driver. He simply nodded and pulled away.

“That doesn’t really answer my question. Why are we going to this address?”

I looked over at Piper and her eyes pleaded with me not to say anything.

“We can’t exactly say. I’m sorry, I know that seems a bit odd, but I promise it’s for good reason.”

Paul searched my face for traces of proof that I was lying. He seemed to find none as he shrugged and faced the window again. I reached over and engulfed Piper’s hand in mine, softly stroking her wrist with my thumb.


____


After about thirty minutes, we ended up in a part of New York City that surely wasn’t visited often by tourists. The driver pointed at an apartment building and said it was the one on the paper. Paul looked back and nodded, waiting for me to reciprocate. When I did, we opened our doors and the three of us filed out. We made our way inside the building and Piper checked the paper again to make sure we were searching for the right door.

“2-B.”

We walked up the stairs at a quickened pace, but Piper never let go of my hand. We stood on the second floor and saw four doors in front of us, each marked by a letter from A to D. I held Piper’s hand firmly and walked with her, side-by-side to the door marked ‘B’. She knocked once on the thin, dusty door and it creaked, opening a few inches. It must have been cracked open before, but it wasn’t noticeable.

Piper looked over at me in fear and bewilderment. Instead of nodding for her to open the door herself, I pushed her behind me and slowly peeked my head through.

What I saw was sure to disappoint her and I felt a tinge of guilt at the relief I was experiencing. I opened the door all the way and turned to gather Piper in my arms.

“It’s empty, Piper. I’m sorry.”

She immediately shimmied out of my arms and walked through the deteriorating door frame to see what I saw; an small, bare room. I stepped into the room behind Piper and scanned the blank, whitewash walls. This time, I saw something I hadn’t noticed the first time I looked: a small white envelope placed neatly on the windowsill with ‘Pip’ written in bold black letters.

Notes

Okay I would write more for my author's note, but I'm SOOOO tired and I have class tomorrow :( I LOVE YOU GUYS. Seriously, your comments make my day.

So there will be a sequel... I will give you more info at the end of the next chapter, so keep an eye out <3

FOR NOW, comment just anything.. Anything that's on your mind. I haven't really talked to all of you and that's no fun :P Hope you're all doing well!!! xx