Out of the Darkness

Samantha POV:

When we arrive home it is about 2:00 in the afternoon. I’m feeling so much happier now that Reid and Matthew are in custody.

We are all very hungry after our long morning, so the six of us pile into the kitchen to make some sandwiches. We are just sitting down to lunch when the phone rings. Zayn jumps up to get it.

“Hello?” He asks into the phone. Niall has explained to me how the boys never answer the phone using their names because they don’t want fans to get ahold of their landline number.

“…Sure, we’re just sitting down to lunch…..Yes we’ll call them…okay thanks, see you soon.” Says Zayn, hanging up the phone.

“Who vash dat?” asks Niall, his mouth full.

“Dammit Niall, mind your manners, there’s a lady in the room!” scoffs Louis, pretending to be offended as he gives Niall a playful slap on the head. Niall grins and swallows his food before speaking again;

“Sorry Louis!”

“Nah apologize to the lady!” he says, gesturing to me. I giggle as Niall turns to me and does a little bow

“My apologies for speaking with my mouth full m’lady,” He says with a grin and a wink towards Harry. “Now, Zayn, who was that?” He asks.

Zayn slides into his seat at the counter and purposefully takes a huge bite of his sandwich before answering; “Isht vahs Dauhl,” all with a completely straight face. I burst out laughing, as Zayn and Niall hi-five and Louis pretends to get up and leave the room.

I then turn to Harry who also has his cheeks full of food, and I start laughing harder. He looks like a chipmunk.

“Vhat ahr yhu lahfin aht?” He asks me. I can’t help it. I snort. And then we all lose it.

When we finally calm down, Zayn speaks up. “Paul was on the phone. He wants to come over to speak with us about a bunch of stuff, he was kinda vague. Oh, and he said that it would be nice if we could invite all the girlfriends over to be part of our conversation too.”

I glance at Harry, and he has a confused look in his eyes.

“Harry, what’s going on?” I ask, worried. My day was just starting to get fun, but now I’m disoriented and anxious all over again. Harry takes my small hand in his big one, giving it a squeeze. He looks thoughtful for a minute before leaning down to whisper in my ear.

“I’m sure it’s nothing bad Sam, Zayn didn’t seem too worried when he got off the phone.” He says in a low voice. I nod and turn my attention back to my lunch, relieved by Harry’s words.

Zayn and Louis call Perrie and Eleanor, and they are both available to come over. They arrive before Paul, and they are very happy to see me and the boys. After greeting everyone Perrie goes and puts her arms around Zayn as we all pretend not to notice Louis and Eleanor who are sharing a heated kiss in the corner.

“So, what’s up?” Perrie asks in a cheerful voice.

“Um, we don’t really know,” says Liam, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Paul called and said that he wanted a meeting with us and that he wanted you guys to come too.” explains Niall.

“And good God Louis get a room!” he mutters under his breath so that only Harry and I hear. It takes everything in me to hold in my laughter, and Harry isn’t helping my case as I feel his body shake with silent laughter next to mine. Suddenly the bell rings, saving us, and Liam runs to answer the door while the rest of us move into the living room and sit ourselves down on the couch and chairs.

Liam walks into the room moments later followed by a middle-aged man who looks impressively strong, but not in a scary way.

“Paul!!!” comes the unanimous shout of joy from the boys, as they all jump up from their seats to hug this man who must be Paul. Actually it’s not much of a hug; it’s more like a celebratory football huddle as they all swarm their manager to embrace him. I smile and shake my head at their goofiness. Paul finally breaks free and greets Eleanor and Perrie before turning his attention to me.

“Samantha! Glad to see you back up and running,” He exclaims as he shakes my hand. “I’m Paul, the manager of these five crazy guys.” He tells me, gesturing around.

“You’d have to be pretty good to keep this lot organized!” I say, earning a laugh. Paul sits down in an empty arm chair, and the boys resume their seats, Harry throwing his arm around my shoulder.

Just as Paul is about to start talking, the doorbell rings again. We all look at each other confused. We weren’t expecting anyone today.

All of a sudden Niall leaps up from his seat. “It’s Jennie,” he explains before rushing out of the room. Paul raises his eyebrows and gives a low whistle and we all laugh.

“Oh Niall, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, I forgot to call before I came over!” We hear Jennie say from the other room.

“No, it’s okay, you should probably be here for this anyways.” Comes Niall’s response.

Soon Niall and Jennie appear, and Niall wastes no time in introducing Jennie to Paul.

“I’m glad you showed up Jennie, please sit,” says Paul, gesturing to a free space next to me on the couch.

“Now, we have a lot to talk about. The fans have begun to get curious about what’s going on with you lot. They know something is wrong, and there are all kinds of rumors spreading. We did make an announcement a few weeks ago when the incident first happened explaining that there had been a sexual assault at the concert, and now we have many concerned fans. It’s all over the news. Your tour has been postponed for two months while we clear up the rumors, and help Sam recover. You will stay in your house here in the outskirts of Brighton during that time, and Samantha always has a spot here too” Informs Paul.

“So, It’s time that we make a public announcement,” he continues. “The people need to know about Sam’s story, and that her case was unique. Her attacker was specifically after her, and the other people at the concert weren’t in danger.”

“How do you plan on getting the story out?” Asks Jennie

“Simple. Samantha and the boys will be doing interviews.”


Harry POV:

As soon as the words are out of Paul’s mouth Sam freezes next to me. She’s not that shy of a girl, but sharing her story with the whole world is too much for her.

“Um Paul, Isn’t there another way?” I ask, trying to get him to realize that Sam isn’t ready for this.

“I’m sorry guys, but it’s the only option. The public needs to hear these things from you guys directly.” He says with a sympathetic smile. “And Jennie, it would be nice if you could come for the interview as well, just to explain the injuries that Samantha has suffered.”

Jennie agrees, and Paul gives us an interview date for next Wednesday, three days from now. By the time all is said and done it is five o clock in the afternoon. Paul thanks us for our time, and says goodbye to everyone before heading to the door. I run after him.

“Paul! Wait!” I call as he opens the front door. He turns around and smiles when he sees me.

“What is it Harry?”

“Well, I, um, I just don’t think Sam is ready for an interview yet. This is a sensitive topic for her.” I confess to him. He looks at me closely before placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Harry, I can see that you care for this girl very much, but sometimes people have to do things that they don’t want to do.” He says gently. I look down at my feet. I knew he wouldn’t be able to change anything. He’s right. The fans need to hear it directly from us.

“Tell you what, Harry” He says, and I look up, hoping that he will make things easier for Sam. “The interview will not be live. I’ll take a look at the questions beforehand, and try to have them keep it short. I understand that she will be overwhelmed so I’ll see what I can do to get them to ask questions that the five of you boys will be able to answer for her. I’m sorry Harry, that’s the best I can do.” He tells me giving me a sad smile. I return his smile.

“Thanks Paul, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime Harry. Now I think someone’s waiting for you in the other room. Go get her Harry!” He says, shooting me a wink and slapping me on the back. I nod and hurry back to where the others are waiting, and where my precious girl is sitting on the couch, overwhelmed and scared.

Notes

Hey yalll
So what do you think? This chapter took me sosooso long to write! Are you excited for the interview? And the court date?

I have a big surprise for this story, but it might be a few more chapters until it comes ;) any guesses?


Anyways PLEASE COMMENT! I LOVE FEEDBACK!
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Love you all!
~AmyLeigh