*Harry’s POV*
The bar was littered with drunk uni students as it normally is on a Saturday, but today the hype and excitement was up a bit higher. Fall break had begun and that means they take it as an excuse to be more belligerent than usual, Niall and Liam included. My mood has been shit ever since I left home and usually my tips are less when I’m this way, but today I get more because of the carelessness of the intoxicated mind. I don’t say anything when I’m given ten pounds more than the cost of the drink I poured and not to mention the amount dropped money the boys and myself rack up on that’s slipped from someone’s fingers or out of a pocket.

Niall and Liam order another round of drinks. They’ve been here since they finished their exams at five to hang out but didn’t start the heavy alcohol intake until about an hour ago.

“I don’t even know how you two are drinking right now after last night. Pouring your shots makes me want to vomit in my mouth.” Zayn drones as he slides two glasses of clear death over to Niall and Liam.

Niall shrugs before he and Liam clink their glasses together and drown the drink back, shuddering shortly afterwards.

“YOLO!” Niall laughs and as Louis walks by with a tray of beers he smacks him above the head, shouting over the uproar of the pub.

“Don’t ever say that again! Not even in the ironic sense!” They all laugh except for me. I would usually join in on the utter foolishness that’s going on tonight but my mood has drifted somewhere between furious and depressed. It’s taken every ounce of energy that I have not to tell Liam and Niall to fuck off and they haven’t even really done anything but try to enjoy themselves.

Nothing is amusing tonight. Niall even told a penis joke and I didn’t even crack a smile. I want nothing more than to not be bothered by anyone or be here. I take the tip I received from one of the drunken college students and shove it in my pocket before I pour a shot of the whiskey he ordered for myself. The money, rubs against the other piece of paper I have there folded up and as I remember what it is, I pour myself another shot. The burn of the drink makes my eyes water along with my mouth, but I swallow again to make sure that nothing comes back up.

“There yah go! Harry’s got the spirit,” Niall claps his hands then lifts his drink to me before he continues, “What were you and Laurie talkin about earlier t’day? She won’t tell me. Is it about me?” Niall asks with an eyebrow raised eager to know the reason behind me and Laurie’s discussion.

I shake my head no before I take another order. I’m agitated and it’s a wonder that my jaw hasn’t locked as it tenses uncomfortably and causes my teeth to grind together. Working in a pub and being bipolar can be done, but I’m sure that it would be a better gig for someone who has a better control over the disorder than I do of mine.

Niall downs a beer and orders another on the open tab that he and Liam share, that will most likely never be paid off. We all have tabs here and promise Mr. Tomlinson that we’ll pay them, but he waves his hands at us in annoyance because he knows the truth.

I slam Niall’s beer on the counter top and don’t even bother to ring him up for it. I know he can tell that I’m not one to be fucked with right now, but he continues on talking to me anyway. Niall never did care about my mood changes, and they never seemed to affect his. He’s the happy-go-lucky one in the group and nothing changes that, except the petty arguments that we have that often lead to fist fights between the two of us. After we fight we go back to normal, but the fights are never ones to be underestimated.

“If you guys weren’t talking about me then what were you goin on about? You were on the phone with each other for at least an hour.”

“Nothing Niall, it wasn’t about you so don’t worry about it.” I can see the scowl form on his face.

I would be pissed if he was on the phone for hours with Reagan and then told me ‘don’t worry about it’ when asked what the conversation was about, but I haven’t told any of the lads except Louis what’s going on right now out of respect for Reagan and her need for privacy, a need so strong it’s putting a wedge between us.

“That’s bullshit if I’ve ever heard any in me life Harry. She’s my girlfriend and I deserve to know.”

“Fucking pry it out of her then Niall! ”

Zayn steps in between the glares that are exchanged between Niall and I, sensing another one of our petty arguments rising to the surface. He pushes me in the direction of a customer and Niall stands from the bar and walks over to the beer pong tables to start up a game with Liam.

“That was unfair and you know it Haz.”

I ignore Zayn’s comment and take the towel that rested on my shoulder off, tossing it in the sink behind us before I head to the back towards the kitchen.

“I’m taking my break.” I grumble as I walk past Zayn.

“That’s probably the best call you’ve made all night.”

I chew on my bottom lip to refrain myself from saying something uncalled for to him and find myself walking through the kitchen to the back exit of the pub by the dumpsters. It’s cold out and I can see my breath form and evaporate in front of me, but the chill in the night fall air doesn’t modify the heat that radiates off of my skin. I try to take deep breaths to calm myself, but the technique doesn’t work and I blackout momentarily.

After a few minutes I look at the destruction in front of me and can’t remember how it came to be. The trash cans are dented, the wooden fence has a hole in it and rubbish litters the ground everywhere around me. My breathing is erratic and one of the knuckles on my hand is red raw and busted. I sit down on the cold concrete in shock with myself. I haven’t blacked out in a while and I tend to scare myself when I do. I’ve felt manic episodes come on a couple of times before this, but I’ve always been able to calm myself down from them before they escalated too quickly.

My hands shake as I come down from my adrenaline high and I take out my phone to text Laurie. The idea of our plan puts me on edge, but if it will help Reagan I have to bite the bullet. If she’s not better soon, I have a feeling that I’ll spiral out of control.

To: Niall’s Bird
I got them...

From: Niall’s Bird
This will be good for her Harry. You’re helping her more than you know. What she’s doing isn’t good for her.

I stuff my phone in my pocket and rest my head in my hands before I stand to go back to work. I know it will help her. I know she needs this, but it hurts me that I can’t do anything for her. I’m supposed to be able to protect her. I’m supposed to be the only one who can fix her. I want to be her answer to everything, but the more I pull the further away from me she pushes. Then again, how can one damaged mess fix another?

As I make my way back to the front of the bar, my mind drifts to the first day that I saw Reagan. She looked tired, but she was still wide eyed and full of excitement and life. When I look at her now, her eyes seem duller and mentally drained rather than physically.

I stop at the sink and allow warm water to run over the freshly cut skin on my knuckles before I grab the vodka off of the shelf and douse my towel in it, placing it over the open wound to make sure it won’t get infected. The burn of it makes me bite my bottom lip to keep from cursing out loud, but as soon as I turn around the word slips anyway.

“Fuck! What the hell are you doing here?!”

---

*Reagan’s POV*
When I wake up I have three missed calls and two text messages. Two of the calls are from Laurie along with the text and the other from Channel. I’ve been asleep for four hours. I would call Channel but it’s now four in the morning in LA. The time difference stops me from hitting the dial button, though I desperately want to talk to her. I call Laurie instead and she answers after only two rings.

“Rea? How are you doing?” Laurie’s voice brings a small smile to my face before I can answer.
I’ve been the worst friend to her. I’ve accused her of something that she didn’t do, I’ve insulted her, and I’ve distanced myself from her but regardless to everything I’ve done she’s still been in my corner. I have to swallow down the lump in my throat before I can answer her.

“I’m fine,” I lie, “you called me earlier?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me tonight. We haven’t been anywhere and I think it would be good for you to get out and have some fun. I’ve just finished an exam and fall break starts today. We can get pissed drunk and hang out with the boys. Everyone’s at Tommo’s.”

I pause and pinch my bottom lip. She sounds like Harry did yesterday. I don’t feel like going out especially in a party setting. I had a breakdown the day that we went to lunch and I’m afraid that it’ll happen again, but I’m sure Anne would appreciate it if I wasn’t the houseguest who was always lingering around the house moping. I don’t want her to get suspicious either. I heard her come in the house when I was sleeping. She came in the living room and covered me with a blanket before turning down the volume of the television. I’ve come to love her as much as I love Harry and I wish that he would treat her better and be happy for her in upcoming nuptials.

I’m not ecstatic that Laurie said Tommo’s either. Harry is at work and I don’t exactly know where we stand as far as speaking terms go. I know I’ll have to see him later, but I want to make sure that he’s fully calmed himself before we talk again. I don’t know how to approach the conversation, but I can try for the sake of us.

“Laurie, I don’t know-” I try to decline but she cuts me off before I can finish.

“I’m not taking no as answer Rea. Get dressed and be ready in twenty minutes. We’re going to have fun tonight.”

I sighed and agreed to go on the account that she bring me home when I was ready to leave. I went upstairs to shower and shave then got dressed, putting my wet hair in a neat bun high at the top of my head, only staying in the mirror long enough to make sure that my hair looked halfway decent. I quickly got dressed throwing on the first pair to jeans and shirt that my eyes landed on and as soon as I bent to put on my shoes, Laurie called to inform me that she was waiting outside.

Before I left, I wrote Anne a letter telling her that I went out. I didn’t want to break her rest or have her wondering if she woke up and I wasn’t here.

When I got in the car Laurie hugged me before we pulled off and started small talk to make me feel comfortable but I was nervous to go to the pub for multiple reasons.

When we pulled up, I gave myself a mental pep-talk that did absolutely nothing. I felt squeamish as we neared the doors and I could already tell that tonight’s crowd was big from the amount of times we had to round the parking lot to find a space. My fingers twirled the chain of my necklace when we got out of the car and Laurie took my hand to stop my mind from wandering and get my attention.

“We’ll only stay for thirty minutes and then we’ll leave. If you want to go earlier than that or stay for longer you just say so.” I nodded my head in response and took a deep breath as Laurie pushed the doors open.

When we went into the pub, Laurie spotted Niall and Liam right away pulling me in the direction of the beer pong table. Both boys acknowledged us before Niall wrapped his arm lovingly around Laurie, making Liam wait for him to take his shot. He kissed her and held her for a bit longer before he let her go. I always feel a little envious of their relationship every time I see them interact with each other. I know that Harry and I are in love, but I wish our relationship would go smoother with less problems along the way. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Laurie and Niall argue and I bring it to her attention.

“We do to argue sometimes.” Laurie laughs and grabs my hand to walk us to the bar. She even takes it upon herself to order me a drink.

“When? You never say anything about it, or is it that I’m too selfish to listen? I feel like I’m always talking to you about a problem Harry and I have.” Zayn slides us our Malibu and pineapple mix and then winks at us before he takes care of another customer who is ready to argue him down because he didn’t charge us for our drinks.

“You're not being selfish. You do listen, but you and Harry's problems just arise a bit...a lot more often that me and Niall's do. That's the only reason it seems like me and Niall get along more often. Niall and I handle things and express our love for one another differently than you and Harry. You can't compare one relationship to another. You'll drive yourself mad.” I look at her confused by her statement wanting her to explain herself in more detail but that’s all that she says. It alarms me because I’m not sure if it’s a good or a bad thing.

My eyes wander the bar for Harry and I’m alarmed when I don’t see him. Did he even show up for work, or was it just something that he told me so that he could get some space and air after our argument? When he walks out of the back of the restaurant my nerves are put at ease. He doesn’t see me due to the huge crowd lined up at the bar, but I get a clear view of him. I can’t hear what’s being said when he turns around away from the sink, but I feel jealousy and anger rise when I see him start up a conversation with Tamsin.

Notes

Hi Loves!! I have an update for you all because its sunny outside today and I love you!!! First off, THANK YOU FOR THE VOTES AND SUBS!!!! We're only twelve chapters in and those numbers are AMAZAYN! Also I'm loveing the comments so please keep them coming my giving me loads of feedback on this chapter! What did you think? We're getting close to seeing what Harry and Laurie have planned for poor Reagan,so keep those predictions coming! I LOVE YOU ALL FOR READING!!!!

Please continue to show me love by voting and subscribing if you haven't done so yet and by all means Comment!!! I love talking to you all so don't be shy! ~Xx

PS: I have another phenomenal story for you all to read that I love dearly by @zaynisthebestest called Perfect Act. She's a fantastic writer guys go check her out!!!