Hope in Disguise

Harry had shut his office door and I just stared at him completely shocked as he passed back and forth. He had contact with my brother. He knew where he was. I haven’t spoken to my brother the day that he just packed a left. I still carried the goodbye letter he left me and when I got lonely or things got tough I would pull it out and read it. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I noticed that Harry had stopped pacing back and forth and was looking at me. I looked up at him and he sighed running his hand through his curls.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“No,” I replied being honest, “I don’t trust anyone really.”

“I need you to trust me though,” he said a bit frustrated and I shook my head.

“I can’t,” I replied, “After what I’ve gone through I can’t.”

Harry sighed annoyed and then walked over to his desk and pulled something out of his desk.

“I met your brother about two years ago,” he said, “He had just gotten here and was in the same pub I met you in. We got to talking and I let him join our gang. He lived in this house with us for about a year before he up and left, leaving us these similar letters to the one I’m handing you now.”

Yeah, I thought, He’s good about leaving good bye letters without telling you good bye face to face.

He then set a letter down on the desk and I recognized the messy scrawl immediately as Dax’s handwriting.

“During the year he was here,” Harry started looking down in the drawer and then back at me, “He talked a lot about you. He even showed us a picture.”

He then pulled out the old picture I still kept as well. It was of me and him when I graduated. I was still wearing my cap and gown but it wasn’t zipped up and we were making the most retarded faces I have ever seen.

“He made me promise him about a week before we woke up to find him gone that if you and I ever crossed paths that I would protect you,” Harry added, “He said that things were pretty rough and he didn’t know how long you would last before you did the logical thing and took off.”

I could feel the lump in my throat form and I touched the picture and looked at the letter that had Scarlett written across it.

“Can I read it before. . .you know,” I said.

“Sure,” he said as I opened the letter and pulled out the sheet.

My dearest baby sister,
God that was pretty cheesy wasn’t it? “My dearest baby sister” hell I should’ve just put Scar. Anyways I know if you’re reading this letter than I know you’re running from your own personal hell and you’ve run into some pretty good friends of mine. Knowing you, you probably don’t believe them in the least bit that’s why I gave them my favorite photo of us from when you graduated secondary school. I know you don’t understand why I keep moving around after being rooted in a place for almost a year but I think you have a feeling that no matter how much we want to see each other that it won’t be a good thing because of him. I know you don’t want to tell anyone the real reason why you’re so guarded but Harry and his gang, they’re good people Scar. They can protect you. They can give you a place to stay and hopefully help you take down your personal hell and then you can live your life without fear, without feeling hopeless. Like I wrote in my last letter, I am so terribly sorry for breaking your heart yet again by leaving you all alone but take Harry’s help. That way you’ll never be alone again and have someone to confide in until you and I can see each other. Know that I am going to a place where I’ll be safe and that I think about you every day and wish to see you soon.
Love Always,
Dax T.

I looked up from the letter to see that Harry was watching me intently and I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’m running from a pretty powerful man,” I replied softly.

“A powerful man, that’s it?” Harry asked shocked and I shook my head.

“It’s hard to explain,” I sighed running a hand through my hair, “And as you can probably guess he has very good way of convincing people to agree with him. At one point, I was hospitalized with a broken arm and leg from a friend of his because I didn’t do exactly what he said."

I took a shaky breath trying to make this story as vague as possible. I looked out of the tops of my lids to see Harry’s fists were clenched tightly.

"I've always threatened of running away but he always told me if I did he would bring me back and it would be the worst mistake of my life," I said.

“Do you believe him?” Harry asked and I looked up at him.

“One hundred and twenty percent,” I replied.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“Twenty,” I replied, “I’ve been running since I was seventeen because one day I opened up the front door to find a destroyed rose plant that he didn't want planted and took off.”

“How did you get here?” he asked.

“I’ve been jumping between buses and trains for the last three years,” I said.

“Well you and I both know that you’re not telling me the complete truth,” Harry said and I stared at him in shock, “but it’s enough for me to go off of.”

“How. . .” I started and he gave me a small smile.

“You didn’t have anything like that in your diary,” he replied, “Don’t worry we didn’t read anything past two months ago.”

“You read my diary,” I said holding onto the arms of the chairs tightly.

“It fell out of your bag as you rushed to the bathroom,” Harry replied handing it to me, “I’m sorry you had to go through what you saved Perrie from. No one should have to go through that.”

“You know for a gang leader you’re pretty soft,” I replied, “And I am completely pissed you went through my diary to see if I was a rat.”

“How did. . .” he started.

“You should check to make sure I’m fully asleep before you talk and you’re completely full of shit when you said you didn’t find anything on me. I was arrested last year for breaking and entering,” I said.

Harry just smirked and chuckled lightly.

“Well played Taylor,” he said, “Well played.”

Before we left the room, Harry then spoke the words I knew were coming.

“You’re staying here,” he said, “And I don’t want you leaving here without someone. I’m going to have the girls go buy you some hair dye and colored contacts. If we’re going to keep you safe we’re going to change your appearance. I know a girl who does home visits.”

I just nodded my head and followed him out of the office to find everyone sitting in the living room and my face paled when I saw a photo of me when I was decided to visit Dublin for the day before coming back to the UK.

“I know you’ve met her,” I heard a voice say and I looked up to see the boy with the buzz cut had spoken, “Who are we messing with?”

“Someone with lots of power and money,” Harry said looking at me and then back at the group, “I promised Dax I would watch her and that’s what we’re going to do. She’s part of the gang now so we need to train her. Perrie I need you and Eleanor to make an appointment with Lou and have her come to the house. Maggie I want you to take Scarlett up to Dax’s old room and help her fix it to the way she likes it. Mates you’re following me and we’re going to start working on this right away.”

Everyone nodded their heads and I just followed Maggie up the stairs. We were quiet for the most part until we got into the room.

“So who are you running from?” Maggie asked, “A crazy ex-boyfriend?”

“Something like that,” I replied not wanting to reveal the real truth.

“You and Dax look alike,” she said as we put new sheets on the bed, “You both have the same colored hair and eyes.”

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said.

“Did Dax have a tattoo on his neck?” I asked, “I remember him talking about it when I was still in school. It should be of some type of bird.”

“Yeah he did,” Maggie replied, “He said he got it because it reminded him of you.”

I just smiled and laughed. I guess we had the same idea because I got one with a quote that reminded me of him too.

“Looks like we had the same idea,” I said laughing.

I then pulled up my shirt to show Maggie the tattoo.

“Through every dark night there is a brighter day,” she read and smiled lightly, “You and Dax were pretty close then?”

“You have no idea,” I said as I set my bag on the bed and looked at Maggie.

“Well I hope that the lads can help you with whatever you’re running from,” she said, “I know they are the best at what they do.”

“All I have to say is that for a bunch of kids who run the toughest gang in London they sure are nice,” I said and Maggie smiled lightly.

“It’s because they feel like they know you,” Maggie said, “At least Harry does. Dax talked a lot about you. Harry knows everything about you pretty much.”

“He does,” I said and she nodded her head.

“He does,” Maggie replied, “I know that’s a bit of information to take in so I’m going to let you think about it and I’m going to go help Eleanor and Perrie. Come find us if you need anything.”

I just nodded my head and quickly pulled out my diary that I put in my backpack. I opened it up and sighed when I saw a sticky note in apparently Harry’s handwriting.

You are ten times tougher than any of us will ever be after what you’ve gone through in the last three years –H

I smiled lightly and put the sticky note back in the book and set it on the bedside table next to me. I put away what clothes I had and put my tattered backpack in the closet and decided to try and get some more sleep.

Notes

So I am a really bad author and I am so sorry for the really, really, really, really, long delay in updating. School is starting and is really kicking my butt. I will try and update on a more constant time schedule but I can't promise anything.

Thank you for reading, commenting, subscribing, and rating! It truly means a lot to me!