27 Tattoos

You looked at the gun in your hand; you’d never seen a gun before. Sure, in movies and T.V. shows, but never in person.

“I-I can’t.” You whisper, dropping the gun to the floor.

“Well, well, well. It looks like the decision’s been made.” You look up to see Stan smirking, the gun held up to your head.

“NO!” Harry yells, blood running from his nose and lip. His cheek had a gash in it and a bruise was already forming around his left eye. “No, (Y/N).” He says, picking up the gun and placing back in your hand, holding it up to his head. “Shoot me. I deserve it. I’m the one that got you into this, I’m the reason you’re here. Please, shoot me.” He begs, his voice cracking and tears welling up in his eyes. A lump forms in your throat, tears start to stream down your face.

“No.” You croak, no able to form words as your throat is so dry. “Harry, I can’t kill you.” You cry, looking down at his kneeling body.

“You can. Please, (Y/N). I’d rather die than see you get hurt because of me.” He murmurs. You hear a huff coming from next to you.

“You’re testing my generosity. I said one of you could live; now hurry up before I kill the both of you!” Stan snarls, his voice raising.

“Harry, I can’t kill you!” You yell, breaking down at the end.

Struggling, Harry gets up and faces Stan.

“Kill me and leave her alone. This is about me; it’s always been about me. Now kill me and get it over with.” Harry growls and Stan just laughs.

“Exactly, Harry. It’s about you. I think that killing you would be the easy way out. You see, killing her will make you suffer much more.” Stan smiles, his voice laced with venom and an evil glint flickers through his eyes.

Harry’s fist connected with Stan’s face, his other hand started to twist Stan’s arm, the gun then falling from his hand. Stan punched Harry in the gut, and then kneed him in the face.

“HARRY!” You yell, blush gushing from Harry’s nose. You try to intervene; only to be pulled back by someone, you start to lash out at them.

“(Y/N), it’s Niall. Calm down.” He soothes. You look up at him, crying.

“Niall, please do something.” You whimper, glancing back at the fight. Harry was now pressed against the wall, 2 of Stan’s friends holding him there. Stan then picking up the gun and hitting Harry with it. Niall pushes you to the side, punching Stan in the jaw, catching him off guard. Niall then punches him in the stomach, before one of the 2 men that were restraining Harry, grab him. Stan then hold the gun up to Niall’s head, finger on the trigger. You can’t look. You hear the shot and open your eyes, expecting to see Niall, dead, on the floor. But when you open them, Niall is perfectly fine. You look over to see Harry, his face pale, gripping onto his stomach, before falling to the ground.

Everything went in slow motion. Harry clutching to his side, grunting in pain. This time, it was your time to snap.

“HARRY!” You scream, running over to him. Stan is stood there in shock, not believing what just happened. You rip the gun from his unsuspecting hand, “IF YOU DON’T GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM IN THE NEXT 3 SECONDS, I’LL KILL YOU!” You roar, pointing the gun at Stan.

“Beautiful, you wouldn’t do suc-“ You shoot him in the arm.

“I SAID TO GET THE FUCK AWAY!” You yell, tears streaming down your face. Stan grips his arm, groaning, and runs off, his friends following closely behind. Dropping the gun, you turn around to see everyone crowded round Harry. Pushing your way through everyone, you sit next to him, holding his hand in yours.

“Someone call an ambulance.” You cry, stroking his hair, his eyes remained shut. Moans and grunts escaping his swollen lips, a few tears coming from his bruised eye. Liam was a few metres away, on the phone to an ambulance. Niall was still stood in the same position as he was before, frozen in shock. Zayn was on the phone to Perrie, telling her what happened and to try and get help. Louis was like you, at Harry’s side, telling him everything was going to be fine.

“Harry, it’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” You whisper, bringing his hand up to your lips and placing a kiss on his knuckles.

“(Y/N)?” Harry croaked out.

“Yes? Yes? Harry?” You ask, scanning his face.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers, opening one eye to see you.

“No, no, no. You have nothing to be sorry for.” You cry, caressing his cheek.

“No, I do. I shouldn’t have got you involved in-“ He cuts himself off by coughing, his face screwed up in agony.

“LIAM! WHEN IS THAT AMBULENCE GETTING HERE?!” You yell.

“THEY SAID THEY’D BE HERE SOON, (Y/N)!” He yells back, his face full of understanding. Tears were still flowing down your face.

“I don’t want to get you involved in all of this. I should of just left you alone when you told me to.” He winces.

“No. I‘m glad you stayed. I’m glad you didn’t leave me alone when I told you to. If you did, we never would have been us. I never realised how much I wanted to stay until that night when we were under that tree in the park, I realised that I did want you, I realised that I needed you.” A small smile plays on his lips.

“I was worried that you didn’t love me like I loved you. Honestly, I don’t think anyone could love you as much as I do, (Y/N). I wanted to be your first, (Y/N). I wanted to be the one to take your innocence, but that’s what I loved about you. You were so innocent. So I guess it’s a good thing that I never did.” He smiles, coughing again.

“I remember that night when I took you from the party back to my flat; you were lay on my bed, tears stained on your cheeks. I promised myself that I’d never hurt you as much as I did that night. That was the night when I realised I had feelings for you, Lou was there.” He croaks and you look up at Louis, who nods in agreement and smiles.

“The night when you said you’d be my girlfriend was the happiest I’ve been in a long time. You changed me, (Y/N). You changed me for the best. I want you to find someone who’s good for you. Someone who isn’t like me. I want you promise me that you’ll grow old with someone and have children and grandchildren, because that’s what you deserve, (Y/N). You deserve a long, happy life, without me. I was never good for you but I was too selfish to see that.” He croaks, groaning at the pain. Tears welled up in your eyes, “Why does this sound like a goodbye, Harry? You’re not leaving me. The ambulance will come and you’ll be fine. Everything will go back to the way it was.” You cry. Harry’s hand rises shakily; he cups your cheek, his thumb stroking your face. You place your hand on top of his, squeezing it gently.

“I love you, (Y/N).” He murmurs, his eyes drooping.

“I-I love you, Harry.” You mumble, your tears falling onto his chest, “Please, please, don’t leave me.” You beg. Harry takes your hand in his, bringing it to his lips and planting a small kiss on your knuckles.

“Promise me.” He says, his voice weak.

“Harry…” You trail off.

“Promise me.” He pleads. You look down at his face; his features were contorted due to the pain. You couldn’t stand to see him like this, he couldn’t leave you. He couldn’t. You loved him, more than anything.

“I promise.” You whisper. Harry’s head turns to the side.

“Take care of her, Lou.” He murmurs.

“Anything, mate.” Louis smiles down at Harry, a few tears running down his face. By this point everyone was sat around Harry, tears in everyone’s eyes.

“You promise?” He asks, his coughing getting worse.

“I promise.” Louis says, his voice quivering. You can hear the faint sound of an ambulance nearing, but you knew that they wouldn’t be here in time. Even if they were, there wasn’t much they could do; Harry had lost too much blood. The realisation then hit, he was going to die. He wasn’t going to be with you anymore, he wasn’t going to sneak around the back of your house, persuading you to come out behind your mothers back. He wasn’t going to make dirty jokes anymore, or smirk like he did when you messed up. He wasn’t going to reassure you that everything’s going to be okay, even when it’s not. He wasn’t going to grow old, have children, grandchildren even. He wasn’t going to do any of that with you. Harry then turns back to you, lifting up the side of his shirt to reveal the tattoo you both got, just hours before.

“Forever?” He croaks, his eyes being forced to shut, and his grip loosening on your hand. You trace over the tattoo with your fingers, thinking about how proud he was to take you into that parlour as his girlfriend. How happy he looked when you agreed to get a piece of him inked on your body. A fresh set of tears stream down your face and you could taste the salty water on your lips. A lump was formed in your throat, and your vision blurred as his breathing slowed before coming to a halt.

“Forever.”