The Misfits

“Welcome to the land of misfit toys,” Maeve smirked as we entered the underground club. It was dark and dingy with black lights illuminating glow in the dark paint splatters on the walls, floor, and ceilings. A band was already playing, causing my chest to vibrate.

I pulled Harry’s hat down further on his head to make sure he wouldn’t be recognized. Before leaving our flat we had made some wardrobe changes to the boys to make sure they would fit in. We didn’t want them being caught at this kind of party, knowing it wouldn't be good for their image. We had hidden Harry and Niall under beanies but didn’t bother much with Zayn, knowing he would fit right in.

“Let’s find the boys!” Mackenzie called over the music. I took both of Harry’s hands in mine and led him through the cramped space. Once we pushed our way through the sweaty bodies and up to the stage I saw some familiar faces.

“Johnny! Seb!”

Johnny, a skinny black-haired guy who always seemed to have a manic expression looked up in surprise as we made our way over. When he realized who we were he broke into a giant grin.

“Well will ya look who it is! Sup babes?”

"How've you been?" I asked. He shot me a look and I broke into a laugh. Jonny was a guy of simple means - as long as he had a bottle of beer and a joint he claimed he was content. But we we all knew better.

“When are they on?” Maeve asked, pulling him into a hug. I felt Harry pull me a little closer as the lanky ginger next to me gave me a grin.

“Not long now,” he replied. He turned to Harry and stuck out a hand. “The name’s Seb, nice to meet you.”

Harry shook his hand and the two fell into conversation. I played with Harry's belt loops as he talked, hooking my finger and pulling myself closer to him. He looked so good with a beanie on. He turned to catch me staring and gave me a dimpled smile.

I felt a nudge on my arm and turned to see Maeve passing me Johnny’s vaporizer. I hit it hard, taking in the warmth and letting my head spin. We had pregamed before and I had already been feeling good. A few more hits of this and I knew I would be good for the night.

You probably wouldn’t know it by looking at us, but the girls and I knew how to handle ourselves when it came to drugs and booze. Growing up, a lot of our friends had turned to them to cope with their lives. It was entertaining to watch the boys of One Direction see this side of us, Niall’s concern for Mackenzie in particular was hilarious. I moved to hand the Pax back to Johnny, but he shrugged and said, “Share the love babe.”

“You want a hit?” I asked, holding it out to Harry. He hesitated for a moment before taking it. I ruffled his curls as he passed it to Niall. “Look at you bad boy.”

“Bad boy?” He growled. His eyebrow shot up as he pulled me closer. I felt his lips on my neck just below my ear, sending shivers down my spine. “Does that turn you on love?”

My breath caught in my throat and he let out a laugh before kissing my temple. I really didn't need any encouragement at this point, and if he kept this up we were going to need to find somewhere a bit more private. A second later, however my attention was drawn to the stage as Calhan, Nate, and the rest of their band stepped on.

The music began thumping through the speakers causing the room to shake and everyone to dance. It was the most fun I’ve had in a while. I let the drugs take over my senses and slowly the voices of the crowd became engulfed in the music. I could feel my heart beating along with the drum as I danced with my friends, threatening to leap out of my chest.

Two songs in I felt someone’s hands on my hips. I turned to see a familiar mop of curly hair and dimples smiling down at me. He pulled me closely as we began to dance, and damn could he dance. I pulled my hair to the side and immediately he was kissing my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

“HEY!” My eyes snapped open to see Maeve glaring at us, a smirk on her face. “Get a room you fuckers!”

I stuck out my tongue at her in response.

“Look at Niall,” I heard Harry laugh in my ear. I turned to see Niall literally staring open-mouthed at Mackenzie as she shook her hips to the music. Harry reached over and ruffled the top of his head.

“Enjoying the view Nialler?”

“Why yes as a matter o’ fact.” He had a huge grin plastered on his face. Mackenzie turned to us and grabbed our hands, forcing us to dance with her.

After the set finished we cheered loudly with the rest of the crowd. Sweaty and out of breath, I was led to the side by Maeve and Seb. Calhan and Nate would be offstage soon and Maeve had wanted to greet them.

“There are the rock stars!” Maeve practically jumped on Nate, who caught her easily. I heard Mackenzie giggling furiously from her spot on Niall’s hip.

“Hey you guys made it!” Nate said, turning to Harry, Niall, and Zayn. “Did the girls sneak you in?”

“It wasn’t really that hard considering we know the bouncer,” I laughed.

“Oh Jack’s my boy!” cried Seb. The music started as the DJ played a set before the next act came on. I leant against the wall next to Harry, who was talking with Zayn and Nate. I felt a nudge on my arm and turned to see Calhan looking down at me.

“Looking good tonight Thal.”

“Aren’t I always?” I replied cooly. I couldn’t help but notice how close he was, leaning over me with his arm resting against the wall above. I'm not going to lie, I have and probably always will find him attractive. We just clicked in a way that shouldn't work. And it was scary how much well understood each other.

Calhan let out a laugh and leaned down a little further, making my heart skip a beat out of nervousness. “You know you are.”

“What do you want?”

“I’m glad you came.”

“Yeah, it was good to see Johnny and Seb.”

“Thal…” He was inches away now, but I refused to back down. “I missed you. Where are you ending up tonight?”

“Anywhere except your bed.” I turned to the rest of the group, wrapping my arm around Harry’s waist.

“Thalia!” I heard Calhan yell behind me.

Harry began to turn but I stopped him, “Just ignore it.”

“You okay?” He whispered in my ear.

No I was not okay. Calhan always had a way of getting in my head. I looked up to see Harry staring down at me with concern written all over his face. I put on a smile before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m glad you’re here.” I smiled.

“Thalia, let’s go dance!” Mackenzie said. She pulled me away from Harry and out onto the dance floor. I was drunker than I thought. Kenzie took my hand and was started dancing like idiots, swinging our hips to the music. After a few songs someone grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the side of the dance floor.

“Calhan’s talking to Harry,” Maeve hissed. My head snapped up and I quickly scanned the room until I found them. Harry was visibly tensed, his hands curled into fists, with his jaw clenched. Calhan was smirking. I made a move to go over when Niall grabbed Harry’s attention, pulling him away from whatever conversation the two had been having.

“There you girls are!” Cried Seb, distracting me from Harry. “I know you wanna hit this with me.”

I took the blunt and his lighter, trying to calm myself down. Harry wouldn’t believe anything Calhan said, would he? I flicked the lighter and watched the flame dance for a moment before holding it to the tip of the blunt. I hit it hard, letting the smoke fill my lungs before passing it to Maeve.

“That’s my girl,” smirked Seb. “I’ve missed you fuckers, where have you been?”

“Locked in the painting studio,” I replied, a lazy smile on my face.

“We need to get you out more babe.”

“I dunno, I kinda like my little dungeon.”

“I think the fumes are getting to you,” giggled Maeve.

We continued to smoke and joke around as the party continued on around us. The strobe lights and smoke made it difficult to see across the dance floor and within the next song I had lost sight of Harry and Niall. I decided I would go look for them after I finished the blunt; I had really missed Seb and wanted to catch up. After a while Zayn appeared at my side, looking worried.

“What’s up Z?”

“You’re with me for the rest of the night,” He said, scratching his beard and looking uncomfortable. I frowned in response so he added, “Harry stepped out.”

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Said he needed some air, Ni went with him - wait! Thalia!”

I had turned and started towards the back exit, Zayn close on my heels. Something was wrong. I could feel it. I pushed through the crowded hallway as Zayn fought to keep up.

“Thalia.” Niall appeared, looking worried.

“Ni. What’s going on?” I asked quickly, as he took my hands and kept me from going any further. “Where’s Harry? Is everything okay?”

“Something came up, he left.”

“What?” I frowned. No. No, that wasn’t right. “Why?”

“Come on Thal, let’s get back to the girls.” Niall wrapped an arm around my waist as the two led me back out towards the dance floor. When we reached our friends I hung back against the wall. I pulled out my phone and tried calling Harry only to have it ring twice before going straight to voicemail. Something was definitely wrong. I tried to clear my head and remember what had happened.

“Thalia? Babe, you okay?” I looked up to see Maeve frowning at me.

“Harry left.”

“What?”

“He left.”

“Why?” She took my shoulders began rubbing them gently. I shrugged in response.

“He won’t answer my calls. I don’t know what—” I froze. Calhan had just appeared, a large smile across his face.

Calhan…he had been talking to Harry the last time I saw him. I immediately remembered the way Harry had acted, how upset he had looked. I walked over to him and smacked his chest.

“Calhan what the fuck did you do?”

"I don't know what you're talking about babe."

"I saw you fucking talking to Harry. What the hell did you say?"

"I just wanted to make sure the kid knew what he was getting into." A devilish smile played in his face as he stepped forward. "That little prick doesn't know you like I do Thal."

"You are an ass." He laughed and tried to pull me into him. I took a step back in an attempt to distance myself from him. Anger and hurt filling my entire body.

"And that's just the way you like it," he sneered. "Stop pretending to be someone you're not Thal."

"I'm not pretending."

"Fancy parties? Private jets? Romantic dinner dates? Who are you kidding Thalia. You don't belong in that life."

I felt a pang in my chest. Calhan had always known exactly what to say to hurt me. But my wall was up, and I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me break. I pushed him away and let out a laugh, "and what? You think I belong with you?"

"You know you do. He's too good for you Thalia. He knows it and so do you. It's time to wake up and come home."

"Go to hell," I spat.

I pushed him off of me and headed towards the exit. The thumping music helped to drown out my friend’s calls after me as I disappeared into the crowd. Once outside I sunk down into the ally and pulled out my phone. Wiping away rouge tears I called Harry again.

"Yeah?”

“Harry-Harry I’m sor—"

“Ha! Gotcha! This is my answering machine, leave a mess—”

“Fucker.” I said before hanging up and letting out a muffled sob.

I sat for a moment ,wiping away teas and attempting to take in everything that had just happened. How could he leave? Did he honestly believe whatever lies Calhan had told him? Did he think because I was too scared to commit that I didn't still care about him?

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I had known this was going to happen. Maeve had warned me. Hell, even my father had warned me. I thought I'd been prepared, I thought I could handle it. I've always been able to block it out and protect myself. But now every emotion hit me like a tidal wave. Anger, frustration, confusion, and heartbreak began to take over my body as I broke down in the alleyway.

Notes

sorz sad chapter.