The Misfits

“Look! We’re on top of the Rocks!” I laughed, pressing my nose against the glass and looking down at the city below. We were standing on one of the lookouts atop the Rockefeller Center with New York City at our feet. It was windy up here and I had to keep pushing the flyaway strands that had fallen out of my bun away from my face.

“Lia! Get back from there!” I heard my father bark at me. I shot him a wicked grin before Harry pulled me away from the edge.

“No I want to see the people!” I pouted. “They look like ants!”

“Here.” Harry held up a quarter in front of my face before placing it in the lookout machine. I quickly ran over and looked through the small lens to see a magnified view of the Empire State Building.

“Look, you can see the people looking at us.” I stood up and waved my arms as Harry let out a laugh. He leant down and looked through the lens himself.

“Hey, they’re waving back!” He turned to me excitedly with a dimpled smile and bright eyes. I wondered if he knew how attractive he was. He had to know right? I mean he had girls falling at his feet all over the world.

I was knocked out of my thoughts as he booty-bumped me. I tried to bump him back but he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug instead. When he didn’t get off I leaned forward, effectively lifting him up off the ground. He let out a yell as I wobbled forward and began to spin him around.

“Are you planning on throwing Haz off the side Thal?” Liam called to me. He had his arms wrapped tightly around a shivering Sophia but looked over to us with a smile.

“Do you think he can fly?” I called back.

“HEY!” cried Harry. I let out a laugh before lowering him safely back onto the ground. “Maybe I’ll throw you over.”

I lout a scream as he picked me up bridal style and began walking over to the edge. I wrapped my arms around him and clung to him for dear life. “Harry stop!”

“One…two…”

“HARRY!” I squeezed him even tighter for he had began to rock me back and forth as if he was getting ready to actually throw me. I buried my face in his chest and moments later felt if vibrate as he laughed. Then I was lowered back to the ground. “Don’t do that!”

“Ow! Okay, okay I’m sorry,” he laughed as I punched him in the arm. I pouted up at him, which only caused his smirk to widen. We stared at each other for a moment before I remembered something.

“What were you going to say earlier?” I asked. “You had said you wanted to talk.”

“Oh…uh…” He looked over my head and pushed his hair out of his face, something he only does when he’s nervous. “It’s nothing…never mind.”

“It’s obviously something Harry.”

“Can we do this later?”

“Do what later? Harry please, you’re starting freak me out. What’s going on?”

“Nothing love, I just…were you going to tell him? Paul. Were you ever going to tell him about us?”

“Of course,” I half laughed. But he looked down at me with those piercing green eyes and my smiled faltered.

“I don’t think you were.” Harry said, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair once again. “Thalia…are you sure you want to do this?”

“Don’t be silly, of course—”

“I mean it Tootles.” He looked worried and for once, unsure. “You’re not gonna run away?”

“Harry. I don’t plan on going anywhere.” I replied softly. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a gentle squeeze. He breathed a sigh of relief and broke into a smile as I continued. “How could you even think that ya lugnut? I just flew across the world to see you. And you know how I feel about flying.”

“Such bravery,” he teased, brushing his nose against mine.

“Or stupidity.”

“And you’re positi—”

“Harry,” I growled. “Stop. I love you. I’m not leaving.”

“Okay.” A smile slowly spread across his face and he leaned in to give me a light kiss. “I like that I can do that now.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“You know you’re pretty cute when you’re angry?” He laughed. I pouted in response. I can’t believe he thought that I wanted to leave him. I mean it was true that I hadn’t wanted to tell my father, but wanting to keep it a secret and wanting to leave were two completely different things.

“I’m not trying to be cute,” I replied.

“I know. But you are.” I shot him a glare so he tried again. “So. What were you going to tell me?”

“That I’m mad at you.”

“Thalia,” he groaned. He bent down slightly so that he could look me in the eye. I glared at him as he pushed a few strands out of my face and pouted like a puppy. It was really hard to stay mad at this idiot. “I’m sorry. Please?”

“I was going to tell you that my dad found out about us.” I replied, pulling my sweater closer to my body as another gust of wind came by. Harry rolled his eyes and pulled me into a tighter embrace.

“Yeah instead I found out the hard way,” he laughed. “I thought you were going to protect me!”

I let out a giggle before looking up at him. Goddamn he was cute. And he seriously thought that I wanted to leave him? A second later the both of us were distracted by the sound of Louis’ voice, “Yeah, what happened? I wanted to see that fight.”

“Lou!” cried Eleanor, smacking his chest. Louis let out a laugh in response, but I was watching Eleanor.

She raised her eyebrows at me slightly and I knew she was wondering if I was all right after finally telling my father. I gave her a small smile and a nod to let her know I was okay. I would have to give her all the details later since she had been the first to give me advice what seemed like a thousand years ago.

“Alright come on you lot,” Max bellowed. “It’s nearly 10am. We need to get back for your show.”

After snapping a few more pictures with the girls we headed back downstairs. We had gone early in the morning in hopes of remaining under the radar, however that plan failed for a few fans had caught wind and showed up to see the boys. Mackenzie, Sophia, Eleanor and I were whisked away by one of the bodyguards as the guys distracted the fans.

“Well that was an adventure,” Laughed Sophia once we were safe in the car.

“How did the fans find out?” Mackenzie asked. We all looked back to see a growing crowd outside the building we had just left.

“I swear they have a sixth sense for it,” Sophia replied.

“Oh…I just wish we could spend more time with them,” Eleanor said with a sigh. I turned to see her looking out the window; the usual spark in her eyes seemed to have disappeared. “We only get to see them for a few hours a day tops.”

“Not so fast El,” I mused. “You’re forgetting about after hour playtime.”

Elaine rolled her eyes, “Yeah, but most nights he’s too exhausted.”

“Not last night,” Sophia smirked. “I saw Louis skipping around this morning, you don’t fool anyone missy!”

We all burst out laughing but I noticed Eleanor’s smile falter. As we pulled up to the hotel I took Eleanor’s arm. "Hey, you okay El?"

She gave me a smile and snaked her arm trough mine as we walked towards the entrance, "Of course! We're vacationing in New York City with our men, what isn't there to be happy about?"
"The fact that we have to leave at the end of the week," I replied.

Her smile faltered once more. After checking to make sure Sophia and Mackenzie were out of range she whispered, "Lou has just seemed a bit distant lately. I just...I miss him Thalia. I'm scared I'm loosing him."

“No you’re not El,” I reassured her. “It’s just a rough patch, everything will work out.”

I pulled her into a side hug as we stepped inside the lobby. She and Louis had always been a power couple but they've had their problems as well. Dating someone who was gone 9 months out of the year was a lot of work and it seemed the pair were starting to second guess if it was worth it or not.

I had been so busy thinking about Eleanor and Louis that I hadn’t realized we were in the lounge until little Lux ran over to me. The room had been converted into a make-shift green room for the guys while they stayed here, which was convenient for it was right off of the pool.
“What’s up miss Luxy?” I asked, holding out my hands to pull her into a hug.

“Come and play!” she cried, taking my hand and tugging me down to the floor so I could be at her level.

“What are we playing?” I asked. After that I was completely oblivious to my surroundings as Mackenzie and I focused all our attention on the little three year old.

-

"You okay Z?" I asked? We were still sitting in the lounge. The guys had gotten back nearly an hour later than us from Rockefeller because they had insisted on staying and meeting with some of the fans. Now we were all just sitting here waiting for my father to give the okay to head to the stadium for their show tonight.

“Yeah.” Zayn gave me a small smile and a nod in response but I narrowed my eyes at his lie.

"Spill it."

"It's fine Thalia." He insisted. But I ignored him and repositioned myself so I was facing him. With my elbows propped on my knees and my head resting in my hands I waited patiently. Eventually he let out a sigh and turned to face me as well. "I'm just tired is all. I promise."

"They work you too hard. When's your next break?"

"Christmas."

"Well at least you have that to look forward to," I smiled. He nodded, still looking down. So I took his hand in mine and began gently massaging it. He didn't seem to mind. I was quite sure what to say next so I changed the subject, determined to cheer him up. "Have you hung up my drawing yet?"

"Yeah," he said, finally breaking into a real smile. "You know I was actually thinking of making it into a tattoo."

"No!"

"Why not?" He laughed.

"I'm good Z, but I'm not that good."

"I think it's good."

"Well I think you're insane," I replied. He let out another laugh as Harry made his way over to us. "Walt, tell Zayn he's insane."

"Hey that rhymed!" Harry beamed at me in response, looking remarkably like a little five year old. I shot him a glare and he laughed. "Why is he insane?"

"He wants to get a tattoo of my lion! That's ludicrous!"

"As it the rapper?" Harry asked. I flared my nostrils in annoyance causing them both to laugh. Idiots…I’m surrounded by idiots.

“I’ll go get a tattoo with you,” I said, ignoring Harry and turning back to Zayn. “As long as you don’t get my lion.”

“But I want the lion!” Zayn pouted.

“What are you gonna get?” Harry asked curiously?

“Well I want two. I want a paintbrush on my finger and then a watercolor one on my forearm,” I replied. “But I have to wait until we get back to England for the watercolor one. Nate has a friend who’s really good at it.”

“Alright, well we’ll go get tattoos tomorrow,” Harry replied with a dimpled smile. I swear he was trying to kill me with that smile.

"Fuck Thalia that feels amazing," Zayn groaned. Without realizing it I had migrated my massage from his hand and up to his shoulder.

"It feels amaZAYN?" I asked. He shot me a glare. Harry burst into a new fit of laughs before Zayn pushed him off the couch and left us all three of us in stitches. This caught the attention of the others.

"Make sure you get his arm good Lil’s,” smirked Louis. “It’s been getting a work out having not seen Perrie in months.”

“OHH” cried Niall and Liam while the rest of us burst out laughing. Zayn failed at maintaining a straight face and eventually broke into a grin as well.

“Ring, ring, ring…ring , ring-a-ling. Get your phooooone cause someone caaaaalls.” We all turned to Mackenzie as the minions from Despicable Me sang her ringtone.

“What the hell?” Laughed Louis. We all burst into more laughter as she quickly grabbed her phone.

"Shh!" Mackenzie giggled, stepping back so she could answer the phone without laughing. "Sup sista?"

The guys turned back to their jokes but I was too busy watching Mackenzie to pay much attention. A deep frown had crossed her brow as she listened to one of my sisters on the other line. Something was wrong - very, very wrong. I felt Harry nudge me to gain my attention, but I pushed his hand away, still focused on Mackenzie. She was growing paler by the second and looked as if she might faint.

"Kenz?" I heard myself ask, jumping up from my seat and running over to her. Mackenzie slid down against the wall; sobbing uncontrollably by the time she hit the floor. She had gained the attention of the others now and as I reached her I could hear them yelling in the background.

"Kenzie!"

"Wha-Kenzie!

"Are you okay?"

“Kenz what’s happened?” I asked, taking her hand and gripping it firmly to let her know I was there. She still had the phone pressed against her ear. The second we locked eyes I felt my stomach sink.

“It’s J-Jasper,” she whispered between sobs. “He’s m-missing. My b-baby brother’s g-gone!”

Notes

Oh shiiiiit. Plot TWIST.
Did anyone see that coming? No?
I warned you.
Anyone have any ideas as to how this could have happened?
I've been dropping minuscule hints every now and then
I'm curious if anyone has caught on

Stay tuned to find out...