*Okay, so I know that the first four chapters are first person POV’s, but I know how much I suck at those, so from now on, I’ll be writing in third person POV. Please forgive me for the change, but this way, I’ll be able to write about everyone’s arc in one go, including the guys. So, please bear with me, and thanks again for reading Home is Where I Belong.*


Iris led the way to Zayn’s house, with Willa by her side. Willa knew Zayn as the kind and smart boy that worked at the library and she could tell Iris was quite worried about the lad; she obviously knew him more than her.

“You seem to care about Zayn, a lot. Are you two friends?” she inquired as the two waited for him to open the door.

“Well, yeah, of course.” Iris responded as she played with the straps of her purse. “We were great friends back in the day; inseparable to say the least. He’s like a brother to me, you know. And after all that he’s been through, I need to make sure nothing happens to him.”

Willa gave her a genuine smile, sharing the same feeling of loving someone so much that you’d let no one hurt them. She was reminded of her best friend, with whom she went through hell and came back with little to no burns.

Before she could say anything, however, a slender, tired looking man opened the door. He squinted his eyes in confusion; he rarely had visitors, Iris being the exception and the girls before him had strange expressions etched across their faces. He greeted them and ushered them inside, whilst praying that everything was alright.

“So, you’re telling me some crazy dude’s on a killing spree and I’m probably his next target?” Zayn asked, slight amusement in his voice.

Iris and Willa shared a glance before Iris nodded. The man in front of them let out a small laugh, while shaking his head.

“Come on, you’ve got to be kidding me. I mean, look around. I’ve got nothing; I’m no one special and I sure as hell haven’t done something that would upset someone so much, that they’d want to kill me.” he replied.

“Zayn, it’s just a theory and things are happening in this town, whether you believe it or not. Someone broke into my place, someone got killed a few days back. We just want you to be safe.” Iris responded, her voice slightly breaking at the end.

Zayn looked at her, with kindness in his eyes. He knew she was just trying to protect him, but he felt like he didn’t deserve it. He was okay with whatever the world wanted to throw his way, at least he’d be at peace.

“So what do we do?” Zayn sighed, for Iris’ sake.

Her face lit up like the sun as soon he had said those words; his life was all that mattered right now and she was going to make sure he was alright.

“We stick together.”

>>>>>>

Juliana heaved a huge sigh as she slumped down on the sofa and placed her purse beside her. Willa came out of the kitchen, holding a cup of warm milk for her best friend. Juliana gladly accepted, while Willa sat down beside her.

“So, how’d it go?” she asked curiously.

“They personally don’t believe that they could’ve missed a clue, I mean, they are professionals. However, they said they’ll look into it and put Zayn’s safety before all else. I don’t trust them, but at least it’ll help him out.” Juliana responded, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Did Lillian ask about the task she had given you?” Willa said.

“She wanted to, but she didn’t. I decided not to tell her either.” she replied before taking a sip of milk.

“I don’t know if that was a good idea or a really stupid one, but either way, we have got to find out more before she parades in here herself.” Willa added, as she looked back upon what they had discovered.

{FLASHBACK}


Liam and Willa had been waiting for Juliana and Louis for a few minutes, growing a little impatient as they both wanted to complete the task without getting caught.

“They’re here,” Liam pointed towards the two, as they rushed across the street. “What took you so long?”

“Oh, come on, lad, it just took us a minute or two,” Louis replied, taking out two walkie-talkies, “plus, we bought these.”

“He wouldn’t shut up about it, so I let him buy them. Anyway, I got chewing gum.” Juliana threw one to Willa and Liam, whist earning looks of disbelief from them.

“Can we just get this over with?” Liam asked, while Willa nodded her head in agreement.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Juliana replied, before leading the way to Kelly’s old place.

Once the group arrived, they waited outside to see if anyone was inside or not. The house had several almond coloured tiles around the bottom, while it was painted white. A rocking chair was placed on the porch, accompanied by a small table with a book lying on it.

“They’re probably still home,” Willa stated, examining the scene before her.

“How do you know? There aren’t any lights turned o-” Juliana was interrupted by the sudden opening of the door.

A couple, the one that had bought Kelly’s place after the murder, came out. They were both dressed in formal attire, which meant they were going on a date or to an important party. Either way, it had given the group of four a chance to enter without being seen.

Subsequently, the couple drove off to wherever it was they were heading and the group scurried on over to the house.

“I’ll jump in from a window and get you all inside,” Louis whispered, before running over to the backside of the house.

The others kept an eye out, making sure no one saw them. As they stood on the lookout, Louis had opened the door for them. The group shared a look before going in to complete their task.

Juliana took two flashlights out of her bag, while Louis handed a walkie-talkie to Liam. They split into pairs and began searching for any clues.

“I don’t think we’re going to find anything. I mean, wouldn’t have this couple hidden any blood or other stains with wallpaper or something? Or maybe the previous owners had the place cleaned out before it was bought?” Willa questioned, barely taking any breaths. She was slightly frightened by what they were doing; she knew it wasn’t right, but it for the sake of the town.

“I guess so, but I did come here once after the murder. The places around her room were filled with the stench of blood. No one was here that day, when I came to ‘investigate’, but boy, did I get scared by what I saw.” Louis told, his eyes wandering around the living room, following the light from the flashlight.

“What did you see?” the brunette asked, her voice just above a whisper.

“There were words written on the wall of Kelly’s bedroom, words written in her blood. ‘You’re next in line’, that’s what the killer wrote. A warning covered up by the police, definitely on the command of the Mayor.” Louis further explained, his voice slightly shaky.

Willa put a reassuring hand on his shoulder to let him know that they were going to find something and get the murderer behind bars.

“What in the world?” Liam’s voice shook the two out of their moment.

Louis and Willa follow the sound of Liam’s voice and find themselves in the couple’s bedroom. Liam and Juliana were standing motionlessly in front of the open closet door. Louis looked at Willa, wide-eyed as the two joined their friends. They saw a picture of a woman with two girls, resting on the top shelf, alongside some magazines and other items.

“That’s Kelly and her girls,” Louis breathed, “why do they have a picture of Kelly and her girls?”

“There’s got to be some other clue,” Juliana reasoned, as she got on her tiptoes to look for anything that could clear their confusion.

“Yeah, let me help you with that, love,” Liam grabbed the magazines and articles from the shelf.

“I’m not that short,” Juliana huffed, crossing her arms, earning a smirk from Liam.

“Aw, you two are so cute,” Willa joked as her friend glared at her, “but we have got to hurry up.”

“You stay on the look-out.” Louis motioned towards Willa.

“Alright, but hurry up. I’m getting a weird feeling about all this.” she said as she walked into the hallway.

Juliana examined the magazines and newspaper articles for any clues, while Louis looked through the drawers and closet. Liam took a look at the picture, then took it out of its frame. Turning the picture around, his eyes wandered across the words written on the back.

“Aunt Kelly, Bridget and Mia? Guys, they were related!” Liam exclaimed, turning towards his two companions.

“Uh, great discovery, Liam! But we gotta go, code red. I repeat, code red!” Willa blurted out as she ran into the room.

The group shared bewildered looks, before putting everything back in their original places. They rushed out of the room and out of the house, with such speed, they were surprised themselves.

Once they got outside, and were out of anyone’s view, they let out a sigh of relief.

“Willa, what the hell was code red? Their car isn’t here yet,” Juliana panted as they strolled down the street as if nothing had happened.

“Dude, there was a kid in the other room. He like, woke up and was all, ‘Mom, Dad, is that you?’ and I was like, ‘No, you’re just dreaming; go back to sleep.’ Then I saved your lives, otherwise we were all going to prison.” Willa rambled on, earning a laugh from Louis and Liam, and a roll of the eyes from Juliana.

{FLASHBACK ENDS}

>>>>>>

Niall and Harry were strolling down the almost empty street, over to Linda’s Diner. The two used to visit the place whenever Niall was back in town.

Warm air brushed against their cold cheeks as they stepped inside, while the sweet smell of baked goods enveloped them. The diner was busy like usual, but luckily they found a table near the door. Harry saved their spot at the table while Niall went to give their orders.

Harry tapped his fingers on the surface of the marble table, his eyes wandering around the diner. He noticed something he never did before, a painting. It was that of the public park, but with much vibrant strokes of colour. Whoever the artist was, gave life to a place Harry had nothing but unpleasant memories.

After some time, Niall finally brought back some chicken burgers along with milkshakes and fries. He placed the tray before them and took a few fries for himself. He eyed his slightly gloomy friend suspiciously; he was alright when they had gotten there.

He nudged Harry gently and wriggled his eyebrows, inviting him to talk about whatever it was that was bothering him.

“It’s nothing, Niall. Don’t worry.” Harry waved it off before taking a large bite of his burger.

“That just makes me more worried. What’s up?” the Irish lad asked.

“I just got reminded of Ruby,” he sighed, “I’m sorry.”

Niall knew very well that Ruby was Harry’s dog; he had gotten her from his step-father and he loved her with his whole heart. She had died a few years ago, and Harry felt like he had lost a part of his soul.

“There’s no need to apologize. It’s okay to grief, you know, but you can’t let it consume you, otherwise it’ll eat you whole.” he replied sincerely, earning a smile from Harry.

Harry did miss Ruby, but he was better now. Though the pain was still there, he had coped with her loss and tried to live his life to the fullest, for Ruby, and for himself.

“That painting’s what reminded me of her.” Harry pointed towards the one he had just been looking at.

“That one? I think I’ve seen it before. Maybe at the park itself? Oh, yeah! I met this really gorgeous and talented woman the day I arrived. She was at the park and I had happened to have gotten a look at her painting, well, it was still a sketch when I first saw it.” Niall explained, his tone completely different to the one he was just using.

“What? You actually met a girl? And you happened to notice so many things about her? Did you get her name? Maybe I can set you up!” his best friend almost jumped out of his seat, a smirk now across his features.

“Maybe I should set you up. Who was that girl again? Riley? Lily? No, wait, Lillian! Yeah, you never told me about what happened at the club the other day.” he said after taking a sip of his milkshake.

“Well, nothing really. She didn’t even remember me.” Harry shrugged.

“Ouch. Alright, we’ll just enjoy being single prospering dudes starting their careers!” Niall said as he raised his glass.

“I’ll drink to that,” he laughed as he clinked his glass with his best friend’s.

Notes