Harry's POV

As much as I hated to leave Phoenix that next evening, I had a date scheduled with this girl Dani. I would say we hit it off pretty well when we Skyped the other day. She's really pretty with gorgeous medium length hair and a beautiful smile to go with it, and she's quirky and knows how to laugh. She's perfect.

We never were able to wake Phoenix up last night, so we each took turns kepeing several hour shifts, starting with me. If she woke up, we were to wake the other lads immediately and make her some tea.

Liam was on shift, so I told him I had to go meet someone on a date. I was excited, but I was nervouse and scared at the same time. What if she didn't like me? What if something worse were to happen to Phoenix while I was gone? I pushed these thoughts to the back of my head as I walked to Starbucks. We had agreed to meet here for two reasons: it was close to her house, so she could walk, and it was close to our house, so I could be home in five minutes if I needed to see Phoenix.

"Hello," I said, approaching a pretty blonde at one of the tables. She was short, but that was ok. I was tall, and every tall lad needs a short girl.

"Hey," she answered back, excited to see me. I could tell she wanted to hug me, so I opened my arms up. I underestimated how eager she was; she practically squeezed the air out of me.

"How are you?" she asked when I sat down across from her.

"I'm alright," I said, not bothering to hide my worry. I knew girls were always good at deciphering what was wrong.

"What's wrong?" she asked immediately.

"Oh, yesterday and last night were really rough for me and the lads. Phoenix walked out of the house, and we couldn't find her, so I used the tracking device in her phone to find her, but she was about to get raped, so we found her and got her out, but she collapsed before telling us what happened and she hasn't woken up since, and I'm worried that I won't be there for her when she wakes up," I said in one breath.

I saw her stand up and put on her jacket as she walked toward the door.

"Come on. We're going to her," she said.

"What? No. I don't want to ruin our date!" I protested.

"It's not ruining it. She's my best friend. I need to be there for her and for you and for the other lads. I'm guessing they're at home?"

I nodded, swallowing thickly. I didn't want to do this one a first date, but if she wanted to, then I certainly wasn't going to argue.

"How's she been doing lately?" she asked as we walked on the pavement toward the flat.

"Lately? What do you mean by lately?" If anything else was going on, this was news to me. Why didn't she trust me?

"She must not have told you everything," Dani said.

Concerned for the girl I considered my sister, I pressed for more.

"I don't know if she'd like it if I told you. I can't just break a friend's trust like that. I've known her since second grade, and she only told me about it last year."

I did the mental math, remembering that Phoenix was nineteen.

"So you two have been friends for twelve years?" I asked, shocked.

"She's very quiet and keeps to herself. It took me at least a year to find out her favorite color," Dani nodded.

"That explains why she doesn't tell me important stuff, but why would she tell Niall what happened with how she landed in the hospital? She's only known him for two or three months," I wondered aloud.

Dani's eyes grew wide.

"She did WHAT?! She told a lad before she told me? She barely knows him!" she exclaimed.

"It surprises me that you don't know that story, but I guess it's true. And she doesn't really like him. Or at least she portrays that she doesn't like him. I've noticed that he's been a bit like an overprotective brother. As far as brothers go, I'm not overprotective at all. I want her to succeed in life, but I'm not going to hamper her from having fun."

By then, we had arrived at the flat. Normally, I would ring the doorbell to get them all riled up that there's paparazzi at the door, but with all the drama going on, I decided to take Dani through the back door.

"Lads, I'm home and I brought Dani over," I called out. I didn't care if I woke Phoenix; it was probably time for her to wake up anyway.

I walked upstairs, hoping to find them somewhere in the house. Zayn was zonked out on his bed; Liam was in his laptop, smiling like an idiot, so he was probably Skyping Sophia; Louis was out like a light, his butt in the air, so I hoped he wasn't drunk again; that meant Niall was on shift. I slowly swung Phoenix's door open, and Niall looked up at me. I introduced him to Dani, and he went back to playing on his phone. Phoenix looked really scared, even in her sleep. The urge to run over and hug her in her sleep was overwhelming. That girl looked so much like me; she could've been my sister.

"She looks different," Dani said uncomforably.

"She's been through a lot, lately. Let's go to bed. It's almost midnight. Niall, I'll take over for you. Dani, just do whatever you want with yourself. There's food in the kitchen, so help yourself," I said, sending Niall off to bed.

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Author's Note

HIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!! Sorry for the slow updates. My grandparents found a house and they might buy it, so I had to spend time with them. Also, I've had to stay ahead of my copying, so there's that. I'm so so so sorry for the heartache coming up in the next chapters, but it doesn't last long and it has a happy ending... But that's called SPOILERS!

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