Despite the fact there was someone banging on the front door, I was still debating just ignoring it and remaining here with Harry sprawled out across me. His light breaths against my stomach as he slept were so calming and he was in this vulnerable, sweet state that I wished could last forever, but ultimately I knew because it was so late, whoever was there had a good reason to be.

I huffed, trying to gently move a sleeping Harry from on top of me without waking him up. Luckily he was way too drunk to even respond when I slipped out from underneath him and left him face down on the sofa. I tiptoed to the door for the second time tonight, squinting to look through the peephole in the wood.

Oh shit.

I glanced around in a once again panic, realising there was absolutely nothing I could do to get out of this awkward situation I was about to be flung into, so eventually after some quick pondering, I just opened the door and faced reality.

"Liam," I said with surprise laced in my voice, trying to look happily surprised rather than uncomfortably surprised, "Hi, what are you doing here?"

"Hi!" he sang, bringing me in for a sincere and tight hug. At this point he still was unaware of the half naked man sleeping on the sofa in the front room, obviously. "I just got back and wanted to surprise you. I promised I'd see you as soon as I was home, so here I am," he smiled happily.

"I'm surprised, that's for sure," I said a bit too awkwardly, faking a smile so I didn't raise any concern.

"Sorry it's so late. I rang your mum and she said you'd be here and more than likely be awake so..."

"Uh, no, it's okay," I told him somewhat more convincingly, "Come in."

He strolled past me and stopped in front of the sofa. Liam being Liam, he didn't seem the slightest bit shocked or annoyed when he saw Harry passed out in his underwear with his limbs hanging off the side of the sofa, he only laughed and looked at me with confusion.

"Why's Harry here? And why's he got no clothes on?" Liam laughed again, still confused but not at all angry.

Now to try and explain this. For the love of God, make it convincing, Jess.

"He's drunk — completely wasted. He was at a Halloween party with my brother and they were coming back here afterwards, but for some reason he turned up early and without Niall so I just let him in, he took off his soaking clothes — you know, from the rain — and then fell asleep," I fibbed. Not bad for on the spot.

"Right," Liam nodded, completely buying into my lies and becoming amused by my story.

"Yeah, I'm just playing babysitter. Why don't you go upstairs to my room and I'll... sort him out."

"You sure? I mean I can help you g—"

"No, it's okay. I'm sure; I'll be fine," I smiled reassuringly, silently pleading for him to leave.

Thankfully, he smiled back with another nod before heading off up the stairs. I waited until I heard the slam of my bedroom door close before rushing over to Harry and shaking him awake. He groaned and murmured something in response and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how wrecked he was.

"Harry, wake up. Liam's here."

That sure perked him up. He hauled his head up and looked at me through squinted eyes, eyebrows pulled together.

"What?" he mumbled, as if he wasn't sure if he was actually awake and hearing me correctly.

"Liam just showed up, he's upstairs. You need to pull it together so I can go up and leave you here and still find you alive when I wake up tomorrow."

"Send him away," he groaned, trying to reach out and pull me back onto the sofa with him. He was too disorientated to even grab me as I dodged his hands which were waving around all over the place seeking after me.

"I'm gonna get you some water and a blanket and you're going to stay here when I leave. Understood?" His head fell back down into the cushion and I took that as a yes, leaving to fetch him something to drink from the kitchen.

I wasn't entirely surprised when he followed me, padding across the titled floor behind me. When I glanced over my shoulder at him I noticed his hair was still damp and his body was still clammy, eyes narrow and dark as they swept over me.

Rather unwisely, I turned my attention to the kitchen sink, pulling out a glass from the cabinet and putting it under the tap. When I felt his front lean against my back and his hands find their way to my hips, I dropped the glass in the sink and the clattering sound it made echoed through the house. Spinning around with my reflexes on point, I shoved him back but had to immediately steady him so he wouldn't fall and crack his head on the tiles or something. The last thing I wanted to do right now was have to take a trip to the ER.

"I'm not even going to look at you whilst you're smashed and Liam is in this house, Harry, so don't even try it," I snapped, putting him in his place, or so I thought. He rolled his eyes like a child. "I mean it!"

"I thought I told you to live a little," he slurred, trying to approach me with a lustful look on his face once again, greedy hands reaching out for me, but I stopped him by pressing my palm firmly to his chest.

"I don't know it is with you and this whole 'living for the thrill of getting caught' thing, but you can pack it in!"

I quickly turned back around to the sink and filled the glass up again, storming off in front of him to place it on the coffee table. When I re-entered the living room Liam was jogging down the stairs and he looked worried.

"What was that crash? Is everything alright?" he gushed, looking at me and then to Harry who had stumbled back into the room as well.

"Yeah, fine. The glass just slipped out my hand," I said humorously. Somehow I was managing to keep myself together more than I thought I'd ever be able to in this situation, but it did make me feel uneasy that in the state he was in, Harry could quite easily let something slip, and I'm not sure whether Liam would look past it or take him seriously.

"There's a blanket just down there, you can sleep on the sofa until Niall gets in and then you're his problem," I told Harry dryly, if he said anything about not being with Niall tonight to cause more problems I was going to bash his head in, "We're going up to bed now, night."

"Maybe I should come up to bed with you and Liam can sleep on the sofa," Harry grinned, knowing full well that he could use how drunk he was to get away with saying something like that and Liam wouldn't stand up for himself or me.

"Ignore him," I retorted, sending Harry a warning stare before shoving at Liam to get him back up the stairs. We both left him in the lounge, and I just prayed that he'd stay there and not cause anymore trouble tonight.

It was now nearing one in the morning, so without even changing my clothes or using the bathroom, I climbed straight into bed and got comfortable. Liam took off his shoes and jeans and slithered in beside me, not making any efforts to be at all affectionate.

After a few minutes of silence passed, he spoke up, "Jess?"

"Mm," I uninterestedly mumbled back a reply, feeling sleepy already.

"So, you've been seeing a lot of Harry..."

Now that perked me up. Oh god, was Liam... becoming suspicious?

"I guess, he's become quite good friends with Niall recently," I commented, not letting how nervous I was feeling inside seep out into my voice.

"You can tell me if he was here to see you, you know. I won't be mad. I know you're friends and that..." he kept trailing off every time he spoke like he was just as nervous as I was, the only difference being he was showing it.

"He wasn't here to see me, Liam, we don't really get on." Not a complete lie. "Anyway, he was off his face, do you really think he'd be capable of any kind of normal conversation or whatever it is that we would do together as friends?" I joked, hoping to lighten the mood and steer away from the topic as soon as possible.

"I guess not," he chuckled half-heartedly. I didn't believe that he truly believed me.

"He didn't even really say anything to me — he just knocked on the door, came in, and passed out." I attempted to convince him further.

"It's okay, you don't have to explain yourself to me. I trust you."

————————

I woke up to the sound of cupboards banging downstairs. Liam was still fast asleep on the other side of the bed, so I snuck out and headed downstairs. I found the source of the noise to be, of course, Harry, who was rummaging through the cupboards and drawers loudly in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" I questioned him, making him jump a little bit as he turned to face me with that usual stern look on his face.

"Looking for some kind of pain killers before I smack my head against the wall," he grumbled bluntly. "Where are my clothes?"

"There's paracetemol in the bathroom cabinet, and your clothes are in a wet heap outside the front door, probably."

"Why?"

"Because that's where you left them," I was replying to him just as coldly as he was being to me for once, annoyed that I was even having to deal with this mess right now.

I don't know how I thought this would ever work. Did I think it'd work? I wasn't sure if I'd convinced myself that I could practically live two separate lives and one would never interfere with the other, or whether I just wasn't thinking at all. It gave me a headache myself just thinking about how stupid I was acting since I met Harry, all this running around and hiding was wearing me out. I'd never been so anxious in all my life, but with all the lying and new experiences I was definitely on edge. I had to choose — I had to make a decision and cut one of my two lives loose — and it had to be soon, before something terrible happened. The only problem was, it wasn't as simple as one may think.

"No need to give me the Harry treatment," he said playfully, referring to the fact I was being blunt and dismissive like he usually is. I felt his presence behind me and his hands rested on my shoulders lightly, before squeezing and beginning to massage my muscles.

"You're tense," he breathed quietly, almost to himself.

My head rolled to the side and then forward very slightly, giving in to the way his hands were relaxing my entire body from the stress of it all, and wishing I wasn't about to stop him.

"Are you forgetting that Liam's upstairs," I said as more of a statement than a question.

"No," he muttered, continuing to rub my shoulders, but I reluctantly slipped out of his grip like it wasn't killing me to do so and went to the fridge to get out some milk for the cereal I was about to have.

"When are you going to tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"That it's over."

I spun on my heel and glared at him. Why would he just assume I'd choose him over Liam? This wasn't something I wanted to think about at all, so the thought that he was so confident that I'd just dump my boyfriend of six months who I'd been friends with for years prior to our relationship for him in a heartbeat made me want to set myself on fire. I'm not sure in which way right now, but I love Liam. I don't know where my feelings are at, and I'm more confused than ever, so Harry needed to lay off with this demanding, I'm-royalty-everyone-loves-me thing he had going on.

By my glaring, Harry realised that what he'd said touched a nerve. He didn't care, obviously, but he knew. He shrugged carelessly and was about to leave when something obviously popped into his head. He looked me right in the eyes and said, "It's either me or him, Jess. I'm tired of this shït." And then he walked away from me.

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Please remember to help me out by voting and commenting if you like my story :) Also, I'm definitely continuing Elusive, and I'll begin updating it within the next few weeks, so please check out the first part that is already up and remember to vote if you like that too.

It was Liam - and a few of you called it! This chapter wasn't exactly thrilling but it was necessary, I suppose. What do you think's going to happen from here? What do you want to happen?

Sorry it's been longer than usual since I last updated - I was kind of busy for once. I passed my driving test! Obviously we did the celebratory McDonalds run like I mentioned before ;)

Q: harry-styless: What convinced you to start writing overall?

A: Well, I've always liked writing since I was younger. I started reading The Vamps fanfics like two years ago when I was really into them, and that's when I decided I wanted to write my own fanfic, which is when Inconsequential came along. But I think it was when my love for 1D really blossomed and I started reading stories like After and Haven that I wanted to write a Harry fic.

Highlight this with a question for me to answer in the next update!

My question for you: So I asked you before when you found my story, but now I'm interested to know how or where you found it? 

Love,

E x