Harry’s P.O.V.
“Stephanie!” I yelled after her. “Steph!” But not once did she ever turn back.
The rest of the boys were glaring at Rachel and I could tell she somewhat regretted what just happened. I don’t think she intended it to happen like that, but there’s no going back.
“Thanks a lot, Rachel,” I scoffed, shaking my head.
“Hey!” Rachel defended, coming closer to me.
“Woah, calm down, guys,” Niall interfered, stepping in the middle.
“It’s her fault!” I screamed in anger.
“Everyone’s at fault here!” Rachel corrected. I couldn’t argue anymore; she was right.
“I know,” I said, defeated.
“I think we all need a group talk,” Liam suggested. I looked around at everybody and they nodded their heads.
“We need Stephanie though,” I added.
“Are we going to wait for her?” Liam asked.
“I-I don’t know, I’m not sure how long she’ll be gone,” I replied.
“Let’s give it a little time,” Louis advised. Silently, we agreed and headed into the cottage.

Stephanie’s P.O.V.
I didn’t even know where I was going; I just kept running and running, down the familiar streets and across the familiar yards. Surprisingly, my body wasn’t tired at all. My brain was, though. I was getting sick of seeing all the familiar places, and soon, I reached the part of town I didn’t really recognize, the part where, you know, you’re told as a kid to never go. My running slowed down to a jog, then to a walk. I was out of breath, but I couldn’t stay in one spot and rest. For some reason, I just needed to keep going, even though I had no idea where.
I was in a scary place. Garbage littered the streets, graffiti covered the walls, and the houses looked old and run down. Not many people were outside for a nice day like this, which amazed me a bit. This side of town doesn’t get much traffic, either, so it also felt like a ghost town. I had something in common with this part of town: we were both lonely.
After a few more minutes, my body finally began to ache and I needed to take a break. I searched around and I found an alleyway with a broken bench perched up on the side of the brick wall. I scurried inside and sat down, enjoying the gross trash all over. Why am I calling it gross? I’m trash, too, so I belong here.
I was tired of thinking about my dad. I was tired of crying. I was tired of everything. Maybe I was just simply tired. So instead of thinking and instead of crying, I laid on the bench and closed my eyes.

Harry’s P.O.V.
It’s been an hour. It’s been a whole hour and Steph still isn’t back. The nerves were getting to me and I couldn’t stop them. I needed to do something. And that something hit me faster than anything I’ve ever thought of.
“I’m going to find Stephanie,” I announced to everyone in the cottage. I stood up, tied my shoes, and grabbed my jacket.
“Do you want us to come with you?” Liam asked.
“No, I want to go alone,” I responded, opening up the door and walking through. I was halfway to the main house when I heard the door open again.
“Are you sure you don’t want any of us?” Rachel shouted. From the strain in her voice, she wanted to come, but I wanted to do this myself. Without answering, I entered the main house. My mum was watching something in the den, so I quietly slipped past the room and grabbed the keys to her car. I walked through the rest of the house to the garage and discreetly got in the car, turned it on, and drove away.
I didn’t even have my license. I was driving illegally, but I didn’t care. At least I know how to drive, though. I needed to find Stephanie and walking on foot was going to take a lot longer. I needed her now.
I drove by all the places I was expecting her to be at: the park, the woods, even her mom’s old house. She wouldn’t go near her dad’s at this point in time, so I completely avoided that. But she wasn’t at any of those places.
As I kept driving, I began getting more and more worried. Every place I went to that I knew Steph loved to visit, she wasn’t there. I was frantically driving all over the city and I couldn’t find her anywhere. My heart started racing and tears clouded my vision when I realized I only had one part of the city left to search, although I knew she wouldn’t be there because we’ve never been over there. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

Rachel’s P.O.V.
“I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t know this was going to happen,” I kept repeating, slouched in a ball on the couch.
“Why did you even yell at her in the first place?” Louis demanded.
“Hey, be nice,” Niall defended.
“I was mad that she never told me anything about the incident,” I explained. “I’m her best friend and she didn’t even mention it once. She’s hardly talked to me these past few weeks, and then all of a sudden, Harry works up his charm and she’s fine again, but she still doesn’t approach me to talk to me.”
“I understand you’re mad but at the same time, shouldn’t you have said it in a different way? You were a little harsh,” Liam pointed out.
“I know, I know, and I feel bad for that, but the anger’s been boiling inside of me for weeks, Liam. If something like that happened to you, wouldn’t you be pissed?”
“Yes, but you also have to think of Steph. Harry finally got her to stop thinking about it, she was all happy again, and now your friendship is ruined,” Liam said.
“I also feel bad for that, too, but if she finally stopped thinking about it, she still wouldn’t tell me what happened because she would have to retell it and bring back the memories. That’s what I’m pissed about. I want her to feel better, too, but once she feels better, she won’t tell me what happened. I still wouldn’t know the story, and I don’t know if I ever will,” I informed.
“Do you need to know the story?” Zayn asked. I just looked at him.
“She’s my best friend. We tell each other everything, no matter how dark it is. The fact that she hasn’t told me is just heartbreaking to me because it’s like I don’t even exist as a friend to her anymore,” I explained.
“I think you need to forget about the story for now and focus on bringing your best friend back,” Liam advises.
“And anyways, Harry was there, too. He can always tell you the story, too,” Louis reminded me.
“Thanks guys,” I replied, half smiling.
“I don’t want to ruin your mood, lads, but Harry’s been gone for almost an hour and Stephanie’s been gone for about 2,” Niall informed.
“Oh, my God,” I breathed, my eyes widening.
“Okay, okay, don’t panic. If they’re not back within the next hour, we’re all going to search for them, alright?” Liam orders. We all agreed.

Stephanie’s P.O.V.
I popped open my eyes to the sight of the disgusting brick wall. Sitting up, I realized I was still in the alleyway. The only problem now was that it was getting dark, so I couldn’t see as much as I did before and was hoping I could.
A gray cat was sifting through one of the garbage bags by the side of the wall. As soon as I moved, it scampered off, scared. Poor cat.
I needed to get out of here, but I had no motivation. I didn’t have any motivation to do anything, lately. I’m not even worth it. I’m just like all of this garbage around here; worthless pieces of crap. My dad doesn’t want me, Helen doesn’t want me, even Rachel doesn’t want me. Harry cares, but not enough, considering he kept just about the biggest secret that would have been nice to know. I’m doomed.
Why was I even thinking about this? I just said I was tired of doing that, wasn’t I? Curse my brain.
I heard muffled tones from around the corner and my heart beat quickened, hoping it wasn’t some murderer or something. A group simply walked past the alleyway without realizing I was there and I let out a breath. Now might be a good time to leave.
Forcing myself to move, I stood up from the bench, my knees a little wobbly. Hearing scratching noises, I took a few steps to the opening and saw that the cat was back, digging into the garbage to find something to eat. My stomach growled and I realized I was getting hungry, too. Bending down, I tried examining the cat, but again, it got scared and stepped back from the garbage, onto the sidewalk. It stopped and I walked after it, but it ran into the street.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I cooed, causing the cat to stop in the middle of the road. It looked back at me with shiny, black eyes. I stepped off of the curb with open arms but it was too late: a bright pair of headlights whizzed by.

Harry’s P.O.V.
Driving through this part of town was the scariest thing I have ever done. I didn’t know why Stephanie would ever be here, but I couldn’t find her anywhere in the city, so it’s worth a shot. But still, I didn’t think I’d have any luck. Stephanie, where are you?
The tears began rolling down my face as I passed every house. The thoughts kept spinning in my head: was she dead? kidnapped? lost? If I couldn’t find her here, I was calling the police.
This whole matter got way out of hand. I wasn’t blaming certain people, but we needed to do something about this because Stephanie was now wandering about the city, something I’ve never known her to do. She never ran away from home even if she had reasons. And the fact that she wasn’t even in any places I had expected her to be in was nerve-wracking.
I wiped my tears with my sleeve and checked the time. This was insane. How could she have been gone this long? Wait, what if she came home in the time that I’ve been gone? That could be a possibility.

Suddenly, a gray cat appeared in the road ahead of me, a girl with outstretched arms attempting to lure it. The girl’s face turned to me and my mouth dropped open as I realized it was Stephanie. My Stephanie. I hit the brakes with such force that the airbags flew open, but it was too late. A huge thumping noise was heard as something collided with the car, and I wasn’t sure which one it was.

Notes

I started crying when I wrote this because I didn't have any idea where it was going until I was done writing. And then I looked back at it and I'm like, What. Did. I. Just. Write.

And also I apologize for the many frequent switches between P.O.V.s.

Rachel and Stephanie :)