Claire's POV

I should probably do something... I should probably stop Harry and Zayn from trying to kill each other right in front of me, right? I know I should, but legs feel numb. I don't know if it's the alcohol that is still swimming through my system or the pure shock and anger that I'm feeling, but I can't move. I want to, but I can't.

"You're fucking crazy!" Harry screams, flipping Zayn onto his back and punching him repeatedly in the face. My hands cover my eyes to shield myself from the horror, but when I hear a large crack they shoot open.

"How's it feel now, huh? Fuck you Harry!" Zayn shrieks, and once my eyes are unmasked to the horrors I can no longer stay put. Zayn is literally beating the shit out of helpless Harry and I refuse to stand here watching any longer.

Without thinking, I spring myself into the air and launch myself at Zayn's back. I smack him in the face and cover his eyes to get him off, but it's like I'm not even there.

"Zayn! You're gonna fucking kill him, get off!" I scream, trying my best to pull him away but instead, I get shoved backwards and slammed to the floor flat on my backside. He doesn't seem to notice, nor care and that scares the shit out of me.

"Zayn? Harry? What's going on in there?" I hear a familiar voice call from outside the apartment door... Niall? What the fuck is Niall doing here? Holy shit, Niall's here! I clutch my back and make my way towards the front door, swinging it open for Niall to enter.

"What the fuck!" Niall shouts, storming inside the room a ripping Zayn off of Harry with such ease it's actuallyshocking. Who knew the little blonde Anatomy teacher had so much muscle in him?

"Let me go, Niall! I'm gonna kill him!" Zayn shrieks, ignoring the fact that his face is bloodied but no where near as bad as Harry's.

"Shut up Zayn!" I scream and rush towards Harry's side. His eyes are barely open and he looks like he's in an incredible amount of pain. I take his hand in mine and release a shaky breathe as I help him sit up slowly.

"Are you ok? Can you walk?" I ask him, and he slowly stands to his feet without responding. I wrap my arm around him and lead him towards the kitchen, settling him down into a chair. I can hear Zayn arguing Niall in the background but all my attention is on Harry now.

"I'm sorry." He mumbles as I soak a towel in warm water.

"You didn't do anything wrong." I sigh and tilt his chin upward to examine his face more closely. When I feel myself sway from being drunk, I close my eyes and open them again trying to refocus.

"You're still drunk." Harry chuckles softly, making me smile like an idiot. Even when he's battered and bruised because of my ex boyfriend he still manages to feel bad and make a joke out of things.

"I'm fine, shhh." I giggle, pressing the towel to his chin. He flinches at first and I can't help but roll my eyes. "It's just water, don't be a baby." I cackle, and I see a little smile form behind the red of his face.

"Are you still," he sucks in a sharp breath, "Are you still going to stay the night?" He whispers in a soft and innocent voice. I think about it for a moment, but the answer seems so simple.

"I don't really think I have a choice... Who else is going to protect you from crazy over there?" I joke, and he squeezes my hand gently.

"Claire?" Niall's voice startles me and I jump for a second, turning to face him.

"Niall, what are you doing here? How did you know they were fighting?" I gasp, and an amused grin appears on his face.

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing?" He winks playfully, and I roll my eyes. "I was coming by to hang with Zayn for a bit but clearly that isn't happening anymore." He shrugs, and I hiccup.

"Oh." I sigh, clutching my back again. When I was shoved back earlier it fucking hurt, but of course I know it wasn't on purpose.

"Why don't you let me look at Harry? After all I do know more about the human body than you do." He smirks, and I nod, letting him evaluate Harry.

I decide they need their privacy and I need a second, so I walk back out into the living room where Zayn and Harry almost murdered each other moments ago. The room is spinning and my head is pounding all of the sudden but I refuse to add anymore complications to this night. Instead, I pick up the broken glass and knocked over chairs that are scattered across the room from their brawl.

"Claire?" Zayn's voice comes off weak and at first I don't think I heard him but when he repeats my name, I turn to face him. He's standing in the doorway with a bandage on his forehead and a large ice bag on top of his head.

"What?" I spit, sitting back down on the couch and sliding my heels on. I don't know why I'm putting them on to begin with since I'm staying the night here but I think I would rather have them on. I don't know.

"So you're with him now?" He growls, slowly sitting down in the seat next to me. My initial reaction moves me as far away from him on the couch as possible.

"I'm not with anybody." I fire back and he rolls his eyes.

"Don't fucking lie to me! I saw you kissing him, Claire! How could you do that to me in my own apartment? You know how much I love you and..." His voice trails off and to my surprise, a few tears fall from his eyes.

"You don't hurt someone you love, and you hurt me." I remind him and a small sob escapes his lips. I hate myself for saying this, but I feel sorry now. I feel bad that he's breaking down in front of me, that he just beat the shit out of his childhood best friend and I hate the fact that a part of me is still in love with him.

"I don't know how many times I can say sorry." He whispers, his voice cracking. "And how you're with Harry and--"

"I'm not with Harry." I sigh, pushing my hair back. "I was at a bar alone and met someone their, her name was Gemma." I explain slowly.

"Harry's sister is in town?" He asks, and I nod.

"Harry showed up and Gemma had to leave and I was too drunk to drive so we came back here and... well you saw the rest." I tell him the rest, and anger is scribbled across his broken face.

I shouldn't even be explaining this to him, but I feel obligated to. As much as I'm interested in Harry, I have feelings for Zayn that I can't deny. Sure I can hide them, but inside my head I know that they're real.

"I don't want you to see Harry anymore." Zayn breaks me from my thoughts and my fists immediately ball in anger.

"You don't fucking own me, Zayn! We're not together anymore, I can date, kiss or fuck anyone I want." I emphasize the dirty word so he knows just how serious I am about this. I'm well aware I shouldn't be egging him on, but I can't help it. Also, I'm not saying anything that isn't true. I can do whatever the hell I want.

"Claire..." His voice is strong and I roll my eyes at his attempt to be condescending. Instead of adding fuel to the fire, I stand and walk towards Harry who is almost finished with being patched up by Niall. I help him up and interlock my fingers with his before shooting Zayn one last nasty glance.

"Good night Zayn." I smirk, leading Harry into his unrevealed bedroom and locking the door shut. There's an amused smirk on both of our faces when we hear the shouting and screaming from Zayn in the living room down the hall. The only difference is, is that Harry's smile is because he's happy that he won me over Zayn for the night and I'm smiling because Zayn reacted.

I don't know if I want the reaction because I want Zayn to be jealous or because I'm genuinely excited to sleep in Harry's room... I'm starting to think it's both. I'm unattached, I'm single and I can do whatever I want so fuck Zayn for right now. I have Harry.

So many feelings. So many damn feelings I have.



Harry' POV

"Good night Zayn." Claire smirks, grabbing my hand and leading me into my bedroom. I can't hide the stupid smirk that is beaming off of me, I got her. Only if for one night, she chose me over him and that's all I need right now. What takes me by surprise however is when she closes the door and locks it.

"Eager?" I chuckle over the voices that are shouting outside the hall. I really cannot believe that prick had the balls to fight me and if Claire wasn't there, I know I would have won... But doesn't it look so much better with Zayn as the monster and me as the innocent guy? I mean after all, I am innocent in this whole ordeal.

"Shut up and kiss me." She says before tossing her arms around my upper half and planting a sweet kiss on my lips. I give in to her touch immediately, it's fucking amazing. I cannot get over how incredible this girl, even if it's so wrong. So, so, so wrong and yet so right all at the same time.

When she pulls away she has a soft smile on her lips but I can tell she’s a little unsure of everything… either that or she’s still wasted out of her mind.

“What do you want to do?” I ask, stepping to the side and throwing on a new shirt over my head. My mind is kind of all over the place at the moment and I’m honestly still a bit surprised Zayn would fight me over her.

“I don't care… I’m kinda tired but if you want to stay awake and do something else that’s cool too.” She smiles at me, suppressing a yawn behind her closed lips.

“Sleep sounds amazing.” I chuckle, and toss her a t-shirt of mine and sweatpants. Without a word, I turn away for her to change because I don't really know how she would react if she knew I was watching her get dressed… We’re moving quickly I know, but not that quickly.

“All done!” She laughs, and I turn to admire her in my clothes. The white T-shirt is far too big on her small frame and my sweatpants hardly hug her small hips. “Should I sleep in the living room?” She inquires in a small, delicate voice. I don’t even have to think twice before responding to her question.

“Fuck no, I don’t want that dick anywhere near you.” I spit with a louder voice than I had originally intended.

“Okay.” She says soflty. “Then where should I sleep?” Claire asks, batting her long light brown eyelashes at me. I know I’m her teacher and that she’s my student, but I can’t get over the way I’ve been feeling towards her since that first day of school. If I could help myself I would, but I can’t. I won’t hurt her like Zayn did, and I think I can make this work.

“With me.” I say with a cheeky smile, pulling the blankets over the bed and sliding in on the right side.

Hesitant at first, she slowly crawls in on the other side and nuzzles herself into my chest. My hand snakes underneath her to pull her closer and I breath in the scent of her hair… Happiness and danger.

“Good night, Harry.” She yawns, and I watch as her lids flutter closed softly.

“Good night, Claire.” I reply, resting my head in the crook of her neck.

My face may be throbbing from the lashing out of Zayn’s fist and my mind may be reeling of all the things he could do to get back at me or worse, back at Claire but I try to push those worries away from me. Right now, Claire Saint John is curled up into my chest, in my clothes in my bed and no one can take that away from me.

Let’s just hope Claire feels the same way when she’s sober and her head is cleared.

Notes

Hey guys! Surprise update!!
Jr prom is frday for me and I’ll probably be really hungover this weekend so don’t expect an update unless my sister forces me to do it (she loves this story) hahahaha.
Thanks for reading! You guys are the best :)

If you can get 50 votes I'll update this story over the weekend at some point, if not you'll have to patiently wait for me to update my others first lol