Hold On For Dear Love (Sequel to WILD)

-2 Days Later-

Harry's POV

I sat outside of the door waiting for the nurse to come and unhook Jack from the machines. Everyone else had gone back home to London except for Matt, Emily, Paul, and I. Paul stayed back to help with security, but unfortunately he was unable to do much about the paps and news crews other than call the police to help keep the area clear in case of emergencies.

The story has been all over the news and now the world knew about what happened. Management was having a fit about the whole situation and has been trying to come up with some kind of solution, but no matter what they did it wouldn’t help. Whoever was behind this now knew about Jack and my injuries. I just hope that this will be the last that we ever hear from them. They’ve taken enough from us already

Ever since Emily calmed down she’s been sitting beside her father’s bed staring off into space. She has this blank look on her face that terrifies me. It was almost like she was just this empty shell, almost robotic in the way she moved with no motivation whatsoever. I don’t blame her...I mean, I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to my mum or sister or Paul.

I spotted the nurse walking up and immediately jumped to my feet, following her inside the room. Matt looked up at us with sad eyes that worsened when he realized what was about to happen. Emily, however, just sat there staring blankly at the floor in front of her. I wanted to go over and pull her into my arms, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it right then.

“I’m going to shut the machines down now” The nurse said quietly.

Matt nodded and we watched as she walked over to the bedside and unplugged the ventilator. She unhooked the tube connected to his throat, then shut off the other machines that were attached to him, apart from the heart monitor. I held my breath as the beeps got further and further apart, eventually turning into a long continuous one.

I closed my eyes tightly, hanging my head in grief. I may not have known him for very long, but I felt close to Jack. He was like family. My eyes snapped open when I heard a sob escape from Emily’s lips. I immediately rushed to her side and pulled her up into my arms. She cried into my shirt for what seemed like the hundredth time and it was absolutely heartbreaking. No one should ever have to deal with this. Especially not her.

“Take me home, Harry” She said in a broken voice. “I want to go home”

“I’ll stay back and take care of everything” Matt told me. “Get her out of here. I’ll call you when I have everything settled to bring him home”

“You sure?” I asked him.

He nodded, not taking his eyes away from his sister. I let go of her for a moment so he could hug her goodbye before he returned her into my arms.

“Come on, Emily. Let’s get you home”

~.:o:.~

“Emily! Do you have any idea who is behind this?”

“Harry! Did you get injured in the explosion, too?”

“Emily!”

“Harry!” Flash after flash.

Question after question.

This is what we were met with when we walked out of the hospital. Emily, who was wearing my black jacket, had it pulled up over her face to shield herself from them as she pressed herself into my side. Paul and other policemen guarded us as we were rushed to the car. When we finally made it I turned back to the crowd and glared at them.

“What the hell is wrong with people?” I muttered to myself.

“They’re just doing their jobs” Emily said softly.

“Well, they can do their jobs a little less aggressively and at least respect our space and private lives”

Paul got in a moment later, signaling for the driver to go before turning to look back at us

“You’re bags are already packed and at the airport, so we’ll be going straight there”

“Alright. Thanks Paul”

He nodded and I turned to look at Emily who was snuggled up into my side, her head resting on my shoulder. She looked absolutely exhausted. Her eyes were still red and were dark underneath them from lack of sleep, an occasional tear moving down her cheek. Her skin was pale and I knew that she hadn’t eaten much since we got to the hospital either.

“You should try to sleep, love”

“I can’t....Every time I close my eyes I can see it...” She paused and looked up at me.
“I’m sorry for yelling at you before”

“It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean it” I put my hand on her cheek and stared into her eyes for a long while. “I love you so much, Emily. If...If I could do something to fix this, I would in a heartbeat. Just remember that you can talk to me alright? To all of us. We’re here for you”

“I know...How is your back?”

“Don’t worry about me, love. I’m fine. Just...try to sleep?”

She nodded and I leaned in to place a soft kiss on her cold lips, then moved to her forehead, letting my lips linger there for a moment. I pulled back and she moved her head back to my shoulder, closing her eyes to try to sleep. I traced circles on her arm, singing softly to her as I did so. Within minutes I felt her body relax and her breath evened out, telling me that she had finally fallen asleep.

When we arrived at the airport the private jet was waiting and I carried her onto it, placing her down onto the couch and covered her with a blanket before joining Paul at the front of the plane. I let out a deep sigh and put my head in my hands.

“I don’t know what to do anymore, Paul. I want to protect her, but I don’t know how. I want to comfort her, but I know nothing I say will help. No matter what I can’t win”

“There is something you can do....” He said, making me lift my head up to look at him. “You can be there for her when she does need you. Emily likes to be independent and has her own and deals with things better that way. Just give it time. Now, you should get some sleep as well. We have a long flight ahead of us”

I nodded and walked back over to the couch where Emily was sleeping. I laid down next to her and she immediately shifted so she her head was on my chest and she was laying half on top of me and half on the couch. I wrapped my arms around her and placed a kiss upon her forehead, then closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

~.:o:.~

We arrived back in London ten hours later and were once again attacked by paps and news crews, but this time there was a path cleared for us to go straight through to the car. I lifted Emily’s sleeping form into my arms and carried her to the car. She had a nightmare an hour after she fell asleep and had just gotten back to sleep a half hour before we landed. The rest of the flight was spent calming her down and just holding her as she cried. It was horrible to see. She started whimpering in her sleep, then suddenly screamed and shot up with tears streaming down her face. Seeing her like that reminded me of the first few months after the fire. She had had nightmares about that night too that were more amplified and horrifying, according to what she told me.

When we got to the house I carried the sleeping girl inside to find the boys all waiting on the couch. They jumped up when they saw me and went out to help with bags while I took Emily to the bedroom and tucked her in. Before I left I watched her sleep for a bit, then placed a kiss on her forehead and went back downstairs.

“How is she?” Niall asked.

“Exhausted...She’s barely slept because she’s starting to have nightmares again”

“What about you?” Louis asked.

I sighed deeply, immediately regretting it when I felt a pain in my back from doing so.

“I’m fine” I lied.

“You should try to get some sleep, Harry.” Liam said in his fatherly voice. “We can take care of everything else and we’ll wake you if Simon calls”

“Alright”

I said goodnight to them, then left them to do whatever. After changing into pajama pants and a tshirt I slowly crawled into bed with Emily, being careful not to wake her. I turned onto my side, facing the same direction she was, and scooted myself close to her so I could wrap my arms around her. She turned around so she was facing me, her face just inches from mine as she snuggled into my chest.

“Harry?” She asked tiredly.

“Yes, love?”

“Promise you won’t leave me, too”

Her voice sounded so small as she spoke, her eyes showing obvious fear. I reached up and placed my hand on her cheek, brushing a stray hair away from her face.

“Never”

Emily’s POV - Three Days Later

I was twelve years old when I went to my first funeral. I haven’t been to many since then, but even then it was nothing compared to his.

No.

This time was completely different.

This time I felt responsible for it.

Throughout the whole ceremony that was the only thing running through my mind. It was my fault that my father was lying in a wooden casket in front of me, never to see his children grow older or get married and have families of their own. It was my fault that Sara and his brother, my uncle Sean, were standing next to me crying their eyes out along with so many more people that knew him or worked with him. It was my fault... Harry stood beside me the whole time, never once letting go of my hand. He wiped my tears and spoke for me when I couldn’t bring myself to say anything out of fear of breaking down again. Even now, in the cemetery where my grandparents were buried, he never let go. He was the one that kept me up when all I wanted was to fall, and reminded me that I still had important people in my life who cared about me and love me.

Matt was stronger than I was. He let a few tears fall, but never truly let himself crumble like I did. When he spoke about my father he focused on the fun things that made people laugh. It’s actually kind of ironic that I am the famous recording artist of the family and can perform in front of thousands of people, but he is the one who knows how to handle the small intimate crowds. He knows exactly what to say and when to say it, a quality that he inherited from our father.

I watched as the army men began to fold up the flag that was laid over his casket, another group raising their guns for a salute.

Gunshots rang out and I jumped, tightening my grip on Harry’s hand. It sounded like the bomb going off, a sound that now terrified me to my core. He quickly caught on and let go of my hand so he could wrap his arms tightly around me.

“It’s alright, love” he whispered soothingly.

They shot their guns three more times. Every time they went off I flinched, becoming more and more emotional as I remembered the moment the bomb went off. Tears started to stream down my cheeks and the people around me gave me sympathetic looks. When the flag was finally folded one of the men, who I knew as my father’s close friend, Ryan, walked over to me. He had a sad look in his eyes as he held it out to me, meaning for me to take it. I let go of Harry and he placed it into my arms, then stepped back to give me a salute. I held back the sob that threatened to escape from my throat and held my head high.
Soon after it was time to say our last goodbyes before the casket was lowered into the ground. I waited for a long time to let everyone else go before me, not yet ready to say goodbye. When it was finally my turn I couldn’t bring myself to move. Harry placed his hand on my back and gently nudged me forwards. I slowly walked up to it, slowly reaching my hand up to touch the top of it as memories flashed through my mind.

*FLASHBACK*

“Daddy don’t go” I begged, tightly hanging onto his neck.

“I have to, sweetheart” he said, his voice cracking slightly as he spoke. “I’ll be back for your birthday party tonight.”

“Pinky promise?” I asked, holding my pinky out to him.

“Pinky promise”

He hooked his large finger with my small one, then placed a lingering kiss on my forehead.

“I love you so much” he said, pulling me into one last hug.

“I love you, Daddy”

~.:o:~

“Am I doing this right?” I looked up and burst out laughing as my father attempted to do the Macarena. He grinned and kept doing it all stupid-like.

“No. No. You do it like this”

I stood up and showed him how to do it and he copied my moves perfectly. Soon we were both jamming out in the middle of the living room, too distracted to hear the front door open or my brother walk in with his latest girlfriend, Maggie.

“Hey! Macarena!” My father and I sang, finally turning to the young couple who were staring at us like we were insane. We just stared at each other for a long moment before Maggie burst into giggles.

“Can I join you?” She asked.

“Yeah! Jump on in!” My father said.

“Matt, come on”

She pulled him into our line and we started up the music again, laughing and dancing all crazy. “HEY MACARENA!”

*END FLASHBACKS*

I placed the flower over his casket and sniffled, whispering out an I love you before heading back over to Harry who was waiting for me with open arms.

Notes