Personally, I'm not a fan of this chapter, but I hope you guys like it :) It's kind of like a transition chapter. Please review and give me feedback! Tell me what you want to see in the future :)


XX My POV XX

The next month seemed to go by extremely fast. I went along with Harry to the rest of the dinners at the guys' houses and met the rest of their families. Also, Hannah and Danny had been dating practically since the night they met. Dougie and I had kind of secretly been seeing each other. He actually didn't live that far away from us, so I could easily tell Harry I was going into town or going to the park and visit him instead. We'd gotten very close during that time. We started to tell each other everything and anything. I also got really close with his family, especially his younger sister, Rae. She was such a sweetheart; like the younger sister I had always wanted. Dougs said she always got excited when I was coming over. I'm not quite sure who was more excited, him or her.

Also within that month, Harry found a new girlfriend. Her name was Emily and she was like a big sister to me. I could talk to her about a lot of things and she'd know what to do. She came over to our house quite a bit; it was almost like she'd lived here. I couldn't complain though. Whenever Harry was out doing something with the guys I could talk to her about Dougie. She knew everything and I trusted her to not tell Harry, which she never did. I felt bad about going behind his back like that and especially bringing his girlfriend into it too…but he couldn't tell me what to do, I wasn't 3 anymore.

Despite all of that, we all started to become like one big family. It was a great feeling knowing that there were so many people I could go to for anything. I think we all felt that way about each other.

About a week before they were going to move in together, I was sitting at home sorting through some of Harry's things for him while he was out with Emily. The doorbell rang and then there was a furious knock that followed. I got up quickly and ran to the door. I opened it to a teary-eyed Dougie.

"Oh my god, Dougie what's wrong?" He just stayed silent. I pulled him through the door and took him into the living room. We sat on the sofa in the same spots as we did on the night we met. I grabbed his hand then pulled his chin up so he was looking at me. "Dougie, what happened? Tell me."

He wiped away the tears that had left streaks on his face and took a deep breath to collect himself. "My dad left…" it was barely a whisper. "He…he just left, gave us a note saying he was done and just left…"

"Dougie…" I said as I gently put my hands on his shoulders. "I'm so sorry…" I was crying now too. I'd never seen him so hurt before. I felt so helpless, what did you say to someone in a situation like this?

"He just fucking left, how the hell could he do that? Why did he do it?" the anger started to show in his voice now. The tears just kept pouring out.

I pulled him into a hug and let his tears soak my shoulder. "Shh, it's gonna be okay," I said through my own tears, "I'm here for you, Harry's here for you, everyone is here for you" I tried to reassure him. I'm not really sure that it helped any, but I just sat there holing him, hell we were pretty much just holding each other now. We just sat there, crying into each other.

After what seemed like hours, but in reality was only about 20 minutes, we finally calmed down. I think the anger of it all was finally hitting him. I looked at him just laying his head on the back of the sofa staring up at the ceiling like he was looking for answers. I ran my fingers through his hair and nearly broke down again at the sight of his puffy eyes. I couldn't stand seeing him like this. "I'm gonna go call Harry, okay?" he just nodded a little. I got up and grabbed him a blanket before I went to the kitchen to call Harry.

I grabbed the phone and dialed Harry's mobile. As it was ringing I got out some stuff to make tea for Dougie.

"Hello?" Harry finally said.

"Harry? I hate to interrupt you and Emily, but could you maybe come home now?" I asked him, my voice still a little shaky from crying earlier.

"What?" he sounded a little panicky. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It's Dougie…you really need to talk to him…" I could feel tears stinging my eyes again. I tried to hold them back.

"Why? Erica, what happened?" I could hear Emily in the background asking him what was going on. I could almost sense the worry on her face.

"Harry, I really don't want to tell you over the phone…" I would probably break down thinking of how hurt Dougie looked when he told me.

"Fine, we're on the way home right now. We'll only be a few minutes."

"Okay see you when you get here." Then we both hung up.

I put the tea cups on a tray and took them into the living room. I found Dougie wrapped in the blanket, lying on the couch, still staring at the ceiling. I set the tray down on the coffee table and he sat up. I took a seat next to him. I gave him a kiss on the cheek, handed him the tea, and said, "You don't have to talk now, but when you want to, I'm here." Then we sat there, his head lying on my shoulder, in silence until Harry and Emily came home.

XX Harry's POV XX

I pulled into the driveway and Emily and I jumped out of the car. We couldn't get into the house fast enough. I hurried into the living room, with Emily's hand in mine. We saw Erica and Dougie sitting on the couch, the silence in the room was almost deafening. Their eyes were puffy from crying, I assumed. I walked over to the sofa and knelt in front of them and Emily stayed on the other side of the room and took a seat in one of the lounge chairs.

"Guys, what the hell happened?" I begged them. I was getting very uneasy now.

"Harry, can I talk to you alone?" Dougie spoke up.

"Sure thing mate" I looked at Erica and she was looking at Dougie. She gave him a quick hug and left to go into the kitchen, Emily following behind her. I surprised myself by not caring about that hug. At this point they could have kissed for all I cared! Okay, maybe not, but I still was worried about whatever happened. I took Erica's spot that was next to him. "Dougs, what happened?" I begged him.

He looked at me, his eyes getting glossy from new tears forming. He looked like a lost puppy. "My dad left us…he just, left…" he said and silently started to cry. I just pulled him into a hug and didn't say a word. "Why did he leave, Harry? Just why…what did we do wrong?"

I felt a tear fall down my cheek. "I don't know Dougs…I don't know…"