The Lie between us

The morning after bringing Jenny and Aydin back to Harry's flat, the world outside had changed.

The sky was the same faded gray it always was in this version of reality, but the air had a different weight to it. The streets were too quiet. Like the world knew something was coming and had taken a breath it never planned to release.

Inside the flat, everything felt on edge.

Harry stood in the kitchen, pouring coffee with a steady hand, but his jaw was tense. He hadn't said much since reading the message on the back of the CD.

"One of you will betray the others."

That line sat in all of their minds like a splinter under the skin. No one said it aloud again, but the energy in the room had shifted. Every glance lingered just a little too long. Every word was measured.

Zayn sat on the couch beside Jenny, Aydin curled against his chest. The baby had slept through the night, breathing soft and steady, like a heartbeat the group didn't know they needed.

Louis paced the hallway.

Niall flipped through a notebook he'd started — trying to write down everything they remembered. Places, moments, lyrics. Anything real.

And Liam watched the CD case.

Track 4 still pulsed.

The Truth Beneath.

"What do you think it means?" Louis finally asked. "The betrayal?"

"Could be the Watcher messing with us," Niall offered, though his tone didn't carry much hope. "Trying to turn us on each other."

"Or it's true," Liam muttered.

Everyone turned.

Liam stared at the disc. "Maybe one of us already has betrayed the group. And we don't even know it."

Harry set down his mug with a soft clink. "That's a hell of a thing to say, mate."

Liam didn't look away. "She planted things in our heads. Whole lives. Jobs. Routines. Feelings. We didn't just forget — we believed. What if one of us… never fully snapped out of it?"

Jenny swallowed. "You think one of you might still be working for her?"

"I think," Liam said carefully, "she doesn't need to control all of us. Just one of us. Long enough to keep the rest stuck."

Silence.

Even Aydin stopped babbling.

Zayn stood, holding his son tighter. "If that's true, then we're wasting time pointing fingers. We should be focusing on the next track."

Harry nodded slowly. "Play it."

Liam hesitated — but finally picked up the CD and slid it into the player.

This time, the audio was clearer. No static. No distortion. Just… a recording.

It was the five of them.

Talking.

Laughing.

Backstage somewhere. Real. Unedited.

Zayn's voice rang out first. "She said we're getting another night here. Two shows in LA."

Then Harry: "God, I'm so knackered."

Then Liam: "You'll be fine. I'll make you pancakes."

Everyone laughed.

Then something different.

The audio shifted. A distortion warped the laughter. The background faded.

And another voice entered.

The Watcher.

She didn't sound like an enemy this time. She sounded… gentle. Comforting.

"Isn't this better?" she said. "The memories without the weight? The fame without the fear? The love without the pressure?"

Then:

"You asked me to do this."

Harry hit pause.

The silence after her words felt too loud.

"No way," Louis said quickly. "She's lying."

Harry looked down. "But what if she's not? What if one of us—when things got bad—wanted this? Asked to forget?"

Liam's eyes were stormy. "And she used that as the door."

Jenny spoke softly. "People don't betray each other because they hate each other. Sometimes… they do it out of pain. Out of fear."

Zayn looked at her, then at Aydin. "Then whoever did, if any of us did… they didn't mean to."

Liam nodded. "Maybe. But we still need to be ready."

He pressed play again.

The recording skipped ahead — now a different scene.

The sound of a piano.

A room with high ceilings.

Zayn's voice: "This one's for her. I want her to know I didn't leave by choice."

A chord played. A beautiful, broken melody.

The kind only he could write.

Then it cut.

The player ejected the CD without warning. This time, the case didn't change. No new track. No new message.

Just the existing line in red ink:

"One of you will betray the others."

But beneath it now — a new word.

"Soon."

—

That night, they split up to sleep.

Louis crashed on the couch. Niall took the spare room. Jenny and Zayn curled on the air mattress beside the crib they'd set up. Harry stayed on the floor by the door, half asleep with a guitar across his lap. And Liam sat in the kitchen, alone, watching the moon through the window.

Then — a sound.

A whisper.

Soft.

Female.

"Liam…"

His heart stopped.

He turned slowly — but no one was there.

"You know what you asked for."

"Roxy?" he whispered.

Silence.

Then the kitchen light flickered.

And a small note appeared, sliding itself across the counter like moved by invisible wind.

Liam stared.

Three words.

Scrawled in red.

"She has Jenny."

He ran for the living room — but Jenny was there.

Sleeping peacefully beside Zayn.

Roxy's voice came again, but now it was in his head.

"Not this version. The real one. The one she's hidden."

"You still have time."

"But not much."

Liam's breath caught.

He turned the note over.

More handwriting.

Small.

Shaking.

"She's building something. You've seen the signs. The mirrors. The cracks."

"She wants to bring the illusion to your world next."

Liam stared into the dark.

Realization hit him like a punch.

It wasn't just about memory anymore.

The Watcher wasn't content to keep them trapped.

She wanted everyone.