WOUNDS ♚ henry bowers [it]

n i n e t e e n

I was startled awake with a jump by the sound of a loud bang and someone yelling. I leaned up, looking towards the closed and locked door, but a set of arms gripped my torso. Henry pulled me back so that I was beneath him.

"What's-" I started to ask, but Henry put a hand over my mouth.

"Sh," he said lowly. His eyes were trained on the door, his jaw clenched. Something bad was happening, that's why he was in defense mode.

"I know he's here!" I definitely recognize that voice. "He's been hanging around with that whore of a daughter of yours!" The sound of glass shattered. Oscar 'Butch' Bowers.

Henry's grip tightened on my waist and he pulled me flush against his chest, and when I turned my head back to look at him I saw that his face was getting red with anger. His breathing became uneven, and I set my hand over his, trying to calm him down a little. But when his eyes looked down to meet mine, I could see a hint of worry lying within those orbs.

"I don't know where your criminal of a son is, so get the hell out of my house Butch!" It was my mother.

I peaked my ears at the conversation, listening in to what they were screaming about. My mind quickly made the assumption that Butch had come over here looking for Henry.

Butch grunts something under his breath then I hear his huge feet start stomping up the stairs. Henry tenses beside me.

"Butch, I will call the god damn cops! You better not even go near her room!" My mother screams, her footsteps following right behind his.

"I am the damn cops, woman." Butch mutters, his voice full of anger. "Which room is hers?"

I start to panic as I hear him get closer to my door. I turn to Henry, "You have to go." I said, the both of us scrambling out of bed. We weren't still naked thankfully, but Henry's oversized shirt that covered my body and him being only in boxers wasn't making the matter any better.

"And leave you alone with him?" Henry hisses while putting on his jeans, "No fucking way." We hear the door handle jiggle and Henry instantly pushes me behind him, holding out a protective arm to make sure that I didn't try and get in front of him.

"The whore's door is locked. Why the fuck is it locked? Henry, you son of a bitch, are you in there?" Butch growled out, his fist banging on the door.

"Butch, you fucker!" I hear my mom yell, then there's a loud thud and the banging on the door stops. I assume it's from her pushing him away from the door and into a wall. "Leave my daughter the hell alone. I know for a fact she'd never be with someone as psychopathic as his father is!"

I noticed Henry cringed slightly at her words. I reach out for his other hand and intertwine our fingers, silently telling him that it wasn't true. He gave my hand a squeeze back, telling me he understood.

"Fine, then get her to open the door and prove it to me then." Butch grumbled, then the door started to jiggle again.

"Taylor," my mom's stern voice said. "Open this door right now." Out of habit, I took a step forward to go open, but Henry's arm stopped me. He shook his head at me, saying not to.

"We have to," I whispered so that our parents wouldn't hear. "The longer we wait, the more mad they'll get. We have no other choice."

Henry gave me a thoughtful look. "Yes, we do." He then reached down and picked up my clothes that were still on the floor from last night. "Here," he held them out to me. "Put these back on." I take them from him, obliging. I take his shirt off so that I was completely naked, and when I looked over at him, he was staring.

I blushed, but nonetheless said, "Hurry, we don't have a lot of time." I handed him his shirt back and he snapped out his trance, taking the shirt from me. He slipped it on and began to put his boots on while I quickly put my own clothes on. After slipping my shoes on, I looked up to find him opening the window.

The banging on the door got louder. "Young lady, open this fucking door right now. What're you doing in there?" My mom yelled out, but I kept my mouth shut.

"I told you," I hear Butch quietly hiss at my mom. "Henry Francis Bowers, I know you're in there. Come out now and you're punishment won't be as bad." Henry gave the door a dirty look, intending it for his father. He then held out his hand for me to grab, then motioned his head toward the window after I grabbed it.

Henry was the first to climb down, looking back at me. As I began to follow, there was a loud bang and crash. I poked my head above the window sill to find that Henry's dad had knocked the door in, his face distorted in anger as he looked at my head. I looked at my mom to find her eyes squinted at me, her jaw clenched as she shook her head at me.

My eyes widened and I didn't waste any time to jump down, my feet hitting the ground. I grabbed Henry's hand and started pulling him along with me as I ran. "Run!" I told him, and he did just that.

I turned around to see if they were following us, but only to see that their heads were poked out of the window, my mom pointing at us and Butch yelling out something inaudible.

. . . . .

We didn't stop running til we were across the main road and by the Canal, which ran all throughout the town. We had run a good mile or two, and I was completely out of breath. I collapsed on to my knees next to the stream, putting my hands on my head to help myself catch my breath easier.

Henry was in the same state, but instead he stayed standing and leaned his head back so that he was looking up at the sky, his adam's apple sticking out of his neck like a sore thumb.

After coming to my senses, I asked the dreaded question. "...What are we gonna do?"

Henry looked down at me, "We can't go back, if that's what you mean. We go back, and my dad will not only hurt me, but he'd try to hurt you too. And I won't allow that bastard to ever touch you." He started to get mad just thinking about the idea, his hands balling into fists as his face hardened.

"We can't just never go back," I stood up. "Everything, and I mean everything, I own is back there. It's the place that I sleep and eat at, we can't just live in the woods." I said rhetorically.

"We can stay at Victor's for awhile." Henry suggested. "His parent's are never home anyway. They wouldn't even notice."

Tears started to well in my eyes thinking about the situation that we're in. "But when they do? And what about my stuff, your stuff?"

He took a step toward me so that we were toe to toe, and cupped my face with both of his hands. "Look Taylor, I don't know what we're gonna do honestly. What I do know though, it that as long as I'm with you I'm fine. I-" His voice hitched in his throat and Henry swallowed a lump. "...I love you." My heart stopped beating at his words. "I know it's only been a few days, so I understand if you don't say it back." He quickly added on, and my heart began to beat again as butterflies erupted throughout my body.

Did I love him? Hell yeah I did, I always have loved him. "Henry, I love you too." His eyes lit up at my words, and a genuine smiled crept onto his face. We both leaned in for a long, loving kiss. There wasn't tongue or any groping, just a truly, affectionate kiss.