killer instinct - || h.s. ||

52 *

" honey, i belong with you, and only you, baby "

---

aurora astor. *

"How's staying with Harry?" Her voice carries over the spring activity surrounding us.

The warm sun beams down on my skin and seeps to my scalp, aiding the headache radiating through my mind. The sleepless nights curled against Harry, and flashbacks hold me hostage in contradicting ways because I've never been safer in anyone else yet more paranoid in my mind.

My left-hand stays at ease with the thick, forest green leash wrapped around my hand once while Leo curiously leads the way down the familiar trail.

And a plastic cold brew cup, slick in condensation with my watered-down caffeine for the night.

And beside me is a friend, in her soft gray, ribbed tank top with thick straps and a scooping neckline while paired with a pair of black yoga pants that flare at the bottom.

Her warm amber eyes and springing curls wrap up in a bun at the top of her head. Her dark chocolate skin glows radiantly under the setting sun as we walk together, as she requested of me earlier.

I shrug my shoulders softly. "It's fine," I mumble while bringing my cup to my lips, tipping my head back to drain more caffeine into my system pumping with it from the lack of sleep already.

Mia hums softly, glancing down to Leo enthralled by the plethora of things around him that he couldn't possibly see it all.

His inky, silk body shimmers under the sunlight with his big, pointed ears straight up and tail slightly wagging from the world around him.

She smirks beside me and lifts her eyes to meet mine. "Fine?" She grins cruelly, and I chuckle through my nose while denying her prying.

"Just fine," I smile at her, and her warm brown eyes twinkle with her dark lashes thick with mascara.

"Good, 'm just making sure, Harry's always been pretty reserved," she murmurs to grant an assuring grin on my face to know it could be quite the contrary between us.

"But how are you?" Her expression fades to seriousness, and I roll my lips into my mouth while walking down the path.

"It's alright," is all I could tell her because there was no word for what my mind felt like as of now.

She raises an eyebrow at me, "You're sleeping alright, sunshine?"

I swallow thickly and shrug yet again to only be honest with her with a soft headshake.

Mia hums to herself, "I can't imagine ... it's going to take some time, but with you training and fighting at the Pit, you need sleep," she advises me.

I huff to myself while Leo tugs me in his own world. "I know," I honestly tell her, knowing it has taken a toll on my training at the gym with Lou and Jules.

I walk in tired and leave wanting to crash the second I get to Harry's place.

"Have you tried tea, or–" Mia suggests with her profession speaking for her like Jules does all the time.

I nod softly, "Jules recommended valerian root for me awhile ago," I admit to that part of my past right after the accident.

Mia's amber eyes widen at me, "That's some strong stuff, you know ..." she wearily murmurs.

And my mind races back to the last time it was in use, and my lips involuntarily twitch up to the moment of him curled up into my bed for hours. "I know, Jules told me to take a smaller dosage," I reveal to Mia who just nods with an approving hum.