Hearts Out |H.S|

Chapter 24

A/N: i'm starting my shifts again this week so again, won't have too much time to write :( But, we've reached the part of this story where chapters will (hopefully) be easier to write (spoiler alert, there's a halloween ball coming your way, yay!) so, i'm very very excited to show you what's next

I apologize I couldn't give you the double update as I promised :( and I really don't want to make any more promises, but I think I could do a double update soon, if we're lucky.

Also, this is a short one, so again, i'm sorry :((( but i think you're gonna enjoy it *wink wink*

I love you all so much, take care!! And have a lovely week!!

MADELYN'S POV

I have to be honest, his words made my blood freeze.

Because while I wished I had one more minute with my father, Harry seemed quite...satisfied with his father's death.

Sure, he was an abusive man, and I didn't need cartoons explaining to me the fact that Harry and his mom were his main victims. My aunt was cut with the same knife, but she was still my family, and maybe the only person I could rely on if something went wrong.

She only wanted what was best for me.

"He died in an accident," Harry offered, breaking eye contact. I knew he was lying and decided to give me a lame answer just for the sake of it, so I chose not to push the topic for my own good. "Apparently the only way out of an abusive relationship is when one of the parties involved disappears."

"Don't you think they can change?"

"You have to be fucking naive if you think a monster could grow out of the need of harming the people they're supposed to love."

The scar on my back stung from the memory of the night I got hit and I stretched my arm over my side to reach it and touch it. My aunt shouldn't have struck me so hard with the belt, but she was mourning the loss of his brother. She was helpless, in pain, recalling I was the reason why they were in a car accident in the first place. Over the years and with tons of therapy, I learned that it wasn't my fault, that it was just the wrong place at the wrong time, but she never understood that. I guess people deal with grief in many different ways, some of them turning into a soul so broken they might never find a way out of their pain.

But that didn't mean it would be like that forever... right?

Harry watched my small movement carefully, his eyes jumping from my face to my hand and a muscle in his jaw ticked. When I placed my hand back on the edge he stepped closer, tracing the pad of his index finger over the small scar on my hand.

His touch made my body shiver, sparks of electricity leaving in its wake. A long time ago I would've felt the dread, the expected fear of someone else touching me, and stepped away in a blink of an eye. But this small gesture, so delicate and soft, was something I felt calm with.

I looked up to find Harry staring back at me, his finger not stopping. We were close enough that I could feel his breath coming from his nose caressing my cheeks.

"I haven't seen any new scars on you lately," he whispered, grabbing my wrist and turning my hand around so my palm was facing upward, and kept stroking with all five fingers softly.

Lost in the moment, and completely hypnotized by the way he was touching me, I said before thinking. "I haven't spent time with–"

Just like that, he stopped abruptly and I bit my tongue to keep myself from finishing the sentence.

Welp, the truth was out. And to Harry Styles, of all people.

I could feel the way my neck was getting warmer, spreading all the way up to the top of my ears. The calm in his eyes turned into something murderous, oblivious to the way my heart was smashing against my chest, the blood pulsing in my ears.