RADIANT |H.S|

•Chapter 37•

"She will be." I nod. "I'll explain later but Niall get that man out of my fucking house right now!" I command, my voice almost coming out as growl as Niall nods rapidly. "But do not under any circumstances let Everly go with him. Do you understand me?"

"Gladly, mate. He's a right fucking prick. There wasn't a chance I was letting Everly leave with him either way." Niall nods with a stoic impression. "Go look after, Thea. I've got this."

I give him a short nod before bounding up the stairs in a rush to get Thea to somewhere calm and where she feels safe. If that was even possible with him in my house. I place her gently on the soft cotton of my bed, where she immediately pulls herself into a tight ball, streams of tears now pouring down her reddened cheeks.

"Hey, Buttercup. I need you to breathe for me." I softly whisper, removing her hands from her knees so that she slowly releases from the foetal position. "Remember what we did last time?" I softly ask as she nods, reaching out towards her hand and placing it against my chest as I do the same with her other hand against her own skin, just above her hammering heart. "Get yours to match mine. Deep breaths." I instruct.

It takes a couple of minutes but her breathing eventually begins to even out as she collapses against my chest from exhaustion. "You're okay, Buttercup." I coo, softly tucking her stray hair behind her ears as I run my fingers along her jaw in a comforting motion.

"I'm sorry." Her small voice croaks, making my heart crack.

"Not your fault, love." I softly whisper. "Just keep breathing. I've got you."

"I fucking hate him, Harry." She defeatedly sighs. "I fucking hate that I'm terrified of him."

I pull her head out of the comfort of my chest so that her teary eyes are focused on me. "Thea, you're allowed to be terrified of him. That is a fucking normal reaction to seeing your abuser. Stop tormenting yourself."  I sternly speak as her eyes grow teary again.

"I just-Your house is the last place I thought I'd bump into him. I thought I was safe here." She whimpers.

"God, Thea, baby, you are safe here." I pull her into my chest, tightly wrapping my arms around her like a protective shell. "I promise you. You will always be safe here, Buttercup. Always."

"I don't understand how this happened. How do you know him?" Thea timidly asks, her soft, insecure eyes not quite meeting my own like she's scared of my answer.

"I don't know him, Buttercup." I softly reassure her, giving her shaky hand a firm squeeze. "He came here with Everly." I grit through my teeth, trying to hide my irritation that this man has managed to wriggle his way into my sister's life too. That is the last thing Thea needs to be worrying about right now.

"Wait. What?" Thea's eyebrows knit tightly together with a confused expression. "Everly? He came here with Everly? I don't understand."

I sigh out a deep breath, "I think they might be dating." I defeatedly admit, hating that this is even possible.

Once I've made sure Thea is okay, the first thing I will be doing is making sure that that bastard hasn't laid a finger on Everly or I swear to god I'll be going down for murder.

Thea's eyes almost pop out of her head as she comprehends my words, before pulling herself from the comfort of my chest and standing up on shaky legs. "What?! Harry, I need to go and speak to Everly."

"It's okay, Buttercup. Niall's got her and I'm going to have a chat with her once I've made sure that you're okay." I explain, taking a hold of her still trembling hand and trying to coax her back to the bed to calm down a little more.