Feather Bound

Chapter 42

She frowned before shaking her head. "Absolutely not. You should know by now that intimidating me doesn't work. Hawks, just talk to me, what's going on? Did you get into a fight?" she asked softly, moving to sink into her usual chair, and he clenched his jaw. Trying to stop this conversation was pointless now; she would stop at nothing until she got an answer from him.

"No, it wasn't a fight, well not really," he muttered, before taking a deep breath. "We had sex and-"

"WHAT?!" She cried out, her eyes wider than he'd ever seen them before. He grimaced as she let out a squeal of excitement, before rolling his eyes. Leave it to Haruki to get excited over something so stupid like this.

"Shut up or the entire office is going to hear you," he hissed, his face already starting to flush in embarrassment. "Besides, it's not that big of a deal. It was just sex."

"It's a huge deal!" She shot back, her volume returning to normal. "You finally did it! Popped the cherry, got rid of your flower! How was it? It was incredible, right? I'm so proud of you; tell me everything!"

"Of course, it was incredible. She's fucking incredible," he ground out, his face red with embarrassment as he pushed the memory of the previous night and just that morning back down. That was the very last thing he needed to be thinking about at that moment. He clenched his jaw, shaking his head before letting out a sad sigh. "But it doesn't matter. I messed up, I got too invested, and she doesn't feel the same way."

"What do you mean?" Haruki asked, her confusion obvious as she looked him up and down. He bit his lip before letting out a defeated sigh. Maybe she could help him out of the mess he'd managed to create for himself or at the very least offer some type of comfort.

"I told her I loved her," he admitted, dropping his head into his hands with a groan. "And she didn't say it back..." he mumbled. He heard Haruki suck in a breath across from him, causing his eyes to water again as silence stretched awkwardly between them. Even she thought this situation was hopeless, huh?

"So you came to... work?" She finally asked, and he removed his head from his hands to look at her in confusion.

"Where else would I go?" He asked, and she scoffed in return.

"Back. Home." She retorted, leaning forward and slamming her hands on his desk. He flinched, leaning away from her as her eyes bore into his. Never in all their time together had Haruki looked so serious about something, scolding him like a child who'd been caught doing something wrong.

"You're acting like an idiot. You seriously think because she didn't say it back that she doesn't love you?"

"I–"

"You listen to me right fucking now," she said firmly, causing him to swallow nervously before he nodded slowly. Was she... was she fucking parenting him right now?!

"Have you put a single thought to what she's been through?"

"Of course I have!" He tried arguing back, only for a stern glare to cut him off, leaning back in his seat like a dejected child.

"No, you haven't, or you'd be at home having sex right now!" She sighed, leaning back in her chair and pinching her nose. "Hawks, listen to me. I love you; you're like a son to me at this point, and don't even get started with the whole "we're only ten years apart" thing. It doesn't matter. I've known you since you were eighteen. I have watched you go through trauma," she held her hand up, cutting off his protests and causing him to let out a huff. "I've seen the effects it's had on you. She's no different in that regard. Her ex-boyfriend is a shitty person, who is holding her poor baby for ransom, and she's waited months to try and get her back. We don't even know the full story of the things he's said and done to her. So you said something before she was ready to hear it or say it back, but you can't possibly think that means she doesn't love you?"