Safe Haven ↠ h.s

Chapter Nine

"Someone did something bad enough to make her flinch at my touch, to want to disappear at the door opening, to want to drink her sorrows out and fuck some guy at the club. Something that makes her walk around with sunglasses and a bandana covering her face."

"I - I'm sorry, Harry..." Louis mumbles.

"I don't understand why I feel so strongly about protecting her. When I saw her crying, it broke my heart. It made me want to pull her to my chest and tell her that everything would be okay. She doesn't deserve whatever she's going through. She deserves peace," he mumbles.

"And don't tell me sorry. Tell her. I swear to god, Lou, if anything happens to her on your watch - I don't care if it wasn't your fault - I will not forgive you. This is the first girl I have genuinely liked that isn't self-obsessed, is famous, or just wants our money. You can tell by the way she acts, the way she talks around us. She doesn't hold anything back. She always tells the truth. So damn humble and honest," Harry leads off. "She's gorgeous, inside and out." I feel my jaw drop. Does he really think of me this way?

My heart flutters in my chest as Harry speaks again.

"I will not forgive you," He repeats, and all is silent but the evergrowing volume of footsteps down the hallway. I shut my jaw and close my eyes before Harry enters my room.

I suppose I'm putting on a good show, because Harry is silent as he walks over to my bed. I flinch just by how close he is. His shadow covers my body as he slowly tucks a piece of my hair behind my ear. He whispers something inaudible and walks out of the room.

"I went in there and she flinched, man. She flinched in her fucking sleep. I am going to kill whatever mother fucking sick soul did this to her," Harry says from the kitchen, his voice filled with a deadly mix of concern and anger. Harsh, harsh anger.

"You don't know what happened, man." Louis voice echoes louder than before. Did Harry leave the door open?

As I start to think, I realize the terrible pounding in my head. The terrible, horrible pain of, bump. bump. bump. It feels as if someone is hitting me on the head with a chair without the bloody aftermath.

I open my eyes and sit up against the wall, before noticing Harry sitting in the corner of the room with his head in his hands. He looks so upset. He doesn't even look angry. He just looks... defeated.

"Are you okay?" I ask him, my voice rough from sleep. I ignore the pounding in my head to tend to him.

"You would ask that," he states numbly.

"Harry?" I say. The covers catch on my bare legs as I swing them over the side of the bed. Harry must have undressed me because I'm in a baggy t-shirt and panties.

I try to take a step forward but my head rushes, causing black spots to cover most of my vision.

"Careful!" He scolds as I notice he caught me. But, he was just over in that corner? I must still be tipsy.

"I'm okay. What's wrong?" I ask him.

"Stop asking me what's wrong, love. Does your head hurt?" My hand instinctively flies up to my temples and rubs softly, trying to soften the pain. My stomach flutters at his choice of words. I nod and he rushes out of the room.