Damaged » h. styles au

Chapter 89 - Harry

She snorted. “Why should I if you already do it for me?”

“F–ck off.”

“Watch your mouth, H.”

I rolled my eyes and Gemma came closer, digging her nails into my skin again, just lightly, but made me shrink nonetheless. She smiled proudly at herself as I just scrunched up my face at her, trying to understand what the point of it all was.

“Stop that, jackass. What do you want?” I blurted out, managing to grab her wrists and hold them just a bit above my stomach, Gem fighting to get rid of my grip.

She sighed, stopped fighting and so I let her go, watching as she dropped her arms loose around her legs and replaced her amusement by wariness and worry. The dimpled smiled I knew so well for mirroring my own just disappeared, a frown showing up between her brows instead.

“What is wrong, Haz? Feeling like an old man already? You look wrecked,” she pointed out with some sort of sad half smile, moving her hips even closer to me. I raised my hands ready to defend myself again, but she just waved me off and leaned her head against my thigh (I supposed her official plan was to lean against the back of the couch, but I was sort of in the way of it, so).

“Oi! Don’t call me old. You’re older,” I whimpered. She just smiled at me, instead of calling me childish as I expected.

“Really, though, H. What’s wrong?” her voice was even worse than her expression, a lot deeper and holding too much worry for my taste.

I sighed, anyway, because after all it was Gem, and there was no way in hell I was going to say ‘everything’s just fine’ and get away with it. So instead, I wiggled my legs in the air and moved enough until my shoulders and head were on her lap. She sank her fingers in my hair.

“Nothing, really. Or everything. Mum. And Scarlett. Probably me, I don’t even know anymore,” I breathed out, closing my eyes and leaning into her touch. She giggled under her breath, and when I opened my eyes to look at her, she pursed her lips into a tight line, to try and stop herself. “What?”

She shook her head. “You’re twenty-three and you’re having a middle-age crisis. Gee, Harold.” I glared at her, about to flip her off when she turned serious again. “Just kidding. C’mon, spit it out.”

I took a deep breath again and looked at Gem once more to make sure she was paying attention, to which she just nodded as if to give me courage to keep going. “Mum thinks Scarlett is the wrong one for me because she’s not Charlie. And we argued about Meena again because she can’t respect my feelings, and she’s bringing it towards Scar now. I really didn’t mean to get into another fight with her but she was just pushing so hard.” Gem nodded again, smiled apologetically as if she was the guilty one. “She told me she thinks I’ll get hurt eventually, and I didn’t want to believe her, because I’m happy. I am. But then Scarlett left and-”

“Yeah I was going to ask you about that. You argued with her too?” she sounded genuinely worried, so I just shot her a half smile and shook my head.

“Nah. She left to the hospital because Tyler’s been in an accident. Or something. I’m not sure what happened.”

“Tyler as in her ex-boyfriend?” I nodded shortly, glad Gemma remembered his name for what I’d told her a while ago. She then huffed loudly, smacking me in the head. “Are you stupid or what? Get out of this damn couch and go after her, Harry. You seriously let her leave to be all alone with her ex? God, you’re begging to be cheated on.”

I pouted, one hand pressed to the back of my head because her smack actually hurt. “She wouldn’t, Gemma! She broke up with him because of me, so I highly doubt she would go back to him after all I’ve done for her,” I defended her, in an attempt to convince not only my sister, but mostly myself. Because, well. Let’s say the idea of having my girlfriend alone in a hospital room with her ex was not the most pleasant one.