The Harvest || h.s.

Chapter 9

IX. LIBRARY

Lena

Flicking through the pages of the third book she has read during the short period she has stayed in the castle, Lena leant back in her chair and got into a comfortable position for reading.

After an hour, which felt like just a few minutes for her, she heard the doors of the library slowly open, and footsteps approaching her.

She looked up and closed the book as she saw Niall standing above her with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Ni." Lena greeted and signaled for him to sit next to her. "What brings you around here?"

Niall sat down and rested his back against the chair, putting an arm around Lena's shoulders. "Harry has disappeared again." Niall sighed.

Harry always seemed to disappear, once or twice a day, often at night. No one had a clue about where he was going, what he was doing or if he was with someone or not.

"That's funny. It's just noon. He ordinarily makes his getaways at night." Lena remarked.

"But anyway," Niall said, dropping the subject. "I'm here to spend the day with you since Harry can't even complete his duty as a best friend." Lena chuckled. "Sorry if I interrupt your reading."

"It's fine. I was almost done with this book, anyway." Lena put away the book and turned to Niall. "So what do you want to do today, new best friend?"

Niall laughed. "Just hang out. Talk. Enjoy each other's company."

"Wow, you definitely need a girlfriend." Lena chuckled, as did Niall, putting his hand on his chest to simulate offense.

"I do not. I'm perfectly fine by myself." Niall sassed, faking flipping his hair over his shoulder. "Talking about that, have you had any in the past?" Niall asked, ready to inform Harry about the answers Lena gave so that he could win her heart.

"You mean any boyfriends?" Lena asked, and Niall nodded in response. "Yeah, I had one. A few years ago."

"Do you mind me asking what happened?" Niall asked cautiously. He didn't have intentions of crossing the line with his questions or making Lena uncomfortable. Niall has always been a gentleman. His mother, the Queen of Ireland, raised him and his brother with an excellent education, always reminding them to be eloquent and polite, especially around and to women.

"He got deployed actually. To the war. I haven't heard anything from him since the day he left." Lena sighed, thinking about her previous lover. "He was my first love. His name was Garrick."

"Tell me about him. How did you two meet?" Niall seemed as if he was really interested in Lena's story, and not so deep down, he truly was.

"We met at the market. He had a stand next to ours. He used to sell the freshest and most delicious fruits and vegetables. I always used to stare at him while he worked. The apron he always wore looked so good on him. He had the most precious grey eyes and the darkest black hair. But he's just an old story now, the kind of story I want tell to my grandkids when I'm older."

"What was he like?"

"The sweetest. Garrick always collected wild flowers for me. He took me out to places, places I'd never seen before. There was an old castle on a hill a few miles from home; he took me there almost every evening to watch the sunset together. I like to be in nature, just to enjoy the environment."

Niall felt terrible for Lena, as he once stood in her shoes. He remembered being a little boy, just a little older than six, and having to watch his father leave for war. He had no idea if he was ever going to return home, or if he had been injured. His mother, brother, and he just received a few letters over the course of the long months his father had been absent. The letters being the only thing that gave poor little Niall hope that his father would return home safe, and sooner than the thought.

"Why the sudden interest, Niall?" Lena asked.

"I want us to be friends, Lena," was Niall's response, and again, he wasn't lying. He meant every single word that left his mouth. "Tell me what you like, something about you, I want to know the real you."

"Well, where do I start? Um, I guess I like nature as I told you before, a lot. Just going for walks, breathing fresh air. I used to get lost in the woods a lot when I was a kid, on purpose," Lena laughed. "It was my favorite game. I also prefer being alone that being within a large crowd of people."

"That's why you are always either exploring the gardens or locked in the library." Niall nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, that's also why I had to leave the party for a couple of minutes several times the other night. I also really like books, if you hadn't guessed already." Lena chuckled, and Niall laughed hard.

"Trust me; I've noticed." He grinned. "You like animals?" Niall questioned, as a faint scratch on the wooden doors could be heard coming from the hallway.

"Oh, I love them!" Lena gushed.

"Then I guess you'll like this." Niall got up from where he was sitting, walked all the way to the door and opened them, squatting to the floor to pick up a white fluff ball. "His name is Percy." He said as he handed the white Persian cat over to Lena.

"Oh my God, he is so beautiful!" Lena exclaimed as she sat Percy on her lap, caressing his soft back as he meowed and got comfier in Lena's lap, laying down on her thighs, covered by the dress she was wearing.

"I knew you'd like him." Niall smiled. "Harry would die for that cat. Percy is like the love of his life. He would never let anything happen to him."

Lena chuckled and smiled, playing with Percy. "That's so cute."

"Have you ever had any pets?" Niall asked, leaning his back against his seat and getting comfortable again.

"I used to have a dog when I was younger. We rescued him from the streets when he was a puppy. His name was Blackbeard; he was a mutt. My brother, Brad, loved him so much. Until he passed away."

"I didn't know you had a brother."

"I have. Two, in fact. And a sister."

"It must have been hard for you to leave them." Niall frowned.

"It was, especially little Ethan. He is just two, and I miss him like hell."

"You like kids?" Niall asked.

"I love them. I hope to have my own in the future."

"Harry loves kids too, you know."

"Really? He doesn't look much like a kid person." Lena said, scratching Percy's ear, impressed with Harry's sudden love for children, which she highly doubted he had.

"I know he doesn't look like a nice guy. Hell, even I was afraid the first time I saw him, and we were kids when we first met. But underneath all those muscles and tough appearance, he has his own little heart. Which grows bigger by the time, and so does his trust in you."

"Was it difficult for Harry to gain your trust, Niall?" Lena asked, curious about the chances she had to get Harry to open up to her and finally gain her trust.

"I don't know. I mean he was just a child when we first met, and kids trust you with all their life. So I guess our friendship just grew, and with it, so did our trust. So he trusted me with everything. We were always there for each other."

"I see..." Lena zoned out.

"So what do you think about him?" Niall asked casually.

"About Harry?" Lena replied, and Niall nodded. "Well, there's not actually a lot that I know about him. I know he is a sweet person, or he intends to be, even though I am a little bit intimidated by him sometimes."

"How so?"

"I don't know," Lena huffed. "he just gives this weird vibe. Especially because of The Harvest. I think I'm still a little traumatized about that. I don't know if I will ever see my family again, or see the world outside of this castle. At first, I thought he was going to kill me. I mentally prepared myself for the death that I thought was awaiting me. And there's also something that bothers me about him. Like he is hiding something. Something big, that's why I'm sometimes scared. And the scariest thing is that he is nice to me and it just messes with my mind, and in the end, even I don't know what I think about him. I don't know whether to trust him or not."