Black Ink || Harlena a.u.

49.

Harry had returned to the hotel, he asked for me to come with him, but I declined the offer because I had to make sure that things were really falling into place.

My phone began to ring, piercing through the silence I was enjoying moments before.

"Hello?"

"Selene, it's Henry-" I shot up from the couch as the diner's manager cleared his throat. "Listen, you're a great worker and all, but you've been lacking with your hours and that's not good for business."

My blood ran cold as I paced back and forth. I knew the words that would tumble out of his mouth, if I didn't hurry, were going to be no good, "I'm so sorry, it's just- I've been having family issues and-"

"I'm sorry, Selene, but unless you can hurry down in about an hour, I'm going to have to let you go."

I bit the back of my hand in frustration. My eyes squeezed shut and I tried my hardest to refrain myself from yelling into the phone. There was no way of making it back in an hour, "I understand."

He sighed heavily, "You can pick up your paycheck this Friday, and leave the uniform in my office."

I swallowed down the lump of disappointment, "Okay."

The phone clicked and I slumped down on the couch, wiping the corner of my eyes with my fingertips.

I just lost my fucking job.

***

"Honey can you pass me the pen in front of you?" Slowly, almost painfully, I reached over to hand her the black object. "Are you alright?" I looked up to see her raised eyebrow and doubtful expression.

I nodded, "I'm alright." How was I going to tell my mom that I lost my job because my dad couldnt keep it in his pants, and she couldn't deal with the stress alone, so I had to drop everything and leave? "I think I'm going to stay with Harry for tonight, actually."

She scribbled down some words on the paper in front of her before mumbling, "Alright then."

Tiredly, I pushed myself from where my stomach met the counter and walked towards the front door, "Mom?"

She looked up in annoyance, "What, Selene?"

"Are you and Dad good now?"

Her hand placed the pen down before she folded her arms across her chest, "We should be at some point in the future. Why?"

My shoulders shrugged, "No reason."

I pulled the door open and walked out before texting Harry and walking over to his hotel. It wasn't much of a walk, and I definitely needed the solitude before basking myself in his warmth.

Small beads of water had begun to form and fell softly against my skin, which was odd considering the moderate heat that had been in place these past few days.

Still, I continued down the street and was ready to make a turn when a car stopped in front of me. An all too familiar car, actually.

"Where you going?"

I bent down to see him better, "Hotel."

Justin nodded in acknowledgement, a ghost of a scowl on his face before tilting his head over to the passenger seat, "Hop in, I'll take you."

My head shook as I began to stand up straight, "No thanks, I got it."

Justin slowly moved as I walked around the corner, "Fine then, let me walk with you. It's dark already."

There wasn't much I could do to stop him; he had already parked the car and hopped out of the seat.

We didn't say much as we continued down the empty street. The rain filled in the silence as the droplets became heavier and more aggressive.

"Here," he took off the jacket he wore and threw it over my shoulders before looking straight ahead again.

"Thanks."

When we finally arrived, I turned to Justin as a gesture of 'well, thanks for dropping my off, but you can leave now.' Except, he didn't budge as we stood at the entrance.

"Night, Justin," I gave him his jacket back before opening the door.

His hand pulled my arm so that I spun around and faced him. His mouth taking me by surprise as it pressed against mine. I looked up at the falling water, but the moment didn't last too long because an arm wrapped tightly around my waist, pulling me back into a hard chest and successfully ripping me from Justin.

I watched his confusion as he stared at me, before he looked over at Harry. Hesitantly, I peered up to see his clenched jaw and even in the darkness, I could see the flashes of red in his eyes.

He didn't say anything, just glared at Justin as his hold tightened.

"She was mine first," Justin bit.

Harry looked down at me, "Yeah well, she's my girlfriend now." His attention returned to the guy opposite of him. "And if you pull some shit like that again, I'll fucking beat the shit out of you, kid."

He pulled me into the hotel as I tried my hardest not to trip on my own two feet, my mind still processing what the fuck had just happened.

"You, missy-" he peered at me from the corner of his eye. "Are in so much trouble."