Heavenly // h.s.

chapter 25. choose

"W-what?" I whisper, feeling my heart beat rapidly in my ribcage.

"I love you, Scarlet," Harry says, pulling away to gaze into my face dreamily.

"Really? But what about Aleah?" I ask with a concerned voice. As much as I loved Harry and the feeling of him loving me, I couldn't help but realize he was still engaged.

"I'll cancel the wedding," Harry says with a reassuring smile.

"Is it really that easy?" I ask, a little skeptical with his answer.

"Yes babygirl," he answers with a wide smile.

As we stare at each other's eyes, I feel whole. This was the person I was meant to be with. It's like Grey's Anatomy, y'know? He's my person. I can't imagine myself without him anymore. He made me addicted to his touch, to his smell, to his kisses, to his words, to his smiles, to his everything.

The moment's ruined when someone knocks on the door. We snap out of our trance and stand up, creating space between the two of us. Within a second, Aleah bursts into our room.

She doesn't look like her. Her hair's disheveled and definitely not her usual neat, professional look. Her eyes look darker, more dangerous. Her cheeks are flushed. Her coat hangs loosely on her bony shoulder. An evil smirk dances on her lips.

"Aleah, I have to tell you something," Harry says, grabbing my hands and pulling me closer to him.

I can't look at her.

"Shut your fucking mouth," Aleah breathes out. Her voice's low and ready to kill.

"Aleah, listen-"

"I said shut your fucking mouth!" She screams. I take a step back and watch her with wide eyes. I haven't seen this side of her since Mom and Dad died. "You don't say any fucking word until I talk."

"Aleah, calm down-"

"We're getting married, no matter what," Aleah snaps.

"What?" I whisper out.

"We're getting married," Aleah repeats, "or I'm telling the press you had sex with a minor."

"Aleah," I say as I take a step forward. "That's not right."

"You have no right to tell me what's right or wrong," she argues, a fire burning in her eyes. "It wasn't right to sleep with your sister's fiance, but you still did it, didn't you?"

I gulp and nod; she was right. 

"But I love her," Harry says, voice strong and confident.

There's silence in the room. Aleah froze. Her eyes stared at Harry with an indescribable emotion. She looked weak, vulnerable, broken. I look away, knowing it was me that made her look like this.

"We're getting married," Aleah repeats.

"Aleah, you're not listening to me," Harry calmly says.

"You have no right to tell me what to do. You broke my heart, Harry. You cheated on me, and out of every-fucking-one in the world, it had to be my sister? What the hell is wrong with you?" Aleah shouts and she approaches Harry.

"I can't choose who to love," Harry argues.

"Why couldn't you have just loved me a little longer?" Aleah yells at his face.

"I don't think I ever loved you, Aleah," Harry whispers. "I've only pitied you-"

A slap echoes in the silent room. My jaw drops and my hand shoots up to cover my wide open mouth. My wide eyes watch how Aleah breaths heavily, her posture slightly bent from her strong slap. Harry's face is facing the floor and red starts to bloom on his abused cheek.

"Hit me more," Harry says. "I deserve it."

Those words unleashed a beast. Aleah pushed him to the floor and straddled his waist. She punched him, slapped him, and pulled at his hair. I was frozen, watching my sister brutally beat up my lover. 

"Stop!" I shout, legs shaking at Harry's bloodied face.

"Not until either Harry agrees to marry me or go to the police," Aleah commands. "You're deciding, Scarlet."

"What?"

"Either you decide that Harry's going to marry me or Harry's going to the police."

I stared at Aleah. Eyes so blue I wanted to steal them when I was young and replace my brown, boring eyes with. Nose so high and pointy it was like a doll's. Lip so red, it looked like blood splattered on her lips. Hair so smooth you could touch it for days.

She was so beautiful. Was.

I loved Harry. Harry was my everything. I could never see him with Aleah; on the alter, in this beautiful house with children, in the bed with their body entangled with each other's bodies. He was mine. I know I sound selfish and mean and wrong, but I've fallen for him.

But I won't let my selfishness make his whole life fall apart. 

"Harry," I say, my throat raw and dry, "you're marrying Aleah."

Aleah gets off of him with a satisfied smile. She walks towards me and harshly wipes away a fallen teardrop.

"Don't act like you're the victim. You're the sinner getting punished," Aleah hisses.

I look away and take heavy steps to the doorway. I was so close. But to what I wonder? I wasn't going to get anywhere with Harry. Destiny was playing a cruel joke with me. 

"I'm changing the wedding date to next Tuesday," Aleah says as I leave with a sick voice, "Just for you."