Silk || hs

Hope in Humanity Restored

Eventually, I am allowed to leave, so my family goes to sign me out while I change back into my dress from the night before. As I am doing this, there is a knock at the door. I open it, expecting to see my father or a nurse, but to my surprise, Harry is standing there in the doorway holding a T-shirt and some pajama pants. They look to be his.

"Harry," I say, confused. "I didn't know you were here."

He runs his thumb along the fabric in his hands and looks towards the ground, "Of course I'm here.. i brought this for you." He extends the pajamas out to me. "It's all I had in my car, but I figured it would be more comfortable than that dress."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that; I'm fine," I attempt to smile at him, but one look at the disappointed expression on his face convinces me to accept his kindness. "Thank you, actually..." I take the pajamas from him. "That was really thoughtful of you."

"It's no problem," Harry shrugs, nervously rubbing his bicep with his hand. "How– um, how are you feeling?"

I open the door a little wider, wanting him to come in the room so I can properly thank him, "I'm doing okay, I guess... Would you mind coming in for a second? I won't take up too much more of your time, I promise."

Harry lifts his head up, his expression both relieved and surprised, "Yeah, sure."

After he comes in and closes the door, I sit back down on my bed and he takes a seat in the chair across from me. I honestly have no idea where to begin this conversation. On the one hand, I want to ask him what exactly happened, but I also want to thank him for literally saving my life.

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you did. I don't know the extent of what that is because I can't remember, but– just thank you so much, Harry. And I'm so sorry for–"

"Don't," Harry says quietly, standing from his seat. He takes a step towards the bed so that he is standing directly in front of me. It's now that I see a dark shadow forming on his jaw. Did he get in a fight? When I look down at his hands and see his raw knuckles, I see that he did indeed physically fight for me. Unless, of course, he got into a fight prior to this whole thing, but I have the feeling he didn't. "Don't even think about apologizing, Camryn. That guy was an asshole and he doesn't need you apologizing for his actions."

"I know, but Harry, your hands–"

"My hands are fine, Camryn. You don't need to worry about me." Harry's eyes are focused on me and his expression is tight. He looks almost angry, and I can't help but feel responsible for that, too. Why have I ruined everything?

"Ok," I sigh in defeat, knowing that the conversation would end up nowhere if I choose to press him. A silence hangs over us for several moments before Harry takes a step back and resumes his position in the chair.

"Camryn, I need to tell you something," Harry begins, his battered hands clenched in his lap. He leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees, keeping his face directed towards the ground. "I don't know how much you remember, but when I found you, he was about to– you know." I feel my chest tighten at his words and I look up to him in concern. What on earth is Harry going to tell me? He goes silent for a moment before continuing, "Anyway, when I yelled at him, he got off you pretty quickly and nothing happened. But, after I dropped you here, I figured that there was nothing more that I could do so I went back, and–"

"Harry, if you beat him up, you can't tell me because if he presses charges and I know what you did, then I can't lie," I interrupt, anxiously hoping that my words are unnecessary. I would hate myself if Harry got in trouble because of me.

"No, it's not like that, it's just– well, when I got back to our house, he had changed hunting grounds. He didn't belong to the frat you were at and he doesn't belong to ours, but I caught him at my party giving some other girl a drink so I, you know," he looks up to me rather nonchalantly and shows me his hands before adding, "I took care of him."