ESCAPE

Chapter 67

VALENTINA

'You must be Valentina', said the lady who Harry had called Trisha. I nodded and smiled as my response.

'I'm Zayn's mother, Trisha', she said and my eyes widened. I could see where Zayn got his good looks from. I wonder if the rest of his family looked as gorgeous as this mother and son.

'Zayn speaks about you almost all the time. I'm really glad that you're safe here with them', she said and held my hand in affection.

'Your son saved me', I wrote and watched as her eyes shone.

Our conversation was cut short by the sound of the door opening and we watched as a group of men walked out without a glance at us and Trisha let out a sigh of relief.

'He's been suffering for too long because of this contract. All he wants is o be left alone with Nova', she said and I noticed that her voice break in between.

'I pray that you will never have to go through what they did', she said looking at me and I felt my heartbeat a bit faster and my head felt light.

'Don't worry love. Harry would never allow you to be in danger. He's a very private person which makes it very hard to trace anything back to him without falling into a hole of doubt', she said and I nodded because I knew that last part was true.

Even though the press had our names out as a couple, no one really knew what was going on or where we were headed to. No one knew who I was or where I came from except for a few ridiculous rumors that I was some kind of model from Europe and that we had met on tour.

The familiar sound of boots made me look up to meet Harry's troubled face. He quickly covered it with a smile when Trisha looked at him and then made his way towards us.

'It's nothing to worry about, they're just being their nosey self', he said but I wasn't convinced as much as Trisha was.

'Come on, I'll introduce you to Nova', he said as he took my hand and I gave Trisha a smile before leaving with him.

Once we were in the safety of the room I gave him a questioning look.

'For now, it's alright. I'll fill you in later, just focus on Zayn and Nova for now', he said and then startled me with a hug.

I didn't move or return his embrace because I was confused at his sudden show of affection. We stood like that for over a minute until he pulled back and planted a gentle kiss on my forehead. He smiled at my lost expression,

'I don't want you out of my sight, even if I have to let you return home. I want to be able to be with you, knowing that no matter what I'll always have a place in your life', he said in a quiet voice and I held his face in my hands.

It was the first time he was being this open with me and I knew that something must have happened here to scare him enough to let his emotions out.

He leads me to where Nova was and I watched as she sat up on the bed, reading and she looked up as she noticed our presence.

'I finally get to meet the poor girl who has to deal with Harry Styles', she said with a playful smirk and I smiled at her.

'Ha, ha. Very funny', replied Harry flatly and Nova stuck her tongue out at him.

He then walked over to Zayn who sat silently in a corner beside her and he looked like someone told him that he had only one day to live.

'Yes, please! Do something about this robot! He's such a mood killer for me right now!', she exclaimed which made a small smile break across his face.

'I love you', she said looking at him with such fondness that I wondered what it must feel like to just let your heart be in the hands of another person, not knowing whether or not it would be safe. It must take so much patience to look after each other without being affected by either person's flaws.

Would I ever have what they have? And I found myself looking at Harry who was looking at me as well.

'I love you too, babe. We'll let you two get to know each other', said Zayn and with a quick wave, he exited with Harry.

'Thank you', said Nova and I looked at her confused.

'You found Zayn when he was lost. You helped him find his way back to his purpose', she said but I shook my head in disbelief.

'Really. I know about you, Valentina. Zayn told me everything about you and I guess you reminded him of me. He got a chance to do things differently and that allowed him to come back', she said and I remembered him saying something similar to me in the past.

'Things may not be a bed of roses for you and Harry but believe me when I say that he will bend over backward just to make you feel safe and that he'd never allow something like this to ever happen to you. He's a lot more powerful than he looks like but he keeps all that in that dark so no one can ever know him enough to hurt him', she said and I remembered how Trisha had said the same thing.

'Don't let fear ruin what you have going around you. Just live it out because it's worth it', she said and I smiled at her small but large truth.