Trigger warning
Because of my work schedule, I could only stay two nights in Stockholm. My first day in the city with Harry was dreamlike. Walking along Monteliusvägen and seeing the beautiful views as Harry and I talked about how much we loved each other was a memory I surely could never lose. The smile on my face from the day lasted until the following morning.
"Time to get up," Harry mumbled in my ear.
"No," I whined.
"Planning to sleep all day?"
"Not by myself," I smiled. I opened my eyes and saw Harry sitting on the edge of the bed near my leg. I tugged on his arm and he surrendered. I pulled him back onto the bed. "We could stay here."
"Don't tempt me," he pouted. "The boys wanted to have breakfast with you."
"Really?"
Harry held up his phone, "I've gotten nearly a dozen calls from Louis this morning begging us to come with them. And Niall keeps calling to hurry us up because he's starving."
I pushed the duvet off me and sat up. "Only for those boys," I mumbled.
The bathroom was humid from Harry's shower. The fog on the mirrors was just disappearing as I started brushing my teeth. I examined my reflection in the mirror carefully. My hair was messy from the bed, but I generally looked good. Getting a full night's sleep had performed miracles on my complexion. No dark circles pooled at the bottom of my eyes. My cheeks were a healthy color, not ghostly white like they had been.
I reached for a bottle of moisturizer as the sleeve of my t-shirt fell off the curve of my shoulder. When I looked back in the mirror, the moisturizer dropped from my hand and landed on the bathroom floor in a clatter. My mouth fell open and my eyes fell to a deep purple bruise on the top of my shoulder. Its shape was organic with imperfect edges and harsh coloring. The purple faded from violet to magenta in different areas of the mark.
"Are you okay?" Harry knocked on the nearly closed door. He stuck his head in the room and our eyes met in the mirror.
"I'm fine, but my shoulder..."
Harry caught sight of the bruise and his eyes widened first in horror, then in amusement. "Is that my doing?"
"Unless another boy was attached to my shoulder last night," I huffed.
"Some love bite you have there, Kate."
I rolled my eyes, "Well done, Styles."
Harry walked up and stood behind me to evaluate the love bite himself. He frowned at the mark and his lips pouted. He raised his hand to gingerly touch the bruise. "Does it hurt?"
"No," I shook my head.
"Does it bother you?"
"It's not like anyone can see it," I shrugged. "I didn't bring anything sleeveless to wear."
"Good."
"Good?" I raised my eyebrows.
"I just think there are better ways for us to show the world that we're together than by me leaving marks on your skin. I'm not trying to convince anyone that I own you. I don't want to own you. I was just caught up in the moment last night." The tone Harry used to say "own" was nothing short of disgusted. He wasn't trying to control me or force me into anything. He saw us as equals and it was reassuring. "I'll leave you to get ready."
____________
With my love bite concealed by the short sleeve of my white knit babydoll dress, Harry and I joined the rest of the boys for breakfast. Situated at the table beside Niall and across from Louis, I had to fight to keep from having syrup spilled on me and salt put in my orange juice by the notorious pranking pair. The boys were joking and carefree. It was nice to see them so relaxed. Each took turns sharing stories from tour and competing to get me to laugh the hardest.
I felt my phone vibrating in my lap and looked down to see my mother was calling. I frowned at the screen. It was early back home and I wondered what she was calling about.
"Something wrong?" Harry asked. I held the phone up so he could see. "Better answer since it's your mum."
"I'll be quick. Sorry, guys," I blushed. I didn't stand up from the table because the restaurant was small and there was an ocean of fans outside the doors. The boys nodded sympathetically. "Hello?"
"Tell me this isn't true." Her voice was short and angry.
"What?"
"Every magazine cover, every online article, every morning television news show is talking about you and Harry wanting kids. There's a photo of the pair of you with children and a quote from Harry saying you're thinking about starting a family."
I felt my face turn bright red and every eye at the table stare down at me. "I...I don't...I don't know what to say."
"You are too young! You've only known Harry a short time! I know you really care about each other and you get on well, but I don't think you should be making this decision now. Harry is still touring...and think of your career! Kids are great, but they aren't something to be taken lightly. I really think you should—"
"Harry and I are not having a baby!" I hissed over the phone.
Louis spit a mouthful of water out across the table in a fierce spray. Liam nearly started choking. Niall started laughing and I kicked him under the table.
"You're not?" My mother's voice was much calmer.
"No! We are not. That photo must have been released to the media. We took photos with some fans' children. I don't know where they got Harry's quote, but we aren't having a baby. We aren't even thinking about having a baby. We aren't even thinking about thinking about having a baby!"
"No?"
"No."
"Good! Oh! I am so relieved! I want you to have kids, and I wouldn't even mind if it were with Harry, but not anytime soon."
I felt my cheeks heat up again at my mother's mentioning of her approval if Harry and I were to have kids. "Alright, I've got to run."
"Of course," she chirped. "Sorry to have kept you. Have a good day! I love you!"
"Love you," I mumbled.
I ended the call and rested my phone on my lap. The table erupted with laughter and I couldn't bring myself to face any of the boys. I buried my face in my hands and groaned. I had been blasted in the media with Harry before, but baby rumors were so extreme. The world clearly didn't understand that we had just barely confessed our love to one another. There was absolutely no discussion of babies!
"Can I be the godfather?" Louis stifled a howl of laughter.
"Not on your life," I seethed.
"What was that?" Harry asked softly, but with a hint of amusement.
"That photo of us with Elin and Alice leaked and everyone is running it with a quote from you saying we're thinking of starting a family. It really set my mother off."
"Oh," he chuckled.
The rest of breakfast was punctuated by baby humor in the form of baby name suggestions and references to each of the boys with "uncle" in front of their names. It was all a laugh until Harry's phone started vibrating with Anne calling to ask about the rumor as well.
____________
Eli and I spent the day wandering Stockholm while Harry and the rest of the boys practiced on the set of the Swedish singing competition show they would be performing on the following evening. It was easy to get lost in the beauty of Stockholm. The city had character and personality in a way that only old cities can have. Each city block told a new, intriguing story.
That afternoon, Eli became less of a security guard and more of a friend. He walked beside me, not behind me like he usually did. He showed me around his favorite places in Stockholm from when he lived there and acted as a translator for me at shops.
At dusk, we walked through a shopping district where the streets were lined with high-end stores. The security guard standing outside a jewelry store nodded to Eli before disappearing into the store to end his shift. A few straggling shoppers hurried to their cars from the threshold of lush boutiques. I looked down to check my phone. In thirty minutes, Harry would arrive back at the hotel and I wanted to be there to meet him.
When I put my phone away and refocused my attention on the street, it suddenly felt like the twilight zone. The street darkened exponentially in the few moments it had taken for me to check my phone. The sky was fading to a deep, royal blue. Streetlights had flickered on, but two of them up ahead were burned out creating a vortex of blackness. No more shoppers were on the walkways around us. Everything felt very eerie.
Eli fell out of step with me and returned to his normal position nearly ten paces behind me. I was just about to turn and ask Eli to rejoin me, but I became distracted. A cool breeze danced around my knees and carried a piece of paper from the center of the walkway to the edge of the street. My eyes followed the piece of paper as it dashed left then right and was caught in a grate along the pavement.
Something tightened around my forearm and pulled me to the right crudely. Before I could even scream, my mind flashed back to Berlin when the fan grabbed me. I stumbled along the pavement as the person dragged me into an alley nestled between the two burned out streetlights in the curtain of darkness.
I could only see shadows splashed across my captor's face. He was just slightly taller than me, but very forceful. He gripped my shoulders and shoved me against the brick wall of the alley. My head crashed into the bricks and I nearly saw stars. I shook my head to clear the blur from my eyes. I felt disoriented and my senses slowed, allowing the stranger to take more control of me. My body slumped under his relentless grasp.
"Eli?" It came out as a hoarse whisper. I was paralyzed by fear.
In a calculated motion, the man kicked my left ankle causing me to spread my legs apart. He forced a knee between my thighs and used his hips to hold me flush against the cold wall. I winced as the backs of my arms and legs scraped against the rough brick.
"Eli?" It was barely louder than the first time.
The man began speaking Swedish in a deceptively soft voice as if he were trying to soothe my rampant fear. Slowly, he reached down and took a handful of the skirt of my dress and dragged it toward my hip. The scent of his cologne was dominated by the scent of stale cigarettes. His words stopped suddenly. I tried to force my weight against him, but he was too strong. His breathing was ragged in my ear.
"Eli?" I felt a deeper sense of panic. Where had he gone? Wasn't he just behind me?
The man pressed his hips against mine harder, the skirt of my dress still fisted by him at my hip. I felt the cool breeze caress my now bare thigh. I felt a cry building in my chest, but couldn't release it.
His free hand grabbed my wrist and jerked it up between our faces. The gold of my charm bracelet glimmered and the charms clinked together in a hushed melody. I could see a smile on his face as I struggled to get my wrist out of his stronghold.
"This," he hissed in accented English. "Give me this."
"No," I whispered. "No." I couldn't bear to give my bracelet to this criminal. It was a connection to Harry for me when we were separated. It meant too much to me.
"Give me this!" the man snarled. He began trying to unfasten the bracelet with just one hand.
"Eli!" At last, I set the scream free. It echoed through the narrow alley and startled the man. "Eli!"
The man pushed me harder against the wall and dragged my dress up even farther to the very top of my hip. I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to kick him, but his legs pinned mine in place.
I heard a loud thud and the edge of my dress fell back in place. I opened my eyes to see Eli standing over the body of the aggressor who was now lying on the ground apparently unconscious.
"Come," Eli snapped. Instead of grabbing my arm, he held out his hand. I took it and he led me to the open walkway where just moments before we had been sauntering down innocently.
Our SUV was parked a short distance away. It beeped twice as Eli unlocked it. He opened the passenger door for me and helped me in the car. Before shutting my door, he peered into my eyes. "Stay here. I'll be right back."
Eli locked me in the SUV, jogged over to the alley, and disappeared into the darkness. I held my breath. My eyes searched the opening for several minutes waiting for Eli's return. I wondered what he was doing. I began shaking uncontrollably and folded my arms around myself. I was going into shock.
The driver's side door opened and Eli slid into place. In the moment before the interior lights of the car dimmed, I glanced at Eli. His knuckles were stained with blood and were visibly swollen. Blood spatters lined the sleeve of his shirt. "He won't be waking up for a while."
____________
{Harry's Point of View}
I had expected Kate to be back from exploring Stockholm with Eli before I returned, but I came back to find the suite empty. I ignored the boys' plea to join them for dinner and decided to stay in and wait for Kate. It would be our last night together for a while.
The fresh linens on the bed were irresistible after a long day of rehearsals. I changed into sweats and a thin white t-shirt and rested on the bed with my back against the headboard. I took out my phone and began idly scrolling through my Twitter feed. It took the single act of retweeting a tweet sent out by the television show we would be performing on. Suddenly, every fan knew I was on Twitter. I smirked as I watched the number of notifications and direct messages increase rapidly.
The door to the suite opened and Kate walked in. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. Her hair was messy, her handbag dangled from the tips of her fingers, and tears were streaming down her face making large stripes of mascara from her eyes to her chin.
"What's wrong?" I was instantly on my feet. I took three steps to her and stopped. On the skirt of her otherwise pristine white dress was a massive, filthy handprint. "What happened?"
She followed my gaze down to the handprint and let out a deafening sob. Her reaction stunned me and I shuffled backward. She bent over and unbuckled her sandals. They each flew in a different direction. She stood straight and marched toward the bathroom without even glancing my way.
"Wait," I ventured.
"No...no...no...no," she muttered between hearty sobs.
"Please," I begged.
Kate didn't stop on her way to the bathroom. She looked down at the dirty front of her dress and cried out again. She took the hem of her dress and pulled it up over her head in one fluid motion removing the article of clothing entirely, leaving her in nothing but her underwear. She dropped it to the floor just as she reached the bathroom. I stared down at the abandoned dress as she slammed the bathroom door closed.
I stood numb for several seconds. Never once during our relationship had she undressed in front of me. She was always too reserved, too self-conscious. It was important to her that she has privacy and I always respected that. The first time she undresses in front of me and it was because she was trying to get out of a ruined dress—get away from a painful experience.
Through the wooden door, her cries were audible. I stood helplessly and listened to her in some type of agony. My mind was jammed with thoughts of what happened to her. My first instinct was to pry open the door and hold her, but she clearly needed space.
It occurred to me that she was in the bathroom with no clothing to wear. I doubted she would be brave enough to walk out of the bathroom in front of me with hardly anything on. I went to her suitcase and found a pair of shorts she normally wore to bed and a t-shirt. I folded them and walked to the bathroom door.
"Love?" There was no response, only more sobs. "Kate, I'm leaving some clothes outside the bathroom for you. I'm going to find Eli and talk to him. Will you be okay alone?"
There was a screech of metal and then the sound of a flood of water as she started the shower. I took that as her response. The sound of the shower couldn't mask her loud, heartbreaking sobs. I bit my lip and ran my hand through my hair. I dropped the clothes to my feet just outside the door and had to fight to keep from ripping the door off its hinges to get to her.
Eli was in the hallway on my floor about to enter his suite. He had an icepack wrapped around his right hand and was wincing as he opened and closed his fist. I could see smears of blood all over his hand and arm. I rushed to him, desperate for answers.
"Eli!"
"Harry, I was just about to call you. Is she with you?"
"Kate walked in the suite and went straight to the shower. What's happened?" My tone was firm, angry even, in an attempt to hide my fear.
Eli looked up and down the hall suspiciously. "Come in my room and I'll give you the details."
We walked into the suite. Eli flipped on the light and motioned to the seating area. We sat on opposite sofas. He sucked in a breath and swore as he flexed his hand.
"You alright?" I asked.
"I'll be fine. It's been awhile since I've had to knock a guy out," he chuckled coldly.
"What?" I panicked. "Eli, tell me what happened. Why is my girlfriend hysterical?"
"We were walking downtown just after it turned dark. I was behind Kate, as always, and I got an incoming call from Ivan, the security coordinator for management. By the time I answered the call and looked up, Kate was nowhere to be seen. I called out for her and looked up and down the street. There was no one in sight. I ended the call with Ivan immediately and ran up about half a block.
"Some guy had pulled Kate into an alley. He had her pushed against the wall and was trying to steal her bracelet. I hit the guy to get him off her and took her to the SUV. When I got her secured, I went back to the guy. He asked me if I was the police. When I said no, he asked if she was famous. The guy has no clue who she is. I knocked him out when he started talking about things he wanted to do to her..."
"Enough," I growled.
"Like I said, there was no one on the street. There are also no security cameras with views of the alley or the stretch of pavement in front. I don't think anyone saw anything, which means there won't be any reports."
"Good," I breathed.
"Would you like to file a police report formally?"
"No. That will only draw attention to the situation and to Kate. Besides, it sounds like you took care of the guy."
Eli held up his injured hand. "I did my best, sir."
"The handprint on her dress," I muttered more to myself than to Eli.
"I saw that," he said solemnly. "You'll have to ask her about it if you can get her to talk."
"Did she talk to you?"
"No," Eli shook his head and diverted his eyes to the floor. "She cried the entire drive and was asking for you."
I felt my blood run cold.