HARRY'S POV:
Life was good for a few weeks. We lasted two and a half days in our "keep the world out" attempt. But then, even we, being homebodies, got antsy and decided to go out. We went to that club we went to before. Didn't make any friends this time. Just danced, felt the bass and music in our chests, because we love that, and we made out a lot on the dance floor. Because we're immature that way. We didn't care. We were out in the world, yet we didn't let the world in, still. It was like we had to catch up for lost time. We couldn't stop clinging to eachother for a while, both of us probably subconsciously afraid that something would happen and take us away from eachother somehow. Yeah, I'd say we were scarred from what happened. And it wasn't over yet. I got more texts. I showed each and every one to Janel, as soon as I got them. And she got a few texts, too. And a call or two for both of us.
We had even stopped at the police station recently to check on our case. Nothing. They hadn't found anything. Nice to know there's help when you need it! NOT.
Bonnie and Stanley were THRILLED that we were back together. They both had joked that they couldn't possibly have taken any more of our pathetic crying. But they were sincerely glad we worked it out.
My parents were so happy for me too. They said they've seen me in rough shape before, but this....this was like...they were seriously worried for me, that I'd do something stupid. So they were sure glad I was happy again. Max even called me a few times just to make sure everything was still good, because he had heard the news from mum and dad and he was concerned. So he kept calling like every morning saying "Still good? Still together? She didn't change her mind, did she?"
Janel finally got on the phone on the third morning and told him she was NOT going to change her mind. Ever. She had seen me roll my eyes this time when he called.
We visited Martin a few times, Janel cooked a few meals there, just to keep her skills up, since all she'd known for a week was crumbs and cold stuff.
And then there was Tammi. She was just......odd lately. She went from constantly bothering me when I'd visit the home, to totally ignoring me now. Which I was absolutely fine with, don't get me wrong. I was happy, actually. She had always given me a strange vibe, and I was happy to walk past the reception desk and not have to say or hear a fake word. I hated who I had to be around her. I hated being fake. I hated fake people. I hated fake smiling at people I hated.
She asked the one day if Janel was ok. Only she didn't ask JANEL, who was standing right next to me, holding my hand. She asked ME.
WTF?
She said she had heard about her being in the hospital and heard that we had a weird stalker messing with us, and asked if the police found anything out yet. That was the last conversation we had, so far. She like...never looked at Janel. It was strange. She only looked at me. A lot. As usual. I remember her giving me looks the first time Janel showed up at the home with me in tow. I wished she'd just get another job somewhere, is what I wished. Sometimes I didn't want to go to the home, just because I'd have to deal with her.
Bonnie said we were thinking about it too much. But I tell you....that girl......eeek.
I got a call one day, while in the kitchen with Martin, from the police. They said they were able to get a phone number from the app company, on some of the blocked phone numbers I'd given them a list of. Only some of them were from one app. The rest were probably given from other temporary phone number apps. There were a lot of apps like that. They'd start with this phone number they'd been given, first. See if they could see who that was. They hadn't gotten to get on that yet, because they'd JUST been given the info. I stressed at the police station when we checked in, that I NEED something done, and for them to call me as soon as ANYTHING comes in. So now I had to wait to see whose number it was. And then....it should be as simple as that, hopefully! I just wanted this done and overwith. I wanted the person executed. Ok, jailed, at least. But I'm sure they'd get off easy. Fvckers.
They gave me the phone number they'd found, and asked if it matched any of my contacts. It didn't.
Janel was busy cooking, and I was talking out front of the home, where I could have better privacy, plus the kitchen sounds were loud. Frying stuff and all...loud.
I got off the phone with the police and I had a smile on my face as I walked back in. Bonnie was just on her way out of the reception desk with her purse and coat, to go home. She asked me if I'd won the lottery or something. I told her no, but close! "They found a cell phone number of whoever used those temporary phone number apps. It doesn't match anyone in my contacts list, which is good. I have to check Janel's phone, but they're gonna work on looking it up. They said they'd let me know probably in a few days. So, looks like they're gonna find this psycho and this can all be over. Thank God. We've been through HELL, but you know what? This actually made me and Janel stronger in the end. So, at least we can look at it that way...even though we wish it'd never happened.
Bonnie hugged me and was very happy about it. Said she'd see us tomorrow night for dinner. Her and Janel had made plans, with her kids too. And Martin and his wife and kid. It'd be fun. I didn't know anything about it. She laughed and told me "That's cause you're the man! Your job is to simply show up and wear what you're told to wear!" I laughed. "Alright then! Sounds easy enough!" I told her. Then she left.
When I looked over at the reception desk, Tammi was standing there, looking odder than ever. I guess she was jealous that we were all getting together, and she wasn't involved. Bitch.
Man, I hated the way she brought out the hate in me. I didn't even know why, half the time. She just....rubbed me the wrong way. Or, at least she WANTED to rub me, I'm sure. In SOME way.
Dinner was a good time. These were my favorite times since I'd gotten famous. Just normal dinners and fun with normal people. Dinners with famous people and music legends were fun also, don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade it.....but they were fun in an entire different way. Fun, but stressful.
But this dinner tonight....fun and easy.
We all got to drink a little bit, because Martin's son could drive us home. He was 19 and very responsible. So it was nice that everyone could let loose and have fun. Martin's son, Tim, had never met Bonnie's kids. He got along with them pretty well. And I noticed him eyeing up Bonnie's daughter a few times. Pretty funny to see. Their eyes met once or twice, and she immediately averted her eyes, so I think she was liking him, too. I didn't used to notice stuff like this, wrapped up in my own life and world...but Janel taught me to see things in people. She had told me about her people watching days, and all that she'd learned by watching everyone. It was amazing the things you could see about people just by paying a little attention. She taught me how to do it over the past few months. And now I was seeing things I'd never noticed.
Dinner was such a good time. We had a large table in the back, and we ended up being "that one table" that has a bunch of rowdies, you sometimes encounter in restaurants. That was us. We laughed a lot, laughed hard, sang snippets of crazy songs a few times.....we had a good time.
I was suprised we didn't get kicked out, actually. But the other restaurant patrons around us didn't seem to mind. They laughed at our jokes with us, and one table actually sang with us during our horrible version of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips".
And yes, I was recognized a few times. But everyone was respectful and didn't come over to me while I was eating. When I saw someone who looked like they knew me, I'd gesture them over, and sign something for them. I even signed a napkin. You've not made it until you've signed a napkin for a fan.
I noticed the paparazzi out the window, too. But I didn't care. I was with my girl. With friends. And slightly...ok, maybe PRETTY drunk. I was all good.
At the end of the night, (We closed the place, cause we're so wild and hip.) Martin's son drove us all to our separate homes in their SUV, and Janel and I stumbled up the steps and crashed in bed. I don't even think we made it to under the covers.
In the morning I noticed I had one sock on, and boxers. Good times. Janel didn't even bother getting undressed. She just slept in her clothes.
The next day Stanley was on his way from England to hang out and have me sign papers for future gigs and a bunch of other stuff. He made me promise that I was gonna live in England soon. That got Janel and I talking about it, and she was all for it, like before. But she was having a hard time considering leaving Bonnie. And Martin, now that he was a closer friend to us. I told her to wait on the group home job, because it would be silly to get the job, and then quit, if she moved soon. She didn't mind. She said she'd just keep going in and cooking for free. She enjoyed it. And laughing with Martin the whole time was half the fun.
I just wished she had some friends in America that were HER age. Well, in England, she already had some. My old friends. Hopefully that would be good for her. And hopefully she'd make her own friends, too, so she could feel like she wasn't mooching off of my entire life, as she'd put it when we talked about moving.
We didn't have a time line for all this....it was just preliminary talk right now.
I promised her Bonnie would have fun and frequent trips to England, just so Janel didn't miss her too much. Bonnie would LOVE that. She'd never really been anywhere, and didn't have the money for vacations and trips.
We picked Stanley up at the airport, and took him right to the bar. (Janel made me call it a bar, instead of a pub, when I'm in America. And she'd do the same for my country. It was a challenge, to call it the right thing, actually! Also, she made me say apartment here, and she'd say flat in England. Just another stupid silly game we'd play with eachother.)
We had lunch, I signed quite a few autographs, and we all went to Janel's, so I could go over papers and contracts and blah blah blah.......work. It was nice not working for the past few weeks. But eventually, everything builds up and here it all was. In a thick briefcase, a stack of papers.
Janel worked on dinner, and listened to music on her headphones and layed on the chair and watched us work all afternoon and evening. She even grabbed my guitar at one point and practiced her chords that she still remembered from 6 months ago. She wasn't bad. Not bad at all. I'd have to teach her some guitar stuff, see how she did with it. At one point, I heard her strumming chords, and she started to hum, and I realized what song she was playing. She was actually playing a song! And no one had taught her that. She just heard it in the chords, and figured it out. I looked up, amazed, and when she caught my eye, she stopped and apologized. I went over and knealt in front of her and told her not to apologize. I wasn't distracted from my work. I was amazed that she learnt a song out of the blue, with just the few chords she knew. She was happy about it herself. The song was one of mine.
It wasn't the way I actually played it, because I used barre chords and other stuff, but she made it sound just like what it should sound like, in a simpler version. Very impressive. We got all kissy kissy and mushy, until Stanley coughed*as.sholes*coughed, and made us crack up.
We all had a yummy dinner Janel made, and a few beers, then Stan left and stayed at the hotel I had always stayed in.
Janel and I cuddled on the couch, as usual, and watched whatever movies happened to be on cable.
Then I had to wake her up and get her head off my chest so we could go to bed. She was pretty wiped out, so I carried her to bed. She loved when I did that. She said it was romantical. She also thought the word romantic was stupid, so she fixed it with the extra "al" at the end each time she said it. She's a dork sometimes. And I love it.
My romantical carrying of Janel to bed, woke her up, and made her frisky. Which was perfectly swell to me. I had had a stressful day, actually, going over all the papers and dealing with the not fun side of music, so I was up for a good se.x session, right about now.
It was a slow loving lovemaking, we had. Lots of I love you's, and just trying to be against eachother as tight as we possibly could, wishing we could literally become one person. If there was a way to do that, I was sure it would be us that found it. Hashtag relationship goalz, we joked.
Several org.asms later, five actually, between both of us, we were wiped out, naked, spooning and asleep.
My eyes opened in the middle of the night. I didn't know why they opened. They just did. And then I heard a sound in the living room, I thought. That must have been why I'd woken up in the first place.
I layed there, trying to think of a reason for the sound. Sometimes the neighbor's sounds would sound like they were in THIS apartment, so I wasn't too concerned.
I closed my eyes and started to fall back asleep again, with my butt against Janel's butt. I needed to unspoon and sleep on my other side now. I hated that, but you can't ALWAYS cuddle when you sleep. Although...we probably did 90% of each night. Especially lately.
I thought I heard another sound, in the hall by the bathroom, which was next to our room, but our door was shut, and again, I chalked it up to the neighbors again.
I fell pretty much asleep again, when I felt a sensation. Janel was handling my di.ck. I couldn't believe she wanted more, after the nearly 2 hours of love making we'd had already tonight. But...I'm sure I could "rise" to the occasion if she really wanted.
I stayed in my sideways position though...because I was pretty tired, and if she gave up, it wouldn't hurt my feelings. My balls were pretty empty.
And then, I felt her mouth on my down there. She sucked it differently than she normally did this time. I guess because I wasn't in a good position for her. She didn't take the entire length in, like she usually did. I moved onto my back a little, to give her more room for her work. When I did, I felt Janel on my right. It must have been her leg or something, since she was under the covers on my di.ck.
But that didn't feel right. This felt like her.....shoulder? I lifted my arm out of the covers, and felt her shoulder. It WAS her shoulder. So how the HELL could she be sucking me if her shoulder was next to my HEAD??? I sat bolt upright, and looked down at her in the light from outside in the streets.
She was asleep, her back facing me.
I looked down at the lump under the covers. There was a human under our covers, in our bed, in our apartment, with my member in its mouth!!!?
WHAT THE...............................
I ripped the covers down, and there was a woman. I pushed her head off of me, and she looked up at me, with a nasty look I could sort of see in the shadows.
Was that.......is that........
"Harry, I couldn't stay away any longer. I had to be with you. I couldn't wait any longer. The way you look at me....I understand you want me....but I thought maybe Janel would be out of the picture sooner. I can't believe how long you held onto your pet project! But it's ok. You can have ME now. I'm here for you Harry...." she babbled on in a whisper.
I simply sat there, naked, too shocked to move, trying to decide if this was a weird dream or not, and what to do if it wasn't! I reached over and shook Janel's shoulder. She didn't move. I shook it harder. She mumbled and turned over towards me. The woman at my feet quickly dove back into my area, and went for my di.ck again with her mouth. I gave an "aah!" and pulled back and pushed her head, and she kept pushing at me, while I held her head away from me. She got me in her hands and started jer.king me off frantically. I tried prying her hands off, but she squoze it. I couldn't get her off of me. I was afraid she'd crush my di.ck. Then she got her other hand and wrapped it around my balls. She squeezed them too. I was not in a good situation here. In pain, was more like it.
Meanwhile, Janel had woken up and sat up quickly, and was taking in the whole fvcked up situation.
"Harry????? What the HELL is.......who IS that?" she asked, holding up the other side of the comforter to cover her nakedness.
"Get her the hell off me Janel! I don't know!! But I can't get her hands off me!" I said frantically, while using both hands now, to hold this woman's head away from my private parts, as she still pushed and struggled to get at them.
Janel sat up and pushed the woman sideways. She punched her in the side, and pushed her off the side of the bed. That was all great, but she had my penis still in her hands until she finally fell off the bed! OUCH. That wasn't fun. I mean...I would've helped, but when your di.ck is being squeezed by a crazy woman, you really can't move. I really couldn't.
Janel moved back next to me and checked me out, asked if I was ok. I was, but.....what the hell was going on?
We both stood up ON the bed, and the woman was getting up from the floor.
I pushed Janel towards the other side of the bed, and told her to jump down. I jumped after her. We didn't know where to go after that. The only thing separating us from the intruding di.ck hog right now, was the bed. So we both just kind of stood there, trying to think of where to go next, and what to do. I hadn't wanted to beat up a woman, but I wasn't ruling it out now, either.
Meanwhile, the woman stood up and I noticed she had a gun in her hand! A small pistol. SH.IT. This is NOT happening. Instinctively, I moved in front of Janel. I hadn't even thought about it. I just did it. She put her hands on my shoulders and peeked around me. "Harry, she has a gun!", Janel just noticed in the dark shadows.
The woman held the gun out towards us, and backed up to the door. She fumbled around the wall her her one hand, and found the light switch.
When the light went on, the identity of the crazy woman was revealed.
Hair a total mess, dressed in all black, standing there, with a crazed look in her eyes, was none other than TAMMI!!!!!!!!!!
So SHE is the one! SHE was the one fvcking with Janel and I! SHE is the reason we went through all that fucking hell and pain! SHE is the one who nearly killed us both, especially Janel!
OF COURSE!!!!!! Why hadn't I put it all together? Her weird "stop, your girlfriend is right there" laugh, and the odd way she'd been acting...the way she'd stopped talking to me recently, after being pretty much obsessed with talking to me at the reception desk in the group home. And the way she looked at me, standing there, frozen behind the desk, when I told Bonnie they were close to finding the person who was fvcking with us.
Yes!!!! Bonnie had mentioned once a long time ago, that Tammi had been in college, for graphic arts or something, before she dropped out. So SHE would know how to photoshop like a damn pro, right? Or at least know someone who could!
It all came together now, and the pang of regret I felt that I hadn't put it together in my head long ago, was painful. Because now, this psycho bi.tch had a gun aimed at us.
All those thoughts went through my head in just a few split seconds.
Tammi started walking around the bed towards us. I started to panic. Was this Janel's last few seconds here? Tammi obviously wanted ME, so she'd probably kill Janel to get rid of her, right? Or kill us both.
Sh.it sh.it sh.it.....this can not be happening.
I didn't know what to do. I kept adjusting my position to stay in front of Janel as Tammi came around to us.
From behind me, I heard Janel whisper "Harry, I love you so much it hurts."
She was saying goodbye to me.
NO! I would NOT allow this. Hell NO!
I refused to say goodbye to her. "No baby. Don't say goodbye..."
But what if I didn't, and she died in the next few seconds? Oh God.
"I love you Janel. So much it's overwhelming", I quick whispered to her. Now I was covered if the worst were to happen. Which seemed pretty likely.
As Tammi came up to us, Janel pulled me by my shoulders, backwards, till we were against the wall beside the bed. When I saw the bed out of the corner of my eye, a flood of images came into my mind, of us earlier that night. Just a few hours ago. We were alone. Secure. Happy. And making love. We had made love a few times, and it was beautiful. And if we died tonight, it would have been the perfect way to end our lives.....but dammit.....we had to live.
Tammi stepped right up to me, and put the gun at my head, holding it with both hands.
I wanted so badly to make a move, and tackle her or something, but if I did, it could be the last move I ever made. And Janel would be next. I had to stay alive. For Janel. To save Janel.
We stood there. Tammi and I. And Janel directly behind me, with my hands back on her sides, making sure she wasn't showing, as much as possible. Not that it would work, but it's all I could do, was cover her as best as I could. I could hear Janel wimpering silently, quietly whispering, begging "no no no please no..." As she held onto my arms tightly.
"I've SEEN the way you look at me, Harry. You WANT ME. And I want you. I'm not a retard from a group home. You deserve BETTER! This is our chance to be together. You can be done this science project, trying to make a mentally ill orphan a better person with a better life. I can give you everything, Harry. You know that. What can SHE give you? NOTHING." Tammi finally spoke.
"So YOU are the one who made those fake pictures? You made all those calls and texts?" I said. Trying to stall her, from whatever she had planned. Maybe I could get her to talk. Calm down. I'd fake being nice, maybe. If I had to, I'd fake that I liked her back, and we could run away together??
"Took you long enough to figure it out!" Tammi growled.
"Who was that woman in the pictures, then? It's not you." I asked.
"It was MY body. But not my face. Did you like my body, Harry? Did you like what I did to myself while I was thinking of you?" she said. "And the pictures of you, I pieced together from different pictures from the internet. It wasn't hard, Harry. Use your brain. You'd think between two....well, between one and a third brains between the two of you, you would have figured it out. Then you could have left her, and come to me. But no. You had to get the police involved. So now, instead of waiting for you to leave her, I'll just have to get rid of her! I'm so tired of her getting all your pity and living off of your money, taking trips around the world with you, when you should be mine....you're SOOO stupid, Harry! I should kill you, too!" Tammi went on and on.
"Look, Tammi. If you wanted me then you should've just said!" I told her. "It would have been so much easier! I would have left her for you in a second. But you never gave me a signal or anything. I didn't know!" I lied and lied and felt nauseous saying these things to her. And Janel's hands, now on my shoulders squeezed. I gave her a quick squeeze on her hip where my hand was, behind me, in hopes she'd know I was lying like crazy to Tammi. Hopefully she KNEW what I was doing. But I didn't have time to care about that. She'd find out later. When we LIVED through this.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the sun coming up out the window.
The last sunrise I'll ever see....I thought in my head.
"YOU'RE the man, Harry! You're supposed to make the moves on a lady! I couldn't have made it more obvious! And I kept offering you coffee or snacks....I was going to suprise you and kiss you if you'd just have come over to the coffee maker with me, just ONE fvcking time! But NO! You never did! Because you had your fvcking brainless PET with you at all times.
Well, say goodbye to your pet." Tammi said. She reached out and pulled my arm toward her.
The gun was constantly aimed at my head, so I just couldn't find the right moment to make a move, dammit!
I didn't budge, when Tammi tried to pull me away from Janel. I was staring her in the eyes, so I could try and predict what her next move was. I saw the gun arm move away from my head and go back. She was going to hit me with it.
I raised my hands to block it. If I didn't block it right, she might accidentally shoot. And she could hit Janel. So I had to act quickly, while the gun was still in the air.
I lunged at her, and pushed her arm with both of mine, to keep it at the ceiling and away from us.
"Janel, RUN!" I yelled as I struggled with her. In her psycho state of mind, she was actually pretty strong.
I saw Janel start to run, but then stopped. "I said GO!!!! GO Janel!" I yelled again. I'd be much better at fighting her, if I didn't have to worry about Janel in danger. But I also knew the gun could shoot right through the wall, and possibly get her that way. Or get a neighbor.
Janel ran out of the room. OH thank God. Now I could just worry about me, and getting the gun from Tammi.
I still had her arms up in the air. I was kicking at her feet, trying to knock her down, and trying to peel the gun from her hands at the same time.
Seconds later, I saw Janel out of the corner of my eye. She was running back into the room. She ran right over to Tammi, and I heard an awful crunching sound, and Tammi's hands got weak. I grabbed the gun, but at the last second, Tammi whacked it out of my hand. It flew across the floor, back towards the bed. It was then that I noticed Janel standing there with a huge kitchen knife that was covered in blood. I looked at Tammi, and she had a big bloody spot in her stomach, towards the side.
Yay Janel! Good girl! I thought to myself.
I turned to get the gun and Tammi tripped me. I fell across the floor, and my head slammed directly into the bottom board of the bed. It was such a hard hit, I saw stars. The lights flickered in my mind. I collapsed down by the bed, facing down, sort of on my knees, trying to get up with my arms. The gun was out of reach by about 3 feet. I tried to clear my head, but my vision got cloudy. I begged in my head, "please don't take me...please don't let me go....stay here. Janel needs me. Janel.....please.....can't go........" and that was the last thing I remembered for a while.
JANEL'S POV:
OH! My God. Harry hit his head HARD! NOOO!!!!!! Tammi started to lunge at him, but I reached out to stop her, forgetting I had the knife in my hand, and I sliced the outside of her forearm and then stabbed into the side of her chest a little. Before the pain registered in her head, I suppose, she swiped my arm away and the knife went flying across the room, and hit the wall, and landed on the dresser. We both watched it in that two seconds. Then Tammi turned back to Harry and started kicking him. He was out. He was knocked out. Hopefully ONLY knocked out. I didn't even have time to worry about him being dead from that hard hit on the head. She kicked him in the thigh really hard, and I jumped on her front. Oh. No. You. DIDN'T just kick my Harry. I knew what the "mamma bear" feeling Harry described about me felt like now. I grabbed her hair, and pulled it back as hard as I could. I was hanging off of her, one leg dangling, one wrapped around her, and her head was leaning back unnaturally far. Her arms came up and she pushed her hands into my face, pressing my head back. I let my leg down off of her, and kicked her in the crotch with my knee, as hard as I could. I couldn't aim very well, because her hands were mushing my face back. She was like, strangely strong. It didn't feel natural.
I kicked at her again, hard as I could. I was getting nowhere. I pulled her hair back harder, but she managed to twist her head to the side, and bend down frontwards now, instead of backwards. This gave her more advantage now.
Her arms loosened on my face, and I found two of her fingers, and bit down. It was disgusting. But I kept biting hard. Tammi screamed and her other arm came up and punch-slapped me from the side. My face flew sideways, her fingers slipping out of my mouth. I was dizzy from that slap. I'd been hit before, plenty of times. Hard. But never THIS hard. All I could think was that I HAD to stay conscious, because Harry wasn't. And who knows what she'd do if we were both laying there helpless. I'd be dead, I knew that. And probably Harry, at this point, because his attempt at tricking her into thinking he liked her didn't work, so she'd kill him, I was sure. And I wanted at least HIM to still be in this world. Millions of fans counted on his music. They were anxiously waiting for his next album in a year or so. There needed to be more Harry Styles music on Earth. For years to come. He had a lot more to sing. So besides for myself, I had to keep Harry alive for......humanity!
Then another slap to the side of the face, just as I was getting my wits about me from the first slap. This wasn't good. I couldn't see anything for a few seconds. My arms swung in all directions, just hoping to hit her in some way. Or find her position.
My eyesight came back from the gray-out, and I saw her. She was stepping toward the dresser.
The knife! The knife was there.
I got my balance back, and turned toward Harry, laying there helpless. And then I saw the gun a little ways from his hand. The last thing he had done was reach for the gun.
I dove for it. Accidentally kneeing Harry in the back. FVCK! He didn't need to be more hurt.
I got the gun in my hand, and turned immediately to see where Tammi was.
She was shockingly close! When I turned my head, she was RIGHT. THERE. At my face, swinging the knife. She swung low, and sliced across the side of Harry's leg. That fvcking BITCH. I tried to get the gun into position in my hand. I was shaking, I was dizzy, I was half on top of Harry in a strange way, and my hand didn't want to work as it fumbled around, straightening the gun out.
Tammi laughed at me, and knealt down, using Harry's butt as a place to rest her knees. As if she conquered him. I'd never shot a gun before. It was way heavier than I thought it'd be. And it was small, so I just couldn't get it into position. And I was shaking like crazy. And I had to be really careful, not to accidentally shoot Harry!
I dropped it. Sh.it! This wasn't working! I was too dizzy!
I saw Tammi's arm go up, in the top of my vision, while I looked down, trying to get the gun.
She was going to stab me.
I just finally managed to get the gun in my hands the right way, and find the trigger, but with my middle finger. It was the first finger that got near the trigger, so I went with it. I didn't have a split second to spare. "No no no....Harry, I love you. I love you...." I said my last words. I wanted them to be that. Even if he couldn't hear me. I wanted him to be my last ever thought.
Suddenly, Harry's entire body lifted up, as if he was doing a push up sort of. As Tammi's knife came down, she was lifted by Harry, and she fell backwards. Harry looked at me as I fell off of him. I had been sort of sitting on his arm and shoulder. I hadn't had time to move off of him. Plus, I was going to die, so I liked being able to feel him against my skin before I went.
I still had the gun aimed up towards where Tammi had been. I lowered it to my lap and started to get up. Harry sat up shakily and reached out a hand to offer me help up. I don't know if he didn't realize what he'd just done, or if he did know. But he seemed to forget Tammi was behind him.
As he reached for me, I saw Tammi suddenly appear behind Harry, and her knife raised yet again.
I raised the gun back up, and aimed it.
Harry's face looked shocked, and then it flinched and he blocked his head with his arms.
I squeezed the trigger. The bang was so loud, I couldn't hear for a second.
But I saw Tammi's hand go stiff in the air, and the knife fell straight down.
The only problem was, Harry was leaning forward now, right in the way of that 'straight down' path.
Harry's hands still blocking his head, he suddenly arched his back and let out an "aaaaggghhh" in pain when the knife poked onto his back. He turned to look, just as Tammi's head disappeared from my view right behind Harry. And I heard a crashing thud on the floor. I looked under Harry's legs, where he was kneeling tall, and saw Tammi's hand laying there, lifeless.
I quickly and weakly got to my knees, and walked on them over past him, to make sure Tammi wasn't a danger anymore.
And then I heard sirens in the distance, getting closer.
The front of Tammi's head was a bloody, disfigured mess. I was sure she was dead. BUT, I still got the knife and pushed it under the bed, with my gunless hand. I was aiming the gun at Tammi, not even knowing it. And then I started breathing erratically and panting. The immediate danger was over, so all my fears came crashing down onto me. The bang of the gun....started to provoke a bunch of memories that came flooding to my mind. That night...the man taking me into his room...taking my underwear off...taking his pants off...rubbing his hand up my leg....the woman bursting in.....her dragging me away....the arguing...the crying....the two loud bangs...the silence.....me in my room for days...
But I couldn't let anything take me back there yet. I had to be with Harry. I had to.....but I couldn't stay....it was like I was getting pulled away.....
I heard my front door burst open, and lots of voices. "Police!" I kept hearing.
And then I felt Harry's arms around me from my side. My legs crumpled down and I fell onto my butt, barely supporting my body with my gun arm. I heard the gun knock on the floor when I fell.
"Janel....Janel......It's ok.....you're ok. Don't let it take you, baby. I'm here. I'm right here. It's Harry. I'm here. I'm ok. You're ok. We lived, babe. Breathe slowly, baby....breathe....We're safe. We're fine. Don't leave me. Stay right here. Stay here with me, baby. Don't go back there...that's all over, baby. Janel, I need you."
I could barely hear him. Lots of voices and yells, and shouts, and Harry talking to me, and me in total panic mode, trying to calm my breathing and NOT leave Harry. I didn't want to leave him. I wanted to stay here with him. I could do this. I could, I told myself. But I was soooo dizzy. And my fast breathing was making me more dizzy. My vision started to narrow. It was happening. I was gonna go down. My breath as coming out in panting sounds now.
"Hary.....huh....huh....Harry.....huhh.....huh....huh huh.....I'm here.....I lov...." and that's when everything went black, and I heard a distant echo of my name....
HARRY'S POV:
Poor Janel was slumped over on her knees...I could tell she was struggling to stay here with me. She was trying. I could see the fight in her eyes. The way she looked at me...she was trying to clear her mind, but I could see the cloudiness. The confusion. The memories...I knew that gun blast had to have sparked something in her. The last time she'd heard a close up gun go off, was the night her parents from hell died, and she was left all alone, trapped in that house for days, starving and scared.....
Then I saw her eyes go blank and stare straight ahead. "Harry..." she panted...I'm here...I lov..." was all she could say before her arms shook, and her head slumped over. She had tried to tell me she loved me. It was a heartbreaking, yet heartfilling sight.
"Janel!" I called, as I caught her head safely and held her to me. Here she was once again, limp and lifeless in my arms. I hated this. But at the same time, I was glad she passed out, because now she'd be out of her bad memory, right? I reached up on the bed and pulled the cover down over the end, and draped it over Janel, and me as best as I could. We were buck naked, still.
The pain in my leg and back was pretty bad. And the pain in my head....I'd have to get that looked at. I remembered exactly what happened, suprisingly. Tammi tripped me as lunged for the gun, and I fell head first directly into the bottom headboard thingie. I had struggled, just like Janel just had, trying to stay with her. I didn't want to leave her alone, because I might never see her again. But she had made it. She survived. She always has. The only thing that she wouldn't have survived, is being away from me for another day or two, if I hadn't have come back.
She's a survivor. Nothing can break her. Except my love.
I'd have to make sure she was never broken again.
She had just saved my life. She says I gave her life, and now she saved mine. I was cradling her, looking down at her face, and one of my tears fell into her mouth that was slightly open. I know if she was awake, she would have kissed away and drank my tears anyway. <3
The police were all over the room. Right after I caught Janel, they apparently thought it was safe enough to start talking and putting their guns back in their holsters. I looked up when I saw black shiney shoes stop right in front of me. It was the policeman I recognized from the police station.
"Styles, is it?" he asked, looking down at me. I nodded. "Do you believe this was the person harassing you?" he asked.
I nodded again. "She broke in and attacked us while we were asleep..."
"Ambulances are on the way, sir. Are you ok? I saw her faint...is she ok?"
I nodded again.
"Detective Conrad will start taking the story whenever you're done at the hospital. Just rest here, until the EMT's arrive."
The ambulances got there, and Janel had just finally woken up. There were police everywhere. Marking and taking pictures of things in the room. They covered the body, finally. I kept trying not to look at it, but I kept seeing it by accident. I'd turn around, but it was too hard to do with Janel on my lap, and our cover on.
When she opened her eyes, I was right there, looking down at her, with a small smile. Might as well come back to life in a friendly way.
She layed there and stared up at me, with a blank look on her face, her eyes going back and forth looking at my eyes.
"Harry." she finally said.
"Babe, I'm here. I love you." I said, not wanting to complicate things for her when she just became conscious.
"What is....." she looked around then, and saw cops everywhere. "Is she gone?" she asked, looking back at me.
"She's right there, but she's gone, yes." I blocked the side of Janel's face, because I knew her head would instinctively turn towards were I said she was. She didn't need to see the mangled, bloody mess that used to be Tammi again. She already had.
As I knew she would, she turned in that direction, saw my hand blocking, then turned back and I saw the slightest hint of a smile as she looked at me again.
"I love you." she simply said.
I ducked my head down to kiss her, but it stretched my back and hurt my back wound, and my head at the same time.
"Sorry babe, I can't kiss you in this position. It hurts everywhere." I told her.
"I know. I'm sorry I made her drop the knife on your back." Janel said.
"Babe! You saved my life! We'll talk about it all later, when we feel better. How are you feeling, anyway?" I responded.
"Nauseous. Scared. Worn out. Tired. Relieved." she listed.
"Wow...that's a lot of feelings! We'll go over each one soon, I promise. I'm sure I have a list of my own too. The ambulances are here, and they're gesturing for me to let you go with them now, babe." I told her.
"What? No! Harry..." she protested.
"It's ok babe...I'll be in my own ambulance...going to the same place. Just be calm, ok? Don't let the bad memories take you, ok? You got this." I pepped her up.
The EMT's came over and started talking to Janel, asking her questions. It flashed me back to that other time, only in the kitchen that time...I really did hate this.
They put her on the stretcher, and I got up, despite being really unbalanced and dizzy. I knew she'd want to see me before she got wheeled out.
I took her hand, and held it up and kissed it, not wanting to stretch my back wound again. She smiled. "I love you so much, it hurts, Harry." she said lowly.
"I love you so much, it's overwhelming, Janel." I said back to her. "I'll see you soon, ok? Remember...you got this." I said, and I gave her a double thumbs up and one of my wide lipped smiles she usually melts over. And they wheeled her out of our bedroom. Away from the scene of the crime. She looked at me as long as she could.
The other set of EMT's came over to me, and helped me sit back on the floor, because I took a step and stumbled like I was drunk. My head just wasn't right. I had held it in and kept it together long enough to try and comfort Janel, but now, I could let it out freely. OU...fvcking CH!!!
They asked me what hurt...I was wondering where to begin!
I had a strange bruise on my thigh, I noticed, my leg was slashed open, my back had a minor, but pretty painful stab wound, my head was fvcking KILLING me....I wasn't even sure if that was all.
They checked out my back. "Small, but semi deep puncture wound on left back shoulder." the female EMT called out to the male, who was writing stuff. "Gash on left side of left calf." she called out again. As she looked in my eyes with her flashlight and did all her stuff, she said "Possible/probable concussion...needs head scan upon arrival." she called out one more time.
Then she pulled the stretcher up next to the bed, and they both helped me on. It felt good to lie down. I was getting more and more tired now. And nausea started to sweep over me too.
I was wheeled away, and en route...getting closer to where Janel was.