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The courtyard outside of the dorms was dimly lit, and the light post that was closest to me kept flickering on and off, only making the situation scarier. I could feel the nervous sweat forming on my back, causing my shirt to stick to my clammy skin, and beads of sweat were surrounding my hairline.
I knew this was going to happen. I knew he was going to come after me. Leaving Harry only made Jason's movements of getting me back amplified. There was no barrier between him and me. I was like a plastic bag, floating in the wind uncontroably. I never had control of my own life. Not once.
After being chased out of the parking lot by my ex, I had beat him to the dorms, only to realize that I had left the key card that Camilla gave me on my dashboard. I saw Jason approaching me. He quit running. Even though he was moving slowly, every step he took felt like a stab in the chest. The smirk on his face was getting clearer as he approached.
"I don't like having to chase what belongs to me, Katie. You should have known that by now," he scolded as he approached. He grasped my arm, pushing it against the brick building, and rested his other arm on the other side of my body, making a barrier so I wouldn't be able to run. The smirk on his face disappeared, and the tone in his voice got more serious. "I guess I'll just have to teach you a lesson," he said gripping my arm tighter. I could practically feel the bruise that was sure to be there in the morning.
I tried to speak, but all that came out was a few wimps and whines. I couldn't form a proper sentence. Jason's preciseness terrified me. I wanted to push him off. I wished that I had been smart enough to run to one of those emergency booths and call for campus security to take Jason away. I wished that Jason had never been in my life to begin with. No matter what anybody says, bad experiences don't make you stronger; the bad experiences only make you weaker. They make you realize that you can't do anything. They make you realize that you're just an object in life.
Jason looked deep into my eyes. "Are you ready for your lesson?"
Before I had the chance to answer, his fist that was resting on the wall behind me was pulled back and released towards me.
"Katie! Katie! Katie!" I head a thick, raspy voice yelling at me through my staggered heavy breathing. I snapped my head around to see who was speaking. "Katie," he said a little more calmly. "Are you alright?"
I sat up in the bed, Harry's shirtless body sitting next to me. He was rubbing my arm comfortingly as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and a bit of sweat from my forehead. "Yeah," I sighed. "Just a bad dream."
"You scared me," he half laughed. "I heard you whining and screaming in here. I thought someone had broken in."
"No," I shrugged. "Just a dream." I hated how often I was getting these dreams with Jason in them. They didn’t just scare me, they terrified me. Jason was a monster of who I could not control. He was mean, ruthless, and just awful. How he was in my dreams was exactly how he was in person when he and I were together. I hated how I couldn’t control him. I hated how I just let whatever he wanted to have happen, happen. I was to scared and too weak to stop him, and it pissed me off.
"So you're sure you’re ok?" he asked, concern filling his eyes.
"Positive," I tried to smile. As ok as I could ever be. With that monster still swarming my life, I wasn’t sure I’d ever actually be ok. There was so much that I worried about. What would happen if he showed up at my work? With Harry not there anymore, and seeing as Collin was on Jason’s side, nobody would be there to protect me. That new guy Wayne might, but it seems as if he listens to whatever the hell Collin tells him, so he’d probably be on Collin’s side.
It’s really pathetic. The fact that I’m worried about all of this happening. The fact that I need someone to protect me, it was just pathetic.
"Well if you're sure you're ok then, I'm going to go back to sleep," he said as he pointed towards the door.
Just as he was about to shut the door, I called out, "actually Harry?"
"Yeah?" he said.
"Could you stay in here with me? I mean I know it was just a dream, but it still scared me. I understand if you don't want to-"
"I'll stay," he said, cutting me off.
I scooted over, giving him some room to slide in. He wrapped is long arm around me, and pulled my body in to his chest. My head was resting on his peck as I traced over his tattoos. It had barely been twenty four hours ago since we laid like this, but it felt like an eternity. I missed the warmth that came from him. I missed the sent that covered his body. I missed having his soft releases of breath from his nose hit the top of my head. I missed everything about sleeping with him, and it had only been a day.
"You still wear my shirts to bed, I see," he said, I could hear the smile he had on his face in his tone.
"What can I say?" I half laughed.
There was a long moment where the room was engulfed in silence. The only thing that could be heard was the city down below us, and the hum of the fan circling above us. I focused in on Harry’s heartbeat; for some reason it soothed me, it made me feel safe.
“You know I was hoping you’d let me in here,” Harry said, quietly enough to where it was nearly inaudible. I tuned my head to look into his eyes, trying to decipher the meaning behind his words. “That damned couch out there isn’t nearly as comfortable as this bed,” he finished with a smile.
I was a little disappointed. The only reason why he wanted to be in the room was so he could get a better night sleep. After what we shared the night before, I hoped there would have been more meaning to his words.
“Plus you’re in here,” he surprisingly continued as if he was reading my thoughts. “And I want to be anywhere you are.”
Our eyes locked, making it completely irresistible to look away from his glowing green pools. Harry bowed his head a little, and before his lips met mine, in a hushed tone he pressed, “Just say no if you want me to stop.”
I couldn’t pull away. Scratch that. I didn’t want to pull away. Harry’s hands slowly trailing up my body set my skin on fire, with goose bumps forming at every inch of skin he touched.
“It’s only been a day,” Harry said between kisses. “But I’ve missed you so much.” He slowly moved his attention from my mouth to the lobe of my ear, to my neck, and all the way down my body. “I’ve missed the way you taste, the way you react to my touch. Everything about you, babe, I’ve missed.”
I wanted to tell him I’ve missed him too. I wanted to scream it. But of course, Harry rendered me speechless. If I even tried to speak, I wouldn’t have been able to form a proper sentence.
Harry maneuvered his body in between my legs, and held the hem of his t-shirt I was wearing in his hands. “Is this still ok?” I knew he was asking about taking the shirt off, all I could do was nod.
I sat up, helping to get the fabric off of me, and start forming a familiar pile of clothing on the floor.
“Lace,” he huffed under his breath. “When I picked it out for you this morning, I knew it would make you look good. I didn’t expect it to make you look this good though. Babe, you look so fucking hot right now,” he moaned as he lowered his body to mine and began kissing my lips again.
I felt his hand move to the top of my panties, and before I knew it, his hand was inside.
“Oh my god,” I moaned against his beautiful lips.
“Feels good?” I could feel his smile against my lips.
“Yes!” I cried in pleasure. I felt him slip a finger inside, and the pleasure was multiplied. I felt euphoric. I didn’t know if it was from the long day that Harry and I endured, or if he just affected me that much, but I was melting just by his beautiful hands.
I felt a pressure build up in my abdomen. The same, blissful pressure, I had encountered hours ago when Harry and I first made love to each other.
Harry’s mouth was attacking my neck, nips, kisses, and licks trailing all around.
“Come for me, baby,” he groaned into my ear.
That was all I needed. With his simple words, I came undone. Harry caught the moans that were coming out of my mouth with his. He pulled his and out of my panties, and brought it up to his mouth. “You taste so good, Pidge.”
Pidge. That was something I hadn’t heard him call me in what felt like ages. I was slowly starting to miss his nickname for me from my favorite book. It was the simplest gesture that meant the world to me.
Harry laid down beside me, right where he was before our little encounter. He pulled me to his side and whispered, “I really, really missed you,” before placing one last kiss on my forehead.
With that, we both fell asleep to the sound of our deep, steady breaths.
***
I felt Harry’s warm hand rubbing up and down on my arm. I kept my eyes shut as I listened to his heart beating, and his steady breaths. He was still asleep. I loved knowing how he’d still rub me even as he was asleep. It was a small gesture, but it made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.
I stretched for my phone, which was sitting in its usual spot on the bedside table, trying very carefully to not wake Harry. After the amount of alcohol that was on his breath, and what looked to be missing from the whisky bottle, he was sure to have a pretty large hangover this morning.
I wiggled out of his grasp, with him trying to pull me back a few times. I took a quick shower, grabbed some cereal and finished getting ready for work. Before I left I made sure to leave a glass of water and a few aspirins on the bedside table for Harry, just to ease off the hangover.
I loved the way he looked when he slept. He kept his lips slightly parted and his air was free from that orange beanie. It was all over the place. I loved the way his eyes were clear, not blocked by thick black lines.
I thought about what occurred only hours ago as I left the room, ready to head off to work for the day. I thought about regretting what we did, but quickly shot that idea down. Harry had me mesmerized. I wanted to be with him every seconded of every day. I just didn't know if a relationship with him was what I was ready for. If he was the kind of person who kept secrets from me, who lied to me, and who could quite possibly end up being abusive to me, I didn't want to be with that guy. I was with that guy before. I didn't want to have to be with him again.
"Katie? Where are you going?" I heard Harry call from the hallway just as I was about to leave the apartment.
I turned my head in his direction. He had already placed his classic beanie back on his head. He was rubbing his eyes with one hand, and blocking the sun with the other. I admired his tattooed chest, arms, and his entire body. I loved the way his black gym shorts hung at his lower half. Everything about this man was breathtaking, even when he was hangover.
"I have work, Harry," I softly said.
I saw the light from his face fall. "Please don't go," he practically whispered. He slowly stumbled over to me and grabbed my hands in his. "I know you have to go, but please, don't go. Not today. Not now."
I looked up in to his pleading eyes. "Why not today? You know I have to work. Every day."
"If I let you leave," he began, "you might not come back."
I felt my heart crack a little. As confused, and slightly still pissed at Harry as I was for hiding what he did to Collin from me, I still wouldn't leave him. "Harry, you have nothing to worry about. I'm coming back."
Harry shut his eyes, bringing my hands up to his lips and kissing them. "Please," he begged. "Please just don't leave. Don't go."
My bag dropped from my hands. Before I knew what I was doing, I was agreeing to stay with him.
Harry's POV.
We were both sat on opposite ends of the couch, my head was pounding and something about the silence only made it worse. Normally it would be noise that would put my teeth on edge when I was hung over, but right now, sitting here with Katie, just staring at each other without saying anything pissed me the fuck off.
"Harry, if you're not going to talk to me I'm going to leave," she finally broke the silence.
I had my elbows on my knees and rubbed my face with my hands. "I just don't know what the fuck to say," I truthfully groaned. "I don't get why you got so mad yesterday about what happened with that prick Collin. I did it in your honor."
"You seriously don't get why I'd be mad about that?" she snapped, cutting me off.
"Yeah, I just told you that." My hangover was putting me on edge, I didn't want to use that tone, but it just came out.
"You attacked him, Harry. You threatened him, scared him, and tortured him. And then you hid it from me. You did everything that Jason did to me, to Collin. How am I supposed to know that you wouldn't do that to me?"
The air was knocked out of me. I frightened Katie. "Kate," I choked, "do--do you honestly think that I'd want to hurt you?" The last thing I wanted was for her to think that I would actually hurt her. Never in my life have I hit a girl, and I didn’t plan on breaking that streak, especially not with Katie. Never would I want her to be hurt. I would protect her from anything, even if it meant my life. It was crazy to think that I was so head over heals for this girl, and say things like that, but it’s true. Katie was important to me, and if I had to give my own life to ensure that she would be safe and protected for the rest of her life I would do it.
She rubbed her arm, a habit I noticed she'd do when she's nervous. I saw her do it when we saw Jason's car in the school dorm parking lot, and when we saw him outside of the dorms. "I mean, I don't think you would," she said looking at her feet. "But how can I be sure? Collin pissed you off. What happens if I piss you off?"
"I would never hurt you, Katie. You should know that."
"Why should I know that, Harry? Why? It's not like I've known you for ages and that you've always treated me well. I've known you a month. That's no time at all. I barely know anything about you. You never talk about your past; you fight people for a living. How am I to know that you won’t hurt me? You've given me no reason to know that." Katie was practically screaming, which, I'm not going to lie, fucked with my head. It felt like it was going to explode.
"Katie," I calmly said. "I would never and will never hurt you. That's a promise. I would never hurt your, or let anything hurt you. You've got to know that," I slid on the cushions to get closer to her, and grabbed her hands in mine just as a tear rolled down her cheek. "This," I began, "this is something that I never want to lose. I never want to lose you, Katie. I know I'm impulsive, and I'm just a fucking idiot half the time. I don't know what I'm doing in a relationship, I don't know how to handle problems, I don't know how to do a lot of things. But I know one thing. I know that I would never hurt you." I saw tears start to well in her eyes. "You might piss me off sometimes, or all of the time, who really knows? But if you do, I wouldn't hit you because of it. I promise."
She looked up from the spot she was focused on, on the ground and looked into my eyes. "How can I be so sure," she whispered.
I grabbed her face with my hands and crashed our lips together. I laid her down so she and I both we lying horizontally on the sofa. The electricity that I felt when our lips were together was like something I had never felt before. I've had my fair share of kisses, but nothing felt like when I was kissing Katie.
I pulled away, and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "I love you, Katie. You've got to believe me. I fucking love you. Like I've said, I haven't a clue what the fuck to do in a relationship, but it I'm trying. God damn it, I'm trying. From here on out, you and me. I promise I'll be good. No more secrets, no more lying, no more anything. Just honesty between you and me."
"I like the sound of that," Katie said as she pulled my hat from my head and ran her fingers through my hair.
"But you've got to promise me something."
"What's that?"
"If I fuck up, or if I do something wrong or piss you off, tell me. I don't know how relationships work. I don't know what I can and can't do. You've got to help me with this."
"I promise," she smiled and gave me one small peck on the lips.
I got up from my spot on top of my girlfriend, and headed towards the kitchen.
"And Harry?" she called from the couch.
"Yeah?" I said, stopping in my tracks and turning around to face her on the couch.
"I love you.
I turned back to the kitchen with a stupid grin on my face. She loved me. Even after the plan I had, even after hurting Collin, even after thinking that I was like Jason, she loved me.
I came out of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal and sat back down next to my girlfriend.
“Harry, I need to apologize for something,” she said, rubbing her arm again.
“What’s that?” I asked, shoveling a spoon full of Frosted Flakes into my mouth.
“Last night, when I said you were just like Jason, I’m sorry.”
“Babe, you don’t need to-,”
“Let me finish, please?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t know why I said it. I mean I know why I said it. You attacked Collin just how Jason would attack someone. But you’re really nothing like him. You treat me pretty well, even when we’re not fighting, and Jason never treated me like anything. I was just a toy to him. He’d try to be sweet with me after he and I got in a fight, which was often, but he didn’t care about me otherwise. I’m sorry that I compared you to him. You’re a much better boyfriend then he ever was.”
I pulled Katie in with my arm around her shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re away from that bastard. He never deserved you.” She leaned her head on my shoulder after kissing my cheek.
“Thank you, Harry,” were her final words before she dozed off.
(I’m getting better at updating more often! Don’t count on it being often that you’ll getting three updates in a week though; I think I was just lucky. I didn’t have school yesterday or today so I had a lot more time to work on my writing. I promise though, I will try to get more work out to you as soon as possible. Thank you guys so much for reading! And thank you guys so much for getting this to 800 votes! I’m just 200 votes away from my goal of 1000 votes, and I’d hope to see that number by chapter 40. That means there are 3 chapter [including this one] left to get me there! Please guys! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! It would mean the world to me. And please don’t forget to comment. I love hearing what you guys have to say. Predictions, suggestions, or critiques, I love them all. I want you guys to comment so it can help my writing get better, and make reading the story for you more enjoyable! I’m not doing this to be thirsty, it just helps me to know if you guys are enjoying the story! Please give me feedback. Next up, QUESTION OF THE DAY! Do you think that Katie was stupid for getting back with Harry so quickly, or do you think it was stupid of her to leave in the first place? Leave your answers below! Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And again, DON’T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! Love you all lots! ♡)