Pressurization: the ability to induce high pressure on someone's skull.
I'm supposed to be studying but here I am updating el oh el priorities
THANKS FOR 300K BABES
Pls try to keep an open mind when reading what Sage says during this chapter !!!
Enjoy xx
t.m.
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S.E. // The 7th Supreme
"Who's Marcus?"
My head snapped up, eyes meeting Harry's that held a mixture of emotions in the greens of them. My face held an expressionless look as I answered his question.
"My friend," I said, standing up and heading back to the kitchen.
I heard his footsteps behind me, following me into the kitchen.
"What kind of friend?" he immediately questioned, making me frown a little before continuing to clean up the kitchen.
"The normal kind?" I turned around to snap back sarcastically, making him swallow thickly with his jaw clenched.
"You know what I mean, Sage," he murmured lowly, his dark brows pulled tightly over his gleaming eyes. I fully turned around, folding my arms over my chest and cocked an eyebrow at him challengingly.
"Is this your subtle way of asking me whether I've slept with him or not?" I questioned sharply, feeling my lips part when he didn't deny what I said, simply shrugging.
"Well did you?" he questioned with raised brows, demanding an answer. I felt his words piss me off a little as I frowned tightly.
"I might've, I might've not," I said with a shrug, my gray eyes narrowing to challenge his as his jaw slackened while he ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, eyes flicking to the side.
"Wow," he simply said, causing me to immediately fire up.
"Was I not allowed to have sex with other men while you were gone?" I immediately questioned sharply, watching a fire light up in his eyes as a flash of anger flashed through his features. "We practically broke up when you left Harry, you can't expect me to not have at least hooked up during the last five years. Tell me honestly, did you not do the same? Did you not hook up while you were gone?"
I watched his eyes flicker between mine, jaw locked, eyebrows lowered, eyes narrowed into slits with his pink lips set in a hard line. When I noticed the decrease in proximity between our bodies, I stepped back a little, shooting him a glare when he didn't answer my question.
"I did," he answered quietly, a hint of shame in his voice as I rolled my eyes and spoke again.
"Hypocrite," I said with a scoff, walking away and exiting the kitchen.
Just as I walked out, the doorbell rang, making me drop my head backwards with a groan. I walked past Harry whom was leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen with a clenched jaw, shooting him a warning glare to which he simply glared back. My fingers wrapped around the door handle, pushing it downwards and pulling it back.
Stood with a smile on his face, clad in a formal shirt and black pants; was Marcus. He greeted me cheerfully, reaching out to hug me, which I returned, unable to shake off Harry's gaze that burned into the back of my head, literally searing the skin and bone.
"Hey, Josh," I greeted his son with a bright grin. "Cleo's in her room upstairs, come inside," I said, stepping back and gesturing towards the inside of the house.
"Okay, bye dad!" he hugged Marcus' side, before running along past me and into the house.
"What time will you be back?" I questioned, leaning against the doorframe as Marcus tucked his hands into his pockets.
"Around 10-10:30, maybe? I'll call you as I leave the restaurant," he told me, making me nod in response. He looked a little nervous, fidgety even. "Hey, I was wondering if-"
He paused momentarily, his gaze flickering to something behind me as a slight frown took over his features. I felt my heart drop in my chest when I felt a hand rest on my lower back, a warm body pressing lightly against mine as it stood with me in the narrow doorway. Harry gazed at Marcus with a dark look in his eye, looking like he was about to rip him apart. Marcus gazed back confidently with narrowed eyes, swallowing thickly. I wanted to roll my eyes and snap at the way Harry was behaving, but I simply let out a sigh before speaking up.
"Marcus, this is Harry, Cleo's father," I gestured towards Harry who continued to attempt to intimidate Marcus, who just wasn't having it. "Harry, Marcus, Cleo's best friend's dad."
"It's nice to meet you, Harry," Marcus reached out first, jutting his hand out for Harry to shake. Harry clenched his jaw slightly, eyebrows pulled tightly over his gleaming eyes as he stared at the hand for a second, before grasping it firmly and shaking it.
"Likewise," he murmured lowly, slipping his arm around my waist and hauling me to his side in one swift movement. I kept the lid on my temper as I ran my tongue along the inside of my cheek, already ticked off.
"Heard a lot about you," Marcus said, making Harry arch his eyebrows up challengingly. What had happened with The Saviors and Harry in New Orleans was a story that was told a thousand times ever since then. But it was a story that only remained in New Orleans, due to Frida and Esmeralda's orders.
"Good things I hope," Harry said sarcastically, making Marcus chuckle a little, but not in a good way. "So, when did you and your wife move here?" he questioned, immediately assuming that Marcus was married since he had a son.
"My wife passed away a long time ago," Marcus said in response, making Harry's face remain expressionless.
"How unfortunate."
"Yeah, but I've got Josh so it's all good," Marcus said with a light shrug. "And we moved here a couple of years ago. Hey, I gotta go, I'll call you later," he said to me, waving me off.
As soon as Marcus got into his car and drove off, I pushed Harry's arm off of me, turning around to shoot him another vexed glare before walking into the house. I heard the door shut behind me, him calling my name out loudly, making me halt. I turned around, noticing the tight frown of jealousy and anger he still had on his face, fueling my vexation even more.
"You need to chill," I told him firmly, making him scoff. "You can not act all jealous and possessive like that, Harry! You have no right to!"
"I wasn't," he said stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest in a childish way.
"Harry," I said with a heavy sigh. "Stop denying it."
"I can't help it, okay?" he snapped with bright, gleaming eyes making me step back a bit. "I-It just makes me mad that I was forced to leave and spend five years away from you and now that I've come back I see you with s-some other man-"
"I'm not with him, Harry," I said with a shake of my head. "I never was. He's just been kind to me and a good friend okay?"
I began walking away before he called out at me again, his words making me lose my temper all over again.
"You didn't answer my question properly about sleeping with him!"
"I fucking didn't! Alright?" I snapped back, turning around and glaring at him.
"But you slept with other men," he shot back, making me shoot him a blank look.
"Yes because five years without sex is impossible to live with, for me. What did you think, Harry? That I was going to wait on you? You were exiled and you weren't supposed to return! You were supposed to be gone forever, and it took me a while to accept that, and when I did, I moved on," I ranted loudly as I watched his face fall at my words. "How was I supposed to know you were coming back? I just expected that you weren't gonna, because you'd be risking your life doing so."
"So, stop being a hypocrite because I know you've slept around too, you said it yourself, and I'm positive if I ask Maximus he'd confirm it for me," I said with a heavy sigh.
"I am not going to put up with this shit," I continued to say, walking towards him and looking him straight in the eye. "It's been five years and we're not the same anymore, not like we used to be. So I get the reasons why you would be jealous and mad."
"But right now, I'd really prefer it if you put away your jealousy and anger and just focus on our daughter. She's more important and she needs you," I told him firmly, making him press his lips together and nod a little. "Okay?"
"Okay," he murmured, slightly speechless because of my rant. I nodded curtly, then turned and left.
~-~
"Maximus," I greeted him with a chuckle as soon as I swung the door open.
"Hello, love," he smirked before reaching out and giving me a hug, much to Rowena's and my surprise.
It was time for dinner and I decided to invite over Rowena and Maximus so that we could have some sort of reunion dinner. I was still somewhat pissed at Harry, but I cooled down quickly since then after seeing him interact with Cleo again. Earlier, Cleo had asked him to stay here when he told her she was staying in a hotel temporarily. Since I did after all, tell him to make Cleo his main focus from now on, I told him he could sleep in the guest room for the time being. At least then he could spend more time with Cleo and make up for the five years of not being here.
"Mama! Look! Daddy did my hair!" she exclaimed, patting my thigh to get my attention. I looked down at her, grinning widely when I saw her curls pulled back into two piggy tails, looking like pompoms on her head.
"Wow, Cleo! You look so cute!" I cooed, ducking down to pick her up, nuzzling against her cheek while she giggled. "Hey, I'd like you to meet your uncle, Max."
"Hello, sweetheart," he grinned widely at her, making her smile lightly, but still shy away from him, hiding her face in the crook of my neck.
"She's a bit shy," I told him with a chuckle, setting her down before she sped off, looking for Josh.
"She's beautiful," he said with a grin, wrapping his arm around Rowena's waist and pulling her against him.
Watching them interact made me a little happy and sad at the same time. Happy because Rowena was happy again, and not as lonely as she always claimed to be since Maximus left. But sad because Harry and I weren't like that. Everything between us was just awkward and tense now since our fight, and even though I seemed stubborn on the outside and cared less about it since I was mostly on about focusing on Cleo, on the inside I was hurt and sad that it was like this and really wanted to mend our relationship. But my motherly instincts really pushed me to make Cleo the main priority.
Thoughts like this continued to run through my head as we sat and ate dinner. My eyes drifted around as I stayed quiet and ate my food, only listening in a couple of times. My gaze focused on Cleo, watching her talk to Harry with the biggest grin on her face as he showed her how to eat her spaghetti, by twisting the fork around and shoveling the food into her mouth. Her hand held his wrist as he fed her, him holding his free hand under her chin just in case food fell while she opened her mouth wide. They locked gazes as she chewed, her making a noise of satisfaction as they both nodded in approval of the food, sharing a smile.
"So, where've you guys been for the last five years?" Atticus questioned as soon as Cleo and Josh had finished their food and disappeared to go play again.
"Here and there," Maximus muttered with a chuckle.
"On the run," Harry added, making Rowena, Atticus and I share looked of confusion.
"Doing what?" Atticus questioned.
"Hunting," Harry replied, making our eyes widen a little.
"Witch hunters," Maximus quickly added.
"Hunting witch hunters. Mostly The Saviors," Harry finally said, making us all nod, unsure of how to react this.
"We would've stopped the killing if we stayed in New Orleans, but obviously we were forced to leave and since we thought that we weren't going to return. We decided to get rid of a few people," Maximus said while he swirled his fork around his spaghetti.
"Oh wait! Are you guys Twin Skeletons?" Atticus questioned with a gasp, making both Maximus and Harry nod in response. "Well shit! You guys are what the witches from around the world have been talking about these days."
"How have you heard of us?" Harry arched a brow at Atticus.
"We've been in contact with covens from around America and the world now," Rowena answered his question. "But the story of what you and The Saviors did in New Orleans hasn't been spread around as far as we know."
"That's why no one still knows we were the Gladiator and 6 Man. Now, they just know us as Twin Skeletons," Maximus said with a nod in response to what Rowena said. "How have you managed to keep that secret from spreading around to other states and countries?"
"We have our ways," Rowena said with a smirk.
"I have an idea!" Atticus said suddenly, standing up with a grin. "Let's bring out some wine, celebrate the returning of papi chulo and the other one!"
"Hold up! First we need to clean this shit up," I said, before dropping my jaw when everyone quickly scattered in order to avoid doing work. "You guys!"
I rolled my eyes when they all hurried away to the living room, laughter rising into the air as they left me alone in the dining table with a whole load of dirty plates to clean up. With a wave of my hand, I made the plates levitate, hovering around me as I picked up two dishes and walked towards the kitchen, with the dirty plates following me. Once I had all the plates and dishes in the kitchen, I began cleaning them, also at the same time using my telekinesis powers to rinse them while I scrubbed them clean with soap.
I heard footsteps entering the kitchen, feeling a presence behind me and knowing that it was Harry. He stood beside me, reaching out to grab a dirty plate and began cleaning it. We cleaned and rinsed plates for a minute or so before he spoke up with a heavy sigh.
"Sage, I'm sorry," he murmured lowly, his words sincere. I stayed silent, waiting for him to explain himself further. "I'm sorry for getting mad and just being a dick overall."
I stayed silent.
"I couldn't help but get jealous. I-I can't stand the thought of you being with someone else. Sleeping with someone else. I know that sounds shitty because I did the same thing, but-" he stopped halfway, releasing a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I understand that we were broken up and you had needs after you moved on, so now I totally get that and I had no right to act the way I did today."
"I forgive you," I murmured lowly after hearing his words.
I had a feeling that the origins of his anger and jealousy was because he still felt for me after all these years so hearing that I slept around a bit must be hard. I had to admit that I too felt bitter when he said that he did the same, not only because he was being a hypocrite, but also because it was hard to hear that he was with other women while we were apart. But again, we were broken up, without hopes of ever meeting again, so we moved on with our lives.
"Thank you," he mumbled softly. "Atticus told me he's a voodooist, and that Cleo really likes him," Harry murmured in a low tone, making me sigh lightly, wishing Atticus could watch what he was saying. I could tell Harry was upset again just by hearing that Cleo liked Marcus.
"Yeah but Cleo loves you. Even though she just met you today, you're her father and she already loves you. It's so obvious," I told him in a reassuring tone, noticing that the topic of conversation had drifted to Cleo now. I didn't know if I should be relieved or not. The dishes were done now, Harry and I continued talking while we dried our hands.
"But she never said it back whenever I told her I loved her," Harry responded, jutting out his lower lip sadly.
"It'll take some time," I told him softly, touching his shoulder.
"I just wish I never left," Harry said in frustration, making me bite my lip in response. "Everything wouldn't be so fucked up if I didn't."
"Hey, nothing's fucked up. You're doing just fine with Cleo," I told him with a frown, making him shake his head and turn to face him.
"I wasn't talking about Cleo," he told me, taking a step closer to me. "I was talking about us. Things are fucked up between us and I want to fix it."
I parted my lips to speak, but I couldn't as I was somewhat rendered speechless by what he said. In all honesty, I really didn't know how I felt about Harry anymore. For the last five years of my life I had been so focused on Cleo to a point where I only cared about what Cleo wanted, so when someone would ask me what I wanted, I wouldn't know what to say. It was similar to how I kept turning down Marcus; I only wanted to focus on Cleo. I didn't care about what I wanted during that time.
It was all because I was a mother now and everything I thought about concerned Cleo. So even right now, with Harry back, I wanted to get her relationship with Harry fixed and for him to make up for lost time before focusing on our relationship. I just thought that it was more important. So I didn't have any room to think about how I felt about him now, he had just returned unexpectedly and I didn't get the time to even reflect on my feelings for him, after spending those years getting over him.
"Do you not want to fix things between us?" he questioned, stepping even closer until our bodies were inches apart.
I saw a certain emotion flash across his eyes, one that I was quickly able to decipher before it disappeared. It was fear. He was afraid that I'd say no. I bit my lip as I pondered a bit, gazing into his eyes and reminiscing to the happy days with him.
"I do, Harry," I told him honestly, watching his eyes light up with hope. "But, I need time. Things have changed, it's been five years and all I've been focusing on is Cleo. I need time figuring out what I want and in the meanwhile I'd prefer it if we focus on Cleo for some time before thinking about us."
I spent all those years trying to bottle up those feelings I felt for Harry and just push them away, successfully managing to do so. Yeah I got sad sometimes while thinking about him, but eventually the feelings lessened. Now that he was back, I knew the feelings would resurface but not immediately. Obviously it will take time for that to happen, so meanwhile he might as well focus on Cleo.
"I understand," he nodded quickly. "I'll wait for you," he told me, making me smile a little, happy that he understood.
"Thank you," I told him with a light smile, which he mirrored, then repeating my words again. "Focus on making up for lost time with Cleo, and fixing things with her. Then we can think about you and I."
"Alright-"
"Sugar! Papi chulo! Oh jellybeans did I just walk in on something," Atticus gasped loudly in an exaggerated way as Harry and I stepped back.
"No you didn't," I said with a shake of my head, sharing a smile with Harry.
"Jellybeans?" Harry arched a brow.
"Yeah I know; it's the no swearing rule. It's affecting me," Atticus said with a grimace.
"Yeah I've noticed," Harry said with a snort.
"Anyways, if y'all are done with...whatever the fuck you were doing, come and have some wine before it runs out," Atticus ticked his head towards the living room before disappearing.
Harry smiled at me, gesturing for me to go first with his hand held out. I grinned back lightly, going ahead and walking out of the kitchen with him trailing behind me. After I had put Cleo to bed, and sent Josh back home with Marcus. I wound down with a glass of wine and my friends by my side, soon enough nestling into Harry's side when I felt drowsy. Eventually I fell asleep against him, and Atticus told me the next morning that it was him who carried me to bed that night.
~-~
1 week later
It had been almost a week since Harry had returned to New Orleans. A week where he spent all his time at the mansion with Cleo; picking and dropping her to school, taking her to places like the park, cinema and etc. just spending a lot of quality time with his daughter. It was exactly what I wanted and I was glad it was working out for him, even though majority of the time Cleo tried to drag me along and to my understanding, it was because she wanted us all to seem like a big happy family.
She didn't know that her father and I were still in an awkward mess and hadn't given it much attention lately after I had urged him to focus on her first. There were a couple of times where Harry and I would end up alone and talk for hours about his adventures to different countries in the world, as well as my time being pregnant and after that. After spending more and more time with him, I found out that my feelings for him were still very much present. Atticus always told me that it was obvious Harry still felt for me and vice versa. He even said that there was a lot of sexual frustration between us, which I guess I couldn't disagree with.
A day after Harry's arrival we were summoned by Esmeralda since she had heard about his arrival in New Orleans. Harry presented his argument for staying and not leaving right before she could even speak, giving out heart-felt confessions about how much he loved his daughter and how he'd rather die than leave again. That last one struck something inside of me that had me tearful.
It managed to change Esmeralda's mind, as well as the fact that him and Maximus have been helping covens around the world with their knowledge on witch hunters, as well as hunting those witch hunters down and putting an end to them. Plus, Esmeralda wanted peace and didn't really want to fight. It was a relief when she said that he and his brother was allowed to stay in New Orleans.
"Mama I wanna stay up and watch more Disney movies with you and daddy," she begged as I lifted her up and settled her on my hip.
"Baby it's too late now, you have to sleep," I told her firmly, making her snap her mouth shut and nod.
I carried her to her room with Harry trailing behind me quietly. I got her brushing her teeth, then changing into her favorite Iron Man pajamas. I pulled the covers back, waiting for her to crawl under them before pulling them over until her chin.
"Where's Sirius?" she asked me, green eyes darting around for her favorite dog.
"Do you want me to go get him?" I asked her, making her nod in response. "Okay, I'll be right back."
As I walked out, I noticed Harry lurking by the doorway. I told him he could go talk to her while I went to fetch Sirius. When I came back with the dog trailing behind me, I waited outside for a little, watching Harry and Cleo through the crack created by the open door. Harry was sitting on the edge of the bed, his back the only thing visible to me, and Cleo who was grinning up at him.
"Are you going to stay, daddy?" she asked him a small voice, making him nod in response. "Forever?"
"I'm staying, baby girl, for you and for your mama," he told her, stroking her cheek as she grinned happily.
"Can I have a goodnight kiss?" she asked him quietly, causing him to chuckle a little before he nodded, ducking down to press his lips against her forehead.
Just then, Sirius decided to barge in, causing the door to fly open, revealing me standing there pretty much eavesdropping. But Cleo quickly squealed happily when she saw Sirius. Harry shot me a knowing smirk, making me roll my eyes on the inside before I approached them. He stood up and began to walk past me before Cleo called out again.
"Daddy aren't you gonna give mama a goodnight kiss?"
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➰ what did y'all think of that chapterrrrrr ??
➰ I hope you guys understand why Sage wants time before rekindling her relationship with Harry. I know it's frustrating cuz like y'all want them to stop acting like strangers and just get back together but I gotta make this realistic ya feel?
Like they can't just forget about the baby girl and just start fucking and fixing their relationship like no hunni the daughter comes first.
Dw tho you don't even have to wait long. Smut is coming your way my fraaands (;
➰ BTW
Freaking CHAINSMOKERS took over Harry on the US iTunes and he's currently at no. 2 SO PLA! Head over to twitter US peeps and onto some harry updates accounts because they're gifting SOTT to people.
HELP OUR MANS GET TO #1 AGAIN!!
Until we meet again...
t.m.