A/N: Yay, another chapter is out and it is LONG AS SHIT!! :D I hope you guys enjoy it though xx
~Leah~
"Mummy!" Piper came running into the house as soon as me and Harry answered the door, "Mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy, mummy! Did you miss me?" She jumped up and down excitedly on the spot and hugged my legs.
"Oh, Piper!" I scooped her up in my arms and laughed, "You're a little hyper this evening, aren't you?"
Piper giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck before hugging me tight – snuggling her head against my chest and letting out a soft, happy sigh.
"Aww, welcome home, my darling," I lovingly kissed the top of her head, "did you have a nice weekend?"
"Daddy!" Piper began to reach for Harry, "Daddy, daddy!"
Seeing how much she wanted to cuddle him, I chuckled quietly and handed her over to Harry. I knew she would be excited to see him, but for some reason I kept feeling like she'd just deliberately avoided my question about her weekend.
Harry laughed and kissed Piper's cheek before hugging her tight – making her giggle again as she clung to his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Hello, beautiful," he kissed her again, "we missed you so much."
In the doorway, I saw Heath cross his arms and roll his eyes – causing me to place a hand on my hip and raise an eyebrow at him.
"D'you wanna come inside for a bit?" I offered reluctantly.
"No, thank you. I'd rather just get on with the two-hour drive back home," he grumbled, "honestly, Leah, this distance is ridiculous."
"Oh, I'm sorry, is the distance not worth travelling to see your daughter?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Leah," Heath rolled his eyes again, "can you just get her away from him so that I can say goodbye, please?"
I let out a sigh and nodded before I turned back to Harry and Piper – who were still happily cuddling.
"OK, pumpkin, your dad's about to go," I told Piper, "why don't you say goodbye to him, yeah?"
The huge smile that Piper had on her face while Harry held her in his arms instantly faded as soon as I mentioned Heath – which made me frown a little. Piper hasn't seemed so against saying goodbye to him for months.
Has something happened..?
Harry carefully lowered Piper to the ground and gently patted her back to usher her towards Heath – and she looked down at the floor and placed her hands behind her back as she slowly made her way over to him. I folded my arms and discreetly took a step closer to them. I was worried about why Piper was acting this way.
Heath crouched down to Piper's height and smiled at her before he kissed her cheek, but he moved his face a little closer to her ear – which made me raise my eyebrows.
"Remember," I heard him mumble to her, "don't tell your mum what you saw."
My eyes immediately widened as I just caught on to his words.
What..?
Piper didn't say a word – keeping her eyes fixed on the ground before finally giving him a silent nod.
My eyes immediately narrowed, and as soon as Heath pulled away from Piper, I took her hand and gently pulled her to my side. I felt her fingers quickly closing around mine. She was holding my hand tight, and I forced myself to hold back the piercing glare I was dying to give Heath as I felt myself launching into Protective Mode.
What the fuck have you done now, Heath?
"See you later, guys," Heath gave us all a brief wave before he stuck his hands in his pockets and walked away from the door – and I immediately shut it as soon as he was gone.
"Piper, are you hungry?" I asked her, "Harry's making pizza tonight," I gave her a knowing smile.
Piper gasped and looked up at Hary hopefully. "Really, daddy?"
"I certainly am," Harry smiled at her as well, "with lots and lots of stretchy mozzarella – just how you like it."
"Yay!" Piper jumped up and down excitedly on the spot and tightly hugged Harry's waist, "Thank you, daddy! I can't wait!"
He chuckled. "Well, first things first: go on upstairs and get ready for mummy to give you a bath – because you won't get any pizza until you wash up."
"OK! I will!" Piper replied with a bright smile, "C'mon mummy, I want a bath!"
"Why don't you head on upstairs first, sweetheart?" I suggested, "I'll meet you there in a minute."
Piper smiled again and nodded before she turned and ran out of the dining room towards the stairs – making my eyes widen a little.
"Piper, don't run on the stairs, please!" I called after her.
"OK!" I heard her call back – and I broke out a smile once I also heard her footsteps starting to slow down.
However, as soon as I knew she was out of earshot, my smile instantly faded.
"Something's happened," was the first thing I said to Harry.
"What?" Harry looked at me with a slight frown, "What do you mean, love?"
"Something happened with Heath," my voice was tense, "I can tell."
"How can you tell?" asked Harry.
"You didn't notice how Piper was acting kinda weird when she first arrived?" I looked at him, "When I asked her if she had a nice weekend, I felt like she avoided the question completely. And when I asked her to say goodbye to Heath, she was reluctant. Really reluctant. Like how she used to act around him all the way back to before the court trial."
"Well...that's true," Harry began to nod slowly, "I did notice that."
"And I heard Heath say something to her when they said goodbye," I continued, "he told her 'don't tell your mum what you saw'."
"Wait, what?" Harry's eyes widened, "Seriously?"
"Seriously," I replied, "something's definitely happened."
"Yeah...yeah, I agree," Harry nodded again – more vigorously this time, "and we need to find out what it was."
"You think?" I asked him.
"Definitely," he replied without hesitation, "I mean, shit, Leah...we need to know how serious this is."
"Yeah...you're right," I nodded back at him, "you're right. We need to know," I let out a shaky sigh, "so...I'll give Piper her bath, and then after dinner, we'll both sit down with her and try to get it out of her. Sound good?"
"Yeah. Good plan, Leah," Harry smiled with a small, nervous smile, "good plan."
***
"Piper?" I called to her before she could run back upstairs, "Piper, can you come here and sit with us for a minute, please?"
Piper looked back at us and nodded before she turned and made her way into the living room – where Harry & I sat down on the sofa and invited her to sit in between us.
"Love, your mother and I are a little worried about you," Harry spoke up first, "we noticed you were acting a little different towards your dad after he dropped you off today."
"Hmm..?" Piper looked up at him, and she shook her head, "No."
"Yes, Piper. You were."
"No, daddy," Piper shook her head again.
"Piper, you did look upset with your dad today," I chimed in, "why?"
Piper was silent.
"Did something happen at daddy's house this weekend, pumpkin?" I asked her, "Something that...made you upset, maybe?"
Piper lowered her eyes.
"Maybe," I heard her mutter softly.
"'Maybe'?" I was starting to get worried now, "Piper, what happened?"
"Daddy told me not to tell you," she told me quietly.
"Well, can you tell me, Piper?" Harry asked her, "He didn't say anything about not telling me, did he?"
Piper shook her head.
"Then you can tell me," Harry pushed some of her hair out of her face, "come on, darling. If something happened, it's really important that we know what it is. Did you get hurt?"
Piper shook her head.
"Are you sure, Piper?"
"Yes," Piper nodded, "I didn't get hurt."
"Well, then what happened?" Harry spoke to her gently, "Please tell me, Piper. We need to know that you're OK."
"I am OK," Piper promised, "I just...saw something."
"What did you see, Piper?" Harry placed his hand on her back.
"Well..." Piper hesitated, "yesterday, I was playing in my room at daddy's house, and then I heard Danica making funny noises in daddy's room," she began to explain, "I thought she was hurt, so I went to daddy's room to see if she was OK, and..." her voice trailed away.
"And...what, Piper?" asked Harry.
"And...and when I went there, I saw daddy...on top of Danica...and they weren't wearing any clothes," she finished quietly.
My eyes immediately widened at her words.
"What?!" I blurted out before I could stop myself.
Seriously?!
Did Heath seriously just casually decide to fuck Danica while Piper was in the house?!
SERIOUSLY?!
Oh my fucking God.
Heath, you did NOT.
I looked over at Harry, and I could see that the look on his face was practically identical to mine. He was literally just as speechless as I was.
"Oh, God..." I heard Harry finally mutter under his breath, "er...did he tell you why he was doing that to Danica in the end, Piper?" He asked her with an awkward cough.
Piper nodded. "He told me they were just hugging," she replied.
I immediately let out a soft sigh of relief.
Well, at least he attempted to cover it up...
"Yes, that's right, Piper," I nodded back at her, "I'm sure they were just hugging."
"But...I've never seen anyone hug someone like that..." she then looked up at me, "and why would a hug make Danica do funny noises?"
Oh, great.
Heath, you are fucking dead.
"You don't hug me like that, mummy," Piper continued, "and daddy, you don't either," she told Harry.
"I know, Piper," Harry told her with a sigh, "it's just...it's a little hard to explain that type of...hug," he hesitated, "it's...different...from the hugs we give you, Piper."
"Different how?"
"It doesn't matter how," Harry replied quickly, "look, Piper. Your dad shouldn't have done that while you were right next door. We're going to have to talk to him about this."
"What?" Piper's eyes widened, and she immediately shook her head, "No! Then he'll know that I told! I'm gonna be in trouble!"
"No you won't, Piper," Harry picked her up and sat her on his lap, "you did the right thing by telling us."
"Absolutely," I stroked her hair and smiled at her, "it was wrong of your dad to tell you to keep this a secret. And if there's ever anything else that happens during your weekends with dad that you want to talk to us about, then please do it. OK, darling?"
After a moment of hesitation, Piper nodded.
"OK, mummy," she promised as she wrapped her arms around Harry and laid against his chest.
"Good girl, Piper," I smiled at her and warmly kissed her forehead, "thank you for telling us. We love you so much."
Piper finally smiled back at me. "I love you, too."
She then cuddled even closer to Harry – and while she was distracted, Harry & I both exchanged looks – shaking our heads at each other since neither of us could believe that Heath would actually do this while Piper was in the house.
I cannot let this happen again.
I have to talk to Heath as soon as possible.
***
I called Heath last night and told him to start driving down to London in the late morning so that he would be here around lunchtime. Harry wanted to be here when the time came for me and Heath to talk, but he was due for another meeting with Jeffrey. The designer making Harry's sexy pirate outfit had apparently finished the rest of the suit, and Jeffrey scheduled a fitting for Harry with the designer to make sure that it matched up with his measurements.
"Leah, are you sure you'll be OK?" Harry asked me, "I can always ask Jeff to schedule the fitting for another day."
"Yeah, I'll be fine Harry – don't worry," I told him with a smile, "and besides – it's not like this fitting is gonna take you all day, right?"
"Well, no, but..." Harry bit his lip, "I just...wanna be here for you."
"Look, if you go to the fitting, come back home, and see that Heath is still here, then that's fine – you can join in our discussion. But if he's already gone by the time you're back, then that's also fine. It means the discussion went well, and you didn't have to be there."
"Yeah...that's true, I guess," Harry said with a slow nod, "so...what time is he gonna be here?"
"Well, if he left at the time I told him to, then he should be here by lunchtime – which is about 15 minutes from now," I replied after quickly glancing at my watch.
"And how long d'you think he'll be here?"
"Ugh, God knows," I shrugged and sighed, "it could take 15 or 20 minutes, or it could even take up to an hour. You can never really tell when it comes to serious talks with Heath," I rolled my eyes.
"OK," Harry nodded again, "and from my experience, this fitting should take no longer than an hour, so...I hope I can come back in time to give him a piece of my own mind."
I chuckled. "OK, Harry. But don't pressure yourself. Just try to have fun at the fitting, OK? Don't think about me too much," I then slid my arms around his neck and smirked at him, "I cannot wait to see the rest of this sexy pirate suit."
Harry smirked back at me. "Well, I hope it doesn't disappoint you."
"I seriously doubt that. I love all your outfits, you know – even if, on most people, they'd look ridiculous," I giggled.
"Oh, why thank you, love," Harry chuckled, "alright. I'll see you soon."
"Mhmm," I smiled at him and softly kissed his lips, "bye, Harry. Have a good time, OK?"
"I'll try," he smiled back at me, "good luck talking to Heath."
"Thanks. I need it," I playfully rolled my eyes, "OK – get out of here and go to your fitting."
Harry chuckled again and gave my hands a squeeze before he tenderly kissed my cheek.
"I love you," he told me after he pulled away.
His words instantly made me smile. "I love you."
He then grabbed his keys from where they sat on the dining table and dropped them in his jacket pocket. Once he did that, he made his way to the front door and opened it, turning back to me and blowing a kiss before he shut the door behind him.
I watched him from the window as he unlocked his car and climbed into the driver's seat – and I quickly opened the front gate for him as he started the car so that he could drive out. He tooted his horn at me before he drove off – causing me to giggle a little and wave at him until his car disappeared.
I let out a soft sigh and shut the gate once more – lowering my eyes a little once I did so. Since Piper was already at school, Harry's departure instantly caused a lonely feeling to start washing over me. But I knew I couldn't focus on it. Because I had other things to be concerned about.
Alright, Heath.
Where the fuck are you?
***
It was 20 minutes past midday when I looked out the window and saw Heath's car finally pulling up to the gate. I quickly opened the gate for him and waited impatiently as I watched him roll into the driveway. I then shut the gate and hurried downstairs to meet him at the front door.
Heath looked far from happy when he climbed out of his car and saw me standing in the front doorway. I honestly felt like he was even holding back a scowl as he snatched his sunglasses off his face and trudged over to me.
"Alright, Leah, you'd better have pretty fucking good reason to be dragging me all the way here," he told me curtly, "I had to go through some insane traffic to be here."
"Oh, believe me – I have a good reason, alright," I narrowed my eyes at him, "come inside."
I held the door open for him, and he rolled his eyes before stepping into the house and following me to the living room.
"So, you're not even gonna offer me a cup of tea?" Heath asked with a sardonic chuckle, "wow – you really must be pissed at me."
I didn't say a word and only rolled my eyes at him.
"Right. I guess we're gonna cut right to the chase, then," Heath folded his arms, "so, what is it, Leah? What's so important that you made me drive two hours to get here?"
"Oh, I think you know what," I told him through gritted teeth.
"Nope," he shook his head, "I have absolutely no idea."
"Oh, so are you trying to tell me that you and Danica didn't have loud sex last weekend, while Piper was literally just next door?!" I glared at him.
Heath's eyes immediately widened at my words, and I heard him curse under his breath straight afterwards.
"OK, Leah, I can explain-"
"Explain what, Heath?!" I demanded, "You and Danica were just too horny to wait? You just thought you could get away with it? Is that what you're about to tell me?"
"Well...you know...Danica, she...she promised that she'd be quiet-"
"Oh, don't fucking blame Danica for what you've done!" I shouted at him, "You could've easily controlled yourself, Heath, no matter who it was that wanted to do it! Piper's only with you for two days a week! You can't even go two days without having sex at all?!"
"Oh come on, Leah, you can't tell me that you and Harry don't have sex when Piper's here!" He retorted defensively.
"Right. I'm not telling you that," I crossed my arms, "but the difference between me and Harry, and you and Danica, is that me and Harry actually think about Piper! We don't just do it whenever the hell we want, we make sure that we won't disturb her! Or better yet, we just wait until she's not here!" I told him exasperatedly, "Honestly, Heath, do you even know how much a child can be traumatized if they walk in on their parents having sex?!"
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Leah, Piper's too young to even know what sex is," Heath snapped.
"That doesn't mean she won't be affected by it if she walks in on it!" I snapped, "Do you think she wants to see you naked, Heath? See Danica naked? See me or Harry naked?!"
"Ugh, Leah, just shut up, damn it!" He yelled at me, "I'm sick of you pestering me and nagging me – making me feel like I can't do anything right!"
"That's because you keep fucking screwing up!" I bit back, "And don't act like I just 'pester' or 'nag' you! I do give you credit when it's due, you know!"
"Well, yeah, but most of the time, it's just 'Heath, you need to do this!' 'Heath, you need to do that!' 'Heath, you piss me off so fucking much!'" He hissed at me, "Well, it's not like I'm the only one who pisses people off, here! You have your moments too, Leah! Moments that really, really piss me off!"
"Oh what, just because I know the proper ways you should look after your child?!" I yelled.
"No, it's because for one, you decided to just go ahead and leave town to live with your flashy new boyfriend, you decided to take Piper with you, and because of that, you're making me drive four fucking hours every Friday night to pick Piper up and take her to my place, and two hours every Sunday evening, just so I can drop her back off! Now that really pisses me off, Leah! It's a waste of my time, and a waste of my gas!"
"Oh, we're back with this again, are we?!" I hissed, "Well if you don't think Piper's worth the effort, you can always just stop doing it, and spend no time with her at all!"
"Oh yeah, you'd fucking love that, won't you?" He sneered at me, "With me out of the picture, you and Piper can just go on and play Happy Families with Harry, and just pretend that I'm not even Piper's father at all! That's just your one and only dream, isn't it?!"
"No it's not, thank you very much! I've wanted you to be involved in Piper's life ever since she was born, asshole! It's you who's only decided to do that now!"
"Then why the fuck are you making it so hard for me, Leah?!" Heath demanded – closing in on me and causing me to back up towards the wall a little, "Moving two fucking hours away, which you shouldn't even have done in the first place?! Why would you do all that shit, huh?!"
"Excuse me?! Shouldn't even have done in the first place?!" I glared at him, "Fuck off, Heath! You don't get to tell me what I can do! You can't tell me that I can't live with Harry when you've been living with Danica for God-knows-how-long!"
"HEY!" Heath yelled loudly – causing me to jump a bit since the level of his voice had slightly startled me, "I wouldn't have minded if you all moved into that flash apartment at Warnes that he bought, but London is fucking ridiculous, Leah!"
"Oh, really?! Well, you didn't seem to think that when me and Harry first approached you with our plans to move! As far as we were concerned, you were happy to drive the distance – because we thought you'd feel like the travel was worth it to be with your daughter!"
"Well, you thought wrong," he told me through gritted teeth, "fuck you, Leah. I'm fucking sick of this!"
"Yeah?! Are you sick of seeing Piper, too?!" I demanded.
"DON'T FUCKING SAY THAT TO ME AGAIN!" Heath grabbed my shoulders and shoved me hard – making me scream as I suddenly slammed back-first into the nearest wall, "IT'S NOT PIPER I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH! IT'S YOU, LEAH!"
I let out a cry as I felt pain shooting from my lower back and all the way up my spine. I was struck speechless – truly shocked by Heath's actions.
"I don't know what the fuck I ever saw in you," Heath spat at me, "you're nothing but a fucking bitch, who's always trying to keep me away from my daughter!" He closed in on me and grabbed my wrist – making me gasp and shout out in pain once more since his grip was insanely tight, "MY OWN FUCKING DAUGHTER!"
"Heath...stop it...l-let go!" I grimaced and tried to free my wrist from his grasp, "that hurts!"
"Oh, it hurts, does it?! Well, I actually think it's the least that a bitch like you deserves!" He spat at me.
"Heath, let me go!" I demanded with a soft whimper, "I mean it! Just stop!"
I was trying so hard to sound brave, but inside, I was absolutely terrified. I'd never seen this side of Heath before...I never knew he could get this angry. And I was scared out of my wits.
Oh, God. This is not going well.
This is not going well at all.
~Harry~
I used my car's remote to open the front gate to the house and roll into the driveway. As I stopped the car, I took a moment to look up at the house and wonder if Heath was still talking to Leah – or if Heath even decided to show up at all. The fitting took longer than I expected, so Heath had more than enough time to come and go.
I climbed out of my car and locked it before I removed my sunglasses and prepared to unlock the door. However, just as I was about to insert my key into the lock, I began to frown as the faint sound of someone yelling suddenly started to fill my ears.
I was confused at first, since it sounded as if the yelling was coming from inside the house – but when I realized it, my eyes immediately began to widen.
Is that...Heath yelling?
Oh, God...Leah...
Biting my lip, I shoved my key into the lock and threw open the front door – rushing inside the house and barely remembering to shut it behind me – because if Leah and Heath were fighting, all I wanted to do was get in there and support Leah.
"DOES THAT HURT?!" I heard Heath screaming, "DOES IT, LEAH?!"
I ran to the living room just in time to see Heath shove Leah into a wall – making her scream as she collapsed to the floor and held her hands over her head in a desperate attempt to protect herself.
"Stop it!" I heard her cry out, "Stop it, Heath! Just stop!"
I have no idea what came over me at that moment, but the very moment I saw him shove Leah into the wall, I dropped my keys and ran straight over – grabbing Heath by the back of his shirt and spinning him around before I threw my fist into the middle of his face – and I heard Leah scream again as he staggered back with his hands cupped over his nose.
"Get the hell out of my house!" I shouted at him before I could stop myself, "GET OUT!"
Heath looked up at me with fear in his eyes – and without another word, he took his hands away from his face and ran – and I just caught a glimpse of blood dripping from his nose before he bolted out of the house.
I was slightly startled to see that my punch had drawn blood, but I didn't even give it a second thought once Heath disappeared. Instead, I ran straight over to Leah – kneeling down beside her and cupping her face in my hands to check for any bruises or other wounds.
"Oh fuck, Leah, a-are you OK?!" I couldn't contain the panic in my voice as I spoke to her, "How badly did he hurt you?!"
"I...I'm OK..." her voice was shaky, "I-I'm fine..."
I tried to take her arm and help her up, but as soon as I touched her left forearm, she gasped and winced in pain – and I drew back immediately before taking her hand and inspecting her arm more closely. There was a deep red mark around her forearm that seemed to get darker every second, and my eyes immediately widened.
"Oh my God, Leah..." my voice wobbled, "what...w-what happened..?"
"So many things," she replied breathlessly as I helped her up more carefully, "I got angry, he got angry, we began...shouting at each other, a-and..." her voice trailed away, "I've...I've never seen him like that..."
"Shit..." I bit my lip as I guided her to the sofa and helped her sit down, "this...i-is this the worst of it..?" I asked her worriedly – my fingers hovering over the red mark on her arm.
Leah nodded and whimpered a little. "I-I think so..."
"Oh, thank God nothing worse happened..." I took her trembling body in my arms and hugged her tight, "because fuck, Leah, i-if anything ever happened to you..." I tucked my face into the crook of her neck and breathed in her scent as if I had to reassure myself that she was still here.
"Hey, hey...it's OK," Leah immediately hugged me back, "I'm fine, Harry. A little shaken, but...fine."
"I'm so sorry, Leah..." I murmured to her, "I never should've left to go to that stupid fitting...I should've stayed here with you..." I guiltily lowered my eyes and tightly clasped her hands, "I-I could've stopped all of this from happening if I stayed."
"Harry, stop," Leah told me, "you don't have to apologize for anything. This isn't your fault."
"But-"
"No buts, Harry," Leah interrupted me and pressed her finger to my lips to stop me from talking, "stop blaming yourself. This is not your fault," she then gave me a soft smile, "so, just shut up and give me a cuddle. Please?"
I hesitated, but I ended up giving her a gentle smile back before I took her in my arms and guided her head to rest against my chest. She let out a soft sigh and snuggled her head into the crook of my neck – and I found myself wrapping my arms around her shoulders rather protectively.
I couldn't believe what I saw Heath doing today. If I hadn't come home when I did, then he could've done so much worse to Leah. And I didn't even want to think about that. Leah meant everything to me...and I don't know what I'd do if anything bad ever happened to her.
I can't let this happen again.
Something needs to be done about this.
***
~Leah~
Later that day, I realized that Harry's knuckles were starting to bruise after what he did to Heath. And I was actually kind of shocked to see it – because it meant that he must've packed a really hard punch to Heath's face to actually bruise his knuckles – and he punched him that hard just to stop him from hurting me. And I found that...quite overwhelming, actually.
Because I knew that Harry was probably the least likely person in the world to physically hurt someone intentionally. And the fact that he literally punched Heath in the face without hesitation as soon as he saw what he was doing to me was just...wow. That's the only thing I can say about that. Wow.
It would take a lot for Harry to decide to punch someone in the face. But he did exactly that...especially for me. And that...really made my heart swell.
About an hour before we were due to pick Piper up from school, I grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the refrigerator and let it sit on Harry's hand to help with the pain that was coming with the bruising. And while Harry's knuckles were being iced, I rushed upstairs to our en suite bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit out of the little cabinet under the sink before I hurried back to Harry.
I sat down beside Harry on the sofa and removed the frozen peas to check on his hand. His knuckles were still pretty dark and discoloured from the bruising, causing me to tut and shake my head sympathetically at him.
"Oh, Harry..." I let out a sigh, "that looks really sore..."
"It is sore," Harry tried to stretch out his fingers – but he immediately winced, "I'm only used to punching things during my workouts – and I'm always using hand protection for that," he chuckled softly.
"You must pack quite the punch, Harry," I told him, "because you know: only really hard punches would bruise your knuckles like this. Your workouts must be absolute torture for your punching bags."
Harry chuckled again. "Actually, I have been told by quite a few trainers that I punch pretty damn good."
"Ooh. What a big, strong man I have to defend me," I giggled a little, "maybe you should just quit your job and become a boxer."
"Me? Punch people for a job?" Harry snorted, "That does not sound like my thing."
"Yeah...true. You're too much of a cupcake to punch people for a living," I giggled again.
"Oh, whatever," Harry rolled his eyes – causing me to let out a chuckle.
"Harry..." I began to turn serious again, "I just want to say...thank you so much for what you did. I know it wouldn't have been easy, decking Heath in the face like that..."
"Are you kidding?" Harry asked me, "Leah, he was hurting you. I wasn't gonna let him get away with that."
"I know. You really did rescue me today," I opened up the first aid kit and pulled out a roll of bandages, "I...I'm really grateful. God only knows what else Heath would've done if you didn't step in when you did..."
"I know. I don't even want to think about that," Harry said with a shaky sigh as I began to drape the bandages around his knuckles, "Leah, I was terrified when I saw what he was doing to you today. I...I was so scared that he'd done something really bad to you already..."
"Shh," I smiled at him, "it's OK, Harry. Don't think about things like that. All it really did was give me a scare."
"And a bruised arm," Harry added.
"The bruises will go away. Just like yours will," I finished bandaging his hand and tenderly kissed his wrapped knuckles, "I love you so much, Harry."
Harry smiled at me softly. "And I love you, Leah," he then looked down at his bandaged hand and sighed, "I guess I can't play the guitar for a little while, huh?" He chuckled quietly.
I chuckled as well. "I'm sorry, Harry. But it's only for a little while."
"Oh, fuck the guitar playing," he said dismissively, "Leah, we need to have a serious talk about what Heath did today. Today, he showed that his behaviour can actually be really dangerous...and that's not good. Especially not for Piper."
"Yeah...you're right," I lowered my eyes and sighed, "but...what can we do about it?"
"Leah, what Heath did to you is serious enough for a case to take to court. And I think that's exactly what we should do," he told me.
"Huh? C-Court?" My eyes widened, "But Harry...h-how can we prove what he did today..? He could easily just deny it...a-and I bet he'll try to use the fact that you punched him in the face against us."
"Leah, please," Harry smiled at me, "when you're in my line of work, you can never be too careful. I've got a camera system set up to monitor this whole house. We can easily just get a hard copy of the camera footage that shows exactly what he did to you. And that's the best form of cold, hard proof you can get."
"Really?" I asked him hopefully, "You really think we can take him to court...and win?"
"You bet," Harry's smile grew, "don't worry, Leah. He's not getting away with this. Not on my watch."
I immediately smiled back at him – throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.
"You're so amazing," I murmured to him, "and you're so right. If his behaviour can get like this, we cannot risk letting Piper be exposed to that."
"Exactly," he kissed the top of my head, "don't worry, baby. Nobody, will ever be allowed to put my girls in danger," he murmured against my hair, "ever."
I instantly felt my smile grow.
"Thank you, Harry," I nuzzled my face against his chest, "thank you so much."
A/N: I actually rushed to finish this ending and I'm sorry if you can feel that rush. I also didn't really edit it that well - I just really wanted to get this chapter out tonight. I hope you liked it all the same.
What do you guys think is gonna happen from this point on?? :))