AMARA
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Harry and I had spent a week in Rio San Juan, secluded in the small villa we became comfortable with. It was nice to have the bonding time we had together in the villa while Harry wasn't working, it took my mind off the task at hand. Harry had been amazing this week, I hadn't had an episode at all, and my nightmares were almost non-existent.
Max hadn't texted me again, and I had hope that he'd dropped it. I knew deep down he hadn't, but hope was good in small doses. Harry and I had a routine in our villa. I would wake up to Harry cooking an omelette in the kitchen, and I'd put on some music that usually resulted in me making Harry dance and the omelette burning. Harry would work in the morning, and I'd busy myself with reading, sometimes sitting with Harry and stealing small glances at his beauty. Harry and I would then occupy ourselves by either going in the pool or playing a bunch of board games. The night would end with Harry and I have a movie marathon, and falling asleep halfway through.
It was nice, and I didn't want Harry's friendly mood to end, ever. He hadn't brought up our awkward conversation in the pool from the first day we got there, or the fact he'd confessed to not wanting to have sex with me if there weren't feelings involved.
"Ready?" Harry's soft voice filled my ears as we stepped out of the elevator, his hand resting on my back as we walked to the apartment. I nodded my head up at him, his knuckles hitting the wood of the door that displayed the numbers '28.'
We were apparently meeting one of my parents trusted employee's to help with the investigation and protection of myself. Harry hadn't told me who, for some reason, but I brushed it off. I rolled on the balls of my feet as the sound of locks unlocking was heard from the other side of the door, which swung open a few seconds later. My mouth fell open as the person I least expected stood in front of us, a wide smile crossing his features.
"Hello, love! Come in! Come in!" Louis ushered us inside, smacking Harry's bottom when he walked through the door frame. I bit back a laugh at the gesture, my confusion flying through the roof as we walked into the kitchen.
"Louis? You're one of my parents trusted employee's?" I frowned deeply, Louis mirroring my expression immediately. His head turned to Harry, the two sending eachother a look before settling their eyes back on me.
"Indeed, only a recent one obviously," Louis smiled at me, filling a glass with water from the tap. I nodded my head slowly as he handed me the glass, sipping it as the boys remained quiet.
"So?" I raised my eyebrows at them, waiting for them to fill me in on what's happening.
"Well, I'm here to help Harry hack into other gangs' systems, due to my insane computer and hacking skills." Louis shrugged proudly, shaking non-existent dirt off his shoulders.
"Okay, Lou. Amara, we need to work, so can you just...find something to do for a bit?" Harry bit his lip nervously, not wanting to say I'm not allowed to hear them working, but I knew he was insinuating it. I didn't get to answer before the pair rushed into a separate room, closing the door behind them.
I scanned the fancy-looking kitchen briefly, taking note of the camera's sticking out of the ceiling, a red button flashing on the side of each. I stuck my middle finger up to one of the camera's, hearing a few deep chuckles sound from the room the boys had entered before.
I eventually sat down at a snug-looking couch, grabbing a book from the glass coffee table. I assumed these books were for decoration, because I couldn't picture Louis reading them. However, there's a chance this isn't even Louis' apartment. It was probably a coincidence I picked up my favourite book, letting an excited squeak escape my lips. My mother always told me not to read these books, saying they were tainted with fairytales and lies. It didn't stop me though, I loved Wuthering Heights, and a copy was always hidden from my mother under my bed.
By the time I'd read almost half the book, my eyes started to droop from not having enough sleep in the past 24 hours. I hadn't slept on the plane, I was scared of having a nightmare. I thought that the reason for me not having nightmares this week might've been due to Harry, but it seemed pretty insane to think that. I didn't want to risk it though, Harry had slept across from me the whole way here and I was scared to even close my eyes.
I let out a yawn as I flicked another page over, my eyes slowly closing as I gave in to my slumber. I drifted off wondering what Harry and Louis were discussing. This whole situation confused me, because I didn't think there was that much investigating to do. Everyone was after me, what were they searching for? Harry had been acting strange with phone call as well, he would tense up every time his phone rang. I was still curious as to why he threw his phone out the window that day my mother called, but it couldn't be something too serious.
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"I can't believe you haven't told her yet," I kept my eyes shut as Louis' voice echoed through the open space, my body curling up on the couch. I felt the other side of the couch dip down, Harry's voice sounding from the direction immediately after.
"I can't," Harry groaned, my body stiffening at their conversation. Were they talking about me? Surely not, but I did have a suspicion Harry was hiding something from me.
"You have to, she'll figure it out soon," Louis tutted, his tone lacing something I couldn't recognise. I heard Harry sigh, and I imagined him running his hand through his curls while a distraught expression glued onto his face.
"It'll break her," Harry whispered, my ears almost missing the sentence. Louis cut Harry off before he could go on, silence filling the air. I assumed Louis noticed I was waking up, confirming my thoughts as I opened my eyes to see the both of them looking my way.
"What?" I yawned, sitting up from the curled up position I'd adopted during my sleep. Harry and Louis looked away, Louis busying himself with making a tea while Harry fiddled with his hands. "Are we staying here?"
"Yes," Harry nodded, jumping on his feet. His legs hurried to where I dropped my bags, picking them up effortlessly. My body automatically followed him as he disappeared around the corner, feeling Louis' eyes on me as I did so. I crept behind Harry as he entered a large room, the oversized window that displayed the busy city catching my attention. The room was quite dull, but my body was dragged to the wall covered in books firstly. My fingers skimmed across the spines of the many books, there would be at least a hundred. I set a reminder in my head to clean the shelves when I spotted tiny specks of dust on them.
"This is where you'll be sleeping, I'm not sure how long we'll stay here so get comfortable," Harry's voice tore me from my admiring state, my head swinging towards him.
"Where are you sleeping?" I asked, regretting it immediately after as I realised how desperate I sounded. Harry's eyebrows flew up after I'd said it, making me want to crawl in a hole and migrate.
"Across the hall."
"I heard you," I blurted, looking down at my feet as he stood there quietly. My eyes lifted when he didn't reply, his face set in a frown as he looked at me.
"What did you hear?" Harry finally spoke, his jaw clenching and unclenching repeatedly as I remained silent. I didn't want to tell him what I heard, I thought that if I didn't then maybe he'd guess and reveal more to me. I bit my lip as he stared at me angrily, the metallic taste hitting my tongue as I pierced my lower lip. "What did you hear?" He repeated, his voice loud and demanding.
"What do you think I heard?"
"Amara, just answer me," Harry demanded, running a ring clad hand through his disheveled curls. It looked like he'd been running his hands through the mess for awhile, and I only now took notice of the dark bags under his eyes and the stressed look etched over his features. "Amara!"
"You're hiding something from me!" I shot back, raising my voice as he glared at me. "Tell me, or I'll find out myself."
"I'm not hiding anything."
"Harry, I heard you say it!" I threw my hands up, letting them fall onto my thighs after. I could sense Harry getting angrier the further into the conversation we got, his fists balling up by his sides.
"It's for your own good," Harry muttered, attempting to push past my body that blocked the doorway. I stood still as he tried shoving me to the side, my hands pushing his shoulders back.
"You're not leaving until you tell me what's going on. I deserve to know!" I yelled at him, my head raising as he took a step forward. The close proximity made me nervous, and I knew I'd probably give in and let him leave with the effect he had on me.
"Just trust me? Don't you trust me by now?" The anger had left Harry's voice, now relaxed with desperation and exhaustion. I felt my stomach drop as his expression softened, my face falling the longer he looked at me.
"I hate not knowing what is going on with my life, I'm sick of the secrets," I sighed, my shoulders relaxing as he placed his large palms onto them.
"I'll tell you, give it time. Do you trust me?" Harry's hands massages my shoulders, making me close my eyes in relief as my body relaxed. I thought about the question, wondering the answer for myself. Did I trust Harry?
The only time I truly felt relaxed was with Harry. If Harry wasn't around, I was on alert. The only time I felt fear this month was when Harry wasn't around. I had noticed before, but I'd grown fond of Harry even more this past week. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but I was sure of one thing.
"I trust you."