Lydia White
Harry's arms remained tightly wrapped around me. I rested my head on his chest as I breathed in and out, shutting my eyes and taking in how good it felt to touch him.
"Lydia, are you okay?" he asks, while holding me still. I nod into his chest.
"Thank you." was all I could manage to say.
"For what?" he asks. He sounded confused and slightly shocked, making me gently pull away from our hug and look at him in the eyes.
"You saved me." I whisper, looking up at his green eyes. He looks down at me and furrows his brows. His lips parted as he tilted his head.
"No I didn't." he breaths out.
I shake my head. "In there," I point behind me to my apartment building. "You literally saved my life Harry and I can't thank you enough." I tell him. His lips form into a line and he lets out an exhale from his nose.
He looks at me before gently taking my small hand in his. His green eyes light up a a little.
"Come here." he says, guiding me by the hand to the back of his sleek, black car.
He lets go of my hand and climbs up to the roof of the vehicle, then sits down. I tilt my head as I look up at him. He smirks and gestures for me to join him up there.
I smile before climbing up and sitting down next to him and placing the book in my lap. The air was slightly colder as we faced the setting sun.
"Where is this coming from?" he asks, referring to what I had said to him moments before.
I inhale. "When I was in my apartment...I felt so unsafe. All I could think about was how those men broke in and tried to hurt me. It was like the walls were closing in while I was up there. I felt so suffocated." I begin.
He turns his head to look at the side of my face. I can feel him watching me intently.
"That place is supposed to be my home, but while I was up there...I've never felt less at home." I mutter.
I look over at Harry, who turns his head back forward. "But then I remembered you. How you saved my life and held me on the floor so tightly, trying to make me feel safe."
He inhales and looks up at the sunset, which was getting lower and lower.
"When I ran out of the building and saw your face, it felt like I could breathe again. I looked at you and I suddenly, I was okay."
His eyes drift down to look at his lap.
"I'm not the kind of person that should make you feel that way." he says quietly. My heart sinks at his words.
"Harry-"
"You know who I am now. You should be scared of me." he shakes his head.
"I knew who you were from the beginning. I just didn't know your lifestyle, that's different."
He furrows his brows and looks at me.
"I know you've made bad choices. I know that. But, Harry...in the time I knew you before that, you caused me to care about you so much. I've come to realize nothing is going to change that." I look at him directly in the eyes, desperately trying to get my point across.
I meant it. I did care about him so deeply and he deserved to know that.
"No one's really ever cared about me before." he says, twisting the rings on his fingers, and moving his eyes away from mine. I pout my lip in empathy and nod my head.
"I've never had somewhere to fall if I needed it. Even growing up, no one really gave a shit."
I look ahead of me as sadness fills my heart. Maybe if Harry had some sort of caring outlet before, things would be different.
"I've never felt 'cared for'." he says, doing air quotes with his fingers.
"That is, until you." he says, leaning over and nudging me with his broad shoulders, causing me to smile softly. "But I guess that's why I turned out this way." he sighs.
I shake my head and instinctively take his hand in mine as I did earlier. But this time, I don't let go. I grip his hand tightly, causing him to look at me.
"You deserve to be cared for, Harry." I tell him, making his eyes soften.
"No I don't." he shakes his head. "I'm a bad person and you shouldn't feel this way about me, Lyds." he speaks softly.
"Harry, I'm sorry but I'm allowed to feel this way about you. I'm not going to stop." I say, looking deep into his eyes. They were filled with sadness, but I could still see the hope inside them. I flick my eyes back and forth between his.
"I'm sorry for running." I whisper, remembering the words he muttered to me before kissing me under the sunrise. He shakes his head when the words leave my mouth, grasping my hand tighter.
"You had every right to. I'm sorry for giving you a reason to run."
I give him a look of sympathy, and reassurance. I know that he's done bad things. I know he's dangerous. But yet, I trusted him so much. He made me feel so secure and it took me a little bit to realize it.
I look ahead at the sunset. The sun was low on the horizon and the sky, along with the clouds were painted with a dark orange tint. It contrasted with the sunrise, which always had a more pink-ish glow to it...and the warmth from the sun would intensify, rather than fade away.
I looked down at my lap to see that Harry and I were still holding hands. He had a tight grip on mine but I didn't want him to let go. My heart was warm while sitting here next to him. It felt so right and I didn't care about anything else in that moment.
Only him.
-
Harry and I watched the whole sunset, and then drove home. It was dark outside, and there was no one else on the road.
The absence of anyone else around us caused me to roll down the windows and blast the radio at one point. Harry pretended like he was embarrassed, but I knew he enjoyed it.
It was about 11:30 when we got to the house. Harry unlocked the door and held it open so that I could walk in before him.
"You can go to bed if you want, I'm just gonna go talk to the guys." he says, turning to face me.
"I'll come with you." I say. It's probably best if I talk to them again, so that they know I'm okay.
Harry nods and I follow him to the living room with my book in my hand, where the boys are sitting. Their heads snap up from the television screen as we enter the room.
"Hey guys." Niall says, flicking his eyes between Harry and I. I smile back at him and the others. They all exchange looks. I'm guessing they knew about what happened the night before.
I go and sit on the couch that Niall was on. Liam was on the opposite end, and Louis was on the loveseat, with a beer in hand. Harry came and sat next to me.
"So." Liam starts. "How is...everything?" he asks. I feel my cheeks burn and I look down at my book.
"Everything's fine." Harry says, making Liam nod.
-
After watching a movie with the boys, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. As I looked in the mirror, I realized that I looked different than I did this morning.
This morning, I had bags under my eyes, my cheeks were sunken in and I looked absolutely shattered. But now, I looked full and put back together. I smile before heading into my bedroom.
When I opened the door, I noticed something sitting on the bed. And as I got closer, I realized that it was a book.
I picked it up and examined it. My eyes crinkled as I smiled and bit my lip when I read the cover.
"The Great Gatsby."
-
kind of a short chapter sorry!
vote n comment babies.