Gardenia hears a knock come from her window, she sighs as she raises up and she looks towards her window and she sees a figure standing in her window. "Gardenia... it's me... Harry." He says and Gardenia quickly got up, she opened her window and she huffed. "Have you lost your mind? It's two in the morning, Harry, it's a school night." Gardenia whispered-shouted and Harry looks at her, he tilts his head and he sighs. "I know but I couldn't sleep until I know that you're alright, I had to come and see you." Harry says.
"Can I come in?" Harry asked her and she nodded as she helped him through the window.
Gardenia sighs as she flicks her lamp on, she locks her door and she turns around. Harry gasps as the sight of her because she had a bruise going across her chest. It was purple and blue and looked like it hurt like hell. "What the f- Gardenia, what happened?" Harry questioned and Gardenia crosses her arms as she shakes her head. "It's nothing Harry, it was my fault anyway." Gardenia brushes it off and Harry grabs her hand gently, he shakes his head as he looked at the bruise then his eyes trailed to another one, then another one and he was so lost for words. The only place she wasn't hit was her face which is a place that she can't cover. "Goodness, I'm sorry, did-did your parents do this?" Harry questioned and Gardenia nodded. "My Daddy, he- gets angry. He got mad about the situation yesterday."
Harry stares at her because he was never hit by his Mom or his Stepfather either. "That doesn't mean he beats the bloody Christ outta you." Harry replies and Gardenia sighs as she shakes her head. "It's fine Harry, it really is." Gardenia says and Harry wanted to say more, he sighs as he gently wraps his arms around her and he kisses her cheek.
He pulls away a little and he caresses her hair that was sticking out her bonnet. "Will you go on a drive with me?" Harry asked her and Gardenia gave Harry a side look as she rolled her eyes. "Harry... what makes you think I'm gonna crawl through that window and go out at two in the morning where rapist, racist, and policeman which are kinda the same category roam?" Gardenia questioned him and Harry wraps his arms around her. "You'll be safe with me, we're just gonna drive around and if you don't feel comfortable I'll bring you back. I just want to... spend some time with you without no one on our backs and it's just us." Harry says and Gardenia hates how she liked him much, she liked him a little bit too much and she didn't know if it was puppy love or real love but she felt both. Her grandfather told her stories all the time about love, she felt the love in the stories he told.
"Okay, let me put on some clothes." Gardenia smiled.
Harry sits on her bed and he grins, she walks into her closet and she throws on a hoodie, she throws on a beanie and some blue flared jeans then her converse. She walks out the closet and Harry lets out a low moan under his breath. "You always look good in everything you wear." Harry says getting up, she looks at what she's wearing. "Even if I'm dressed like a homeless person?" Gardenia questioned and Harry nodded.
Gardenia flicks her lamp off, Harry leads out the window first. They climbed down the side of the fire exits stairs that Gardenia didn't understand what they were until she got here but they were on the side of the building, all she could think if someone would sneak into her window, that someone was Harry but hopefully no one else.
Harry opens the passenger door for her and she gets into the car, she smiles as she watches him walk around and she unlock the door for him. He gets into the car and he smiles as he starts it up. "Any music request my dear?" Harry questioned and she hummed as she looked over at him. "I'm feelin' a Nina vibe." Gardenia smirked and Harry reaches into the back and grabs his Nina Simone tape. "Miss Nina it will be." He remarked and he put the tape in.
The tape starts playing and the first song that comes on is I Put a Spell on You. Harry drives and Gardenia loves Nina, she's the reason why Gardenia knew about herself and who she is because she grew up knowing that being black was bad and people didn't love her because she was black. She hated herself because she was black and she didn't realize that she loved being black until she was fourteen years old. A simple live show of Nina playing the piano made her realize.
Gardenia leans back in the seat and she smiles as goosebumps formed onto her arm as Nina sings. "She has a lot of live shows in New York. Maybe when she comes back we can go see her, we can bring our friends along. I want to bring my friend Peter and you can invite Batya as well or anyone else." Harry says and Gardenia gasped because she'd really like that. "Yeah, I would love that and I can invite my friend Gordon as well?" Gardenia asked him and Harry nodded. "Of course, I know who that lad is. I haven't seen him since Grade eleven. He dropped out last year. He's the one who painted all the murals around the school."
Gardenia's mouth parted because Gordon was extremely talented because she always stares at his murals around the school. "Oh, yeah, he's the sweetest and he likes Nina too." Gardenia says and Harry smiles as he stops at a light, he looks over at her and Gardenia was singing her heart out.
Harry grabs her hand and he holds it, he stares at her and sees the bruise stretching to her neck and it made him angry again because why on earth would someone want to hurt someone as precious and sweet as she was? He kissed her hand and the light turned green, Harry's feet eased off of the break.
Harry wanted to take her somewhere that he knew they would be safe at and it was a diner that stayed open through the entire night. He stopped in front of the diner and Gardenia looks at the diner, she looks over at him because she wasn't so hungry. "We can get some hot chocolate here." Harry says as he turns the car off, Gardenia nodded and she slides out on his side so he didn't have to walk around and open the door for her but he would have done it anyway.
They walk in and Harry ordered them two hot chocolates and they sat at a table further back, Gardenia laid her head against his shoulder as they waited and he played with her hands. "Does your Dad hit you like this all the time?" Harry questioned and Gardenia nodded as she looks at Harry, she wipes her face as she sniffles. "He always hit me and my sister all the time, he used to hit my Mom all the time too but he stopped when she started working. He has never laid a finger on Bear because my Momma said she would leave him if he ever laid a finger on Bear. I don't understand why she wouldn't say the same thing about me." Gardenia explained and Harry kissed her head as he rubbed her back, she flinched and he sighs as he lifts her hoodie up slightly and there was a bruise on her back. "You need to tell someone." Harry urged.
Gardenia had no one here, she had no family to talk to and if she did talk to any authorities then foster care she would go and no one wants a black girl who's seventeen years old. "Who Harry? Besides, I have to stick this out until June and then I'm free from them and I'm gonna live my own life." Gardenia says and Harry kisses her cheek and behind her ear as he hugs her. "I can't bare you living like this." He whispers and Gardenia closes her eyes as she sighs. "I know but you don't make it so bad." Gardenia mumbled and Harry stroked her hair.
They got their hot chocolate and Harry got a hot towel, he rests the towel onto her back.
Harry stares at her as she drinks her hot chocolate, the steam consuming her from her mug. "What are your dreams?" Harry asked her and Gardenia looked at him with a small smile. "To be a doctor, of course, I want to work my way up to chief of hospital. I want to save lives and I want to live in a beautiful house, I want a..husband and a kid or two. I want my little Bear to be with me because I love him so much that I don't think I can live without him." Gardenia explained and Harry nodded with a smile.
Harry hummed and he looked at Gardenia, he moved the hot towel on her lower back to make sure he got the bruising good enough. "I can see that." Harry smiled and Gardenia sleepily smiled as she laid her head against his arm. "Can I ask you something.. I wanted to wait and ask if you want to.. But I don't think I can. D-Do you want to be my girlfriend but separately... you're my girlfriend but to your parents... I'm just a boy that's a friend so when they do ask... I'm just Harry but to you, I'm your boyfriend Harry." Harry says and Gardenia giggled because he was such a dork, he didn't seem like one when you look at him but he was.
Gardenia grabbed his hand, she smiled so big and it eased Harry's head so much. "I would love to be your girl that's a friend that's actually your girlfriend." Gardenia grinned and Harry kissed her cheek and he hugged her. "I'm so glad, you're my first..." Harry started blushing so hard and Gardenia's mouth parted. "I'm your first? I thought you dated girls before me?" Gardenia questioned and Harry shakes his head as he frowned. "The girls I was with before.. we never really made it to becoming girlfriend and boyfriend. It was a thing for a couple of weeks or so but they only liked me for a moment. They got what they wanted and bloody left me hanging as if I don't matter. Even Helena.. she didn't like me for me, she only likes the thought of me, the thought of me wrapped around her finger."
Gardenia never had a boyfriend either of course and she was happy that Harry was first but she really hoped that he would be her only. "Forget about those other girls because you have me now. I would never hurt you." Gardenia assures him and he believes her because Gardenia wouldn't intentionally ever hurt a soul, ever.
Harry drinks some of his hot chocolate and he presses his forehead against Gardenia's forehead as he gazes into her eyes. She smiles because her Grandpa wasn't lying when he said that love was the most amazing feeling in the world. Harry's fingers played with her little hair in the back of her head. "I want to take you somewhere.." Harry says and Gardenia nodded her head slowly. "But you have to trust me." Harry added and Gardenia bites her lip because she trusted him. "I trust you." She tells him and he kisses her cheek then he gets up, he holds out his hand and she takes his hand.
Harry drags her out of the diner and they go back to his car. They get into his car and he drives off.
"There's this place that I go to a lot, it's one of the best places in the entire world. It's my favorite place because people can be whoever they want to be and they show it off. You're from Texas, people don't like queer people over there." Harry says and Gardenia shakes her head. "Yeah. I never saw the problem with gay people or anyone in the LGBT community." Gardenia says and Harry grinned as he nudged his shoulder with his. "Then you'll like this place love, it's the best place to be at this time of night."
Harry drives for another ten minutes and he parks his car in front of an abandoned building. They get out of the car and Harry takes a look at Gardenia. "Okay.. before we go in here, you're gonna have to remove the hat and don't look less like a homeless person." Harry says and Gardenia takes her hat off sassily. "Ouch." She sassed.
"You don't want to get read don't you?" Harry questioned.
Gardenia tilts her head as she licks her lips. "What?" She retorted and Harry starts fixing her hair then he looks at what she has on, he smirked. "May I?" He asked her as he pointed towards her buttons in her hoodie. "You shall." Gardenia remarked and Harry undoes them almost halfway, he pulls the opening to wear it rested in her shoulders and she gasped. "Harry, I don't wear bras." She mumbled and he fixes the hoodie. "That's alright, that's how the look works. I go to a lot of underground fashion shows with my sister and I saw this look on a girl, I'm kinda obsessed with it." Harry explained and he takes a look at what she got on, his eyebrows lifted and he bites his lip as he hummed.
Gardenia rested her hand on her exposed stomach. "Harry." She stares and he shrugged as he reached behind her, opened the back seat door. He takes out some round shades and puts them on Gardenia. "Now you look like a million bucks." Harry says and Gardenia gives an over-shoulder look as she tipped the glasses down a little to show her dazzling brown orbs. "Do I really?" She teased and Harry nodded as he undies his buttons halfway on his shirt then he rakes his curls back then he held out his arm. "C'mon, love." He smiles and they walk down the sidewalk then they walk into a building.
Loud disco music, people clapping and yellow. Harry pushes open the double doors and Gardenia gasped as her lips curved into a wide smile. People of color were everywhere. From black, brown and yellow as well. People wore those clothes that she didn't know exist, men wore silk and makeup which was also something she has never seen.
It was a ball, a competition ball with people predominantly from the LGBT community including the black, brown and yellow community come to unite and battle with each other from different houses and groups. People wore these different outfits that Gardenia has never seen before, she grins as she looks around. Everyone says hi to Harry, he was the two percent white population in the ball and he was never uncomfortable coming here, in fact, he envied everyone in here. He even participates in different contest and has been participating since he was fourteen years old. "Harry, baby, how ya doin'?" A very handsome black guy wearing denim on denim says as he hugs Harry. "I'm doing good Sugg, I'm here to watch and hopefully to walk if there's a category for me." Harry grinned as he rubs Sugg's shoulders as he smiled.
Sugg looks at Gardenia and his eyes widen, they were such sparkly brown eyes and he smiles. Sugg was a dark-skin handsome man, he had these long eyelashes, blonde dyed hair that was cut in a fade, he had lip gloss on and glittery eyeshadow. Gardenia thought he was so interesting to look at, she was captivated. "This is the pretty Gardenia you've been talking about, she's just so damn gorgeous." Sugg says hugging her and she hugs him back tubby as she rubs his back. "Hello, you look so amazing." She grinned with a chuckle and Sugg sassily tilts his head as he batted his eyelashes. "Why thank you, I recognize that little ole accent, let me guess you from South?" Sugg questioned her and Gardenia giggles. "Yes, I'm from Texas."
"I knew it, you got that southern twang about you that I can't describe." Sugg says and Harry winked at Harry. "She's such a doll, a true southern belle." Harry says resting his hand on her lower back, Gardenia's cheeks warmed as she looked between the two. "I try." She chuckled and Sugg motions for them to follow him and Gardenia grins as she looks at Harry.
"The category is the belle of the ball."
Gardenia stood beside Harry as they watched people walk down tk the judges. They had on these pretty pink dresses and suits. Gardenia stares in amazement. Harry smiles as he looks at her, he rubs the small of her back. "What do you think, lovely?" He asked her and Gardenia looked at him, she grinned and giggles in happiness. "This is so amazing, all these people look like me... there are so many women... Afros, curves, and skin dark as mine.. this is nice." Gardenia sighed at the end.
Harry stood behind her and they watched all the people walk and compete, different groups and houses. Gardenia was smiling ear to ear, Harry kissed behind her ear as he held her gently. She turns around and she grins. "What if one day... I walk?" Gardenia questioned and Harry smiled. "You would win in a heartbeat because you're absolutely gorgeous." He grinned and Gardenia shrugged a little because she didn't think so. Harry presses his forehead against hers. "What is with the shrug? You would win, you don't think you would?" Harry pressed and Gardenia shakes her head. Harry rubs her back softly as he held her, he shakes his head. "If only you could see yourself through my eyes, you would be so amazed." Harry says and Gardenia grinned as she slowly nodded her head, she kisses his cheek and she hugs him.
This was by far the best day of her life, she hasn't felt so loved in such a long time. She may have been losing sleep and she was hurting but at the end it was worth it. Gardenia thought it was too soon but like her Grandpa always said it was never too soon for love. Gardenia was in love with Harry and Harry felt the same but possibly even more because he can't resist the power that Gardenia had over him that no one ever had before and he loved it, he loved how weak he was for her. It was scary because he'd do anything for her.
I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will uploading the second chapter tomorrow because I did say I was gonna do double updates.
Next chapter is... gonna be something...