Evelyn
"This is an important fight, Vincent will be there, are you sure you want to go?" Harry asks me as he informs me that the man I have been trying to avoid for all these past months is going to be present on his fight.
I have successfully managed to never see him again after that dreadful night at the warehouse, but he is still a constant presence in my dreams. Although I know I can't avoid him forever, I was trying to delay that encounter for as long as possible.
Tonight, I don't think I will be able to escape.
Harry had an important fight which I was planning on attending. Not that I like to watch him fight, if I could choose he would never fight again, but that is not up to me to decide. The last fight I attended was a rather smooth one, if we ignore the Jenna drama.
Hopefully tonight there will be no crazy ex, only a crazy gang member who tried to kill me once, which isn't also a great option.
"He won't do anything to you, you're totally safe I promise you." Harry looks deeply into my eyes and I know he is telling the truth.
He would never tell me to go if he knew I was in danger. That's why I am so inclined to go, what can go wrong?
"I know, I will go." I assure him.
After spending more than a week at his house, tonight we were going back to my small studio, mostly because we wanted to spend some time alone. After the initial shock Claire was under yesterday after Vanessa's visit, Claire went back to work today and seemed more relaxed than she had been.
I still hadn't had the chance to properly talk to her, but since I won't be doing much work until I have Mandy's final decision, I am going to spend a lot of time with Claire at her house. It doesn't make much sense for me to stay home alone all day when I can come here and be with Harry's family which is slowly becoming so important to me.
"We need to leave soon." Harry informs me and I nod.
As I had mentioned, I spent most of my time in his house, and slowly I was bringing more and more belongings here. If at first I only had a borrowed toothbrush, now I have a full drawer in his wardrobe to store some of my clothes, as well as half of a shelf in the bathroom for my beauty products.
Today we had spent most of the day at home, so I didn't really take off my pyjama, so I decide to quickly chose an outfit to wear for the fight tonight. I never know what to wear to attend a fight, mostly because all the other girls wear outfits as if they were going on a night out, something I don't find fitting.
"You need to pack clothes as well." I inform Harry as I watch him place his training outfit inside his gym bag.
"What?" He asks confused.
"Yeah, you're sleeping at mine tonight, right?" I ask a little embarrassed that he forgot about it.
After we were interrupted yesterday there was this sexual tension lingering in the air, but unfortunately, we couldn't do anything to change it. His mom and Collin were home and I wouldn't feel comfortable in having sex with them right next door.
"Oh yes, I definitely am." He says quickly tossing another t-shirt and some shorts inside his gym bag. "I think we have some unfinished business uh?" He winks at me as I remove the t-shirt I was wearing, which belongs to Harry, replacing it with a comfortable light pink wool sweater.
"I think we do." I bite my lip as I slide the shorts down my legs, feeling his stare on me the whole time.
"I don't think you are ready for what I'm going to do to you tonight..." Harry softly whispers, as he approaches me, not letting me put on my jeans.
His big hands hold my waist, pushing me gently against the wall as I wrap my hands around his neck bringing our faces together. "What are you doing to me then?" I press a quick kiss against his lips earning a soft moan as a response.
"I'm going to fuck you so hard you won't even be able to walk tomorrow." I gasp with his words, bringing his lips to mine, this time in a passionate kiss.
If before I wasn't a big fan of dirty talking, with Harry that is a whole different story.
"Good thing I don't have any plans tomorrow." I whisper during the kiss as he pulls me up, as I open my legs for him to fit in the middle of them.
I know we don't have much time right now, but I need to have some sort of contact with him now or I won't be able to function properly for the rest of the night. Turns out that after more than a week of barely being able to touch each other, it has increased the sexual tension between us.
It's almost unbearable at this point.
Considering I have only my underwear on, it is very easy for me to feel the friction Harry creates by brushing his length over my clothed center. I am so sensitive I could come only by doing this with him. "Harry..." I firmly hold the back of his neck, tangling my fingers on his short curls.
"We are going to be late." And just like that, Harry puts me down once more and I feel an unbearable coldness when his body leaves mine.
"You can't do this and walk away from me." I complain frustrated keeping my back against the cold wall.
"Baby as much as I would like to fuck you against the wall, that would make me very late for the fight." Harry leans in my direction to give me a quick peck on my lips, keeping an amused grin on his face.
So he is enjoying this, uh?
"Maybe later I won't be in the mood." I shrug finally picking up my mom jeans, sliding my legs into them effortlessly buttoning them at the front, tucking my blouse inside them.
I notice how Harry keeps looking at me, trying to decipher my expression. I doubt that I will be able to resist him after the fight, but he needs to taste a little of his own medicine.
"We will see about that, Eve." He bites his lip, tossing his gym bag over his shoulder. "Are you ready?"
This is going to be a long night, especially considering how sexually frustrated I am. This never happened to me, but I'm discovering a completely new side of me when I am with Harry.
A very horny side.
"Yeah." I clear my throat trying to keep these thoughts away from my head, following him outside of the bedroom.
Claire and Collin were in the living room cuddling on the sofa watching some cheesy romantic comedy. They looked so relaxed and happy, it was a rare moment and I end up wishing we could stay here for the night and join them in this family activity.
"Are you going already?" Claire almost jumps when she realizes our presence, pausing the film when she notices we are standing on the doorway ready to say goodbye.
"Yeah, I have to be there at ten." Harry explains, not saying where he is going so Collin won't be able to hear it.
I'm sure he knows his brother is involved in something, but maybe he doesn't know it is illegal. "We're staying at Eve's tonight, so don't worry if we don't show up here later tonight." Harry says and I notice how Claire's expression changes drastically, even if she tried to hide it.
"Oh... Alright, I was getting used to have you two here." She quickly says, showing us a small smile.
There is something wrong with her, and it's killing me not knowing what it is. Claire has been more closed off than what is usual for her, but I will try to find out what is happening with her, hopefully she will tell me.
"It's just for tonight." I quickly tell her. "I will continue to come here regularly don't worry." I smile, feeling Harry's arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.
"Call me if you need anything." Harry tells his mom, blowing a kiss shyly in her direction.
"Goodnight Harry, and be careful." Claire worriedly says.
"Goodnight." Collin says a little annoyed by the fact we are interrupting the film he was watching.
A few minutes later we were already in the car, on our way to the gym where the fight would take place. It was not on one of the usual places he uses to fight, as this was going to take place on the South gang territory. At least that's what Harry explained to me earlier today.
I have never imagined I would someday be familiar with how a gang works, but this was nothing like the films, and I was thankful for it. Maybe that is because Harry isn't actually a part of the gang, but more like a pawn in their game, I only hope it remains that way.
"Harry... Can I ask you a question?" I say ending the silence.
If there is something I have gathered about Harry, after knowing him for a few months is that he likes to get ready mentally for a fight. A lot of his capacities are due to his amazing physical skills, but a lot of his wins are thanks to how calculative and observing he is. Probably he was driving and thinking about what was the best way to defeat his opponent.
"Sure." He says but I know that deep inside he is apprehensive about the question I'm going to ask.
There is a lot I still don't know about this whole fighting thing. At the beginning I never asked because the less I knew the better, but lately there has been so many obstacules to our relationship that this was probably the last thing on my mind.
"Does your mom know that you fight for a gang?" This was actually not the question I was planning to ask, but depending on his answer I will decide if I should ask the other question or not.
Harry furrows his eyebrows never looking back at me. "No, she doesn't, she just knows that I fight."
Alright, he is not in a bad mood to answer questions, I think it is safe to simply go ahead.
"Because you didn't always fight for the North gang... Right?" I wait until he nods to finish the question. "How did you end up working for them?"
Vincent and other members of the gang were after Harry when I had already met him, so whatever happened between them, it was rather recently. One day Vincent was after Harry, beating him up and in the other he was fighting for them, as if they were friends.
What happened in the first place? And why did Harry give in?
Harry still struggles with honesty and opening up to me, but I really hope he tells me this. I hate being in the dark and I think I deserve to know a little more about this. After all, we are talking about a gang that probably has weapons and a million different ways to kill us if they want to.
"Oh..." He sighs. "It's not a big deal actually." Harry shrugs looking a little uncomfortable.
I really hate pushing people too much, but I think I have the right to make questions now, especially when they also concern me. We are no longer strangers, we are in a relationship together, that should be an enough reason for him to tell me a little more about certain things.
"It must be, otherwise you wouldn't end up working for them." I try to keep my voice low and calm.
The last thing I want right now it start a fight with him, and I will keep that in mind for the rest of the night. We have fought too much other the last weeks, way more than I ever did, but thankfully we worked things out in the end.
"Do you remember that day you were at my house and I showed up badly beaten? It was the second time we saw each other?" Harry asks and I quickly nod.
How could I forget that day? I was both so scared but curious at the same time. I knew it was wrong but I still stayed and helped him take care of his wounds.
I'm glad I stayed, because even though it is not easy to be in a relationship with Harry, it is also so rewarding in the end. We are both learning and discovering each other, and it was been a strange but wonderful journey.
"That day I did something wrong, I don't even know why I did it in the first place." Harry admits, keeping his eyes locked on the road ahead of him. I place my hand over his, in an effort it would give him some incentive to keep talking.
No matter what it is, I'm here by his side. I have found out things about him that I never thought I would tolerate. But then, love truly makes you blind, and I'm able to forgive so many things, even if I know they are completely wrong.
I think it is mostly because I know who the true Harry is, when he is with me he is not the person who fights other people or that works for a gang.
He is my sweet Harry, my shy and awkward boy which I have grown to love.
"Yes? You can tell me you know that, right?" I tighten the grip on his hand, bringing it to my lips, pressing a short kiss on his skin.
"I was training that afternoon, like I always do and one of Vincent's associates came to me asking me to join them. It was not the first time I would fight with someone from either the South or the North gang, but joining them was not an option. I was part of the Manchester gang while I lived there and it was the worst experience of my life, I just wanted to stay away from that mess." He explains and I nod, not saying a word hoping he would continue.
"It's just messy, it's similar to selling your soul to the devil. Nothing they can give you is worth more than your freedom, but in my case I didn't really have a chance." I feel my heart tighten inside my chest, already knowing this will leave me heartbroken.
"They kept bothering me for so long, and in that day I just snapped. Turns out this associate was not alone and by the time I had beaten up badly, the other two showed up and tried to do the same to me. Thankfully I had agreed to meet with Jay and they left when he showed up, promising to make my life a living hell. Turns out the first guy ended up paralysed below his waist and they weren't happy about it."
He was so badly beaten that day, I remember how his torso was full or bruises and cuts. "But you didn't give in right away, right?"
I ask remembering how Vincent took him away on the day we had lunch together, after going to court. How I hide myself on the toilet, coming back to the restaurant only to be welcomed by a threatening note. They kept following him for a little while longer after that, Harry even had to go away for a while to ease the tension between them.
But when he returned, he was already fighting for them, Harry became their Golden boy, so what changed in that short time?
"No, I didn't want any of that but they kept finding me and beating me. And they even found you and where I lived. I guess that is not a hard thing to do when you control the city." I gulp feeling my throat get suddenly dry.
"Why did you give in?" I ask shifting my position on my seat not sure if I'm ready to hear what he is going to say.
"They told me I had to choose, either I joined them or they would hurt me." He tightens the grip of his hand around the steering wheel. "But when they found out that it wouldn't make me give in, they decided to hurt me where it hurts the most."
I remain silent waiting for him to continue. "They could have just killed me for what I had done to a member of their gang, but no. Do you remember that time I had to go away for a while?" I simply nod. "Well I was supposed to stay away for a few weeks just until things have settled down."
"But you didn't." I finish his sentence.
"I didn't. They kept sending me photos of my mom doing her daily chores, of my brother going to school, they kept watching them and telling me how I was going to regret not joining them." I can't imagine receiving threats from very dangerous people saying how they were going to hurt your loved ones, it must be terrible.
"They also sent me photos of you, they thought we were together at the time and they made sure to follow you around. I kept receiving threatening messages saying how they were going to hurt you and I just couldn't let that happen, to none of you."
"So you joined them." I blur out watching him slowly nod.
"I came back early and they assigned me as their main fighter. They already knew I was good as I had defeated several of their own fighters in the past." He sighs. "And here I am, trapped with them for longer than I would like, afraid that if I mess up they will hurt you and my family." When he stops in a red sign, Harry finally looks at me.
"So that's why I have to win every single time I fight. I don't want to find what the consequences are, I did that once and I regretted it deeply." I remember how he lost a fight when we were not in the best terms after I found out he had arranged to fight Noah without my knowledge and how he had murdered someone seven years ago.
It is still hard for me to look at Harry and think he killed someone with his bare hands. I know he was out of himself, it was all Howards fault for having drugged Harry to a point where he had lost consciousness of himself. But Harry was still the one who did it, and that is a burden he will carry on for the rest of his life.
"And they did hurt me in the end." I say, not as a way to make Harry feel bad, but it was the truth. He joined them to make sure we were safe, even if at the time he didn't have any obligation towards me, but Vincent still managed to hurt me.
"Well about that..." Harry says and I already know something not good is coming out of his mouth. "After that night Vincent took you, I made another deal with him." I furrow my eyebrows not getting where he is trying to go with this conversation.
What could he possibly have done more?
"What did you do?" I ask afraid.
"Let's just say that what I had with Vincent and the gang was like a contract. After a few years I was free, do you understand?" I doubt that it really works as a contract, I feel like Vincent does whatever he wants to, even if that is not what is agreed by both parts.
"Yes?" I ask afraid.
"But when Vincent took you, I found out in the worst way that they still could harm you or my family if they just wanted, even if that was the reason why I joined them in the first place." He explains. "So I had to make another deal with them, making sure they would never hurt you or my family."
"What did they ask you in exchange?" This doesn't sound good at all.
"Let's just say I did sell my soul to the devil, and there is no escaping now." I feel the air escaping my lungs for a while, afraid that this means what I think it does. "I'm trapped with them forever, at least until I am alive."
"But-" I begin a sentence but I'm unable to finish it. I don't even know what to say, why didn't Harry tell me about this before? I would rather get hurt than being the reason why Harry is stuck in the gang.
"When I'm no longer fit to fight they will find me another position doing whatever they find fit for me. This is a dream for many people who desperately want to be a part of the gang, but not me." Harry says defeated.
Harry is driving, but that doesn't stop me from holding his face turning it around to face me when we are in a almost desert street. "This can't be right Harry, you can't be tied with them forever, there must be a way to end it!"
We must be getting closer to the gym because I notice how he starts driving slowly, as if he was trying to prolong the drive. "The only way to end it is if I die, there is no other way to escape it."
"What if you want to move on with your life? You can't fight forever!" This is just too much to handle, Harry shouldn't be going through this.
"I can't. This is the price I have to pay to make sure those I love are safe, and I will rather be stuck in this forever than seeing you hurt." Harry stops the car totally in the middle of the road, cupping my cheeks with his big hands.
"You deserve more than this..." I sigh frustrated, this can't be how things end for him.
Harry is so young, this has been his life for longer than it should be.
I had already pictured a future with him, can you blame me? And in that future he no longer fought, he had found a normal job, we no longer had to worry about being chased by Vincent, and I no longer had to worry about Harry coming home all bruised and hurt.
But now that is nothing but a dream, a very distant dream.
"There must be a way to-" Harry doesn't let me finish, closing the small space between us with a long-lasting kiss.
I almost forget what I was saying when I feel his tongue battle with mine. His hands travel through my body, holding my waist firmly as my hands move to cup his cheeks, moving closer to him.
"I would do it all over again, I would sell my soul to the devil if that meant you, my mom and Collin were safe." I know he is being honest, Harry values family so much, it was probably this trait of his personality that made me fall in love with him even more.
But he shouldn't be trapped because of us, that is just unfair.
"Harry..." I shake my head as our foreheads remain together. "There must be something we can do... Maybe runaway?" I speak without even thinking about the consequences of that action.
Harry chuckles with my words. "They would find a way to find us even if we hid in the middle of nowhere."
In my defence, it was a good idea.
"I love you, and you don't have to worry about me. This has been my life for years, I'm used to it by now, I'm just sorry I can never give you a normal life." He presses a kiss on the tip of my nose. "I will never have a nine to five job, we will never be able to have holidays and I will never give you a stable life."
I don't want a normal life, I just want Harry safe by my side.
"But I will love you with all my heart, and hope that is enough to keep you by my side."
I shake my head brushing our noses against each other. "I will always be by your side." I promise him.
We have come too far for me to give up on us, that is just not an option now.
"I'm sorry... Maybe I should have told you this earlier but-" I place a finger over his lips gesturing him to stop.
"You should, but it wouldn't change anything." Yes, this was a shocking information but what would I do? He would still do everything in his power to protect me and his family, even if I begged him not to do anything.
"We're late..." Harry whispers but none of us move, we are too lost in each other's eyes.
"I know..." I whisper as well smiling at him. "We need to go, right?" I ask and he nods, but then again, we don't move a single finger.
"We should go, yeah." He chuckles softly kissing my lips, causing that lovely feeling of butterflies on my stomach.
After a while simply refusing to move away from this position, Harry is the first one to give up and resume the drive. It only takes us three more minutes to arrive in front of the gym, but this time Harry parks his car in the side of the building, probably to avoid the crowd already gathered inside of the gym.
Usually we arrive before anyone else, but today the gym looks already packed, maybe we are even the last ones to arrive. "Do you still have time to train before the fight?" I know how he likes to practice for a while and im afraid he won't be able to do it today because of our long conversation.
"I hope so, but don't worry about it." I nod as we get out of the car, our hands finding each other in a matter of seconds. We walk inside the gym through the side door, avoiding the crowd of people.
The fighting ring is still empty, but the gym is already packed. People are gathered around not only the bar but also the betting area. But before we could even get close to his changing room, I spot a familiar figure in the middle of the crowd, and I notice how he was watching us the whole time since we arrived.
Harry notices his presence as well, tightening the grip on my hand. "He won't hurt you, remember that." He whispers as Vincent excuses himself from the conversation he was having, beginning to walk in our direction.
Oh no.
"Well... My favourite love birds have arrived. Long time no see, Evelyn." Vincent says keeping his eyes locked with mine. "We have a lot to catch up, uh?"
*
This chapter wasn't supposed to end like this but oh well! I can't believe we made it to chapter 50, it's such an achievement for me haha
Are you surprised by Harry's revelation? Do you think he will ever be free?
And do you think Vincent is going to do? Does he have anything planned?
We have reached 50k reads and I can't believe it, I am so thankful for every single one of you for taking time to read what I write! I hope I'm not letting you down <3
I will see you soon!