My mother hadn't known about me getting fired until I'd told her this morning.
She'd just assumed I was on a little vacation but never thought to ask any questions. So when she walked through that door, she was surprised to see me laying on my couch, scrolling through my phone on my Twitter feed instead of working in my office.
"Que paso? Porque no estás trabajando?" (What happened? Why aren't you working?)
"Me corrieron." (They fired me)
I'll admit, I was a bit embarrassed to say this to my mother. Which is why I'd kept it from her for the past couple of days.
My parents have always been the silent but judgmental type. If I tell my mother something, she'll pretend like what she heard wasn't disappointing but deep down it is.
She bombarded me with questions about how I was going to find another job and how I should instead stay at home to take care of Lenny while Harry does all the working.
I grew up watching the pressure of my father working for his entire family and I could never stay home and have Harry do all the work. Not to mention we don't even live together anymore which means I have to earn money for myself and for my own house now.
After kindly reminding her that Harry and I weren't living together she shook her head at me and sighed, "Pues, no se que decirte, Nina"
(Well, I don't know what to tell you, Nina.)
I was afraid she'd bring up Harry too because I wouldn't know how to explain having him by my side for the past few days.
She's definitely convinced we're together again, that's for sure.
But one thing I'm not sure of is where Harry and I stand.
After last night, I'm not sure what I wanted us to be nor how to feel. It might be a little too soon to determine what we are.
I've got so much love for Harry. I always have and that's a feeling that I know will never disappear.
But being in love is a completely different story and I'm so fucking confused about my emotions due to the fear of fucking everything up again.
Which leads me to where I am now, with Lenny playing with her doll set she'd gotten from her birthday as we waited for Harry to come back.
She was really excited about the fact Harry would be staying for a few days. Telling me how it'd be like when we all used to live together.
But mid conversation, the door unlocks and we both turn our heads to watch Harry walk though the door. A light gasp slipping from my lips as I take notice of Harry's bruising face and cut lip.
Getting up from my seat, I walk over to him in confusion. He looked like he'd gotten into a bad fight. "What the hell happened?"
Harry avoids my eyes, an angry look on face as he remains quiet. His nose is flared in anger, his jaw is clenched, defining his jawline and his eyebrows are furrowed in a frustratingly manner.
"Harry." I repeat waiting for him to finally explain. He takes a seat on the chair, setting the bags of breakfast down on the table. I look over to Lenny who is staring up at the both of us in confusion and worry within her big eyes. "Lenny, why don't you take your breakfast into your room while we setup a movie for us to watch."
Lenny gives me a nod and I hand her the bag of pancakes and her drink. She stares a little longer at Harry though, possibly waiting for him to greet her before Harry pulls a small forced smile, and wraps his arms around her for a tight hug. He places a kiss on her head before Lenny runs away with her breakfast.
I sigh deeply and take a seat across Harry, staring at him while and remains silent. "Are you going to tell me what happened?" I start off. I notice the cut on his lip and the bruising starting to form on the corner of his cheekbone before I reach over and tilt his chin towards me. "Please, look at me..." I whisper. "What happened?"
Harry's green eyes softens under my touch as they meet mine.
When he's angry, he's quiet. This is something I'd learned being with Harry for so many years. It would get kind of frustrating in the at first as it was harder to read him. He's quite the opposite of me. Whereas I on the other hand, have always been more outspoken about how I felt.
I'm waiting for him to respond patiently, giving him the time he needs before he speaks up. "Ethan." He says.
What?
"Ethan?" I repeat, my voice a little more stern. "What do you mean Ethan? Did he fucking do this?"
Harry looks up at me and I remove my hands away from his face, sitting up in shock. "What the actual fuck. Where was this?"
"Saw him in the parking lot diner. He came up to me and he just said a bunch of shit. I had to do it." He says looking back down. "Doesn't matter now. It's not a big deal, I'm fine."
"Harry, go look in a fucking mirror and see what he did to you. This is not okay." I say in a stern tone. "Let's see what that son of a bitch says when my fist is in his fucking face." I say grabbing my jacket hanging off the chair to slip it on. "Let's see how he likes it."
Harry shakes his head and grabs my arm, stopping me from going any further. "Nina no, I gave him what he deserved. You don't have to do anything. Don't need you to get hurt."
"You what?" I saw, my jaw dropping in shock. "What do you mean you gave him what he deserved?"
Harry has never been a person to choose violence over anything no matter the situation. The fact that he's sitting right in front of me and telling me he punched Ethan would be hard to believe. But he's look dead serious at the moment.
"I punched him back. He was on the floor when I left him." Harry mutters. "Think I broke his nose."
My mouth curls up to a smile as I let out a laugh. "You did what now?"
"I've punched him." He repeats. "That fucking prick doesn't know when to shut the hell up. I wasn't going to just stand there and let him say shit about you. God, not to mention he's a sexist piece of shit." Harry shakes his head.
Holy crap. Harry punched someone.
He punched someone to defend me.
I blink a couple of times, still a little stunned about what had just come out of his mouth. "What did he say?" I ask.
Harry looks up at me with a look of hesitation before looking away from my eyes. "Just a bunch of bullshit I don't need to repeat. He was just pissing me off and I know that-"
I interrupt engulfing Harry into a giant hug which he doesn't expect at first. His body goes tense before he his face falls into my shoulder and I squeeze him tighter, careful not to touch the bruise forming on face.
"You didn't have to do that." I whisper to him.
"Yes, I did Nina." He responded. "And he deserved way more than what I gave him."
"You got hurt." I respond with a frown. "I don't like seeing you hurt."
I hear him inhale a deep sigh and I shut my eyes, listening to his heartbeat increase.
"I'm okay, baby." Harry says. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine, see?" He pulls away for me to take a look at his face.
He definitely seemed a lot calmer than before he walked through that door. But it still makes me worried about his well being.
Ethan was a prick.
It was frustrating to have him keep doing shit like this just because I'd turned him down.
This man really doesn't know what no means.
I stare down at Harry's cheekbone and bleeding lip before take his hand into mine. "Let me get you some ice and something to get you cleaned up." I mumble, letting go and walking to the fridge. "God, I hate him."
"Me too..." Harry agrees as I grab an ice pack and a wet rag before taking a seat and asking Harry to do the same.
I grab his chin and tilt it up towards me, handing him the ice pack. He brings it up to hold against his cheek and looks down at my hand as I gently press the rag against his lip. "That's gonna be a bad bruise." I tell him as I'm careful not to press too roughly.
Harry winces a bit before I let out a soft 'sorry' and continue to clean up the blood from his lip. Minutes go by and I can feel him staring down at me as I continue to heal him, my heart beginning to do cartwheels.
I put the rag beside me and my eyes glance over to his hands. It's not until I do this that I realize his knuckles are pretty messed up to. "Your fists are bloody." I point out.
"It's not my blood." He shrugs.
I'm not even sure what to respond to that but I have to admit that I honestly felt a sense of happiness and relief as he said those words.
I grasp his hand and pick up the rag again to run it across his knuckles, ensuring that the blood is completely off. Underneath, I'd uncovered the red of his fist, sure enough to leave bruising. Once they're completely clean, my hand remains holding his as I watch him remove the icepack from his face. Harry's eyes are still looking at me as we sit in silence.
Before I can even blink, he leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my lips, not caring about his injury. I place my hand onto his face, careful not to hurt him before I return the kiss.
The kiss didn't last long. It was soft and gentle and although it was short and sweet, it made my stomach flutter in a way I wouldn't be able to describe.
He pulls away before placing a kiss onto my forehead. "Thank you."
I shake my head, a smile pulling up to my lips. "I should be thanking you." I say running my fingers through his curls.
"You don't need to." Harry responds. "I've told you before and I'll say it again, Nina. I'd do anything for you."
I'm about to thank him but a loud drop to the floor sounds as we bring our attention towards the hall.
Peeking out is Lenny, shyly looking at us before Harry breaks into a grin. "Hi Lenny. Why are you hiding, hm?"
She slowly walks over to us, staring curiously at Harry's face before she finally asks her question. "What happened?"
It's clear that she's worried about her father and Harry's eyes frantically meet mine, his lips parting open and not exactly knowing what to say.
It's a little difficult to explain to a 5 year old that her father had gotten into a fight.
I shoot him a shrug before turning back to Lenny. "Daddy just got a little hurt. He'll be okay though, right?" I turn to Harry.
He nods in response and gives Lenny an apologetic smile before opening his arms. She gives him a long hug, squeezing him tightly and pulling away.
"Bring your breakfast over so we can watch a movie together." He says causing Lenny to run to her room and grab her stuff.
I take a deep sigh, turning over to the bag of food and taking our breakfast out. "It's hard to explain that to her."
"I know." He frowns. "I don't want her to think violence is ever the answer."
"It's not but funny you say that. When I was about Lenny's age, it was actually kinda common between me and Rosie. We'd beat each other up over everything." I say with a slight laugh. "I'd drag her by her the ends of her hair if she ever took anything of mine."
Harry tilts his head, seeming as if his deep in wonder. "Why?"
"I don't know. It would work in the Spanish soap operas my mom would watch. I guess I just did it out of rage and for dramatic affect." I confess. "And also because I just felt like doing something to piss her off."
I wasn't a bad kid. I think it's common for siblings to fight like that.
Harry cackles and shakes his head as Lenny returns with her food. She takes a seat and happily takes her pancakes out of the styrofoam box before eating them.
I go behind Harry, wrapping my arms around his torso from behind. "I'm just glad you're okay." I whisper before taking my own seat.
-
A/N:
Hi everyone!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I've been super busy with school and things have been super hectic
Question:
What's one thing that makes you happy?
I think music makes me pretty happy or writing. It makes me forget about everything going on in life.
Thank you for reading.
I love you all very much.
❤️
-n
Twitter: @svnflowerkiss