#keepmestrong

Whats love got to do with anything.

“Are you sure you won't come over tonight?” Harry wined, leaning over the counter as he continued to pester me at work.

I rolled my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time, I never realized having a boyfriend would mean so many heated conversations at Joe’s coffee house, while the settled customers listened in. It seemed like me and Harry had been spending almost every moment together since we became serious, and I think the worst part about that is it didn’t bother me in the slightest, until Lizzy brought to my attention I had been neglecting her, and so I made it my mission in life to see her ASAP. I’m guessing he noticed the shift in my mood, so he gave me a smile and pulled out a dollar from his pocket, I snatched it away and handed him his usual, a chocolate chip cookie, hastily tossing it into my till and giving him a fond smile.

“Well, will you text me later?” he asked, keeping his eyes locked with mine.

“I don’t see why not” I said with an over exaggerated sigh.

“Alright, babe” He glanced around slightly, most likely looking for customers who may have taken notice of our interaction, and leaned over pecking my lips softly and swiftly, before strolling out the door.

Lizzy met me after close at Joe’s, My formal apology consisted in a late and one of the Cranberry muffin’s that was leftover. We made the short walk back to my apartment in no time, shuffling up the stairs to my door.

“So, should I be expecting Harry waiting for us inside?” she joked, shoving another piece of muffin into her mouth.

“ Hardy har har,” I growled, fiddling with my keys “ He’s out with his buddies tonight.”

I opened the door, both of us shuffling inside shortly after. I slammed it closed after me, tossing my keys onto my coffee table as Lizzy skipped into my room, tossing her bag onto my bed and rushing to pick up Willis.

I grabbed a gatorade out of the fridge, cracking it open before strolling after her into my bedroom. I  placed my drink down on my dresser, opening the top drawer and pulling out one of harry’s shirts and some old shorts. I stripped my uniform off, demonstrating my comfortability with my best friend once again, and pulled my comfy cozy’s on, looking up at Lizzy afterwards, noticing the amused look on her face.

“What?” I questioned, my eyebrow arching slightly.

“ I didn’t realize Harry had moved in,” she smirked.

“He hasn’t” I shot back, my tone a little more abrupt then she was expecting.

“Oh please!” She scoffed, making a wide motion with her hands. “His cologne on the desk, his shirts in your draws, his tooth brush in the bathroom, you’re in a committed relationship.” I looked around as if I was seeing my room for the first time, and it seemed like all of Harry’s things were glowing bright red, I had never noticed so much of his stuff had made it into my apartment and taken up permanent residence. I don’t know why this made me feel angry, but it did. I felt claustrophobic all of a sudden, as if my walls were closing in on me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt as though I could scream, but instead I rolled my eyes as playfully as I could and dropped the subject all together. We talked for a while after that, about nothing of import, which was just the way we liked it.

I was startled by the sound of my front door closing, I shot up in bed and rubbed my eyes slightly, it took a minute for my brain to start working again, and I soon remembered that Lizzy had work this morning and had to head out early. I looked at the clock, 9 am on a Saturday is an awful time to be awake. I thought seriously about going back to sleep for a few minutes, but staring at Harry’s bottle of cologne across the room made me too restless not to get up. I threw the covers off of me and hung my legs over the side of the bed.  I reached over to the bedside table, grabbing my phone. I had a text from Harry, I thought about answering it for a long time, but instead I tossed it onto the bed and skipped into the kitchen.

I hadn’t realized I had fallen asleep until a I heard the ear splitting boom, I shot up so abruptly I knocked myself off my worn couch and smacked down hard on the wooden floor. I scurried to my feet, the gunshot sound sinking further into my mind as I rushed to the window, peaking through my blinds and looking for the source of the disturbance. I noticed a few men outside, just dark figures lost in the night, but the motionless body on the ground shook me to my core. I slammed my back against the wall next to the window, my heart pounding at the speed of light. I struggled to collect my thoughts as the sound of sirens got closer and closer. I rushed into my bedroom, retrieving my cell that had been ignored all day. No surprise that Harry had been blowing up my phone, most likely wondering why I hadn’t been answering his corny texts. My fingers fumbled as I searched for his number in my contacts, crushing the phone against my ear and I awaited his response.

“Look who finally decided to come out of hiding.” His voice sung on the other side of the line.

“Harry,” I almost sighed in relief, his voice giving a strange sense of comfort. “ Will you come over here, please?”

“Right now?” there was a short pause before he continued, “ It’s almost 1 in the morning.”

“Please?” I almost whispered, the voices outside my window growing louder as the sirens closed in.

“Sure, love” He said sweetly, his tone full of worry “are you alright?”

“Mhmm, just hurry please, and go in the back door.” I nodded for a moment to myself, before ending the call abruptly, shuffling to the window again and staring out the window, this time there were eyes staring back at me, one of the men being pushed up against the police car, an older gentleman, the lighting to dim to see his features, but I knew he saw me and I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that washed over me. I moved away from the window and sat down on my bed, all the colour draining from my face as I shook.

It wasn’t even half an hour later that there was a knock at my door, I forced myself out of bed and almost ran to the front door, fiddling with the dead bolt before pulling the door open, all the weight I had felt pressing on my shoulders lifted off of me. I had never been so happy to see anyones face as I was to see Harry’s. His features seemed to grow concerned as soon as he saw me, I probably looked like I had just been tortured. His hand rested on my cheek and I let out a sigh, leaning into him for a moment before taking his hand and pulling him passed the threshold so I could lock the door once again.

“ Bailey.. Babe, what’s wrong?” He almost whispers.

“I-I’m sorry.” I stammered, my eyes filling with tears.

“For what?” He seemed a little taken aback as I wrapped my arms around his neck, he easily lifted me off my feet, his hands placed firmly on my upper thighs as my legs hugged his waist.

“ I was being a crazy bitch… avoiding you because I’m crazy. “ I sobbed into his neck, all my emotions overflowing without my permission.

“Thats alright, Love.” He mumbled, slowly moving us into my room, sitting himself down on the edge and cradling me there for what seemed like forever.

I knew that Harry was anything but stupid, so I knew he was aware of the cop cars outside and that I asked him to come through the back door for a reason. He was good at putting 2 and 2 together. But, I appreciated him, not making me talk about it or admit I was afraid to be alone… because he knows that I have always made myself out to be just fine riding solo and that I didn’t need anyone to lean on, even though I’m not so sure I believe that anymore. I needed him right now, more then I needed my pride or stubbornness.

~SO its been a long time since I updated, If you wanna read the earlier chapters I've linked where you can find them down below. If you like it please let me know what you thought and maybe give it a like?