BULLETPROOF
A/N: *screams in excitement* its here!!! its finally here!!! im so happy i finally got to finish a longer fic without hitting rockbottom with it. this one was very easy to write, i think i was heavily inspired by the night agent series on netflix lol now im very excited for yall to read it!!
WORD COUNT: 12.5k
WARNING: gun use, getting shot, blood, stalking, bullying
SUMMARY: Being Eroda's first daughter is not all sunshine and rainbows. It's tough out there when people are so fast to judge you and turn their back on you. But there is one person who's been there for you all along. Your bodyguard, Harry.
MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!
The wine is nice. The salad is tragic, probably the worst you’ve ever had. You wonder how dessert will turn out to be, could be good or poisonous at this point.
The company?
Well, at least he is not staring at your breasts.
Going out with Jaiden sounded a lot more fun when he asked you out in the library, but now that you’ve been listening to him speak for the past thirty-two minutes, you’re counting it, he appears to be just another douche who wants to brag about you at the next frat party. He probably thinks he is doing well and he might get lucky once you leave the restaurant, but there are two reasons why that won’t happen.
One, you spotted some tomato sauce on his left hand before he left to the restroom and when he came back it was still there, he did not wash his hands and then touched the garlic bread. You’ve pushed the basket out of your view discreetly after that. It’s already a very strong point, but the second one is the real deal.
There is absolutely no way the three agents, one by the door, one by the window and one at two tables from you would be okay with assisting to your hookup. Well, it’s not that they would have a choice, if you think of it. But think about it: even if he weren’t a pig, this is how it would go.
Arriving to Jaiden’s building you would be told to wait outside with Morrison, while Jackson and Styles go up and check out Jaiden’s place. Then they would come down to get you. If the mood weren’t dead by this point, you’d have to go up and start the action with one agent down in front of the building, one by the front door and then the worst, you just know Styles would stand by the bedroom door like a statue, listening closely to everything happening inside.
Then when it would be over you’d have to leave with the three men around you and return to your place. Madness. Pure comedy.
“What do you think?”
Jaiden’s voice snaps you out of your thoughts about the ridiculous daydream of tonight and you realize you have no idea what he’s been talking about in the last seven minutes.
“Um, sorry?” you clear your throat, reaching for the wine.
“I was asking you about how…”
You look over his shoulder and spot Styles through the glass door, zoning out of the conversation in record time.
He is wearing civil clothes, all three of the agents are, that was the deal when you’re out somewhere, with friends or on a date which happen once in a leap year, to be honest. He’s wearing a black t-shirt with a black bomber jacket over, simple, dark jeans and trainers. You wonder if this is actually his style, if this is how he dresses when he is not on duty, when he is running errands or meeting up with his friends for drinks. You only see him when he is responsible for protecting you at all cost, he’s been head of your security team for the past two years and it’s been a rollercoaster of a ride.
He was a real pain in the ass at the beginning, he would jump at every possible noise, he dragged you out of class once because someone’s pen clicked louder than the usual. Fuck, you lost count of the times you screamed at him, asking what was his problem, if he lost his mind and every time he just stood there, like a fucking rock and then just nodded at the end and carried on with his nonsense.
It took some time and lots of communication to find balance. You realized he would never listen to you when you’re screaming from the top of your lungs and you had to accept that he is just doing his job. So you sat down with him and your father, the president of Eroda to talk about boundaries.
Things have been better since then and the two of you actually work well together. Most of the times.
He was next to you at every major event, ups and downs, he drove you home after you confronted your last serious boyfriend about how he cheated on you with three different girls, you sobbed like a baby and couldn’t even open the lock on your front door. He took the keys gently from your hand and did it for you. When you woke up in the morning the fridge was stocked with your favorites. You never asked, but you know he did it.
He has attended concerts and parties with you, shadowing you even when you had to get tampons in the middle of the night. You bet he knows what brand and size you use too at this point. As much as he’d gotten on your nerves millions of times… you like the guy. He is straight forward, always speaks his mind if asked, he sees things in a very rational way. He’s ambitious and hard-working and most of all, trustworthy.
He might actually be your best friend.
How tragic, you consider your head of security to be your best friend! This must be the end here…
“You’re really not listening, are you?” Jaiden laughs, but it’s dry, he looks pissed when you look back at him.
“Sorry, it’s been… a long week. And honestly, I kind of lost interest when you started talking about football, since I know nothing about it.”
“Wow, okay, so what were you expecting? Brainstorming about possible ways to stop the climate change?” he scoffs and you actually think about just standing up and leaving.
“No, but on a date you usually talk about things you both like. I guess we have nothing in common, then. So why don’t we—“
“You really know how to make people feel stupid.”
“Excuse me?” Your eyebrows shoot up, this is getting interesting.
“Just because daddy runs the country, doesn’t mean you’re above us all. Don’t have to be such a snob.”
“Oh, it wasn’t even me being a snob,” you retort with a forced smile as you grab your bag from the table and from the corner of your eyes you already see the agents moving. “It’s been a lovely evening, but I think we’re better as… I would say friends, but it wouldn’t be true. Bye, Jaiden.”
You stand and plan to march past him to meet Morrison and Jackson to head out, but Jaiden is not done, it seems. He jumps to his feet and his hand grabs your upper arm, pulling you back. He barely just opens his mouth when Hell breaks loose.
Morrison is first to get his hands on him, yanking him away from you while Jackson tears his hand off you, then it gets twisted behind him and Styles arrives, smacking your date up against the wall.
The whole restaurant is staring at you and you just want the ground to open beneath you.
You stop at your front door out of instinct, already knowing they have to sweep through the place before you could enter. Styles stands beside you and waits for Morrison and Jackson to return. When it’s confirmed you walk in, a blank look on your face.
“Have a nice night, guys. Thank you for tonight,” you tell them in a robotic voice. Morrison and Jackson says good night and you hear the door closing, but you know you’re not alone.
Styles stands by the door and you can feel him watching your every move as you put your heels away and take your earrings out.
“Are you gonna give me a lecture about choosing guys more wisely?” you ask, finally facing him. He’s standing with his hands clasped together at the front, his usual pose, but it’s a bit odd without his usual suit.
“No,” he answers shortly and you wait for him to say whatever is on his mind. “Just wanted to ask if you’re alright.”
“My arm is fine, you don’t ha—“
“I wasn’t asking about your arm.”
You stare back at him in silence, everything just dawns on you all at once and your chest feels like burning.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” you breathe out, but then a tear rolls down your face.
You see the change in him instantly. His eyes soften as he walks over to you, his gaze frantically searching your face, probably trying to figure out what to do. They don’t tell agents how to deal with young, crying women who feel like they are going to die alone.
“I’m fine, really,” you say again and he pulls out a tissue from his pocket, handing it over to you.
“He was a douche. Don’t take it too seriously.”
“How many disastrous dates have I been on in the past year?” you ask with a shaking voice. He doesn’t answer, just clenches his jaw. “You know damn well that it was my eleventh. You were there at all of them. I can’t help but start to think that something must be wrong with me and not with them.”
“Nothing is wrong with you. They were… weird guys. They were the problem, not you.”
“So then it’s just my taste that’s trash, right?” you let out a bitter laugh, hoping that making fun of yourself would help, but it doesn’t. It never does.
“Finding the right person is hard. You have to give it time.”
“I’m impatient, if you haven’t noticed.”
“I have. The first day I met you.”
There it is.
That teeny tiny smile that barely just curls up the corners of his mouth but it drives you insane. Because it’s so rare, it’s so intimate and every time you see it the urge to kiss it gets harder and harder.
Yes, it’s such a cliché, but you do have a crush on your bodyguard. You fought it, you really did, but one day you had to realize there’s nothing you can do about it. Now you’re just trying to live with it but moments like this make it really hard not to overstep certain boundaries. For one, you really shouldn’t have feelings for someone whose job is to protect your life at all cost. Your father would have a heart attack if he found out you’re hooking up with an agent. And two… he might be nice to you, a real friend, but you feel like there’s no way he would ever feel the same way about you. Hell, sometimes, on your worse days you even question his friendship. What if it’s all just the job for him? To take care of your fragile little soul?
You’re awfully lonely.
“Get some rest, you have an 8 am class in the morning.”
He steps back and the smile is gone just like that.
“Yes sir!” you salute him, to which you just get a bored look before he takes one last look around and walks out to check in with the night shift agents outside your door.
You’d rather spend this Saturday evening locked up in your bedroom, watching Criminal Minds and eating popcorn, but tonight is one of those occasions where you have to make an official appearance as the president’s daughter.
You’ve definitely woken up on the wrong side of the bed, nothing went as you planned so far and you even had a fight with Styles because he ended your morning run earlier when a group of obnoxious fratboys appeared on the football field next to the running track and they accidentally threw a ball in your way.
You have not talked to him since, haven’t even seen him, but you know for a fact he will be coming with you tonight. He is there at every official event, never missing one.
There’s a soft knock on the front door just when you’ve finished getting dressed. You shuffle over to the door and opening you find yourself facing Styles in his usual suit, a change from the workout clothes he wore in the morning.
Fuck, you want to act grumpy still, but he looks especially good with slightly more tamed than usually and he is freshly shaven.
“Ready to go?” he asks.
“Not yet. Come and help me, please,” you say as you turn around, but you notice he is not following you. “Come on, I won’t bite your head off.”
With a tiny frown he finally moves and follows you into your bedroom where you grab the diamond necklace you want to wear tonight.
“Can you put it on, please?”
He takes the necklace, holding it so gently, you have never seen him handle something with so much care.
Maybe only you.
You turn around and hold your hair up as he reaches around your neck and you bit back a moan when his fingers brush against your collarbone. He fidgets with the clasp for a few moments before taking a step back once it’s done.
“Do you think I can make an early Irish exit tonight?” you ask, stepping into your heels and he offers you a hand that you gladly take to help the process. Once you’re done you head out, Styles following you right behind.
“Don’t think the president would appreciate it.”
“Oh, I know him well, I think I can have a pass from him.”
It’s another event where you feel absolutely useless, you’re just there so your father could show off.
“…And this is my daughter, Y/N. She is studying law!... She is top of her class, yes… Isn’t she a lovely young woman?...”
The smile on your face starts to hurt when you decide to take a break from all the guests that you know nothing about but they all seem to be very familiar with you.
“I’m gonna go out for a bit,” you tell Styles who’s been your shadow all night, three other agents watching your every step as well from different points of the room.
“Let me che—“
“I think there’s no danger out on the balcony, everyone has been thoroughly checked here, I’ll be fine for five minutes.”
You have a staring match for a minute where he weighs in on your words before finally nodding.
“Five minutes,” he says, opening the door for you.
“Start the fucking clock,” you mumble under your breath.
As you stand by the railing, staring out into the night you feel more deflated than ever. Like you’ve lost every ounce of energy and the urge to just scream is quite tempting. This is not the life you dreamed of, but it is what your father always wanted and you sometimes feel like a terrible daughter for being so displeased. You do have privileges others would never get to experience, but you’ve never felt lonelier and more out of place. The way here showed you how shallow your friendships have been, now only have about three people you consider your friend and one is your bodyguard, one is studying in Switzerland and the third is… Wait, there’s no third. That’s it, you have two friends.
You hear Styles stepping closer and you already know what he is about to say.
“I know my time is up, but if you dare to remind me, I’m pushing you off this balcony.”
Turning around you face him, ready to fight him for some more time, but you’re surprised to see him with that tiny smile on his face.
“You’re really moody today,” he states, but it’s not one of those smartass comments he usually makes, he is teasing you.
“Surprising?”
“A little bit. Are you… Are you still upset about your date?” His face turns serious.
“I was never upset about the date specifically. I was upset because… Whatever, it doesn’t matter.”
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“Stop being so fucking polite,” you groan.
“I can’t be rude to you, I would lose my job.”
“You’ve been rude to me on several occasions! Especially at the beginning!” you accuse him.
“I was never rude. I was honest.”
“Jesus, you are so annoying,” you roll your eyes that earns a smirk from him.
“That’s not my job, but I tend to be that often.”
“I might be moody, but you’re awfully cheeky tonight. What’s gotten into you?”
You head back inside, Styles following you.
“Don’t know, guess I’m just in a good mood.”
“Alright, then I’ll need a drink to put up with this new side of yours.”
And that’s what you did, but you didn’t stop at one drink. You didn’t plan to, but you successfully got so drunk Styles had to rescue you out of the venue before your father saw you. After all, you did make an Irish exit.
In the car you can tell Harry is not in the same good mood, he looks rather pissed as he drives you back home, constantly checking the mirrors to see if Morrison and Jackson are behind you.
“Aw, did I make your job harder?” you pout, but then start laughing as you look at his hard stare. His profile looks annoyingly beautiful and you just want to draw the slope of his nose with your finger.
“No, but it would have been nice if I didn’t have to bring you out through the back door on my shoulder, because you kept running away.”
You start laughing as he recites what happened just about fifteen minutes ago when he was trying to chase you down to get you into the car and away from anyone that could ruin your father’s political career if they saw his daughter running around drunk.
“Don’t be so pissed, your eyebrows will glue together one day, you pull the together way too much,” you snort out a laugh as you slide lower in your seat.
It’s an hour long drive and of course, you fall asleep soon. When you open your eyes next, you see that you’re already in the garage of your building.
“Come on, you need to get to bed.” Styles opens the car door, but you’re still half drunk and half asleep, so you just mumble something and close your eyes back. “Y/N, you can’t spend the night in the car.”
“Says who?” you breathe out.
For a few seconds nothing happens and you start drifting back to sleep when you feel an arm behind your back and one under your knees. You faintly realize that you’re being carried up to your apartment and when you force yourself to open your eyes, you realize that it’s Styles.
“Mm, is this also in your job description?” you groggily tease him, barely able to keep your eyes open. “Mr. Styles. Harry. Can I… call you that?”
“Call me whatever you want,” he answers and then waits in front of the apartment while it’s checked out. With the last bits of your energy you study his face that’s now dangerously up close. He is carrying you like you weigh nothing, his strong hold keeping you safe.
“Oh, don’t tell me stuff like that,” you chuckle, your eyes closing as you push down a yawn. You hear the agents coming out of your apartment, saying it’s clear before Harry starts walking again and a few moments later you’re laid down on your bed.
“You have to change, Y/N,” he tells you, pulling your heels off your sore feet. Groaning, you sit up and he helps you up to a standing position before turning around to walk out, but you stop him, pulling him back by his hand.
“I can’t get this off alone,” you say, nodding down at your dress. You catch the hesitation in his eyes as he weighs in the situation and steps back at last.
You turn around and move your hair so he can access the zipper. He doesn’t move instantly and you’re almost about to turn around when you finally feel his touch on your back. He places one hand to your shoulder blade, holding the dress in place while he pulls the zipper down with the other.
Slowly.
So slowly, it’s almost like foreplay.
Especially since you have no bra underneath, so the lower he gets the more skin he is able to see. The silky dress loosens around your body and you know he is looking at your bare back. With one hand you keep the dress to your chest, but the other one lets go of your hair as you turn back around to face him.
The alcohol is working eagerly in your system and you’re feeling blunt and risky as you hold your chin high with a half smirk.
“Where did your cheekiness go, Harry?”
“I’m gonna go now.” He gulps hard as he backs away towards the door, but you follow him.
“Am I that scary? That you’re running away?”
“Y/N, stop.” He looks into your eyes as he finally stops and his green irises appear dangerously dark as he stares back at you.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you shrug innocently as you keep walking towards him until you’re just inches away from his chest. “Have you never thought of me like that?”
He doesn’t answer, but you don’t see disgust on his face and it’s enough for you to keep pushing.
“Because I have. Several times. On nights when I knew you were outside and then other times when I didn’t know where you were but I was hoping you were thinking of me.”
He is still completely silent, though his eyes are throwing fireworks your way when one of the straps of your dress slips down your shoulder.
“I want you and I want you to want me too, Harry,” you whisper as you move even closer, your hand that’s holding your dress pushing to his chest while the other moves up to the base of his neck. His skin is burning and you’re desperate to feel it underneath his crispy dress shirt too.
But before you could close the gap, he pulls back and it’s like a slap across your face.
“Go to bed, Y/N. You need to sleep.”
“But think about it, you could brag about fucking the president’s daughter, wouldn’t you want that? You’d be the man, Harry.”
Your words are like venom as you look at him, your chest heaving, your heart hammering under your hand.
“Stop talking before you say something you might regret,” he warns you.
“So you’re not man enough to fuck me? How should I trust you with my life then if you can’t even make me come?” you call after him when he is already out of the bedroom.
He freezes and the words sink in as you stare at the back of his head. You expect him to turn around and lecture you, to tell you how cheap you sounded, but instead he just walks out of the apartment and leaves you to your spiraling, drunk thoughts.
You realize you never actually knew panic and terror until you wake up the next morning, realizing what you did last night. That you have to face Harry after you almost begged him to fuck you and then said he is not man enough to be your guard because he didn’t have sex with you.
You have an afternoon yoga class on Sunday that you very much consider canceling on just so you don’t have to face Harry, but you can’t hide in your apartment forever, you’d have to meet him again sooner or later. So when it’s time for you to leave and you hear the knock on your door you open it with shaking hands, relief washing over you instantly when you find DeLuca standing in front of you, no trace of Harry.
That means you have some more time to figure out how to deal with the situation you got yourself into. Yoga actually helps you find some peace of mind, but only until you leave and catch on Jackson’s radio before getting into the car, Harry’s voice asking for a report.
He is working and he’ll be at your apartment, meaning that you have to go through the most awkward situation ever in about fifteen minutes.
It all happens as if you were in a movie. Arriving at the garage Jackson opens the door for you, DeLuca rounds the car and right at that moment the doors to the elevator swing open and Harry walks out with two other agents. Your mouth goes dry and you’re getting ready to fake your death, but things take a turn then.
“DeLuca, take her to the second floor, it’s been cleared. Jackson, Morrow, come with us.” Harry instructs the agents and you realize something is wrong.
“What? What’s happening?”
There’s an apartment on the second floor for the agents, like their own little headquarter and it’s usually the safe place they take you to whenever something looks suspicious. Harry looks at you, worry etched onto his face as he places a hand to your back and leads you over to DeLuca.
“There’s been a security alert while you were away, we need to check the whole building.”
“Alert? What kind?”
“Someone tried to get into your place,” is all he says before he passes you over to DeLuca and disappears with the other agents.
The time you spend on the second floor feels like forever, but it’s actually only twelve minutes. They sweep through the whole building and check the system, trying to find out what happened, but the cameras only caught a man in a black hoodie who stopped at your door, fidgeted with the lock for a while but couldn’t get in so he left. When it’s safe for you to return to your own place you’re walked back by two agents, but the tension is still thick.
You hear Harry doubling the agents for the rest of the day and night and he checks your apartment one last time himself again when his phone rings and you know it’s your dad calling from the tone he answers the call.
“Yes, sir. Passing the phone over,” Harry says after the briefing of the situation and then holds the phone out to you.
“Dad?”
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, I wasn’t here.”
“Alright. We’ll have some extra agents around you for a while. I know you don’t like the guardedam, but we have to do it until we find out who it was.”
“Okay.”
You talk a little more and then you give the phone back to Harry, because your dad wants to have a few words with him. He listens carefully for a while and then walks out of the apartment, leaving you wondering what else there could be, but your dad could be a little too overprotective, so you’re sure he is just fussing about the situation.
You’ve just finished making yourself a cup of tea when Harry returns. He would never admit it, but you can tell this incident is stressing him out.
“Everything alright with my dad? He didn’t tell you off or anything, right?”
“No,” he shakes his head. “But you won’t like what I’m going to say. You need to have an agent in here with you until we get to the bottom of this situation.”
“Will it be you?” The question rolls off your tongue before you could even think about it.
“If you want me, yes.”
“I feel the safest with you.”
It’s the truth. Even though the things you told him, screamed at him, don’t agree, he is still the one you trust the most around here to have in your apartment with you.
“Okay,” he nods. “I have to talk to the team, so–”
“Wait!” you stop him from leaving, knowing well you need to have this conversation. Swallowing hard you leave the tea on the kitchen counter and round the island to get closer to him, but still keep some distance. “I want to… I want to apologize for last night. My behavior was… Unforgivable.”
“No need to apologize.”
“Don’t bullshit me,” you give him a hard look. “I had too much to drink, I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking. So… I’m sorry.”
He stares back at you for seconds that feel like forever before he finally nods and you know it’s not just a meaningless reaction to get you out of his hair.
“Okay.”
“We’re… we’re good?”
“Yes. But I really need to go now.”
“Alright,” you clear your throat as you watch him walk towards the door, but he turns back one last time. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay.”
And with that, he is off to do his job.
You spend the rest of Sunday studying and you get so focused on your textbooks and notes that you totally forget about Harry’s return and you don’t even notice it. So when you wander out of your bedroom after your brain has been fried from everything you studied, you almost scream when you see Harry standing in the living room by the window.
“Holy shit!” you snap a hand to your chest to calm your racing heart.
“What happened?” He moves fast like a cat, instantly checking the room for possible dangers.
“Nothing happened, I just… forgot you’d be here,” you admit with a soft chuckle as you head out to the kitchen. “It’s kind of creepy how you’re just standing there.”
“I can see the street from here as well,” he answers, as if it was such an obvious thing to say.
As you move around the kitchen, heating some leftovers up you catch him looking at you, or to be more precise, your legs that are almost completely bare thanks to the cotton shorts you’re wearing.
Last night was a disaster, but now that the shame has settled in you, something else has been lingering in the back of your mind. The sense of hesitation you experienced when you were trying to seduce him embarrassing yourself has been on your mind. How he didn’t move away instantly, how it looked like he was fighting himself, so it gives you the idea that a tiny part of him does look at you the same way you look at him.
The way he is looking you up is another boost to the theory.
“Any news about the intruder?” you casually ask, ignoring his stare that quickly slips away from you when you speak up.
“Not yet. But we’re working on it.”
“Do you think… it’s something serious? Like someone is after me?” Leaning onto the kitchen island you play with the spoon in your hand as you look at him, waiting for his response.
“I wouldn’t go into guessing. I’m more of a–”
“Of a fan of factual planning, I know,” you finish his sentence with a smile. You’ve heard it from him several times, word by word.
Grabbing the bowl you round the island and stop a few feet away from him.
“I really do trust you, Harry. With my life.”
You feel like you had to let him know again after last night. The way you questioned his ability to protect you was not fair, he gave you no reason to believe he is not the best person for the job. There’s a reason why he is head of the team.
“Thank you,” is all he says. He is back to his distant self that only focuses on work. You know in times like this it’s better to play by the rules and retreat.
“I’m gonna head to bed soon. Good night, Harry.”
“Good night, Y/N.”
Everything falls back to a somewhat normal routine. Following the incident your team almost doubles, but nothing actually happens and the building’s security system gets an update so three weeks later you’re back to your usual with only slight changes.
Like how there’s an agent in your living room during the night.
There was a discussion about positioning someone inside your apartment and they explained to you why it’s better to have someone with you during the night. You understood and agreed to do it under one condition: you have to approve of the agents that can take the position. There are three of them and of course, Harry is in that team.
He’s been taking up the inside position as much as he can. He never asked you, but maybe he figured you know him the best and feel the most comfortable with him inside.
Most of the time he hangs out in the living room. He doesn’t stand by the window all the time, you’ve caught him sitting in the armchair, walking around, stretching his limbs. To make it less miserable for him you spend a lot of time in front of the TV, mostly to hopefully entertain him at least a bit now that he’s stuck with you more than ever. For days, he didn’t even look at the screen, but lately you’ve caught him following the show several times, so you’re religiously keeping this habit up.
The awkwardness has faded, but it definitely taught you a lesson. You better not get drunk when Harry is around and that’s like… all the time.
Everything seems to be back to it’s extraordinary normal that you’ve been used to for the past few years.
Today is a special day, however. You’ve been part of a case study competition, your criminal law professor suggested you enter and you’ve worked insanely hard on your case for the past three months that earned you first place. They are holding a little award ceremony today and it will finally be your moment. You will be in the spotlight because of something you worked hard for and not because your father is the leader of the country.
He promised to be there and watch you accept your well-deserved award and you’re excited to make him proud.
You started the day early and channeled your excitement into a long morning run before spending the noon at a salon to get your hair and nails done for the occasion. You might be the president’s daughter, but you’re a woman after all and you love a good pampering before an event.
Now you’re sitting in you closet, trying to figure out what to wear, all the outfits you’ve tried on but decided against are lying on the floor around you in piles. You start to think you should have gone shopping, but then you find the perfect dress, a simple, but elegant black dress with a deeper back cut. You pair them with a pair of designer heels and some statement earrings to bring some light into this quite dark set and you’re all done.
When you walk out of the bedroom Harry is standing by the window in his usual black suit white shirt attire. His eyes snap over to you and this time he can’t hide how he checks you out from head to toe. You can feel the heat crawling up your neck to your cheeks and ears.
“What do you think?” you ask, giving him a twirl.
“You look… very professional,” he answers. It’s not what you expected, but you know he meant it in the best possible way.
“Has my dad’s plane landed?”
“I haven’t gotten any news from his team yet, but I’m sure he’ll be there on time. Shall we leave?”
“Yeah,” you nod, feeling out of breath. An unsettling feeling sinks into your gut, but you brush it off as Harry helps you put on your coat and you leave the apartment in the ring of agents.
Because of your attendance, the event’s security has been obviously raised and a group of agents have been at the venue long before your arrival, checking every corner so when you’re finally there you can walk in without having to wait in the car.
The competition had several different fields so there will be more students awarded today, the room is full of winners, their proud professors and parents as well. You take your assigned seat and nervously look around, searching for any sign of your father, but there’s none, so you’re left with just waiting.
It’s killing you, so you text him but you get no response. He should have landed by now to make it in time, his silence is raising concern in you now.
“Harry? Can you please reach my father’s security team?” you ask and nodding he takes a few steps back as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
Something is off, you can feel it in your guts and you fucking hate it. It takes forever for Harry to turn back to you, right when everyone starts clapping, because the dean has entered the stage to start the ceremony, but you’re only looking at Harry.
“What did they say?”
“Y/N, he is… He is not coming.”
“What?” It feels like a punch in your stomach and you wish Harry would say it’s just a joke, that he is about to walk in any moment, but the look on his face tells you it’s the truth.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” you whisper as you turn back to face the stage, your throat closing up while you fight your tears.
It was the first thing you asked from him in so long. You’ve been there for him every step of the way and today you just needed your father to be here and be proud of you, but he ditched you. There’s been an ongoing joke on the internet that it will always be the country before you for your dad and you even laughed about it before, but now it’s your cruel reality.
You watch the winners get called on the stage one by one and the willingness to do the same dies in you with every passing moment.
“Y/N?” Harry taps your shoulder and you snap out of your thoughts only to realize your name has been called.
“Fuck,” you mumble as you stand from your seat, three agents moving with you, taking their places as you walk up to the stage and shake hands with the dean. Every first place winner has said a few words, so now it’s your turn at the microphone, but it’s like you’ve forgotten how to talk. Looking around you see the sea of faces, everyone is waiting for you to finally say something. Your eyes land on Harry and he gives you a tiny nod and somehow you find your voice.
You manage to say a few sentences about the importance of your study and thank the school for the opportunity before you walk off the stage. You’re expected to return to your seat, but instead, you’re heading to the restroom.
The dam breaks and tears start rolling down your face. You completely ignore the protocol, that an agent has to check the room before you enter and a hand pulls you back before you could rush into the ladies room.
“Y/N, I need to–”
“I don’t want to have the fucking toilet checked, I want to have some fucking privacy!” you snap at him, tears rolling down your face and you’re very close to start sobbing like a child. Harry looks back at you with shock on his face, this time he can’t even mask it, probably because he has never seen you like this.
“Okay, but–”
You don’t wait for him to finish, just push your way inside and don’t stop until you reach a sink that you can lean onto, the sobs finally erupting from your chest.
Betrayal, disappointment and helplessness wash over you, pulling you right into a possible emotional breakdown, though you’re still fighting it as you open the tap and splash some cold water into your face.
You didn’t realize Harry followed you inside, so when you feel a hand on your back you almost get a heart attack.
“Hey, it’s just me, it’s okay,” Harry holds his palms up when you jump back, gasping for air because of the panic and crying at the same time.
“I s-said I-I wanted p-privacy!” you sob shaking your head.
“I can’t just let you walk in here alone when you can barely breathe!”
“I don’t want to do this! I don’t fucking want to do this!” you cry, leaning your back against the cold, tiled wall as you let yourself fall apart for the first time in forever. You’ve been trying to be calm and collected as much as possible, but so much has piled up on you that your father not showing up was the last straw, the cherry on top.
“Y/N, calm down, take a deep breath, okay?” Harry tries to calm you down, but you just keep shaking your head and sobbing.
“He didn’t come! It was the only thing… I asked from him!”
“I’m sure he has a reason to–”
“I don’t fucking care! He doesn’t care about me! No one fucking does! I’m just… I have no one left! No one!”
“Don’t say that, Y/N. There are people who care about you.”
“Who? Who cares about me!” you scream at him, finally looking into his eyes and his gaze pierces into yours as he answers.
“Me. I care about you.”
“It’s your fucking job to protect me, it’s not the same!”
Your chest is heaving and you must look like a complete mess, but at this moment nothing really matters. Harry looks back at you like you just seriously hurt his feelings, like what you said was just as disappointing as your father not showing up. Long moments pass by without him saying anything and you start to think he’ll just walk out like he did that night you got drunk, but then he steps closer, definitely crossing the line of comfortable distance.
“If you think you’re just a job to me, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“Don’t lie to me,” you beg in a whisper.
“Don’t call me a fucking liar,” he snaps back and it’s the first time you hear him swear. His pupils have swallowed his irises and his breathing is almost as wild as yours as he stares at you, practically burning a hole into your face.
“You left me that night. Without a word. I told you I wanted you and you walked out. That does give me a certain message.”
“You were drunk out of your mind, telling me to fuck you. I would have never forgiven myself if I touched you. I had no reason to believe you wouldn’t regret it in the morning and ask to never see me again. That would have been the end of my career and the end of… me.”
Though your cheeks are still soaked from your tears, his words have stopped your crying and now you can’t even tell what you’re feeling. You have no idea what to do or say, how to react and you can’t believe how this situation is turning out to be.
“I still want you the same,” you whisper, your mouth deciding on what to say because your brain is in complete shock.
Harry exhales sharply through his nose, his eyes fall closed and you can tell he is fighting himself, so you want to push him over the edge. Reaching up you cup his cheek in your hand, he doesn’t move at first, but then he leans into your touch and that’s when you push yourself away from the wall to get closer to him, but he pulls away.
There’s a second of devastation, but when he reaches to his earpiece you realize someone is talking to him.
“Copy. We’re in the restroom, give me the fastest route out.” He talks into his wrist before his eyes snap up to you.
“What happened?” you breathe out, feeling like your heart cannot take another shock at this moment, but you’ll have to deal with it anyway. He listens to the answer they give him through his com before talking to you.
“We need to get out. The guy who was at your apartment was spotted in the building.”
“What? Is he armed?” Harry takes your hand in his firm hold and gently, but confidently pulls you towards the door.
“We don’t know, he ran away, DeLuca and Jackson are after him, but we need to get you out of here.”
Your pulse is higher than ever, you feel dizzy and your brain is definitely shutting down, too much has happened in just minutes, you’re on survival mode. Harry must have noticed your state, because before he could open the door he turns to you, taking your face in his hands.
“It’s gonna be alright. I’m right here.”
“Okay,” you nod, blindly believing anything he says.
He then opens the door, steps out first to check what’s happening and returns to get you and you’re on your way to flee the building.
Circled by agents you follow Harry through hallways you’ve never been to until you somehow get to a back entrance. Your car is already there, waiting for you and you get in the back, lying down onto the seat, remembering that’s what Harry asked from you the last time you had to be rescued out of somewhere. You catch his face before he shuts the car door and he gives you a small nod.
You don’t experience much of what goes down at the venue, they take you to a safe spot and you wait there with three agents while the rest of your team is either in the venue or at your apartment, making sure there’s no one there.
Almost an hour goes by when Harry returns and you look at him, feeling on the edge to finally know something.
“We lost him. Your apartment is cleared, let’s get you home.”
You can tell he is beating himself up for letting the guy slip away and you already know he will put his walls back up.
He does one more check in the apartment himself before letting you inside.
“We are doubling the security for tonight and then we’ll talk about the changes tomorrow,” he lets you know, following you inside.
“Okay. Are you gonna stay in here?”
“Most likely,” he nods.
“Are you blaming yourself for tonight?”
He doesn’t answer, but his eyes talk for him.
“You couldn’t have spotted the guy anyway, you would have been with me either way.” You walk closer to him, but keep some distance, sensing his distress.
“I wasn’t focusing fully,” he hisses through his teeth.
“Nothing happened, you–”
“Y/N,” he stops you from talking. “I’m responsible for your safety. Today I put that responsibility behind my feelings and that cannot happen again.”
“Is this your way of saying… you don’t want me the way I want you?” Now you’re moving closer, you need to reduce the distance between the two of you, it’s like something is pulling you towards him, a force that you’re not strong enough to fight.
He stares at you for long seconds, taking a deep breath before he speaks up slowly in a calm manner.
“What I want does not matter when your safety is at risk. Let me… Let me do my job, let me do what I have to do to keep you safe. Please.”
It’s like he’s begging you, pleading for you to understand and… let go of him. And as much as you want it all to be different, you can’t go against his will and intentionally hurt him, there’s nothing you can do other than live with the pain. Like you always do.
“Okay,” you whisper and try your best to swallow back your tears, you’ve cried enough today.
Harry exhales, like he’s relieved you’re not putting up a fight and to your surprise he cradles the back of your head and pulls you closer so he can place a kiss to your forehead.
“I have to take care of a few things, Morrison will be in here until then, but I’ll be back soon, okay?”
“Yeah,” you nod weakly. His hand falls from the back of your head and you watch him turn around and walk out of the apartment.
You’re on autopilot. Have been for weeks.
Following the award ceremony things turned upside down once again. On one hand everyone has been on edge, because they couldn’t track the guy down, so your security has been doubled since then. Agents follow you everywhere, making it impossible to have a normal human interaction, not that you had plenty of friends to hang out with before. But still.
Your dad called that night and gave you some grand story about why he couldn’t make it to the ceremony, you told him it was fine, because you had no energy to lash out on him and you haven’t had a decent conversation with him since then. You can’t say it bothers you, it’s like there was a switch inside you that now allows you to give zero fucks about what your father does. You’ve canceled two events you were supposed to attend by his side, using the mystery intruder as an excuse, saying that you don’t feel safe out in public. You could tell he was annoyed, but didn’t question it.
And then there is the Harry situation. Or the lack of it, if you’d like. It’s been hurting like hell, but there’s nothing you can do other than keep your promise of letting go of him. It’s just really hard when you spend so much time with him and have him in your apartment almost every night.
You don’t watch TV anymore. You can’t bear being in the same room with him with no one else around. It’s hard enough to know he is on the other side of your bedroom door. You go back to coexisting, you silently follow his orders and not give him a headache when you know he already has a lot on his plate, he does his job in peace and everyone is happy.
Or not, but it doesn’t matter.
The school semester is nearing its end and you’re already planning to ask to stay here for the summer. You know your dad will flip, but you’ll at least try to make a deal with him to attend events in the summer if it means you don’t have to move back home that doesn’t even feel home anymore.
With your finals coming up you spend most of your time in the library. Surrounded by heavy books, hundreds of pages of notes, you’re working your ass off, because this is the only thing that could make you forget about your misery for a while.
It’s a Friday afternoon, almost evening and you’re still very much working on a paper in the almost entirely empty library. It’s a great time, because most students avoid the building on Fridays, more interested in parties than books, so it’s a lot more peaceful. It’s your way of distraction from the fact that you have to make an appearance tomorrow for your dad and you can’t bail out of it this time.
There are three agents near you and two more at the entrance, but Harry is not working now. He will probably take another night shift, not that you keep track of when he works…
You’re too focused to notice the group of people that come in, but when you spot a figure approaching you and the agents around you move instantly, you finally lift your head up from the book in front of you. You’re surprised to see Jaiden coming in your way, stopped by the agents.
“Jaiden?”
“Um, I just want to talk to her,” he says to the agents and you nod your head to let him through.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just wanted to give you something, thought you might be interested,” he shrugs as he passes you over a paper and with that he is already on his way, leaving you puzzled.
It’s a QR code so you grab your phone and read it and a website starts loading on your screen. When it finally loads, you feel all the blood rushing out of your head.
It’s a site basically dedicated to you, where people can send in anonymous comments and stories about you for everyone to read them. There are quite a few, a big chunk of them obviously from guys you’ve gone on dates with, dragging you through mud, a lot of them stating things that never even happened.
You just scroll and keep reading them in total disbelief and then you hear laughter. You look up and see Jaiden with a group of fratboys, having a blast seeing you go through the site before they hoard out of the library.
Your head is spinning and you feel like throwing up as you pack up your stuff as quickly as possible. It’s a struggle not to start sobbing on your way home, neither of the agents ask what’s wrong, because they are not your friend, they are there to keep you safe, but not from assholes, apparently. When you arrive to your apartment you see Harry already waiting by the door, but you avoid looking him in the eyes as you rush inside, wanting to lock yourself up in your room preferably forever.
The tears start rolling down your cheeks when you hear someone coming after you and you know it’s Harry.
“Y/N, is everything alright?”
“I’m fine,” you tell him, keeping your back facing him so he can’t see your face.
“Then look at me, please.”
You don’t move, just stand there, silently crying and there’s no way of fooling him, he knows you better than anyone and your shoulders are shaking as well. Slowly, you turn around for him to see your face.
“What happened?” he asks, stepping closer, but he still keeps some distance between the two of you.
“Nothing, I said I’m fine.”
“You’re obviously not fine, Y/N, don’t… don’t bullshit me, okay? Tell me what happened!”
He won’t give up, he won’t leave you alone until you say something so you pull your phone out of your pocket, open the website and hand it over to you. You watch him scroll for a minute before he looks up at you.
“We’re taking this down and we’ll find whoever did this,” he firmly says and before you could react he is already giving orders through his com. “They are on it. we’ll find them, don’t worry.”
“Okay,” you breathe out and you turn around to lock yourself up in your bedroom, but he stops you.
“Y/N, wait!”
You look back at him, not even trying to mask how tired, defeated and hopeless you’re feeling. You must look like just a shadow of the person you used to be and the sight of you is probably just as depressing as you feel because it breaks the professional boundary that’s been between you and Harry.
He moves across the room and pulls you into his arms and you just start crying and sobbing uncontrollably while he holds you tight, gently rocking you from side to side to soothe you.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he murmurs into your hair and you just bury your face deeper into his neck, probably totally ruining his shirt, but neither of you cares about that right now.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” you sob, melting into his embrace, because it feels like the only safe place for you.
“I know. I wish I could help you. Tell me what I can do for you.”
“Just please don’t leave me, not tonight, please!” you beg and fully expect him to pull the wall back up, but instead he just holds you even tighter.
“I would never leave you, Y/N.”
The amount of times you had to fake laugh tonight is ridiculously over the roof. It’s another evening where you’re just a tool, something your father can brag about but you hold no influence or whatsoever.
You’re sipping on some champagne, but you’re careful with the alcohol consumption this time. Though you’re not sure how another situation like that last time would turn out now. Especially after that night after the website fiasco.
After soaking his shirt with your tears the two of you sat on the couch, you remained in Harry’s embrace and he talked you through it, until you momentarily forgot about what happened and somehow you ended up falling asleep. When you woke up you had a blanket over you and Harry was standing in his usual spot by the window, like a hound, watching out for danger. When he realized you woke up he walked you into your bedroom, tucked you in and sat beside you until you wófell back asleep.
The website was down by the morning and the school was informed about it as well, taking matters into their hands to punish those who created it. You didn’t want to know the names, you just wanted to forget about the whole thing.
That night changed things between you and Harry. You didn’t feel that wall between the two of you though there was still some distance, but it felt like you could overstep it easily. It’s like you’ve been dancing on a fence, still not sure which side you want to land on. You’re not planning to pressure him to choose, having him this close is already more than you had before so you’re happy to prolong it for as long as possible.
You have no idea where the conversation is heading around you, you’ve zoned out of it long minutes ago. It’s not that you don’t understand what politicians, influential people tend to talk about at events like this. It’s more about how you recognize some of them know nothing about the field they work at and still hold the power.
And you lost interest too.
Holding your champagne flute your eyes wander over the room until they settle on Harry. He is by the window, what a shocker, examining the sea of guests around you, watching out like a hawk until his gaze meets yours and his expression softens.
“Bored,” you mouth to him and you catch the smirk he tries hard to cover up.
“You got this,” he mouths back to which you frown, making him laugh.
His laugh.
You’ve been gifted with it more in the past few days than in the time you’ve known him and it’s definitely one of your favorite things in the entire world.
“Break?” you mouth once again and he just nods, moving instantly.
Five minutes later you’re out on the balcony with him, two guards standing by the door inside.
“This should be considered torture,” you sigh.
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he teases you.
“I’m not, I hate it here. Look around.” You stand beside him, staring inside at the sea of guests. “What am I doing here?”
“Supporting your dad.”
“I think he is fine without me,” you shrug, nodding towards him, he is standing in a circle of men, all of them pretending to be having a marvelous time, but you know for a fact at least two of those men would backstab him the first given chance. It’s all so pretentious and you’re tired of trying to be part of it for him.
“What would you like to do?” Harry asks.
“What do you mean?”
“If you could do anything, any job, anywhere, what would it be?”
You’ve never really thought of that before. A life that’s entirely what you want it to be is so far out of your reach that you never let yourself daydream about it. So now you take some time to think it through before sharing it with Harry.
“I would probably have a riding school,” is what you tell him at last. He looks at you surprised.
“Like… horses?”
“Yeah,” you smile softly, keeping your eyes ahead, staring at the people inside. “I used to ride a lot when I was smaller and I loved it a lot.”
“But you never do it anymore, why?”
“I wasn’t exceptional in it, never won any competitions so my dad thought I shouldn’t keep doing it. He talked me into quitting and I started learning French instead.”
“You speak French?” he asks in shock.
“No,” you chuckle, finally looking at him. “I was mad at him for making me quit horse riding so I never put any effort into my French classes, I can barely introduce myself.”
“Wow, such a rebel,” he chuckles quietly.
“What about you?”
“I don’t speak French.”
“I know that,” you roll your eyes. “I meant, what would you want to do if you could do anything?”
He curls his lips into his mouth as he thinks about it, his eyebrows furrowed.
“I think I would be living on a farm.”
“A farm?”
“Yeah. You know, growing stuff and keeping animals. I love the thought of growing everything I need.”
“That sounds lovely,” you smile at him. “I hope you get to do that one day.”
“I do too,” he nods and the two of you just stand there, watching the mingling and dancing guests.
It’s a moment you want to last longer, you feel close to him, like you’ve finally jumped off that fence and you’re running away. Together.
So at last you decide to give him a little push.
“I wish we could be dancing there too.”
Your voice is quiet, barely audible through the noises coming from inside and when he doesn’t say anything for a while you start to think he didn’t even hear it, or that he is ignoring your words because he doesn’t want to deal with them.
But then his hand gently takes yours, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“I would… love that.”
Your chest feels like bursting and you wish you could just jump into his arms, but you know you can’t. So instead, you just stand there, enjoying this tiny, hidden moment that’s burning into your memories forever.
It was hard to focus on your conversations before, but now, after you’ve shared that special moment with Harry it’s kind of impossible.
You’re making your rounds around, chit-chatting and smiling as pleasantly as possible, but in your mind you’re still out on the balcony, holding hands with Harry.
Talking about him, you haven’t seen him in a little while. You look around, searching for him once again, probably for the millionth time in the past ten minutes, but you see no sign of him.
“Morrison, where’s Styles?” you ask the agent beside you.
“Your father asked to see him, Miss,” he informs you.
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know, Miss, I’m sorry.”
You try not to think much of it, but when you finally spot him in the crowd your stomach drops, because his expression is anxious and angry at the same time, though he is trying hard to mask it. But you know him too well.
“What’s wrong?” you ask, instantly ignoring the conversation you’ve been in before.
“Can’t talk right now, but we better leave.”
You don’t question him, just follow, though the way he is acting now is freaking you out. He is right next to you as you make your way out of the room, getting farther and farther from the rest of the guests.
“What happened?” you finally ask when you’re walking down the hallway that leads to the entrance.
“I don’t want to turn you against your father,” he answers, but now you’re just even more keen on knowing what’s going on.
“Harry, tell me!” you demand, stopping abruptly.
Not too willingly, but he comes to a halt as well, turning to face you as he leans closer.
“Your father kept it a secret that they got a letter yesterday in which someone threatened to hurt you today. He kept it from us, because he knew you wouldn’t come tonight if you found out.”
“What?” All the blood rushes out of your face as his words process.
“He strengthened security for your sake and thought it would be alright, but I don’t want to risk it, we need to get you somewhere safe until we get to the bottom of this whole thing.”
“Okay,” you nod, a shiver running down your spine at just the thought of that letter your father hid from you.
You’re nearing the exit when your father’s voice beams through the hallway, just when you’re already seeing your car outside.
“Y/N! Where are you going?!”
He is rushing towards you with his own security team circling him and you can’t stop yourself from rolling your eyes.
“I’m leaving!”
“And you didn’t think of at least saying goodbye?”
“I’m not doing anything for you anymore. Not when you’ve intentionally put me in risk just so you could use me at another event!”
The look he gives Harry says it all. He is pissed that Harry told you about the threat, that someone went against his will.
“It’s not that serious, Honey. We have everything under control.”
“Is that so? Then who sent the letter?”
“We don’t know it yet, but—”
“What if it’s the same guy that’s been stalking me? What if it really is something serious?” You’re finally lashing out on him, something you probably should have done a lot earlier, but you didn’t have the balls. You’re done being the obedient, supportive daughter to a father that’s not returning it at all.
“We doubled security and I have people working on it! No need to–”
“Don’t tell me what I need and don’t need to do! I don’t feel safe anywhere anymore! You knew I would panic if I found out about it but you chose to hide it so you could use me tonight to show people how great of a family we are when in reality, you give no fucks about me!”
“Y/N, that is not true. I didn’t want to stress you out, that’s why I didn’t tell you.”
Lie. That is such a big fucking lie.
“I’m done. I’m done with you. Call me when you’re ready to be my father.”
Turning around you’re on your way out to the car, you hear your dad calling after you, but Harry stops him and it’s the first time you hear him talk so harshly to your father.
And then all hell breaks loose. But it’s not because of Harry’s way of talking to the president.
You’re approaching the car confidently, eager to get away from your dad and the madness that surrounds him, Harry is following you right behind and as you keep your gaze on the car suddenly you realize.
It’s not yours.
Everything happens so fast, but at the same time it’s like it’s in slow motion.
A guy jumps out of the car and points a gun right at you. The agents around you launch forward, but he is several feet away, so they don’t reach him before he pulls the trigger and shoots at you. In that moment you believe you’re about to die. Gasping in surprise you completely freeze, but then get pushed to the side with so much force you smash against the wall, pain jolting through your left arm instantly as the shot of the gun rings in your ear.
You fall to the floor the same time the agents tackle the shooter. From the corner of your eyes you see how your ad is being dragged away from the scene before he could get hurt as well, even though he is shouting your name, it’s protocol to rescue him and take him to a safe place right away.
As you look to your right you see another person on the floor and your heart skips a beat when you realize that it’s Harry, and a pool of blood is underneath you, growing rapidly each second.
He took the shot that was meant for you.
The rest is a blur. You start screaming and try to reach him while two agents pull you up from the floor to take you away from the scene as well, your arm hurts like hell, but you just keep screaming for Harry.
At last you catch his face, you see him gasping for air, pure panic and fear all over his face, he looks at you one last time and you see a tear rolling down his face before you’re dragged away.
The constant beeping. It just keeps going and going and it’s driving him crazy.
Crazy enough to finally open his eyes.
Harry is more than confused about his surroundings, the hospital room looks sterile, but nice, very nice if you ask him, so he knows he is at some kind of private facility. It takes a couple of moments for the pain to set in but when it does, it comes with all the memories as well.
He was shot in his chest when he pushed you out of the way, he remembers the pain he felt then which was a lot worse and more intense than the dull, pressure like feeling in his chest right now. He remembers lying on the floor and looking at you as two agents pulled you away and he knows he said his goodbye in that moment, because he was convinced he would die.
He didn’t.
Now he is lying in a hospital bed, the machines hooked onto him keep beeping and tracking his vitals and when he turns his head slightly to the left the beeping intensifies because he sees you sleeping in an armchair next to his bed.
You look awfully uncomfortable, but still breathtakingly beautiful, your left arm is in a cast and you’re cradling it to your chest. As if you could sense his wandering gaze, you start moving around and you blink your eyes open at last, seeing that Harry is finally awake.
“Hey,” he breathes out, barely finding the energy to speak, but you burst into tears right away as you fall forward, one hand coming to the side of his head, the other one holding his hand on the mattress.
“You’re awake, oh my God, I really thought I lost you!” You sob and try to take in the sight of him conscious and talking, something you didn’t think you’d ever see again when you saw him lying on the floor three days ago.
“I’m okay, I’m right here,” he exhales as his other hand comes to take your hand by his face. “How are you? Are you okay?”
“Harry, you were literally shot and you’re asking if I’m okay?” you laugh through your tears, finally cracking a smile from him as well.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not worried about you.”
“I’m fine, just broke my hand, but it’s okay. How are you feeling? Does it hurt?”
“Kind of. But it’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad? The bullet missed your heart by one millimeter. Doctors said it’s a miracle you survived.”
“Well, at least I know I’m not bulletproof,” he tries to joke and it makes you laugh and that was his only intention.
You’ve stopped crying, but you wouldn’t move from beside him. You’ve been in this room since they brought him out of surgery and refused to leave since then. He reaches over and wipes your tears off your cheeks before cradling your face in his palm. You gladly lean into his touch and then turn your head to kiss into his hand without hesitation.
You fill him in on what happened. Tell him about how he was rushed to hospital and the guy was caught and it was confirmed he sent the letter and he was the one stalking you at your apartment and award ceremony as well. You were afraid it was someone you knew, but apparently he was just some psycho who wanted to hurt your dad by hurting you.
It was a wakeup call to your father. One that he desperately needed after the stunts he has pulled lately, so you had a long talk outside of Harry’s room when he found out you were here with him. He apologized for everything and promised to be better. You told him his words mean nothing, you need to see the change in his actions.
He has visited every day since then and you discussed the future as well. A future that will bring lots of change.
“You saved my life,” you quietly say, still kind of in shock about what happened.
“I would do it again,” he replies.
“You won’t be able to work again because of it,” you tell him. The bullet grazed his lung as well and the doctors said he might never be able to reach the same physical limits like before.
“It doesn’t matter,” he shakes his head. “I didn’t lose you and that’s what matters.”
His words sink in and you have to fight your tears again as you rest you lean closer, until your faces are just inches away.
“I don’t want to feel again the way I did when I thought you died. I don’t want to keep my distance, I… I love you and I want to be with you.”
Harry exhales heavily, his eyes fall closed and when they open again you get lost in them.
“I love you too. And I want to be with you too, always have.”
You let out a laugh that’s mixed with relief, happiness, pain and so much anticipation before you push closer and finally press your lips to his.
Years of built up tension and passion is set free as you kiss him and he returns it just as eagerly. It’s not at all how you imagined your first kiss, not with a cast on your arm or Harry lying in a hospital bed after being shot, but none of it matters in this moment, only him. There’s no more playing around, pushing each other away, this is end game and you both know it.
“So…” you mumble against his lips, “Will you move to a farm with me?”
“Moving? Aren’t we rushing a little ahead?” he chuckles, brushing some loose strands of hair out of your face before pecking your lips shortly.
“No. I don’t want to waste any more time. Let’s do what we always wanted to do.”
“What about your life? Your dad?”
“I already told him I’m stepping back from my first daughter duties. He is okay with it.”
“Really?”
“I mean, he doesn’t have much saying in what I do after almost getting me killed,” you joke, though you both know how serious the matter was.
“And you’re sure you want to move on… with me?”
You smile at him softly, it’s so typical he is questioning your decision even after everything that happened. He surely needs some time to adjust to this new version of you and him where there’s no wall between the two of you, just love.
Leaning down you kiss his lips softly.
“There’s no one else I would do it with, Harry.”
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