Beyond The Fury

Chapter Twenty-Seven

(Song- If You Want Love by NF)
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Hardin's POV

"I think I did love him." Ivory whispers under her falling tears, "it's almost been a month and I think of him everyday. Sometimes I'm enraged at him for what he did to me- for the pain he caused.. and sometimes I'm thankful that he at least came into my life and gave me a little bit of hope. He filled me with love- temporary love.. a temporary forever." She looks out the window and stares at the rain that falls in sync with her tears.

"It was the best feeling I have ever felt. I think that was love." She admits and I remain frozen in place. She speaks of me like I am not stood here listening to her heart break.

My stomach drops and I stop breathing. I straighten my back and draw in a quick breath. Ivory loves me. She actually loves me. I flex my jaw as I try to calm my racing heart.

"Ivory.." I call out to her but her body fades into a cluster of mist and then I realise..

"Hardin.. Hardin.." My mother calls my name and I zero in on her confused face. A fresh egg sizzles on the frying pan in front of me and I feel myself deflate on the inside.

"Hm?" I hum quietly in response and try to hide my disappointment as best as I can. I'm only on day three of being in Seattle and I already feel homesick. I'm not homesick for London.. I'm homesick for Ivory.

"I was going to ask you how you like your eggs but it's a little too late now. They are a bit over cooked." My mother giggles to herself and I rest my eyes on the egg that she has dished onto the white plate in front of me. The rims of the egg have curled and darkened but I don't particularly care, an egg is an egg and I'm starving.

She pauses, taking in my lifeless expression before she asks worriedly, "Are you sure you're alright, Hardin? You seem different.." She asks in a whisper, her eyes falling away from mine.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I say coldly and watch as she flinches at my tone. I take in the purple bags beneath her gentle eyes and fixate on the crease between her eyebrows as she squints down at her own plate.

"Are you okay mum? You look.. tired." What I initially want to say is, 'You look like complete and utter shit and like you haven't slept in days' but I decide to be a little bit less bitter on this 'fine and dandy' Monday morning.

"Of course.. yeah, of course I am." She repeats as she nods her head. Her tone isn't one bit convincing and it's not like her to lie to me. She knows what I think about liars..

"C'mon mum." I start, "You're not fooling me and considering I am the only one sitting here I can already tell it has something to do with your bastard of a fiancé." My jaw flexes and I shove some more of my breakfast into my mouth, "What has he done? And may I add.. I wouldn't mind killing him if I need too." I flash her a mischievous grin, my cheeks are puffed out with the un-chewed food still in my mouth and she forces a laugh.

My smile falls and so does hers, she is shockingly horrible at hiding how she really feels.

"It's not Mike.. it's-" A loud yawn sounds from the doorway and my mother's mouth snaps closed. Christian stands half naked at the other side of the room, my mums eyes shamelessly wander over his bare chest and I have to force myself to swallow my food before I vomit it everywhere.

"Do you not own a t-shirt?" I pipe up and Christian shrugs his shoulders, "Still not a morning person, Hardin?" He asks and it's now my turn to bounce my shoulders up and down in a silent response to his question.

His stomach grumbles loudly and a deep airy chuckle erupts from his throat, "I could smell the food from upstairs and had to come down for a little swatch at what you're making." My mothers eyes haven't left Christian's since he waltzed into the room and I can tell that something is off between the two of them. She is ogling at him like a school girl.

"It's eggs. She made eggs." I answer for her as she fails to do so herself. She knows how likely I am to observe situations and immediately regains her composure, slapping a cheesy smile onto her make-up free face.

"Would you like some? I have some bacon in the fridge.." she scrambles towards the small white refrigerator that is as old as me and yanks open the door, "I also have some square sausage. I'm sure I could whip up something." She suggests as she pulls the contents from the fridge.

"That would be brilliant, Trish. Thank you." Christian answers as he stretches his arms up and over his head, a relieved groan leaving his mouth as he does. I manage to get a good look at his thick mess of armpit hair and my appetite literally runs away.

"I'm going to upstairs." I don't bother to excuse myself from the table but instead I empty my breakfast into the bin and leave the dirty dish in the sink before heading towards the hallway of the house.

"I knew I could smell something delicious!" Kimberly screeches from the bottom of the stairs and my eyebrows harden in her direction. She wears a satin set of bubblegum pink pyjamas. Does no one in this house wear actual clothes?

My mum, Christian and Kimberly all engage in a mumbling conversation and I scale the stairs two at a time until I reach the top. Their voices fade into nothing.

I enter into my room and I am met with a musky scent, probably from me sweating during the night.

"Jeez." I gag and open the nearest window to my side, letting in some frosty air. I hope the weather starts to warm up soon.

A loud buzz sounds from my bedside table as my phone vibrates violently in a constant pattern on the wood and Liam's contact springs onto the screen. What the hell does he want?

I smash my thumb against the small green button on my screen and push the phone speaker to my ear, "What is it?" I ask my step-brother, letting him know that he has very little time to grab my attention before I hang up on him.

"You need to stop putting your phone on silent, I've called five times!" He bursts. He sounds breathless..

"Liam." I close my eyes, willing him to start talking or I will soon lose my shit.

"I've spoken to Ivory." He pauses and her name sends electricity running up my spine. Hearing Liam say her name sounds so foreign- almost wrong. I miss her but I can't go back. Not yet. I try to ignore the giddy feeling that takes over my body at the mention of Ivory but it seems impossible.. I have to put up a front. A barrier.

"Okay?" I'm not sure what Liam knows about Ivory and I, so I'm going to play dumb until I find out just what his intentions really are.

"Her face was bruised.. and cut in some places. She came here looking for you. You should have seen her face when I told her you weren't here. I think she might be in trouble, Hardin." He continues, "She walked home alone that night and Ken said she hasn't shown up to the bar. That is where she works, right?" He questions and I finally get to speak.

"Worked." I correct him, emphasising harshly on the word to drill it into his head that she no longer works there, "I'm in Seattle, Liam. There's not shit I can do when I'm here. If you're so concerned about her why don't you go and get her yourself? We all have our fucking problems and I don't intend on adding hers to my list." He sighs through the phone and I flex my jaw tightly to keep the bile from rising up my throat. I'm a such a fucking liar.

"Fine. I actually thought this girl might have been one of the few things you actually give a fuck about but I guess I was wrong. I'm sorry for bothering you but Ivory is a nice girl and I'm going to go find her.. when I do I'll tell her you said hi."

Woah. He actually sounds pissed off..

"You know what.. that's your own fucking fault for assuming shit, Liam. Stay out of my life and I'll gladly stay out of yours." My anger overpowers my judgment and I need the upper hand. I need to win this argument, "And don't even bother telling her I said anything because that's nothing but a fucking lie."

Without another word I hang up.