Never Gonna Quit It [h.s.]

Chapter Thirty:

Scarlett

Today was her first scheduled chemotherapy treatment and she was terrified. Despite what the doctors said, she knew it changed people and she didn't want to go through with it at all. But she had to for Harry and the kids, the longer she could hold out the more time she could spend with them.

Harry had been about to leave for work when she stopped him, gripping his wrist before he reached the door, her eyes pleading with him silently.

His vibrant green eyes met hers, each of them stopping their actions completely, the only thing constant being their breathing.

"Please come with me; I can't do this alone."

His suitcase fell to the floor, arms pulling her in closer, "I was hoping you'd change your mind."
Scarlett breathed in his already familiar cologne, never wanting his arms to let her go for even a second.

It was nearly one by the time they'd made it back to the actual room and every nervous habit that she'd ever had began to peek through her already crumbling facade. While they waited for the nurse, she twisted her fingers, shook her leg, and pulled at the hems of her clothes.

Harry's hand found hers, "Sweetie, relax. You're psyching yourself out, and I know that's not what you want to do."

Her chest hurt as she breathed in deeply, her lips quivering as the air was expelled, tears forming in her eyes.

She stared at him momentarily, noticing every little crack in his strong facade, before shaking her head, "I can't do this Harry. I can't."

Everything about the room was driving her crazy, the beeping machines, the smell, the way that the lights shone way too brightly, and especially the dying people around her.

Her head hurt again, no doubt the tumor pressing on her brain, and she finally couldn't take it any longer.

Getting up from the chair, Harry stopped her and held her arms, his eyes shining with unshed tears, pleading with her to go through with it.

"Scarlett please...we need as much time as possible with you, especially the kids. Do it for me, do it for them."

Her tears multiplied and he pulled her in, holding her tightly in his arms and rubbing small circles on her back.

Scarlett nodded, releasing his shirt from her fingers as she noticed the nurse that stood only a short distance away.

The short elderly woman smiled softly and handed her a tissue as she sat down once more, "First time?"

Scarlett nodded as she hastily wiped at her eyes, "Yes."

Harry's fingers laced with hers the moment she stopped fussing around with them, squeezing gently to reassure her that he was still there while the nurse readied the tubes and prepped her other arm.

There was a sad look to her eyes once she took notice, "You two seem like quite the lovely couple, I'm sorry that you're going through something like this at such a youthful age. You're going to feel a rather sharp pinch but it will go away after a little bit I promise."

Nodding,  Scarlett bit down hard on her lower lip and squeezed Harry's hand, already anticipating the pain.

Scarlett grimaced once the needle met her skin, squeezing harshly on Harry's hand as the liquid she'd avoided for so long flowed through her veins.

She'd barely heard the nurse speak as her thoughts buffeted her from every angle.

I don't want to die.

Her thoughts ceased as familiar lips met hers, kissing her gently and bringing her back to reality.

"I love you."

Foreheads touching, despite all of the stares they were receiving, Scarlett spoke softly through tears, "I love you too."

* * *

Harry carried her up the stairs, she didn't feel well at all, just like she had expected, and she held onto him like she were a little girl again, her head buried in his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck.

Once she was settled in the plush mattress, Harry placed a sweet kiss to her forehead, afterwards letting his thumb trail lightly down the side of her face.

"Get some rest sweetie, I'll pick up the kids and make sure that they do their homework, okay?"

She wanted him to stay desperately but found herself smiling weakly as her mouth spoke for her, "Okay."

Hours had passed before he'd decided to wake her up and, by the time that he had, it was already seven o'clock.

Scarlett groaned lightly once she felt his soft lips on her cheek, she felt exhausted.

Forcing her eyes open she smiled tiredly at him, "You didn't put them to bed already did you?"

Harry shook his head, dimples showing through his closed smile, "I knew you'd want to. And I brought you dinner since I let you sleep a little longer than I maybe should have, sorry about that by the way, the kids pulled me into a game of hide and seek."

Scarlett's smile grew, "That's okay, thank you sweetie."

After picking at her food, she wasn't really too hungry, and settling Ambrose in bed, making sure Seraphina was tucked in as well, she put off going to sleep to cuddle with Harry.

They'd been talking about really anything and everything when a particular question sparked in her mind and she found herself asking softly, "Harry?"

"Hmmm?"

"When did you know that you'd fallen in love with me?"

Silence blanketed the room momentarily, their breathing comforting in the darkness, the beating of their hearts loud in each others ears.

"I can't remember the exact moment honestly. I remember holding you close one night, just sleeping, no fooling around at all. There was a moment where you'd mumbled my name in your sleep, I'm sure you don't remember, and I remember feeling light and happy, a real happy though, not the happy drugs made me believe I felt.

The moonlight had framed your face so brilliantly and all I'd wanted to do was pepper you with kissses and to make you happy. Of course I'd known by then what it was, I was just afraid because of who I was and what had happened when I gave my heart away the first time. Turns out, I could have let my heart win and either way I would have been fine."

Scarlett smiled in the darkness as Harry lifted their hands to kiss hers, "I've fallen in love with you all over again every day since then."

Her heart hurt.

Once more, they both lie together in comfortable silence before Harry found himself asking in return, "When did you know, that you loved me I mean."

Scarlett didn't hesitate, "Do you remember that one day that we slept together without any influence?"

Harry grinned and hummed in response before she continued, "Just kidding, it was a little after that actually. It was the moment that Jimmy had me pinned down that I realized. The only thing running through my mind was that I needed you.

You were the first thing that came to mind and the first person that I called for. You reinforced it a few days later when you purposely made love to me to make everything negative go away and to make me feel better and everything suddenly changed."

A warm kiss was placed to her collarbone followed by a trail of kisses up her neck before Harry spoke in her ear softly, "I think, I'm more in love with you than I ever would have imagined. And Scarlett? That's never a bad thing."