Hardin Scott has been madly in love with Tessa Young since the moment he first laid eyes on her, but there's no way she could ever see him as anything more than a friend. After all, he's a bad boy with a promiscuous past and she's a sweet and innoce...
I slowly open my eyes and realize Hardin is already awake. "Hardin? Are you okay?" I ask, still half asleep.
"Not really. I hope you can get through to Emma."
"Me, too. I'll get ready now, so I can talk to her when she gets up." I shower, get dressed and go over what I plan on saying to Emma before leaving the bathroom.
"Should I come with you, Tess?" Hardin asks, his voice full of emotion.
"No. I think it would be better for me to try to talk to her alone."
"Okay. I love you, so much, baby." Hardin pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms around me.
I leave the bedroom and walk down the hall to Emma's room. The door is open a crack, so I lightly knock on it. "Emma?" I call out before pushing the door open. I peek inside, but no one's there. I check the rest of the top floor before going downstairs to search for her.
When I reach the kitchen, I notice a note on the table next to some freshly baked muffins.
"Tess?" Hardin says from behind me. "What happened with Emma?"
"She's not here, but she left this note," I explain as I wave it in my hand.
"You better read it." Hardin sighs.
I nervously open the note and read it.
"So?" Hardin asks impatiently.
"It says she went skiing with Dan," I reply sadly.
"Fuck!" Hardin curses.
"I'll talk to her when she gets back."
"That's if she comes back. Who knows what he'll do next."
"Hardin, you're not helping," I sob.
"Oh, Tess... I'm sorry. I'm just worried." He walks over and hugs me.
Hardin and I spend the next few hours nervously waiting for Emma to return.
After what feels like an eternity, Emma and Dan finally walk through the door. "Hey!" Emma chirps.
"Hey, Emma. H-how was skiing?" I stutter.
"It was good." She smiles.
"Oh, that's good. Um, do you think we could talk?"
"Sure. Just let me change."
After she changes, Emma finally comes back downstairs. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
I drag Emma back upstairs to mine and Hardin's bedroom before saying anything.
"Tessa, what's going on?" she asks impatiently.
"Emma... Hardin told me about what Dan did to you. Please listen to me when I say that you should be with someone who will love you and treat you the way a woman should be treated. You don't deserve how Dan treats you and you need to leave him."
"Hardin has a big mouth."
"Don't say that! He cares about you! We both do."
"This is none of your business."
"I know about Neil," I blurt out.
"What?" she gasps.
"I know that he attacked you. And I know better than anyone else how that made you feel. But Emma, you can still be happy. You don't have to settle for someone like Dan just because you think you won't do any better."
"I appreciate your concern, Tessa, but you don't have a clue how I feel. You don't know what it's like to be alone, wondering if you'll ever find someone who truly loves you. You have Hardin and you'll never have to find out how that feels. So, just mind your own damn business. If you can't do that, then you should leave."
I watch as Emma storms out of the bedroom. I immediately start to feel sick and my emotions overwhelm me. Emma's going to stay with that sorry excuse for a man and I might have just lost my best friend. I sit down on the bed and start to cry.
As I continue to cry, I suddenly feel Hardin's loving arms wrap around me as he sits next to me on the bed. We don't say anything while he holds me as I cry.
"Hardin..." I sniffle. "She won't listen to me and now she hates me," I sob.
"She doesn't hate you, baby. She just isn't ready to admit you're right," he explains as he consoles me.
"She told me to leave," I continue to sob.
"We could always kidnap her and bring her home with us," Hardin suggests.
"If only it were that easy." I sigh.
"What do you want to do about all of this, Tess?"
"I'm not letting this go. I'm going to try to talk to her again." I get up off the bed, wipe my tears and head toward Emma's bedroom. I stop at the door when I hear voices.
"What did you tell her?" Dan asks angrily.
"Nothing! I didn't say anything! She saw the mark," Emma cries.
"You better fix this!" Dan shouts.
"You're hurting me!" Emma cries.
I rush into the bedroom and without thinking, I try to pull Dan off Emma. "Get off her!" I shout. As Dan fights against Emma, his elbow flies back and hits me in the eye, causing me to fall backwards onto the floor. I do the only thing I can think of and call out for Hardin. "Hardin! Hardin!"
Hardin enters the room and immediately rushes over to me. "Tess! Are you okay?"
"Help Emma," I choke through my tears.
Hardin grabs Dan by the collar and pulls him off Emma, before slamming him against the wall. Dan shoves Hardin, causing him to lose his balance. Dan takes advantage of that and punches him. Hardin retaliates. I watch in horror as they continue to fight.
Emma rushes over to me. "Tessa! I'm so sorry!" she cries.
"You piece of shit!" Hardin shouts as he continues to pummel Dan.
"Hardin! You have to stop!" I shout.
Thankfully, Hardin hears me and stops hitting Dan. He rushes back over to me. "Tess, can you walk?"
I nod and reach for his hand as he helps me stand.
"Tessa, take Emma and go pack your things. We're leaving. Now," he says angrily.
Hardin's tone scares me, but I reach for Emma and head toward the door.
"If you ever come near Tessa or Emma again, they'll be searching this mountain for your body. And they'll never find it," Hardin threatens before following us out the door.
Hardin's words send shivers down my spine as I try to process the last ten minutes.
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