Enemies with Benefits (Harry Styles)

Chapter Forty

Harry's POV

I see Athena coming out from the University Gate with several books in her hand.

I take her home from Cambridge every day, and today, as usual, I'm in my car just outside there waiting for her to arrive here.

When Athena finds my car and comes towards me, she gets a pat on the back from behind by a guy who talks to her. I expect the conversation to end after a word or two and for Athena to come this way right away, but they don't quite finish talking.

Athena has her back to me, so I can't tell what kind of expression she has on her face and what she is talking about with him, but when she glances back at me, she looks a little uncomfortable. And I'm still looking at the two of them when the guy starts grabbing her arm and touching her big belly. She tells him to stop and tries to remove his arm from her, but he doesn't stop, so I lose my patience and get out of the car and run towards them.

The guy keeps staring at my girlfriend like he wants to eat her. "Wanna hang out sometime?"

Athena shakes her head. "No, thanks. I have a-"

"Boyfriend," I say, wrapping my arms around her neck. I glare at him, and he backs away a bit.

Then he smirks, looking at my face. "It's you, huh?" he mumbles sarcastically. "The one who turned this apparently innocent girl on and got her pregnant."

"What?" I trail off, not understanding properly what this guy wants to do.

"I'm curious as to how you managed to turn this pretty girl on. And I'd like to try it once." He slowly touches Athena's arm again, but I grab his hand tightly full of anger, and release it from her arm.

Athena grabs my shirt sleeve and tells me to go back to the car, but I can't control my anger, so I move her away from me, and I swing into the guy's face, knocking him out. Then I land several punches on his face again.

Everyone who passes by the place stops and looks at us. Some are trying to stop us, but when they see my furious face, they stand away from me as if they feel they are in danger if they approach me.

As the commotion grows louder as many Cambridge students know what happened, Athena tugs on my arm and quickly makes our way to the car.

The silence in the car continues for a while, very awkward. But she's the one who breaks the silence first. "What were you thinking?"

"I did the right thing," I reply in a straight voice.

"You hit him!" she yells like she got angry at what I said. "And everyone was watching!"

"I can't let him talk about you like that and look at you in that way, Athena," I say with a frustrated frown.

"You didn't have to do that, we could've just gotten the hell out of there!" Now she glares at me. "Now lots of Cambridge students will be spreading the word that my boyfriend beat up an elite boy!"

I try to resort again, but she looks like she doesn't want to talk to me anymore, and she seems pretty tired, so I relent and shut up.

The silence continues, and we arrive home. When we enter the house together, she finally turns around and looks at me. "Don't talk to me for a while. I'm sleeping on the living room couch."

Then I go straight up without saying anything.

I sigh in frustration, take off the shirt I had on, and throw it on the floor. I sit down on the bed look down and hold my head.

I don't condone anyone saying something like that to Athena, and honestly, I think I did the right thing. But why does she say I was wrong...

Now I sigh again in a mixture of frustration and anger, and Ryle walks into the room. He picks up the shirt I threw on the floor and takes it to the bed. "You got your heart broken, boy?"