earned it [h.s.]

50. (*)

This was 14,721 words so I split it in two! Part one of the double update xx

Harry.

I could sense a shift in Gen's mood by the time we went back to the apartment after dropping off the boat. I steered us back into the harbour and paid for the rent of it – also tipping the guy because we did fuck on his boat after all.

Genevieve turned a little more silent and clutched onto my hand as we walked the distance back towards the apartment. She answered my questions and random rambles with little hums and nods, but didn't add much to the conversation.

I decided to cook for her, something I loved doing.

Genevieve wasn't as difficult of a person to please as Blair was in the kitchen. She didn't only eat low carb or a specific brand of certain foods. I cooked us a vegetarian meal, including her in some of the cooking but she decided to take a shower halfway through and got back into the kitchen just as I wrapped up a fancy salad with quinoa and tofu.

Gen complimented me on my cooking skills and I watched as she devoured her salad. We sat on the little patio, staring out into the darkened beach and hearing the ocean waves crashing in the distance. It was lovely warm and the perfect temperature for an outside dinner.

I could sense her anxiety over what tomorrow would be.

Genevieve skipped out on church for the first time in I don't even know how long. She hadn't given her parents a head's up, she had just fled town with me for a weekend to get away from it all and stand up to them in the form of silence.

She was an atheist and church was torture for her. But I had a feeling that's why they did it. They wanted to torture her for the decisions she'd made in her adult life. They wanted her to suffer, they wanted her to pay for her sins.

I didn't know the full extent of Genevieve's childhood, she hadn't opened up to me all that much about it. And I had a sense that she'd completely shut off on me tomorrow. Genevieve had never let someone in about this topic, I was the first one she opened up to a little and it was brand new for her to share that with another person.

She usually handled those moments alone, spend those days by herself.

By the time we went to bed, stress took over her body. I distracted her, finishing up the crossword puzzle out loud with her head laying on my chest in the large bed, until she eventually drifted off to sleep to the sound of my voice.

Even when she was asleep, I continued murmuring little stories until her breathing evened out. I shifted us a little bit, caging my arms around her to provide all the safety she could get as I whispered how much I loved her.

I knew she wasn't ready to hear me say it out loud, but I had to express those feelings to her. I kissed her forehead repeatedly as she breathed steadily into my neck.

Eventually I fell asleep, but got woken up hours later with Genevieve whimpering in her sleep. I blinked my eyes open to find her awake, sitting up with her palm pressed to her chest which was heaving in shallow breaths.

"Sunny?" I sleepily whispered. Genevieve swallowed and sniffed, "I'm f-fine."

Worry seeped into my bones as I scooted into her and wrapped my arms around her waist, "You're not. It's okay, 'm here." I whispered, pulling her down again into my chest. She cuddled into me, her body covered in a thin layer of sweat as she tried to crawl incredibly close to me, pressing her face into my collarbone with a tight arm around my back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She whispered with a small sniff and I kissed her forehead, "What're you sorry for?"

Genevieve locked her legs with mine, "F-For ruining our last day. I'm trying, I promise."