earned it [h.s.]

54.

if any of the legal stuff in this chapter is wrong - no it's not xx

Genevieve.

It was the fourth time Harry woke up.

My head was resting on his shoulder, my arm locked around his waist when I felt the twitching of his leg and the muffled grunts coming from his mouth. I blinked my eyes open, lashes fluttering against his bare chest before gently lifting my head.

His eyes were closed, his lips parted and his brows scrunched up in a frown as he moved his head from side to side, restlessly dreaming in bed about what I could only imagine pained him.

It broke my heart.

"Harry." I whispered, pushing myself up a little. I was exhausted, and this night hadn't been a walk in the park. If it wasn't Harry having a nightmare every few hours, it was me jolting up in a cold sweat in pure anxiety of the days, weeks, months to come.

The unpredictability of the upcoming times along with the emotional rollercoaster of the past day, made it unable for my body to really wind down. As if I was in permanent fight or flight mode.

The sheet slipped off the top half of my body, goosebumps travelling up my naked chest as I pushed my hair behind my ear. The scrunchie had slipped off and was lost somewhere between us, and I tucked my lip between my teeth as I turned on the bedside light.

"No..." Harry whimpered, breathing sharply as his chest heaved and he was covered in a thin layer of sweat, stuck in his bad dream. I sighed and climbed on top of him, thighs on either side of his body as I leaned down and cupped his cheeks, "Harry, wake up."

He mumbled something unintelligible and I stroked my thumbs over his cheeks, "Harry." I repeated, slightly louder.

"N-No!" He opened his eyes suddenly, inhaling a harsh breath as his fingers dug into my thighs, "No!"

My eyes widened, "Hey, hey, shh, it's me." I whispered, continuing the soft touches.

"No!" Harry shouted again and I yelped when he violently threw me off. I hadn't expected him to have a physical reaction, and with his strength overpowering me easily, I bounced on the mattress once before falling off the side of the bed.

I winced at the back of my shoulder smacking into the corner of my bedside table, a grunt leaving me as I slammed sideways onto the wooden floor next to the bed.

"Ow." I whimpered, eyes screwed shut as my hand reached for the sore shoulder. It didn't help that my ribs were bruised from Harry's harsh grip earlier. I was trembling as I got up, finding Harry's shirt on the floor that I quickly slipped on.

"Genevieve?!" Harry gasped, seemingly awake now. The absolute despair in his voice broke my heart more. His voice was raspy and broken, desperately crying out for me to be near him and in panic when he woke up alone. I rubbed my forehead with a small sigh and then got up, "I'm here, I'm here." I softly spoke.

His eyes were wide and panicked, sitting up in the bed, sweaty and broken. I carefully climbed back on it, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, it's okay." I whispered. Harry swallowed while trying to catch his breath, "I-I'm sorry. It's – I don't know what happened."

I shook my head, urging him to lie down, "It's alright." I reassured him in a gentle whisper, ignoring the painful throbbing in my shoulder whenever I even moved my fingers. Harry rubbed his eyes and sighed, still tense as he stared up at the ceiling, "I-I just... I opened my eyes a-and you were on top of me and..." His voice broke and I held my breath, scooting closer into him, "Fuck, Harry, I'm sorry..." I whispered.

I pressed my lips to his jaw while holding him close, "I-I hadn't even thought of that. I'm so sorry."

"No." He shook his head, "You couldn't know. Fuck, I didn't even know it affected me that much." He sighed.