Even If It Hurts -H.S. AU

H -18

I'm sitting behind Violet in the bathtub and she's nestled between my legs as I massage her shoulders. She melted into me as soon as she got in, she's absolutely exhausted.

I feel a little guilty for tiring her out so much after the day she had, but she won't let me apologize for it anymore. Still, I will spend however long it takes to soothe her and make her feel better, since her discomfort is my fault, but I'm not sorry that it happened in the first place.

I can't fucking believe she's here.

It feels like I'm in a dream right now, and I'm terrified that when I wake up in the morning, that's all this is going to be. Being with her again is even more incredible than I could've imagined. No one could ever compare to the way she makes me feel.

I rub my thumbs into her skin and she hums a small noise of satisfaction, making me smile.

I haven't been able to get out of my head her saying she hasn't been treated like that in awhile, not since me. That blows my fucking mind. I don't understand how anyone lucky enough to be with this woman could fail to absolutely worship every piece and part of her, as much as possible.

There isn't a soul on this earth that deserves to be given all of her. Including me, but if I'm fortunate enough to be given the chance, I'll try my best to be worthy of that.

I'm nervous about how she might feel in the morning. If there's one thing I know about Violet, it's that she has a tendency to get in her head. About everything.

For now, I'm fine with accepting whatever is going on between us as unresolved history and us trying to work through that. I didn't bring her here tonight thinking it would lead to sex, but honestly it felt almost necessary. I hope now that we've trusted each other and opened the door to everything we've been fighting against, maybe we can move forward, together.

I'm glad she trusted me enough to call me when she discovered her apartment in the state it was in. I don't even want to think about what could've happened if she tried to deal with it herself, and whoever broke in decided to come back.

I didn't recognize the number when she called, I almost didn't answer it, since I was in the middle of a meeting. When I heard the fear in her voice, I dropped everything.

It takes less than five minutes driving time to get to her place from the hotel, but it felt like forever. Her eyes were frantic when I saw her, but I was relieved to see that physically she was okay. When I went into her apartment and saw how trashed it was, I was angry.

It reminded me so much of how terrified she was when I found her in her dad's motorcycle shop, leaning against the door, beaten and bloody, hiding from Johnny. When I didn't find anyone in her apartment, I took a deep breath to compose myself before I went back down to her. The last thing she needed was me losing my cool and scaring her even more.

I was surprised when she asked to stay with me. I thought about it before she asked, but I didn't want her to think I was offering for any other reason than to make her feel comfortable.

I'm glad that she's here, and I'm glad she knows that even despite everything that's happened between us, she can always trust me to keep her safe.

"Harry?" Violet whispers my name, ripping me from my thoughts. My eyes focus on her and see she's turned around in the tub to face me. "Where'd you go?" She giggles.

"Nowhere." I shake my head and smile softly at her. I reach out and place my hand on the curve of her neck and she leans into my touch, closing her eyes.

"What were you thinking about?" She asks curiously.

"Nothing important." I mumble. Her eyes flash open to look at me and she raises an eyebrow, not believing me for a second.