Beauty is the Beast || h.s. au

Chap. 20:

"Where are your glasses?" Harry surprises me by asking this. I forgot about those, I always just used contact lenses as a regular now. I even thought Harry liked me without the glasses.

"I thought you liked me without the glasses?" Letting that out of my mouth was so stupid, now I just sound clingy and desperate. I facepalmed myself, why did I have to say that?

"I like you either way," he says sweetly; "But the girl I fell in love with isn't the same without her signature glasses" he continues quietly. I tilt my head to the side and smile at him.

"You fell in love with me?" I repeat, I can't. Is this actually happening right now?

"Where are you glasses, Lucy?" he asks again. I frown, something's wrong. He sounds cold and demanding.

"They're in my bag, I-I'll just go and get them if you want" I answer, he's angry. He grabs my forearm before I could leave and pushes me so hard, I hit the wall behind me. The breathe is knocked out of me and I don't know where we are or what is going on aside from Harry trying to hurt me.

"Harry, what's going on with you? You have to stop!" I yell at him, he seems to get angrier by this and I try to avoid him as much as I could. He's going to hurt me again.

"Harry, please calm down. I don't understand why you're angr-" I'm interrupted when he slapped me so hard I fell to the floor. Tears stung my eyes, why is this happening.

"You're so pathetic, you honestly think I like you? I just needed to get inside you but no, you just had to go and believe me when I said I loved you. You're a whore and a useless one at that, Lucy" he says. It was like I was slammed into a wall again, the air left my lungs from crying.

"Did you know that, Lucy?" he says my name louder. "You're a f.ucking whore, Lucy" and louder. "And you're nothing but a shag, Lucy" and louder.

"Lucy. Lucy, wake up love" I gasped for air and sit up immediately. Tears were streaming down my face and I struggle to breathe. Harry is beside me with a worried face. It was just a dream- no it was a nightmare. I can't even look at Harry right now. Everything just felt so real, his words. His words were what I can't shake off. Harry tries to catch my hand but I flinch away from him

I glance at him and his facial expression shows hurt. I can't take it, it's not his fault but it gives me something to think about.

"I-I need a shag- a glass of water, I mean" The words in my head slipped through my mouth. I scramble away from him and leave the room.

**

I stared at the kitchen counter, recalling the events of the nightmare I just had. The words he said were harsh and convincing, the way Harry said it made everything so real. I even felt the air forced out of my lungs when I was pushed against the wall. A sob escaped my lips and I cover my mouth so no other sound comes out. the tears fall freely and I muffle my own sobs.

It was too real.

"Hey" A soft voice called out of nowhere, I jumped in surprise. I turned around and immediately wiped away my tears, hopefully the darkness of the kitchen is enough to cover my tear-stained cheeks.

"Gemma- Hi" I force a smile, I keep my voice quiet so I won't wake anyone else up. How long was she there? Did I wake her up because of my sobs? I couldn't have been that loud, could I?

"What's wrong, darling? Did Harry do anything? Say anything wrong?" she asked approaching me, she held out her arms inviting me for a hug and I hugged her. This is so weird, we're not close and I'm not even dating Harry... officially anyways.

"No- He didn't do anything" In real life that is; "It's really stupid, sorry for bothering you" I say as we pull away. I would sound so stupid.

I'm crying because I had a dream that Harry was using me for sex and was physically abusing me. It was just a dream, she'd laugh at me or worse, tell Harry about it.

"It's not stupid if it makes a girl like you cry this hard" she frowned. She's caring, just like her brother. This family is goals, how they treat each other and always have each other's backs is the type of family I wanted. I do want. When I have kids, I'll never treat them the way my mother did to me. I won't be biased or anything like that.

"I-" I swear it'll sound stupid; "It was just a nightmare, nothing big" I smile at her, I don't want her to worry about me or tell Harry. She still looks unconvinced but she nods nonetheless, the girl code is messy but there are codes that hints her to drop the subject.

"I have to get to work now, I'll see you later" she smiles and waves at me as she walks to the living room. I didn't even notice she was wearing clothes for work, what time is it anyways? I look out the windows and see it's still dark out but morning nonetheless.

I guess I could start preparing for school now, I don't want to be late like last time. I climb the stairs and reluctantly enter Harry's room. The hinges of the door are thankfully quiet as I tiptoe inside to grab my towel really quick. Harry is laid on the bed with his arm draped over his eyes. I grab the clothes I'm going to wear today tiptoe on my way back outside. I don't want to wake him up but he's already awake.

"Did I do anything wrong? Did I say anything wrong?" he suddenly asks without removing his draped arm. I either woke him up for he's been awake since I left for the kitchen and I'm betting on the latter since I was very quiet.

I was speechless for a few moments causing remove his arm away from his eyes and sit up to look at me with a pained expression. It hurt me to look at him in that state when he didn't do anything wrong and he doesn't even know. I smile at him reassuringly and shake my head.

"You didn't do anything wrong, it was just a nightmare and-" I cut myself off. Don't. It'll sound stupid; "I'm going for a shower so we could arrive in school earlier this time" I joke to lighten up the mood. He gives me a half smile but is still visibly bothered by it.

I don't what else to say so I leave for the shower without another word.