as it is || harry styles au

thirty-seven

tw // mention of rape

h a r r y

     Mick: She just got in an uber.

     >> Mate this is a complete invasion of privacy.

     Mick: I understand you trust her and all that jazz, but I think you're underestimating the lengths Ivy will go once she sets her mind on something. Especially if she thinks she's doing what's best for Jamie.

     There weren't words for how I was feeling.

     I put a dent in my savings purchasing a ticket for the one and only direct flight to Boston out of Portland airport.

     During the nearly five hour flight, I questioned everything.

     When I'd gotten the first text from Mickie, before they'd left for her conference, I didn't hesitate to defend Ivy. I told him no way in hell she'd ever meet up with Lance let alone Jake. Despite us having an argument on Christmas about her wanting to do so, she told me that she wasn't going to. She was going to an alumni conference at her old school to renew her confidence in pursuing her career back home in Oregon. I trusted her. I had no reason to believe she'd ever lie to me.

     So, when Mick texted me that he'd stuck around after dropping her off at the conference and watched her leave not twenty minutes after she'd gotten there, I still struggled to believe she'd do what she promised me she wouldn't do.

     Then, thirty minutes later, he confirmed he spotted Lance, then Jake, and he was going in to beat him to a pulp. I was already at the airport by the time he texted again.

     Mick: I have her.

     Fuck. I was going to bend her over my knee when I saw her.

     Was I foolish to trust her?

     God, what if she'd gotten hurt?

     What if Lance guy had been setting her up?

     Hell, we still weren't entirely sure why Jake decided to make himself known in her life again after all these years. Why would she think it'd be a good idea to meet with him by herself without telling anyone where she'd be?

     When I landed five hours later, the sun was just setting in Boston.

     Mick sent me his address, and I asked for an update.

>> How is she?

Mick: Been asleep for a couple of hours now. Do you know her passcode by chance?

>> Why?

Mick: I want this bitch motherfucker Lance's phone number. It's not on his office's website.

I didn't know what the right thing to do next was. When Mick said he nearly got into an altercation with Jake at the coffee shop, I wished he would've gotten a shot in.

I wasn't thinking about any consequences. I only had revenge on my mind, and as much as I wanted it to be me who caved the dude's face in, Mick doing the job would be the next best thing.

Ivy didn't stir from her slumber on the couch other than a slight twitch of her brows as I leaned down to press a kiss to her head. Seeing her lying there peacefully made everything hit me like a sucker punch to the jaw. "Fucking bell, baby."

Never mind the storm of emotions raging in my mind, the be all end all was Ivy's well-being. If she was angry, upset, sad, or frustrated, I'd take it. I would listen if she needed an ear. I'd give her my shoulder if she needed to cry. I'd sit in silence with her if she needed quiet. If she needed to scream, I'd take her to the tallest point in a ten mile radius so she could let her voice echo into the beyond.