Treasure [h.s]

| 23 - Law of the Jungle |

My phone buzzes the entire time we walk to the car, and I hope Brinna doesn't feel it. This is the last thing I need her worrying about right now, especially after such a good afternoon. I've been trying to keep it together all day, and this is about to drive me over the edge. I feel like I've been hiding how exhausted my body is but the issue in the back of my mind is only making it harder.

I'm not ready to do this again. I'm not ready to have another episode. I wanted more time before I had to tell her, I needed to sort some things out first before she found out about my condition, and I definitely didn't want her to find out like this.

I open her car door, pecking her lips quickly as she gets into the seat. I casually pick my phone up as I'm shutting the door, signaling to her that I'm just going to take a phone call. I don't want it to seem like a big deal, everything needs to be perfectly normal right now. "I'll be there in one second, love. Turn the A/C on before you melt. Don't steal my car, Bandit!" I give her the keys with a wink and shut her door.

I walk a few steps away from the car and look at my phone screen, the same annoying fucking contact coming up that has been all day. I accept the call with an eye roll and bring it to my ear.

"What do you fucking want, Zayn?!" I whisper shout. He's been calling me all morning and I've been ignoring him. My phones been on airplane mode pretty much the entire time I've been with Brin so she wouldn't hear his incessant ringing.

"HARRY!" He screams into the phone, making me wince and pull it away from my ear. "What the goddamn fuck are you thinking?! I've been trying to call you all day long!"

"Fuck you, I'm busy," I say, getting ready to hang up the phone. I do not need to be yelled at right now, he can piss off until I'm done playing in my fantasy land.

"Don't you fucking dare hang up! Why the fuck is Maggie chained to the cellar wall?!" he seethes, sounding a million times angrier than I've ever heard him.

So maybe I snuck out of bed early as shit this morning while Brinna was asleep, broke into Maggie's house, kidnapped her from her room, drove her back to Treasure Chest, and locked her in my basement. None of that matters though, because after that I cleaned myself up, bought an expresso machine, ordered breakfast, and snuggled back into bed with the love of my life for a few hours. Karma cancels that shit out.

"I don't have time for this, Zayn," I sigh.

"Have you lost your goddamn mind?! Harry, what did you do?! You need to come fix this before it gets out of control."

Magnolia is a stupid, stupid girl. She was a threat and she tried to hurt Brinna. I protect my den and everything in it. She has to go, that's just the law of the jungle.

"Fucking kill her, I don't care. Listen, I'll be in later to deal with her if you don't. Now fuck off, my angel is waiting in the car for me." I smile, my focus being entirely on the pretty thing in my passenger seat. My hand drops from my face, Zayn's voice still being heard as the phone gets farther away.