Who'd You Rather? (H.S.) [ONGOING]

Part Sixty-Seven

Tegan was so confused as she laid there blinking her eyes up at the ceiling. She didn't know where she was. What was happening? Was that all a dream?

She quickly looked around the room, realizing they were in Harry's bedroom and that she was safe. She had been safe all along. It was just a dream – a nightmare.

"What the... what... are you okay?" Harry stammered, sounding a little less alarmed than before, but still completely out of sorts.

Her vision shot back to him as he stared down at her with the most worried look she had ever seen on his face.

Just the sight of Harry calmed her. Her heavy breathing soon slowed and her heartbeat seemed to go back to normal. Though her mind was still reeling from the imagery of the nightmare.

"Tegan, baby..." Harry cooed as he reached out, swiping her hair off her sweaty forehead.

"Baby, are you awake? Are you okay?" He asked, stroking his thumb softly across her cheek, the concern in his expression ever-present.

"I—" She squeaked out, but needed to clear her throat before she could continue.

"I'm awake," she said quietly.

"Thank god," he said, letting out a heavy breath.

"You were having a nightmare. You were thrashing all over the place and screaming 'no' over and over," he explained, causing her heart to thump heavily in her chest again as she thought about why.

Her mind was brought back to the villainous man advancing toward her with that sinister look on his face and the knife in his hand. A sense of fear shivered through her again.

"Hey, hey. You're okay, Tegan. You're okay," Harry cooed, comforting her with his soothing words and the way his fingers slid gently across her cheek, letting her know he was there.

"I'm—" She began, taking in a deep breath and letting it out hard before she made a move to sit up. She felt so disoriented.

"Wh-what happened?" Harry asked carefully as Tegan sat up, bringing her legs up to her chest before wrapping her arms around them.

Tegan closed her eyes tightly and thought about what happened. The man; being tied up in her own home; being held hostage with a knife; Harry knocking on her door, but leaving because he thought she wasn't home; the hopelessness of the situation; the pure unadulterated fear of it all. She felt so violated, even though it wasn't real.

"Tegan, it's okay. You're okay," Harry reminded her.

"It just... it felt so real," she said lowly as she opened her eyes to find his.

"The nightmare you were having?"

"Mm," she acknowledged, nodding her head minutely.

"Do you... do you want to talk about it?" He asked carefully. He still looked so worried and somber.

"Um... I-I was leaving my house to go meet you. We had a date or something... I dunno," she began as her vision focused on a spot on the wall across the room.

"And uh, as soon as I opened the door, I was forced into my house..."

"Tegan," Harry nearly whimpered under his breath. His voice sounded so heartbroken.

"And it was... it was that guy... that paparazzi guy... you know," she said, looking up at him, feeling the anxiety swell in her chest as she relived her nightmare.

She noticed his jaw tense immediately as his lips made a tight line.

"He uh, he tied me up... my hands and legs. And-and... he had a knife and-and threatened me. I offered him money, but he told me he only wanted me. Then-then you were outside knocking on my front door. I tried to scream for you to hear me, but suddenly his hand was clamped so hard against my mouth and he had the knife to my throat. And then... then you were gone... you left... and-and the guy said something like 'now we're gonna have fun' and I was screaming and then... then I woke up."