One Plus One

Chapter Sixty-Eight

MARLIES POV

I could hear faint shuffling of footsteps. I was in that state of sleep where you're asleep to a certain point but you're awake enough to be aware of what's happening around you.

"Lily?" I called out, rolling over.

I felt a new wave of tears as soon as I laid eyes on the person who the footsteps belonged to.

"Go away, Harry. Leave me alone."

"Let me explain. I have a lot you need to know, and right now is the best time to tell it."

"I've had enough crying for tonight. I don't want to cry anymore."

"I'm not asking you to hear this. I'm telling you, you need to. It's the only way to clear most of this up."

Harry took my silence as permission for him to continue. I heard him take a deep breath.

"When I was 16, me, Brody, and that girl, Laura, we all had a plan to go to a music college, down here in London. When we all auditioned and got in, we picked up and moved down here together. Laura and I, we had a special connection. Not that we ever did anything about it, not until her 17th birthday anyway. We got drunk, confessed feelings and I took her back to my sisters and we had sex. But I can't remember any of it. After that, I assumed we were together. But she had other ideas. She didn't want to know me anymore, she shoved me off to the side, focused on her music. I was in love with her but she wanted nothing to do with me."

"So that's why you left Cheshire?"

"Yeah. When you asked me about it, everything came back to me. So I went to see her, to talk things out and we apologised and made up. But Brody obviously thought that things went further than that. I had you. You are worth a thousand times what Laura was to me. I didn't want anything more to do with Laura. We were on good terms now and that was great, but that was were it ended. But Brody had to go and fuck it up, just because he's desperate for his own action."

"I know what Brody did, and I am furious with him. But you, if you don't have feelings for her, why did you let it go so far? Why when I was standing in the room, didn't you push her off you?"

"Anything I did would have looked like encouragement."

"It looked as of you'd already done plenty of that. You've done the one thing you promised me you'd never do. You've cheated on me."

"No, Marlie. Cheating is a choice. I had no choice in this, this was forced upon me and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I love you with every inch of my being and I would never do that to you. Please, Marlie you have to believe me."

The pair of us were streaming tears. I wanted nothing but to cuddle him, and for him to cuddle me back, but the pain in my heart from everything I'd seen, heard and whatever else was preventing me from it.

"I love you, Harry. But I can't do this."

"Marlie, don't break up with me, please, we can move past this."

"I'm scared I won't be able to."

"At least try. Think of everything we've been through."

"This is so different."

Harry cupped my face in his hands, brushing strands of hair from my face and connecting our watery gazes.

"I can't be with you until my head is clear. Please understand that, Harry."

"So there's hope? This isn't definitely the end?"

"Not yet."

Harry brought my lips to his. I had never felt a kiss with such raw emotion, with so much love. I couldn't even begin to think what I was going to do without him. I needed him, but the aching in my heart was pushing him away. My head was telling me the separation would do me good, would show me that if I really loved him, I'd go back to him. That is what they always say, I guess.

I felt myself beginning to cry again as he left me in the room on my own. I hated it all already. I wanted to take back everything I'd said, pretend like the events of the night hadn't happened, 

HARRY'S POV

I knew giving up trying to make her stay with me was the only thing to make her happy. Marlie's happiness was my main priority. As long as there was hope for the both of us, I had enough to keep me going. I wasn't going to lose Marlie.

As for Brody, if he dropped dead I couldn't care less. The thought seemed extreme, but Marlie had become my life, she was a massive part of me and thanks to him, I was now like a puzzle with a piece missing.

I went to the only place I could be alone. The only place nobody would look for me. That dingy flat that would seem so intimidating and spooky to others but it was a comfort to me. When I was at my lowest and needed to shut myself away, it provided me shelter. It had been a hideout. This time was no different.

The last time I'd been here, I'd been hiding out after plans backfired with Jamie. After what he'd done to Marlie, I couldn't let things lie. Taking a pounding from him and his mates was worth ensuring her safety. She was all I was worried about. To me, his vale threat that he would kidnap her and do things to her that couldn't even bear thinking about sounded less than empty at the time, but now, I saw he was all mouth and no action. He'd had plenty of opportunities and missed every single one.

Marlie was safe. There was hope for me and her. There was no reason to give up yet.