Always & Forever

Chapter 6

I sat down at a small table with a muffin and some coffee. Niall was sitting across from me. Harry had fallen back to sleep on the couch while I was getting ready, and we had decided to let him and the rest of the boys sleep in.

I took a bite of my blueberry muffin.

"Well, this is way better than burnt eggs." I said.

Niall laughed.

"I have a question." Niall said.

"Okay."

"We settled the whole Harry thing, which I apologize for by the way, but I still don't know where this leaves us."

I cocked my head to the side and gave Niall a curious look.

Niall tried to explain, "I mean what's going on between us?"

I pondered that for a moment.

"I guess I don't really know." I shrugged.

"You know how I feel about you," Niall said, "I just want to know how you feel about me."

"I feel the same way as you do."

Niall smiled.

"But things are more complicated than that."

His smile quickly turned into a frown.

"I told you, there are things about me that you don't know. I've never really had a boyfriend. It's hard for me to connect with guys and trust people, and part of me is afraid that this is all going to blow up in my face. I want to be with you, I really do, I'm just... Afraid."

"But that won't happen." Said Niall.

"I know, I know. I just... I don't want anything to be official. This is all moving so fast. I just wanna slow down and see where it goes. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. I understand, and I'm fine with it."

Niall smiled at me, and I felt relief spread throughout my body. I wanted to be with him more than anything, but I needed to take it slow.

I finished my muffin and Niall and I left the cafe. We chatted as we walked down the street back to my apartment, and Niall held my hand. It was nice, just being with him, without any pressure.

When we reached my apartment, Niall stopped me outside the door.

"What we're you planning on telling the guys?" He asked.

"About us?"

Niall nodded.

I thought for a moment, "I really don't want to tell anyone anything until we know for sure what's going on here, if that's okay."

"Alright, love." Niall said. He gave me a quick peck on the lips before I opened the door.

"Breakfast!" I called, walking through the door and holding up the bag of muffins.

The four boys were sitting around the TV, still in their pajamas. They ran to the counter as I set down the bag of muffins.

"I'll be in my room." I said, heading to the stairs.

I was only three steps in when I screamed and fell back onto the floor.

"Cara!" Niall yelled.

The boys came running towards me. They surrounded me, and Liam helped me up.

"Oh, my God. What happened?" Liam asked.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm fine."

The boys stared at me, obviously not buying it.

"I just saw a spider, okay?"

"Your face is white." Zayn said.

"It looked like you fainted or something." Louis added.

They clearly knew that something was up.

"I said I saw a spider!" I yelled angrily.

I took off running up the stairs and into bedroom.

I ran to my bed and buried my face in my hands, deep sobs escaping from my throat.

I heard a knock on my door, a familiar deep voice said, "Cara?"

"I said I'm fine!" I shouted.

Harry came in anyway. He saw me sobbing and ran to my side.

I collapsed into his arms and sobbed into his bare chest.

"What the hell just happened?" He asked.

I tried to tell him, but I couldn't say anything between the sobs.

Harry seemed to suddenly realized what was going on.

"Shit..." He said, "You had a flashback, didn't you?"

I nodded, and Harry's face fell.

He cradled me in his arms, "Shhhh, shhh..." He cooed, "You're safe now."

Harry held me and rocked me back and forth as I cried. After some time, I was abled to compose myself slightly. I looked up and noticed that Harry was quietly crying.

"It hurts me so much to see you like this." He said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"That fucking bastard... What he did to you--I can't even stand the thought of someone hurting you. If I could somehow take away your pain, I would. I would give anything to take away the memories of what happened."

Harry continued to rock me back and forth as we both cried. We must've sat like that for hours, crying together. No matter what had happened in my past, I knew that I would always be safe in Harry's arms. He was my Harry, and he would always be there.

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Yay! Chapter 6!

INTENSITY.

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