Book 2 || Keeping Prince Charming || Harry Styles

Chapter 25

Cassidy.

I can still feel the way my whole body had buckled as Stephan brought me to a climax with his knuckles and a feather. "I feel so ashamed of myself. I can barely look you in the face."
"It's not for you to feel ashamed." He grabs me under my chin and pulls my face up to look at him. "Your body reacted in the only way it knew how, Cassidy. You shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place. I shouldn't have done that to you. I'm so sorry, Cassidy. I wish I could take it all back. I wish I could make it so none of this happened."
"Do you hate me, though? Can you ever forgive me?"
"There is nothing for me to forgive, beautiful." He kisses me softly on the lips. "It is me that needs your forgiveness, Cassidy. It is me that is begging you for another chance. I love you so much."
"This isn't love, Harry!" I scream at him as I bang my hands against his chest. "You don't love me. I'm just a possession to you. I'm just a girl you decided to use to get what you want."
"That's not true," he says, his voice surprisingly soft as he grabs my wrists.
"You don't love me," I whimper as tears gush out of my eyes. I look at Harry and I see his expression change. It goes from concerned to sad and I'm overcome with emotions.
"I hate you, I hate you for doing this to me!"
"I hate me, too." He nods in agreement. "I fucked up, Cassidy. I fucked up bad. I got you involved in something that I didn't even want to be involved in myself. I made a mistake. A really big mistake. I don't know what I can do to make this better. Maybe it will never be better, and maybe you will never trust me. However, there is one thing I know for certain. One thing I can guarantee you. And that is that I do love you. I love you more than I could love anyone."
"How do you know?" I gasp, wanting to believe him so badly, but not really believing. "How do you know that you love me? Is it because you saw another man making me come?" I scream.

I watch as he winces and he grabs my face again and looks at me, his green eyes looking sad and weary. "I want to take you somewhere. I want to take you somewhere so I can show you how much I love you and so you can forgive me."
I stare at him then and kiss him softly on the lips. I put my fingers in his hair and pull him into me for a few seconds and breathe in his essence before pulling back. "I forgive you, Harry," I say softly. "But I don't know if I'll ever believe that you really love me," I say with a sad face and jump out of the bed. I look down at him as he sits there, his regal face in despair and my heart sinks for what has happened to us. "I just don't know if I can ever forget this," I say as tears start to run down my face. Harry stands up and pulls me into his arms, and I rest my head against his shoulder and cry. We stand there in the room, silently, his hands rubbing my back to comfort me as I cry, both for the loss of trust in our relationship and the complete and utter loss of my own innocence.

***

"Where are we going?" I ask Harry with a confused expression as I look out of the car window. "I don't recognize where we are at all."
"We're going to my favorite place," he says, and his voice is a lot more cheerful than it's been just a few hours ago as I cried into his arms.
"Your favorite place?" I ask him and stare at his profile as he's driving.
"Your bedroom?" I joke lightly, but he doesn't laugh. I suppose it's not the right time to be making sex jokes.
"You'll see," he says softly and gives me a quick look. "How was your nap?"
"Good." I nod. "I feel refreshed." I stretch my arms and smile at him. I take a deep breath and realize that I feel better than I have in days. I suppose that fresh air and getting out of the palace really makes a difference.
"You must have been tired," he says and I nod, even though I know he can't see me. "It's from all the crying you've been doing."
"I suppose," I say, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"You've been crying, and I've been hitting," he continue and I turn to him in surprise.
"Hitting who?" I say, my voice breathless, imagining him pummeling Stephan to the ground.
"Not who, but what," he says, his voice amused as he rounds a corner. "I was hitting a punching bag."
"Oh, okay." I feel myself exhale, though I'm slightly disappointed.
"In preparation for my big fight," he continues and chuckles slightly.
"Big fight?" I ask breathlessly.
"I'm joking." He laughs, and all of a sudden the tenseness in me suddenly disappear and I find myself laughing with him.
"You see, I can be funny," he says as he pulls off of the road suddenly. "I'm glad I still have the ability to make you laugh, Cassidy," he says and I feel him give my hand a quick squeeze. I hold on to the armrest tightly as I gaze in front of us. It appears to me that we're driving through the middle of a field and there's no actual road guiding us along.
"I never said you're not funny," I say breathlessly as I stare at the green grass we're plowing through.
"I don't mean funny looking," he says, and I feel his right hand on my leg suddenly, squeezing my kneecap.
"No one thinks you're funny looking," I say with a laugh, my hand covering his. "What are you doing, Harry?"
"I'm taking you to my favorite place. I already told you that."
"You know that's not what I mean," I say and gasp as I see a field full of flowers before us. Harry slows down the car and then stops.
"We're here," he says and jumps out of the car. I sit there in a daze as I wait for him to open my door. I'm still dazed as he leans over and undoes my seatbelt. "You okay?" he asks gently, his eyes concerned as he stares at me.
"I'm fine." I nod, not sure why I'm suddenly so overcome with emotion. "This is a beautiful place," I say, my voice breathless as I gaze at his face so close to mine.
"It couldn't be any more fitting." Harry nods. "A beautiful destination for a beautiful woman."
"I'm not beautiful," I mumble, and Harry frowns.
"You're the most beautiful woman in the world, Cassidy. You're the blooming flower that every bud hopes to be."
"You're just saying that," I say, blushing as I step out of the car.
"Why would I say that?" he asks as he closes the door.
"I don't know." I shrug and look around. "Why are we here?"
"I want to show you how much I love you."