Chapter 44

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Chapter 44

Harry's POV

I chase after Karleigh as fast as my feet will carry me, and I see her standing in the far corner of the parking lot with her back to me. My feet slow down, and I tread carefully towards her.

When I'm a few feet away from her, I study her face. Tears stream down her cheek, I look away. Part of me wants to wipe away her tears, tell her not to cry but I stop myself. Sometimes it's better if you act like you don't see someone crying, when they don't want to be seen. So I do just that, I avoid looking at Karleigh so she doesn't know that I see her tears. It will damage her pride if she's aware that I can see her streaming tears down her face.

"I told you, you didn't want to come." She croaks.

For the first time, I look over at her and her eyes are fixed on the ground. "I'm still glad I came." I tell her.

She gives a bitter sounding laugh, but doesn't respond. "She overreacted, it was only one drink." I defend her. Karleigh makes a sound that's a mix between a hiccup and a whine.

She turns to me, her watery, blue eyes gazing into mine. "Can you call us a cab?" She whispers and I nod, pulling out my phone.

When I get off of the phone, we sit in silence waiting for the cab to arrive. A small yellow taxi comes speeding around the corner, and I wave to the driver so he knows where to stop.

The car comes to a halt near us and Karleigh steps towards it. I reach my hand out, and grip the door handle to open the door for Karleigh. She slides into the backseat of the cab, and I slide in beside her.

"Your place." She says to me.

"I have to get my car,"

"5672 Maplewood Lane" Karleigh tells the taxi driver and he speeds off down the street. Karleigh scoots closer to me in the backseat of the car, and lays her head on my shoulder.

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The cab jolts to a stop at the end of Karleigh's drive way and we both get out of the backseat, and I pay the driver. Our pace is slow as we walk up the driveway to my car, my eyes stay on Karleigh as I try to figure out if she's coming with me to my apartment.

Karleigh stops beside the passenger door of my car, and I press the unlock button on my keys. She tugs on the door handle and gets into the car. I look over at her and she's staring out the window, avoiding my eyes. Without thought, I place my hand on her thigh but she doesn't react.

I peel out of the driveway and begin the short drive to my apartment.

When we get to the apartment, Karleigh practically jumps out of the car and speed walks up to the doorway of my apartment. I trail behind her, and lean over her to unlock the door. The door pushes open, and Karleigh jogs up the stairs to my bedroom.

"Hey Karleigh." I hear Niall say to her as she passes by, but she gives him no response. Niall looks at me, "What's with her?" He asks.

I shrug, "I don't know exactly, yet." I say as I jog up the stairs after Karleigh.

My bedroom door is closed, and I twist the knob on the door to step inside. Karleigh is standing by my window with her hands covering her face. I move closer to her, and stand behind her silently. I lift my hands and remove the hair from Karleigh's neck and let it fall onto her back. I press my lips against the side of her neck, and her hands drop from her face. Her eyes are rimmed with red but neither of us say a word. She turns around to face me, both of her hands grip my shirt and she hides her face against my chest. A choking sob escapes her mouth, and I grip her closer to me.

"Karls," I whisper.

"She wasn't overreacting." Karleigh chokes out and I wait for her to explain. "After my dad died," her voice is strangled and her tears aren't letting up.

"Shhh." I try to silence her, but she shakes her head. "No, you need to hear this." She insists.

"After he died, I was drinking too much, too often." She pauses for a moment and I wait patiently for her to continue. "One night, I was out, with Michael. I had been drinking, and Michael was mad because I wouldn't...do stuff with him." Her eyes are avoiding mine at all costs, and my heart is trying to beat out of my chest.

"He hit me, and left me there at this party stranded. So I tried calling him, over and over. When I realized he wasn't coming back for me, I called my Mom." Her tears are helplessly pouring down her cheeks, and she's blinking rapidly to try and control them.

"I went out into the front yard, and passed out. My mom didn't know where I was because I was drunk, and I couldn't even ember where I was. When she finally found me, I was passed out in the yard and everyone was gone. She dragged me into the car, took me home, changed my clothes. But when I woke up the next afternoon, she was pissed and we had our worst fight."

Thoughts are scrambling around in my head, but I think I know what she's trying to tell me right now. With the edge of my shirt, she wipes her face off and takes a deep breath. Her tears have slowed and so has her breathing, her eyes meet mine for the first time during her story.

"She packed up my shit, and sent me off to Dallas." She finishes.

The selfish side of me is glad that she was shipped off to Texas to stay with Jocelyn. But the other side of me knows, that she shouldn't have come to Dallas that way.

My hands rub small circles in the small of her back as I look into her eyes. They're burned out and tired, her eyes. I wrap my hands around the back of her thighs, and lift her up to take her to my bed. I sit her down gently across the bed, and I pad across the room to flick the lights off.

I climb into the bed beside her, and our eyes meet. She lets out a small yawn and her eyelids flutter, but don't close.

"You don't have to talk about it anymore." I tell her in a hushed tone.

She gives me a small nod, I can tell her eyelids are getting heavier by the second.

"It wasn't so bad though..." Her words start to run together.

"What wasn't?" I'm confused. Her eyes are now fully closed, and I'm praying she responds.

"Talking to you about what happened. Usually, I don't like to talk about it, cause it makes my chest hurt. Not with you though," her eyes open and her blue orbs study my face.

"With you it's calming, it doesn't hurt to tell you about it. Or him." Her eyes flutter closed once more, and I know she's asleep, she was really tired.

I can't help but wonder who she was referring to as him? Michael? Her Dad?

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