Baby Doll (Harry Styles)

Chapter 36 - Doubts

Harry's POV

"What's wrong?" I questioned, worry growing inside. I recalled everything from last night, wondering what I might have done to cause her to act this way. Nothing but sweet memories flooded my mind. Thalia kept backing away, seemingly trying to create as much distance as possible between us. I'd never felt so disappointed.

"Thalia." I demanded an explanation. My voice grew rigid, my patience wearing away. I refused to believe that I did anything to hurt her. I didn't. I took quick steps towards her. "Please... don't touch me." I heard her mumble as she pushed herself into a corner. "Harry, please." I didn't listen and proceeded to grab her hand. She wriggled in my grip.

"What's the matter with you?" My voice cracked a little, in response to her hurtful reaction. This was all so sudden, too abrupt for me to grasp. "Tell me what's wrong." The gloss in her dark eyes stressed me out. Why was she crying?


She stopped struggling and I let go of her. She slid down to the tiles below and drew her knees up to her chest. Her pale hands then reached up to wipe below her eyes, a sniff following the action. I shook off the urge to pull her in for a hug. I didn't want her to scream out loud, and I got the feeling that she would if I did that.

"It hurts..." She finally said in the quietest tone, her head tilted down.

"Oh." I rubbed the nape of my neck. I didn't know how to deal with this. I'd heard that sex isn't the best experience for girls when it's their first time but I didn't think it was actually true, or atleast important enough to keep in mind. It couldn't be so painful that you would need to bawl your eyes out... could it?

"Just... everywhere." She breathed. "It hurts."

"I'm sorry..." I apologised eventhough I wasn't so sure what she was talking about. "I didn't know. You could've said something and I would've-"

"I don't know who I am anymore." She continued. "What did you do to me?"

"Lia, what do you mean?" I bent down to level our eyes.

"I spent the night in a dirty motel with an engaged person while my sick mother is confined in a hospital... suffering." Her voice caught in her throat, and she paused for a moment. "I've done exactly what your father wanted, what Richard wanted. I am a Baby Doll, Harry."

I inched a tad closer to her and spoke in a whisper. "Lia, what we shared last night... it has nothing to do with my dad, Richard or anyone else. It's between the two of us, and the two of us only. You are not one of them."

She brought her gaze up to me. "The contract's over right? We'll be going our separate ways. You'll be getting married and-"

"I'm not." I interrupted. "I'm not getting married."

"What?" She sniffed.

"I never wanted to marry anybody. I was only going along with it because Kaylee's dad was helping me get through college. If I fail this time, I'll have to go through an extra year. That'd be worse than hell for me, Lia. I don't even like what I'm studying, in fact I absolutely hate it."

"Then... why are you doing it?" She asked rather timidly.

I heaved a sigh. "I made a promise to my mum before she died, that I'd get through college with a proper degree so I wouldn't have to depend on anybody when I'm older. To be more specific, she didn't want me to be dependent on my dad. She never trusted him. I know I would kind of be depending on Kaylee if I married her but the promise was only to get through college, and that's what I'm trying to do."