Twist Of Fate

A Little Girl

A warm hand wraps around my upper arm, and pulls me toward the corner. I bump into Carter's chest. Immediately, my palms place themselves on his chest, maintaining a certain amount of distance between us. He grins down at me and glides his thumb across my left cheek. I flinch away slightly and then relax in his touch just a bit.
"Was waiting for you, baby girl." Carter says, leaving feather light kisses along my jaw. My heart rate spikes up, but not in a good way. I feel slightly uncomfortable in Carter's company. His touch makes me slightly jumpy. Quite contradictory to Harry's comforting touch. I never felt this in Harry's presence; his touch calmed me, even on the worst of my days. I still haven't let Carter kiss me on the lips, or touch me anywhere south of my face. However, today he seems unusually touchy and eager.
"What're you doing?" I ask, chuckling. I stop immediately when I realize that my chuckle sounded nervous. I hope Carter doesn't get the wrong message.
"Having some fun with my soon to be fiancee," Carter murmurs. Oh, he didn't notice. Why does the thought upset me? Had it been Harry he'd have noticed right away? After all, he reads me like an open book. Why the heck am I comparing Carter and Harry? God, Harry has really screwed my mind up by coming here.
"Carter, I'm tired." I say, taking a step back. He pouts, narrowing his eyes, confused.
"What've you done today that you're so tired?" Carter questions. Ouch!
"Why're you acting like such a bitch?!" I snap at him. Silence prevails for a minute or so and then Carter takes a step toward me, taking my upper arms in his hands.
"I'm sorry, beautiful." Carter says, smiling at me affectionately. "I think we're both tired, and should call it a night."
"Yeah, I think you're right." I say, nodding my head. Carter raises an eyebrow.
"What, no sorry?" He questions, still smiling. However, this is an expectant smile.
"For what?" I let out a dry laugh. "You're the one who's acting all clingy and rude." Carter pouts, looking at me as if I've lost my mind.
"Night, babe." He kisses the top of my head, and heads toward his room. I stand rooted to my spot for a minute, and then head toward my hideout; the only hideout that I have in this house - my room. I don't know why I'm acting in this manner today. Maybe it's because of Harry's sudden arrival. God, when I'm tired I do get super cranky. Fuck, I need sleep badly. But I also have to meet Harry at midnight. I enter my room and just throw myself on the bed. That amazing feeling of just being relaxed spreads through my whole body and I hug my knees to my chest. Don't sleep. I mentally chide. Don't sleep.
************
"What the fuck were you doing in my fiancee's bed?!"
"You're crazy! Bumper isn't your fucking fiancee yet!" Bang! I jolt upright and blink my eyes a few times.
"And you're a dick! A dirty sneaky bastard." Bang! My head swivels toward the sound of these yells and bangs. Carter is pressed against the wall by Harry, his lip's cut and bleeding. Hastily, I throw the blanket off my body and rush to their side.
"What the heck are you two doing?!" I yell, grabbing hold of Harry's arms. I'm ignored.
"At least I entered her bed with my shirt on!" Harry yells, delivering a punch to Carter's nose.
"Leave him! Get off!" I yell again, gripping Harry's arms once again. This time my grip's tighter and will probably bruise a little.
"Stay out of this, Bump!" Harry growls. I flinch, and take a timid step back. No, he won't hurt me. This is Harry, for God's sake. I keep my grip on his arms intact and pull him toward me.
"Harry, please," I beg. A flaring pain shoots through my abdomen and I double over on the floor. My eyes squeeze shut on their own accord and I groan.
"Oh God, Bump." Harry says, concern lacing his tone. I can feel his hands around me immediately. "Is it hurting too much? Fuck, I'll take you to a hospital." I shake my head through the pain. Harry's strong arms lift me off the floor. However, in the next second, his arms are removed from my body and I hit the floor. I hiss and turn around, coughing out a warm, metallic tasting liquid.
"What the fuck!?" Harry yells, and then I hear Carter's groans. I push myself up with the heels of my hands. My eyes land on Harry and Carter on the ground - the latter below. I don't know how, but I get up - weak as I feel - and stumble towards the two. Carter manages to throw Harry off of him and stand up. However, Harry's just as quick. His expression tells me that he's fueled with anger. Real bad anger. I make my way toward the two. Carter has Harry pushed up against the wall and he's delivering continous punches.
"Leave him!" I croak out. I lay a weak hand on Carter's upper hand and the hand that's constantly delivering punches to Harry's face now lands on mine.
"Fuck!" Carter hisses. "God, I'm so sorry." He turns toward me, but I hold my palm up, not wanting him to get any closer to me. Harry turns to face me, coughing.
"Bump, let's get you to the hospital." Harry says, taking hold of my hand. I grip it tighter, and stumble into his chest. "It'll be okay. I'll make the pain go away."
"Get your hands off her!" Carter yells, making me flinch. He grips my upper arm too tightly, making me wince.
"Just leave me alone, Carter." I mumble, wanting Harry to just take me away from the other man in the room.
"Get the fuck away from her!" Harry exclaims, wrapping his arms across my upper body protectively. I'm lifted off the ground and carried out of the room. As Harry's carrying me, I realize one thing: I wasn't afraid of him. Throughout the fight, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. It was Carter who I was afraid of and that's why I was keeping a certain amount of distance from the two. Carter's the one who punched me and I can bet my life that he was the one who kicked me in the abdomen. I trust Harry enough to know that he'd never hurt me - consciously or unconsciously.
*********
"So you're finally awake?" Harry says, getting up and standing beside me. He takes my hand in his and rubs his thumb along the back of my hand affectionately.
"Yeah, awake and numb." I say, not feeling anything in my lower area and my head.
"Thanks to the drugs." Harry smiles at me and strokes my head with his other hand.
"What happened to me?" I ask, curious to know what exactly happened. I was in too much pain then to notice and now everything feels numb.
"Well, Carter delivered quite a punch to your face. My advice, don't take off the bandage on your face. Otherwise, you'll have some explaining to do." Harry sighs and rakes his eyes over my blanket-covered body. "He also kicked you quite hard. The doctor said he was surprised that you didn't break any ribs."
"My strength prevails again." I bend my right arm, showing off my nonexistent muscles. Harry chuckles at my crappy joke, and I grin.
"Yeah, you are definitely one of the strongest women I know." Harry nods his head, and looks at me with...pride? "By the way, pretty boy came, but I sent him away. Plus, he seemed quite busy. His phone was blowing up."
"Work," I murmur. "What's the time?"
"Seven in the morning. You were out for a day," Harry replies. "He got you pretty bad." I don't know what to say to that. Because Carter did get out of control and there's no explanation for that. The thought of him spreads a certain amount of fear in my mind. That's not good. Not good at all. "Want something to eat?" Harry strides over toward the wooden table lying in the corner, and grabs a sandwich off the top. Harry comes back toward me hastily and hands me the sandwich. I take it, nodding my head as a sign of thanks.
"Where's Kate?" I ask, taking a large bite from the sandwich. "Wait, before you answer that. There's no ham in this, is there?"
"No, I know you don't eat ham. It's smoked turkey and a lot of other stuff, but no ham." Harry says, dragging a chair beside my bed and sitting down. "She's on the phone with Liam."
"Oh," I murmur.
"Yeah, she was waiting in the lobby and talking to him. But she was too loud, so they asked her to take it outside." I chuckle.
"So Kate," I say. There's pin drop silence in the room for a few minutes.
"Why're you doing it?" Harry asks, staring at his boots.
"What?" I question, confused.
"Marrying that jerk." I sigh, tired of feeling answerable to everyone. But Harry deserves an explanation.
"Dad's company is failing, and incurring great losses. If I get engaged to Carter, his dad will merge his company with Dad's. That'll help him a lot."
"Aren't they friends?" Harry questions. I nod. "Then why can't he just merge like that? I mean, a friend can do that for another in need, right?"
"That's what I thought, but apparently the business world doesn't work like that. I'm like an insurance, I guess." Harry chuckles and gets up.
"Are you serious, Mus?" Harry questions, irritated.
"What?" I say, eyebrows raised.
"You're actually making such a big decision just for a stupid merger. Just to be an insurance - a safety net?"
"I know it sounds wrong, but Dad has a family to take care of. I can't let my brothers or my step-mom to suffer for his mistakes," I explain.
"You're part of his family, too! And if they're so fucking important, then so are you." Harry's yelling at the top of his voice now.
"He knows that! I'm helping him out, Harry." I'm yelling now as well and I don't know why but tears prick the corners of my eyes. "I have to do this! Don't make it harder on me."
"I will! As hard as I can make this cause you're ruining your whole life. A life that's filled with potential and opportunities. I know you've been communicating with my friend and that your book is being published in the coming months. All this success is only going to be hindered by this stupid engagement! You're nineteen for God's sake," Harry spits out.
"It won't! I'll be on my own path from next month - back to college and all. He'll be here, handling his business deals and all."
"And then?" Harry's question is followed by a void of silence. "You're not planning on marrying him, are you?"
"I-I am. But..." The truth is I didn't think that far. I thought that I'd handle this hurdle first and then think about the rest.
"Look at you, Mus." Harry lets out a dry bark of laughter. "You don't even know what your future looks like anymore." I scoff, and open my mouth to retaliate. But Harry's faster. "I won't stand here and watch you throw your life away. I'll fight for it, even if you won't. Because guess what? I'm older and more mature and I've seen the world. You haven't. You're just a teenager, for God's sake."
"Don't belittle me!" I exclaim.
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry, I forgot. You throw a tantrum when someone looks down upon you and shows you a mirror. Now, like the little girl that you are, I'll have to guide you out of this mess you've got yourself into."
"I-" Before I can continue, Harry's out of the room.