He Saved Me

Chapter Twenty Two

Harry's POV

I woke up with a pounding headache and sunlight beating down on my bed. Ugh, I thought, too bright. I stumbled out of bed and to the bathroom, where I unloaded my stomach. I washed my face and looked in the mirror. I looked awful. My hands were scraped and battered, and my face was pale, with the exception of dark circles under my eyes. To sum it up, I looked like death. When I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed Lia was gone. It actually looked like she had never been here. Did I imagine it? I thought, Was I that drunk?

Drunk.

It all came back. Well, almost all of it. I remembered fighting with Anne at dinner, and a club, then Lia catching me when I appeared on the sidewalk outside. "Harry?! Thank the Lord! We've been worried sick," I remember her saying. Who knows what I said back. Probably something stupid and mean. I step over to examine holes in the wall. Had I made those? Crap, I thought, That's why Lia's gone; I must have scared her. I rubbed my eyes and decided to face the inevitable and go downstairs.

Mum was in the kitchen making muffins. "Hey, Mum," I said tentatively. She gave me a curt nod. "So, um, last night, what...?" Mum sighed. "Harry, you and Gemma fought over everything. Till the end. You fought about Lia. Gemma honestly didn't like her because she didn't know about her past; she couldn't find any reason to trust her. Till you spilled your guts about it last night. Lia was so embarrassed. After you stormed out, she locked herself in your room, crying, until Gemma and her had a long talk. They made up, yeah, but then as it got later, Lia started to worry. Harry, a girl with her past has fear of abandonment and violence.

"You left for God knows how long then came back and you were so harsh.... She had enough. After you hit her." I cursed. "I hit her?" I demanded. Mum nodded. "Harry, she's so shy, and her parent's problems have cause emotional strain and issues with her." I sighed and cursed again. "Where did she go?" Mum went back to making the muffins. "Liam's. He and Maggie broke up a couple days ago, so they need each other right now." I shook my head, jealousy taking over. "What she needs is me." Mum grabbed my hand. "What she needs is time. She needs to recover and heal before she ever trusts anyone, especially a man." I jerked away and stormed out of the kitchen. I didn't care that I was in my pyjamas. I didn't care if the paps saw or about my appearance. I just cared about Lia. In Liam's house.

Lia's POV

"I'm sorry about you and Mags," I said. Liam shook his head. "It's fine. I just wasn't feeling it with her. I guess she felt the same." I winced as he pressed the washcloth to my face. "Your lip is cut bad, and your face is scratched up pretty bad too. How drunk was he? He'd never hurt you intentionally." I rolled my eyes. "Intentionally meaning if he knew what was going on. He was out of his mind."

I was sitting on Liam's kitchen sink while he doctored my face. We heard someone pounding on the door. "What the heck?" Liam said and set the cloth down. "I can guess who it is," I muttered. Liam looked at me sadly before opening the door. "Harry, I was about to call you," Liam said calmly. Harry scowled at him. "Yeah, I'm sure you were. C'mon, Lia. Let's go." I shook my head and crossed my arms stubbornly. "Lia. I said let's. Go." Harry growled impatiently through clenched teeth. I just stared back at him. "Harry, maybe you should leave. I'll take care of her." Harry spun to face Liam. "Like h3!! you will. She's my girlfriend. Not yours. Remember? Yours dumped your sorry a$$." Liam took a step back, stunned. I hopped off the counter.

"Harry, stop! At least Liam is a real man, unlike yourself." Harry turned to me and I had to keep myself from backing down. "Excuse me?" Harry demanded. I nodded, feeling more confident. "A real man doesn't get drunk over some argument. A real man doesn't beat someone who is blindly in love with him and has given everything up to be with him. A real man doesn't go off and spill his guts about his girlfriend's past. A real man doesn't date a girl to please others. Harry, you stormed out after revealing my whole life to them. That stuff is private! Not even Maggie knew. Jessica didn't even know everything! You are... were the only one. You stormed out and didn't come back until almost four in the morning. You had me so worried.

"Then you came back and started beating me. In the middle of it, you ran to the bathroom and threw up. You came back into the room and literally passed out on the bed. And this morning, I found out about the management thing when they called your cell. Gosh I can't believe it. All this 'love'," I said, using air quotes, "was fake! You only went out with me because the fans liked me and approved of me, so management thought it'd work for you. Management FORCED you to date me. They had to FORCE you!" I shoved him back hard. Liam stepped between us. Harry just stood there, shocked. "Lia.... I..... I don't know what to say..." He looked down at his feet. I scoffed. "Well, I do," I said, "Harry, goodbye." I shoved him out of the house and slammed the door.

I leaned against it, and it hit me all at once. I sunk down to the ground and bawled. After a minute or so, I felt Liam wrap an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into his awkward side hug. "Shhh," he said, trying to calm me, "shh it'll be okay. Management shouldn't have pulled this b.s.... They just screw everything up all the time." I shook my head and sat up. "Harry.... He.... I thought he was better than this." I stood and walked the the bathroom to blow my nose. Liam followed. "He is, but this is a job and when you have a job, you have to do what the boss says. Harry tried to get out because he had real feelings for you and didn't want you to be hurt." I scoffed. "A little late for that." Liam sighed. "He may not have loved you, true, but he did like you. Still does." I crossed my arms and looked at Liam in the mirror.

"I did nothing to deserve this. Any of it." Liam hugged me from behind. "I know. You do deserve better than him," he said. I sighed. "Maybe not. I mean, did I even really love him? Like, I'm beginning to question everything." I looked down. Liam turned me around so I was facing him. "Well, do you question this?" Liam asked. Before I could say anything, he crashed his lips to mine.