Vienna {h.s.}

chapter twenty - your word

When Harry woke up, Vienna was wrapped around his arm, shaking with her face contorted. He moved his arm out of her grasp to move so he could hold her and she yelped in, what looked like, pain. He immediately engulfed her in his arms, and she clutched onto his chest, her hands unknowingly fisting against his skin. He was worried for her wellbeing, as it had only been a night, who knew how long the nightmares would last.

"Vienna, Vienna wake up." He urged in a mild voice. "Vienna!" He called, and she jolted awake.

"It was, it was Marcus, and-" she choked on a sob. He trailed his hand in front of her heart, and he could feel it pumping quickly.

"Hush, duchess. You're getting yourself all worked up, and it's not good for you." Harry quieted her, hugging her tighter to his chest.

"I need to talk to Matty." She blurted, and Harry nodded, sitting up and taking her with him.

"Okay, you should get dressed and I'll call Matty." He instructed.

"It's only seven, he might not be up yet." Vienna cautioned, and Harry shrugged. He slid himself out of the comfort of the sheets and went down into the kitchen in nothing but his boxers. He grabbed the phone off of the wall, and dialed Matty's number.

"What the hell, Vienna? It's only seven!" Matty shrieked from the other side of the line.

"It's Harry. Get over here right now." He drawled deep and stern, and he hung up the phone directly afterwards, not even waiting for Matty's reply.

He walked back up the stairs, and grabbed a pair of sweatpants that he had left at Vienna's before from her closet, slipping them on. He heard her humming to herself from the bathroom as she put on her clothes, and he smiled as he fell even more for the pale girl with a past. He took a big, navy blue sweater from her closet and slid it over his limbs. She exited the bathroom and gasped when she saw Harry standing there in familiar fabric.

"You're wearing my father's sweater." Vienna stated.

"Oh-oh I'm sorry, duchess. I can put on my shirt from last night?" He offered, but she shook her head.

"It has snot and tears on it, you can wear the sweater." She told him, and he smiled.

"I like you a lot." He pecked her nose.

"I like you a lot too." She reciprocated, and there was a ringing from the doorbell that echoed through the house. "That's him." She breathed, and they walked down the stairs together. She got Matty, who immediately started glaring at Harry, who glared right back.

"You woke me up." Matty scowled.

"Your brother beat my girlfriend." Harry growled, and Matty's face went pale. His eyes went wide, and he looked over at his precious best friend who had purple wrists, a violent looking hickey on her neck, and a bruised jaw that was joint with a split lip.

"Oh god no." He pleaded, walking toward Vienna. "I'm gonna kill him." Matty whispered, hugging her to his body.

"Yeah, me too." Harry agreed. Vienna pulled away from him, and walked over toward Harry.

"You told me that he'd stay away." Vienna started. "You promised me, Matty." Her voice broke from the lump in her throat. "You promised me, damn it!" She yelled, and Harry grabbed her hand in his gently.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Matty apologized, taking a step toward her, but she shook her head.

"You told me that he would be sent off to military school, and I wouldn't have to see him again. And then you promised me after he came back that he would leave me alone. When are you going to keep your word?" Vienna questioned tiredly.

"I can't always control my bastard brother, Vienna! You act as if it was all my fault, but maybe you shouldn't have been so gullible to fall into his trap. Like Jesus, you can't expect me to babysit my brother all the damn time." Matty objected.

"Hey." Harry warned.

"You know what Matty, I did expect you to babysit your brother because that's what you told me you were going to do." Vienna argued.

"You should have figured out by now that life doesn't always turn out the way you expect it to. Now, I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, but you shouldn't hold a grudge against me for something I couldn't control."

"I'm not holding a grudge, I'm holding you to your word." She countered, her eyes narrowing.

"Bleeding hell, I can't deal with you right now." Matty threw his hands up in aggravation.

"Matty." She called before he walked completely out. "Find a permanent solution to keeping Marcus away from here."

He scoffed, and left.

Harry's arm wrapped around her small torso, and she melted into his back, a few tears making their way to her cheek's surface. She cried silently into his neck, and then pulled away, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"I've never fought like that with him before." She revealed, and he nodded.

"He'll come around."

^i can't believe i left you guys hanging for so long, and now we have surpassed twenty chapters! crazy^