Tell Me It's Love

Tell Me It's Love - Part 20

Every part of Harry's body became numb. His eyes widened from what he had just seen happen and his heart thumped hard against his chest while the scene played out in his head over and over without stopping.

He watched as Rich left the room leaving Bailey with her hand lifted up to her cheek with her head down. He blinked away the tears that stung the corners of his eyes then he backed away from the window.

He turned away slightly, thinking over what he should do. He wanted to go over there and comfort Bailey, hit out at Rich for what he had done to her and he wanted nothing more than to be by her side to help her. But he also didn't want to upset her more than she already was.

Sighing deeply, he took out his phone from his pocket and opened up a new message to send to Bailey. His fingers clicked over the keys as he typed:

is everything okay? you know where i am if you need me, for anything xx

He knew it wasn't enough, not after what had just happened but he at least wanted her to know she had him. He pressed 'send' then nervously bit on his lip, looking back up at the window to see Bailey take out her own phone from her jacket pocket.

From his view from the window, Harry watched as Bailey typed on her phone then she put it down on the desk. As she turned slightly, still with her head down, Harry could clearly see tears streaming down her face and a slight red mark spread on her cheek.

A noise coming from his phone made him tear his eyes away and move them onto the screen, showing he had a new message. He opened it up and read Bailey's reply.

yeah everything is fine :) thanks I'll remember that xx

Harry re-read the first four words over and over, feeling his heart sink to the pit of his stomach. It wasn't fine, he knew that and he wanted to tell Bailey that he knew and he would be there for her. But he couldn't do it.

He looked back up at the window and watched Bailey move over to her bed to sit down. She lifted up her arm and wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. She leaned back on her mattress and rolled over to face the wall, closing her eyes as she felt her cheek sting with the pain.

Harry sighed then walked away from the window mentally kicking himself. A voice inside his head told him he should go over and be with her. He wanted to do everything he could to protect her, but he chose against doing that. Instead he put his phone back into his pocket then walked out of his bedroom with a heavy heart.

* The next morning *

Bailey ran as fast as she could, feeling her heart beat quicken through sheer panic. She didn't dare look behind her. Her eyes were fixed forwards all set on getting away from him, if she turned around to check it would slow her down. She had to get away.

She heard her name being called but she ignored it. It made her run faster, not really sure where she was heading. Her name was called again, louder this time.

Her footing was suddenly lost and with one harsh landing, Bailey tripped and fell to the ground. She rushed to get up and start running again but a hand reached out and grabbed her arm stopping her. She turned to look at him towering above her with an angry glare deeply showing on his face. She tried to move away, struggling to release her arm from his tight grasp. She stopped as soon as she saw his arm raise and his hand formed into a fist. Her eyes widened and her heart beat sped up even more.

"No! Please!"

Bailey's eyes flew open and she sat up in bed with her heart pounding and her throat dry. She looked around her bedroom confused and scared before realising it was just a dream. She let out a deep breath then stood up from her bed walking over to the door.

Once she was out on the landing she quickly glanced over to her Mum and Rich's room seeing the door shut. She walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. As she moved away from the door she caught her reflection in the mirror, a small gasp left her mouth.

She moved closer to the mirror and lifted up her hand to her cheek. A big red mark had been left from the events of yesterday, a harsh reminder of what had happened.

Bailey picked up a flannel and rinsed it with cold water. She lifted it up to her cheek and gently dabbed at it hoping it would help. The coolness of the water felt soothing against her warm skin, the softness of the flannel contrasted with the hard assault her cheek had received the previous day.

She felt her eyes fill up with tears but she blinked them away, not wanting to feel weak by crying. She had done enough of that already.

****

As soon as Harry was awake he felt the same feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt useless to his new friend, he couldn't help but feel he should have done something about what he saw rather than just ignore it.

Sitting up in bed, Harry reached over for his phone simply to check for any messages. He had two new and unread messages and he opened them quickly, only to be disappointed when neither of the two were from Bailey.

He thought about texting her to check if she was okay but then he reminded himself that he did that yesterday and if she needed him then she would speak to him. He spun his phone carelessly in his hand as he thought then he put it back down on his bedside table.

Pulling the duvet back, Harry stepped out of his bed and walked over to the window with his heart pounding afraid of what he would see but also from what he had seen already. He lifted up his hands to pull open the curtains letting the bright light of the sun shine into his bedroom. His eyes looked straight ahead into the bedroom of next door, Bailey's.

The room was empty. Harry couldn't help but feel the same disappointed feeling as before and he sighed turning away from the window.

He turned back to his bed then set about putting the duvet back straight. He lifted it up to shake it out, hearing something drop as he did. Confusion crept onto his face and he stepped around to the other side of the bed.

Harry looked down at the floor and saw something shiny lay on his carpet. He bent down and picked up the object to observe it closely. It was a black bracelet with a silver charm on in the shape of a small teddy bear.

Harry looked back over at the window then at the bracelet again as he realised it must be Bailey's. He looked closer and saw the silver clasp was broken, self explaining how it must have fallen off Bailey's wrist while she was round there the day before.

Standing up, Harry again looked over to the window now seeing Bailey walk back into her bedroom and then sit down on her bed. He glanced back to the bracelet in his hand and a small smile etched itself onto his face. At least now he had a reason to go over to Bailey's house.