We Want To Break Free ❤ (Sequel to IWTBF)

Chapter 3

“You can ride with me to school if you want to,” Harry offered as we sat down eating our breakfast.

“No thanks, it's fine. I have work later, remember?” I explained, not looking up from my slice of bread I was putting butter on.

“Right.”

I looked up at him, but his gaze returned to his cup of coffee instead. As soon as my new job came up, he became so quiet and didn't waste that much time in having a proper conversation with me.

“You know that this is what I want,” I slowly started. I hated being serious with him in conversations. I want to be able to laugh and say whatever I want to without making him go all stiff and weird.

“What?”

“You heard me, don't pretend that you didn't. This job means a lot to me.”

“I know,” he said, finally meeting my eyes. The small wrinkle that appeared between his eyebrows as he furrowed them told me that he didn't understand it at all, and that bothered me. I just sighed, too tired to have this talk this early in the morning, especially on a monday.

“I'll meet you in school,” Harry said before planting a kiss on my left temple.

“Sure,” I said as we parted ways, both of us walking towards our cars. I unlocked my car, that looked ridiculously small next to Harry's big Range Rover, and climbed inside. I turned the radio on in hopes of waking up a bit more. I let Harry pull out of the lot first, and got surprised when he quickly escaped it and headed down the road in a much faster pace than usual. I blinked in surprise a few times. What the hell? He always drives slow just to make sure that I follow him. Now he just drove away from me. I shook my head slowly as I pulled in the gear and slowly started to drive out of the parking lot.

I didn't catch up with Harry at all during my way to school. I kept telling myself that he was just messing with me and that he probably would wait for me somewhere, but he didn't. I kept telling myself:

“He's just having a bad day. Everybody has it once in a while, it's completely normal.” I saw his car in the school parking lot as I entered it. How fast was he driving exactly? I decided that it would be for the best if I parked my car somewhere else, I already seemed to bother him enough.

“Good morning,” Kelly greeted me as I arrived to my locker, giving me a warm hug. Yes, a lot has happened between me and Kelly. We share this amazing and precious relationship. I guess you can say that she's my best friend, well, my only friend actually. For a loner like me, meeting her became my rescue. I have Harry of course, but it wasn't the same thing. I needed a girlfriend, a friend that was a girl, in my life. Since we both found out that we had gotten raped, by the same man, we got even closer than I ever though was possible. We started to talk after that, even more than we did before, as a way of moving on. It was completely different compared to talking to Elizabeth, my former therapist. Elizabeth meant so much to me and I'm extremely grateful for everything she's done for me, but talking to Kelly was different. Knowing that we'd been through the exact same thing made everything easier, and we could help each other to break free, aware of how hard it was for both of us. Starting moving on with somebody from the same level as yourself was the final thing that I needed. That, and Harry. Just thinking back on the time we shared together still makes my cheeks flush and a stupid grin always cross my lips. I still can't believe that I gave myself to him, I guess that clearly shows that I've been able to break free. For real. My thought and memories were interrupted when Harry walked down the hallway. He just gave me a wink as he walked by, a playful smile on his lips. That was literally all I needed, just knowing that he wasn't all grumpy anymore. I really need to stop being so paranoid. But there was still a part of me that wasn't completely convinced yet.

“Everything alright?” Kelly asked as she looked at me suspiciously. I snapped back to her after following Harry with my gaze as he entered a classroom further down the corridor.

“Yes, sorry. I was just out for a while,” I nervously laughed.

“Okay,” Kelly slowly said, obviously still worried.

__________________________________________

“Table number three,” Liam explained as he handed me two plates of hamburgers and fries.

“Got it!” I confirmed as I grabbed them and quickly walked towards the table before dropping everything. My destination resulted in two not-so-skinny men. They seemed to have a funny conversation, their laughs booming all over the small restaurant.

“Here you go, two cheeseburgers with extra fries and no ketchup.” Thankfully, they'd ordered the same thing, I've noticed that I have the ability to mix the orders up as I deliver them. But, it was my first day, so I didn't feel that bad about it. Charlotte, my boss, told me to just take it easy. Practice makes perfect, so I just needed to be patient.

“Thank you sweetheart,” one of the men said, giving me the probably most disgusting smile I'd ever seen.

“No problem.” Forcing smiles had been a habit during this day.

“New friends?” Liam playfully asked as he put new burgers on the grill. I just rolled my eyes at him.

“Very funny. Did you see his teeth?” I asked as I quickly wiped my hands on the towel from under the counter.

“Nope, and considering the look on your face, I'm glad I didn't.”

“Yeah,” I huffed.

“Is there a meeting here that I'm unaware of?” I turned around just to be greeted by Hannah's dark brown eyes.

“No, you just continue doing what you're doing,” Liam quickly said. She gave us one last glance before grabbing some plates and heading back out to the restaurant.

“Bitch,” Liam quietly said as he flipped the burgers.

“Oh come on now, she's your sister,” I pointed out as I grabbed a cloth and some cleaner.

“Doesn't matter. But don't tell her I said that,” he quickly added, pointing the spatula at me. I just laughed at him. Liam sure was an outgoing person, it's like we're friends already. The fact that he's Charlotte's son makes it all a bit strange, but I quite like him. He's nice.

The clock started to make its way towards nine, which means that my shift soon is going to be over. I've lost count on how many tables I've been cleaning and how many customers I've served. I'm quite pleased with my first day at Charlotte's BBQ, it's all gone pretty well. I have to admit that there's one particular face that I haven't seen during this day, that I honestly desperately wanted to show up. But something happened this morning between us, and I have absolutely no idea what it was. I was certain that he would show up, just to make sure I was okay and just to check the place out. I guess I was wrong. I walked behind the counter and turned around to face Liam, who was occupied by cleaning the grill and the floor. He looked up when he heard me approach.

“Aren't they ever going to leave,” he groaned, looking over at a young couple that seemed to stay for so long just to prevent us from going home.

“Now you're being unfair, we're actually open for another fifteen minutes,” I explained.

“Guess you're right,” he smiled.

Suddenly the small bell above the door made a sound, making us aware of somebody's entrance.

“Another one, seriously?” Liam asked as he continued to mop the floor in anger. I just giggled and decided to take it, since Hannah was no where to be seen.

“Welcome to Charlotte's BBQ, may I take your...” I trailed off when I realized which pair of eyes I was staring into.

“I'll just have a coke. My girlfriend is not home at the moment, guess I'll have to do something so I won't starve.” It was obvious that he was joking, his dimple smile confirmed it.

“You got it! And don't forget the tip!” I joked as I reached for the fridge to get him what he wanted. I leaned over the counter, our faces inches away from each other as I handed him the bottle.

“I love you Harry,” I whispered.

“Not even half as much as I love you.”