Case Closed (Hariana | H.S & A.G)

Part 20: My Security

Ariana's POV

"Ow! What's wrong with you?" I whine as I feel Harry give me a little pinch on my arm.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure this was real" he jokes as a big smile forms on his face.

"You're so annoying! That's not even how it works, you have to pinch yourself!" I giggle as I reach over and pinch him. We were currently laying on the bed in the guest room of my apartment since I still don't want to lay on my bed and this one doesn't have the same connotations.

"Not if you're checking to see if someone else is real" he says as he playfully wrestles my hands away from him. I was currently straddling his waist as we just playfully talked and hung out.

"What? Are you like five or something?" I joke mocking his childish behaviour. I love seeing him smile so much, he's so beautiful, and I finally feel free. I mean I haven't told him about everything that happened when Ricky hurt me but I don't care, I'm totally fine with telling him everything when the time is right, which I'm sure could be any moment now. It doesn't matter, there's no more secrets, there's nothing keeping me from loving him as much as I possibly can. "This bed is surprisingly comfortable" I say as I unstraddle his waist and lay beside him. We never sleep here, the only time I really come in here is to clean it before someone sleeps over and sometimes I use it as a work space to write or just relax and draw.

"Why are we laying in this bed by the way, I mean if you're comfortable with telling me. Why can't we lay on your bed?" he asks and I'm nowhere near as nervous as I would've expected myself to be just a couple of hours ago. I mean I just got comfortable enough to admit I didn't want to lay in my actual bed just an hour or so ago, last night I even avoided telling him that I didn't want to sleep there and used the fort as a cover up.

"I don't like my bed anymore, too many bad memories now" I admit, rubbing my arm as if trying to get some non existent piece of Ricky off of me.

Speaking of which, I'm not pregnant. That must be a reason why I'm so happy. Ricky really is no longer on, in or near me and it feels amazing.

"Did he- did he hurt you on it? And Ari if you don't want to answer you don't have to, if my questions go to far you can stop me" Harry says as he backtracks his line of questioning. It's sweet that he doesn't want to go too far even though he doesn't know exactly what that means, everyone deserves someone as respectful as him, including myself, I wish I knew that sooner.

"No, no but I mean he did lay in it and nothing from new bedsheets and covers is gonna change that" I admit and Harry nods his head, I can tell he's curious about what actually went down, why wouldn't he? I turn to face him and realize he's been looking at me this whole time, I don't want to have him continue cautiously walking on eggshells trying to get answers so I just tell him. I tell him everything, starting from the beginning, from how he cheated on me multiple times, how I didn't care since I didn't love him, how I was scared after I confronted him about cheating, how he didn't care about my feelings, and finally how he hit me. I sometimes look up at Harry, he doesn't take his eyes off of me but I can't maintain eye contact for too long. He listens to every word I say which at times makes me want to just shut up and give him the biggest hug for being so sweet.

By the time I finish telling him everything, by the time I finish being completely honest about every major thing that happened to me these past couple months I feel tears in my eyes. It feels like the thousandth time I've cried today and I hate it, I don't want Harry to deal with my tears all day. Hopefully I can just let them all out and will finally stop crying so much.

"Ari, you- you don't deserve this. I'm never gonna treat you like that, ever! I'm not ashamed of you and you shouldn't either, I know you can't tell but your mom would be so proud of you. You're so strong, you took her advice, if anything this whole situation shows how much she did for you, and how much you've learned from her. If it weren't for her who knows what would happen, if you didn't get out when you did who knows what would've happened" and I feel my heart melt into his hands. That was exactly what I needed to hear, that was so beautiful and sincere and it means a lot. I'm so thankful Harry met my mom before she passed, he knows exactly how strong she was, and how much I care about her. I didn't even have to bring her up for him to talk about her and she's exactly who I think about the most these days, everything he said was just perfect. It's everything I ever wanted and needed, to hear.