Broken Charms

Can't Let Go: Part Five

“I'll fight it. I'll fight it for you. Don't you worry about me, Hazel Grace. I'm okay. I'll find a way to hang around and annoy you for a long time.”

― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

Harry

Astrid led me back inside the bar. “Are you okay?” she asked. I had no idea if that was a rhetorical question.  God, when she looked at me like that I forgot completely about the splitting in my head. I tried not to look disappointed as I removed my arm from around her shoulder.

“Thanks, Astrid. I’m good now.” All I wanted to do was get at hotel and take a long, cold shower, followed by a really hot one to ease the stiffness in my back and arms.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked. Her hands came up to rest on her hips . . . hips that I’d held in my hands before this all went down.

“I’m just going to head to my hotel and get cleaned up.”

Astrid said, “Uh, Harry, your hotel is at least twenty minutes away and your face is leaking. I think we should get you cleaned up here.” Astrid’s fingers found my chin, and she drew my face down toward hers. “I’m going to get a first aid kit. Don’t you dare leave.”

I was too tired to argue, so Astrid disappeared, and I found my way toward the bathroom at the back of the bar.

“Damn . Who knew you liked the feisty ones?” Stefan  joked as he waited with me while Astrid went to find the first aid kit.

I wasn’t sure if I liked “feisty ones,” but I liked her. A lot. There was an obnoxiously long line for the bathroom, and everyone was either too drunk or too rude to care that I was bleeding. I leaned against the back wall, tilted my head back against the brick, and closed my eyes.  She said, when she returned “Bad news. Our first aid kit is pretty much empty.”

I opened my eyes and focused on her. Shoving off the wall, I swayed slightly. Astrid caught one arm. “I’ll catch a cab.” I said.

Astrid scoffed, “Good luck finding a cab in this neighborhood.”

“Really, Angel, I’m fine. I’ll splash my face with some water, and then head to my hotel. It’s not a big deal. I feel fine.” I moved toward the bathroom, but Astrid darted around me and placed a hand on my chest. Had she noticed that I had called her Angel? She was chewing on her bottom lip, wrestling with something. Her lips pulled into a straight line, and she looked up at me. “We’ll go to my place. It’s only a few blocks from here and I have my motorcycle Plus, you are in Athens. How do you think you could find you way back to the hotel without me?” she asked

I brought my hand up and covered hers that rested on my chest. “Astrid, I’m okay, really. Just get me back to my hotel and I’ll be fine.”

She glared at me, and with her hand on my chest and mine on hers, I was all too aware of how much my body wanted to say yes. My brain knew better.

She stepped closer to me and lowered her voice. “Listen, Harry, I’m trying this new thing where I don’t act like a raging bitch all the time. That means when a guy gets his ass kicked for me, I have to show a little compassion. It doesn’t come easy to me, so help me out.”

Huh. One day . . . we’d known each other one day again, but she’d already picked up on the fact that I had difficulty saying no to people, especially people that needed my help. I was supposed to do something out of character, though most of the things I did tonight were a little out of character. And it wasn’t like I didn’t try to say no.

“Okay.” I sighed. “But only if you take back that part about me getting my ass kicked.”

She laughed. “All right, I’ll give you that. But I totally softened him up for you.”