Fight to Die (Harry Styles)

Eleven

Chapter 11

• Harry •

"Fine, but will you get it for me?" Julia pleads drunkenly to her brother for him to get her water. I want to laugh at how wasted she is, but I decide that by the look on her brother's face, that it would be a horribly bad idea. He looks like he could take me, to be quite honest. Maybe not, but I know that things will not end well if I do anything to anger him.

He glares at me and then looks down to his younger sister. The look on his face changes as he looks at her. He looks at her like she is the only thing worth protecting in his life. And I suppose that if my sister were alive today, I would feel the same way about her.

"Fine," he sighs, then looks back to me, his expression hardening once more, "but you- out."

I nod and walk past both of them into the hallway. Before I go to the room where the others are, I turn back to Julia and give a quick wink. The blood rushes to her cheeks and with that, I walk away, knowing that I made an impact on her.

I return to the room and sit down amongst the others. I laugh as I realize that Cicero is still probably running around this ridiculously large house looking for a man who isn't even here. I feel bad for him, but what Julia did to get him to go away was kind of funny, I must admit.

At first, it angered me when she asked if I enjoyed to kill. You just don't ask someone that, but I realized in the midst of her asking such a seemingly horrendous question, that she was trying to help me. Whether she realized it or not, Julia was trying to help me overcome what I have done and what I will do. I don't know why she would want to do something like that for someone like me, but I decide to take it as maybe a good thing.

Not only did Julia unknowingly try to ease my self-opinion, but she also seemed to want to know who I am, not anything related to my lack of freedom, but she seemed to want to know me. It was strange if I'm being honest. No woman has ever cared about knowing my name, my real name; all they want to know is how much I will cost for an hour, only to be disappointed when they learn that I am not for sale. Julia is not like those women; of course, she is still very young, but I've had young girls come for me as well.

I suggested her coming to see me tomorrow to learn my name as joke- a joke that clearly backfired on me. As different as Julia is from the rest of the Roman society that surrounds her, it does not change the fact that she is still one of them. Given that, I don't find myself particularly excited about having to tell her my name- that is, if I survive. Sure, she's absolutely stunning; sure, she doesn't seem to belong amongst the incredibly vain people of Rome, but that does not change my opinion of her in the least. She claimed not to want to be like the people who only worry about sex and their social status, but from one who grew up amongst that constant worry, it isn't really ever going to disappear. She is a Roman and that is why I hope never to see her again.

Cicero walks into the room with a frown on his face. He quietly sits next to me and continues to sulk, "you knew he wasn't here, didn't you?" he asks crossly.

I laugh quietly and look at him, "I suspected he wasn't, but I decided it would be better I didn't say anything in case he was actually here."

He crosses his arms over his chest and huffs, "lousy Valerian."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," a voice says from the doorway and when I look up, I see Antonius standing there. He looks frustrated, but now slightly amused. I am tempted to laugh in the midst of Cicero's embarrassment, but I decide against it. The only thing keeping Antonius from having my ass whipped is a flimsy promise he made to his sister. I am not dumb enough to test that.