Pic of Nikki's hotel living/sofa area on the side<3
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"I still don't understand why he didn't just let her leave if he knew she wasn't happy?" We were sat watching Safe Haven at Harry's insistance even though I'd told him I'd seen it about a hundred times apparently he was a big fan of The Notebook and hadn't made it all the way through the other movies yet.
"Its all about the control," I replied glancing over at him briefly, "in his own twisted way he feels like he loves her. By controlling everything about her and her life he can ensure she will never leave him, because his worst fear would be that she would leave and find someone better than him."
"But if you love someone you don't hurt them," his face was scrunched up in concentration as we watched the guy on the screen push the woman to the floor and start screaming at her.
"Not everyones concept of love is the same as yours and mine. Like, sometimes if they have cheated then they will assume that their parter is going to or has cheated on them too and will treat them like shit because of their own guilt. If they think their partner is going to leave them they belittle them by telling them they look like shit, or that no-one else would want them and they start to believe it so they stay."
I shuffled in my seat on the sofa and pulled the cushion I was holding closer to my chest, the whole subject was a little unnerving for me and I was starting to wish I'd made him pick a different movie. He was lay across the sofa with his head propped up on a pillow against the opposite armrest, his bare feet tucked between the sofa and my left thigh after he had spent the first ten minutes of the movie complaining about his feet being cold.
Another five minutes of the movie passed before I felt Harry's feet slip out from under my leg and he sat up facing me. I could practically feel the thought process going on in his head as he sat there looking at me but I refused to meet his eyes, instead pushing the cushion to the floor and standing up quickly.
"I'm going to make some tea, do you want tea?" I felt his eyes following me as I moved around the sofa but he didn't answer. "Do you want some tea?" I asked again finally looking at him. I couldn't really place the look he was giving me, the film now completely abandoned.
"That guy on the phone before was Madison's dad wasn't it?" He asked, completely ignoring my question about tea.
"My ex," I nodded.
"Can I ask you a question? I'm probably really overstepping so you don't have to answer if you don't want to I just..."
"What is it?" I cut him off. I already had a pretty good idea what he was going to ask just from the way he was watching me, like he was scared of what my reaction would be. His forehead was all scrunched up, little creases in the space between his eyebrows that I really just wanted to smooth out, because I'd seen that look before. My friends had given me that look after I told them what had happened the first time.
"Tell me to get out if I'm out of line but.... Did he hurt you? Just the way you explained the film seemed like you'd kinda experienced something like that and..."
I don't think anyone had ever just out right asked me before, especially someone I'd know less than a day. For some reason the fact that I didn't know Harry that well didn't bother me at all. I should have told him to get out, that it was none of his business but instead I just watched him as he rambled on about how he was sorry and he shouldn't have asked and that he would leave.
"Yes," sighing I sat back down next to him and pulled the cushion back on to my lap, "yes he hurt me."
"And Madison?" I shook my head not able to look him straight in the eyes, knowing that all I would see there would be pity.
