Empire of Deception (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter 48

"Miss, is Mr. Styles okay? Shall I call an ambulance?" I hear the bellman ask as she drags me into the lobby.

"No, please... Please just help me him up to his flat."

They set me on the bed as gently as they can before going out into the living room. However, they leave the door open and I am able to hear them talk.

"Is there anything I can do for Mr. Styles?" asks my bellman. "Are you sure you do not want me to take him to a hospital or call an ambulance?"

"No, please, please don't," responds Victoria. "We... We can't have anyone know about this... I understand this is a lot to ask but you can't tell anyone that you saw him like this and I need to have a list of names of people who were in the lobby."

"Understood, Miss."

"I... I don't have any money on me but I'll write you a check as soon as I can. I promise—"

"Miss," my bellman asks, "Whatever for?"

"Pardon?" Victoria sounds confused. "I'll pay you for keeping quiet, just name your price."

"I don't want anything. As long as Mr. Styles is okay. He's a good man who has always been kind to me. You don't owe me anything. Just take care of him and please let me know if I can be of service."

I hear the door shut as he leaves and Victoria breaks down into tears again, probably trying to comprehend how someone could do something out of the goodness of their hearts and not ask for anything in return. There are not a lot of people like that in our world. Everyone has an agenda and everyone is working for the sole purpose of benefiting themselves or getting money.

My eyes are closed and I focus on the sound of her pattering footsteps around my flat as she tries to look for supplies. Suddenly her footsteps are near me and I know she is in the room. I hear the flick of a light switch and soon I can hear the sound of water as she turns the bath on.

The pain has faded to a throbbing ache and my heart beat seems extra slow. My mind is groggy and I think about how she held me and how she whispered she loved me and I want to cry because I hurt all over but I can't seem to get my fuzzy thoughts into focus or my emotions into place. My face is wet with blood and I am struggling to breathe from so many hard hits into my chest but just knowing that Victoria is here seems to keep me from passing out--no matter how badly my body wants to just shut down.

"Harry," she says softly to me, pulling me upright so I am not laying down anymore. "I need you to look at me—please open your eyes and keep them open."

I feel her unbuttoning my shirt and using it to wipe away any excess blood before she helps walk me across my bedroom and into the bathroom. Her hands graze my face and move the hair that has been matted to my forehead due to excess blood. I open my eyes and look into her own watery and worried ones. Her hands shake as they hover inches from my body and she looks at me like she can't comprehend what has happened or what she needs to do to take care of me. "I'm so sorry," she repeats in whispered, jagged breaths, over and over again. "I'm sorry he hurt you," she continues, literally choking back her tears and trying to stay focused. "Can you hear me?" she asks. I nod. "Okay, I need you to stand up just for a second--I know it's hard but please just do it for a second." She undoes my belt and then my button and suddenly she is helping me up and trying to get any blood-soaked clothes off of my body.

This is the first time she has undressed me or has seen me naked and this is not at all how I pictured this moment to be. Her touches are delicate like she isn't sure if she is allowed to be touching or if she is hurting me. She turns off the running water before slowly helping me into the bath. The water is hot and it stings against my cuts but it soothes my bruising body. I open my eyes again and her own clothes are covered in my own blood, and I see her own bruising that has begun to cover the side of her face like a growing galaxy. I reach out and touch her cheek where Alexander had hit her and she flinches but doesn't wince at the pain. "I'm okay, just relax," she says and I hate that she is used to it and I hate that he did this to her and I can't imagine how anyone could ever even think about laying a finger on her.

Victoria grabs a nearby washcloth and begins to wipe away the blood from my face, cleaning away any evidence of Alexander's violence. The bath water quickly runs red and I am beginning to fade and slump down but she tells me to try and stay upright. "The last thing I need you to do is to drown," she chuckles bitterly, wiping away stray tears with the back of her hand.

I rest against the side of the tub and she continues to wash me and clean me. Her breathing gets more haggard and harder and I open my eyes. "I'm okay, too," I say, "Just a little tired." I do my best to smile at her but she doesn't think my attempt at a joke is funny. "Too soon?" I ask.

"Yes," she nods, "Too fucking soon." She tries to smile but starts to cry again and it takes all my strength to reach out and touch her cheeks.

"I'm going to be okay," I assure her, and Victoria's posture lapses as she drops and rests her forehead against mine.

"I thought he was going to kill you--I was so scared."

She sniffles and she kisses my cheek and then the area a little beneath it, kissing every possible space of precious skin with her mouth before finally finding my own. Her lips are soft, wet, and salty from her tears and it's breathless. Her hands move to my neck as she pushes into me with everything that she is. She pulls back and looks at me. Everything that had made her seem hard before--her rigidness, her seriousness, the angles of her face and the leanness of her body--it all melted away with the steam of the bath and before me knelt a girl I only had caught glimpses of. Before me was a beautifully broken creature, wanting to love and willing to be loved on, only made up of soft words and salty kisses.

She hugs me but can't seem to stand the wall of the bath that separates us, and so she climbs into the tub with me--clothes and all. She kisses me again before whispering that I am everything to her.

I can hear Louis' laughter if I ever told him this story. How I literally almost fucking died and the love of my life had to carry me up to my flat before the first time she ever saw me naked was to give me a bath. Not to mention that we are now both in the bath and she is fully clothed. In fact, Louis is probably laughing so hard that I can't even finish my story and I let out a half chuckle at the weirdness of everything and of course Victoria Jarwin finally confessing her love to me would not be in a conventional setting--because she and her family are not conventional.

The vulnerability I feel--both because of my nudity and because my life rests in the hands of this woman--is terrifying but I find comfort and trust in Victoria's arms. We hold each other and the water begins to wash away our weeping broken bodies, as well as work towards mending the broken hearts that accompany it. Her free-flow of tears also indicate her own sense of vulnerability since I know that normally she would never let anyone see her in this weak state, but she has stopped trying to fight it.

After alll the blood has been wiped away, Victoria helps me out of the tub and dries me before quickly applying ointment and dressing my wounds. She doesn't bother dressing me but helps me to my bed before pulling the covers over me. After stripping off from her own wet clothes, she leaves them on the bathroom floor and climbs in beside me.

Nuzzling my head into the crook of her neck, she wraps her around my body that aches. I am exhausted. "Thank you, Jesus," I hear her whisper faintly under her breath, thanking God for my spared life. I still can't imagine a Jarwin attending a church service. I feel like that should not even be allowed.

"Ri," I say as I close my eyes.

"Yes?"

"I love you, too."