Palas

20. "I like you and don't want you to leave."

"Alex!" Harry's voice brings me back to my conscious.

My knuckles are white as I hold the hem of a shirt. It turns out to be Harry's as I meet his eyes. They are widened while he pushes me away from the two guys who are fuming with anger. Instead of hurting the dog, they're hurt themselves because I pushed them.

"Calm the fuck down!" Harry hisses while I'm still trying to fight him off so that I can fight them.

"I am," I hiss back, but I am not. "Just stop touching me."

His hands drop beside his body in a heartbeat, his shoulders hanging low. "We aren't supposed to use violence without a reason."

"Without a reason?" My voice is rising in volume while one of the guy's, the one with blue balls, stands up.

"You're going nowhere," Harry yells. He looks as if he's going to run but is doubting because his friend is still on the ground. The nest of puppies are still squalling, their mother distressed.

"You better hope the police is coming soon and those boys don't press charges," Harry whispers in my ear.

My heart sinks in my feet. Those words sound too familiar. Isn't this exactly why I lost my previous job?

Harry words bring back my senses and I stand torn when the boy decides to run.

"Wait here," Harry instructs me while he runs after the boy.

I admire Harry as he runs after the boy who isn't used to running on the loose sand, while it is Harry's job. It doesn't take him long before he tackles the kid and manages to sit on his back.

"You better not try to run for it too, or I'll while come after you," I bluff to the boy who is sitting on his knees in the grass.

I scared him enough and he stops trying to get up. I do feel bad for him, as I always do. "Are you in pain?"

"Fuck you," he says through clenched teeth. "Yeah, you fucking hurt me."

"Are you intoxicated or are you in your right mind when you decide to hurt powerless dogs?"

He only laughs when I ask him and I want to punch his teeth out, but the cops are finally here. Harry is sitting on top of the boy, both his legs on the same side. He looks relax, but the way his eyes flick over to mine every second, tells me he isn't.

"What is going on here?" One of the officer's asks in a thick Greek accent.

"They fought us," Harry says and my head snaps to him.

It is strange that after one week, I already can read him enough to know that he's silently pleading for me to stay quiet. As I trust Harry I make myself small and sit down next to dogs. There're four puppies, all in mixed colors. I don't know much of dogs, but they look young, very young.

"No we didn't," the guy on the ground says, his voice restrained from Harry's weight and a small smile grows on my face.

"So I am sitting on top of you because? You tried to run after assaulting those innocent dogs."

"Cowards," I whisper under my breath.

The guy next to me seems genuinely scared by me. I am not surprised that he doesn't argues with Harry who looks impressive himself.

"Alex, it is best if you return to the tower. Someone should be there while I take care of these cowards." My eyebrows raise for a second when I realize that me and Harry are on the same level. He thinks they're cowards as well.

"Okay." I thank Harry in my head when the officer's let me go without a second glance.

As I walk back, the seriousness of the situation hits me. It wouldn't be the first time that I lost my job on the first day. Why do I keep doing this to myself? I can only hope that those boys are scared enough to not tell the police that I started the fight or that Harry will stand up for me.