ambivalent | hes

15

It was around 11 o'clock at night. Harry and I were getting ready to go to bed after coming home from dinner and a movie.

"I cant believe you saw It." Harry said, taking off his shirt.

"I cant believe it either." I replied, pulling on a pair of pj shorts.

"Im proud of you, you faced your fears."

He got into bed, and I was about to follow suit when the sound of glass breaking stopped me.

"What the hell?" I said.

Harry got out of bed, walking over to the door and opening it. We waited to see if anything else would happen, but we heard nothing.

"Lyla, stay here." Harry instructed as he began to walk out into the hallway.

"But what if-"

"Just stay here and dont leave the room." He demanded before closing the door behind him.

I sat down on my bed, afraid of what was happening. I bit my nails, staring at the door. I wanted to go help him with whatever was down there.

I got up, pacing the floor as time passed. If he wasn't back soon, I decided, I was going down there.

Seconds, minutes ticked by as the agonising fear that Harry was hurt began to build up within me. I had to go down there.

I slowly turned the door knob, peaking my head out into the dark hallway. Silence. I quietly exited my room, closing the door behind me before making my way over to the stairs.

Thankfully, the stairs weren't creaky as I slowly crept down them. I stopped at the bottom, looking around in the darkness. A bit of light was given off from the windows in the living room. But one of them was now shattered, and Harry sat beneath it with a piece of paper in his hand. I slowly walked over to him, trembling with fear as his eyes filled with anger. I kneeled down beside him, trying to read the letter that was obviously from Tyler.

"Lyla, you know I'll do everything I absolutely can to keep you safe, right?" He said, looking at me with sad eyes

"Yes, Harry, of course I know." I responded.

He then handed me the letter.

5 days. 5 fucking days until I go to jail bitch. And I promise I'll get my payback, one way or another. I'm coming for you, Lyla. -Tyler

I crumbled up the letter, throwing it across the room as I broke down in angry tears. I wanted Tyler locked up now and away from humanity, away from me. 5 days, 120 hours, 7,200 minutes. That seemed so long in that moment, and all I wanted was for it to fly by.

Harry pulled me into a hug, then picked me up and carried me upstairs. He laid me down on my bed, crawling in beside me as he covered us with the blanket.

He stroked my hair as he whispered, "It's gonna be okay, I'll keep you safe. I won't let him hurt you."

I cried into his chest, his words soothing me as he spoke, the level of fear I had felt slowly lowering with each soft spoken sentence.

"Harry, we have to fix the window." I spoke after a bit.

He chuckled, smiling down at me.

"I'll handle it, babe. You just rest." He told me, kissing my forehead.

I nodded, and laid my head on the pillow, looking into Harry's eyes as we laid there. Despite the fact that a possible psychopath was planning my death at the moment, laying beside Harry had made me feel safer than I had ever felt. And I loved that feeling.

My eyes grew heavy, and Harry had a small smile on his face. I poked his dimple.

"I've always loved these." I said, causing his grin to grow.

"Good, because you're the cause of them." He replied.

I smiled, slowly falling asleep in Harry's arms.