His Secret Bodyguard

Part 28

"Yeah, after you fell asleep. You know, you have a really comfortable bed." He commented, trying to change the topic.

"Yes, I know. Can you get out of it? And leave?" I questioned. "No. Will you lay with me?" He asked. I sent him a look. "Not.. Not like that. Not lay with me. I meant like lay next to me.." He elaborated, his ears very briefly turning pink. "No, I won't do that. You shouldn't have even gotten in my bed in the first place. You crossed a boundary." I said. He sighed.

"I get it.. Okay? You have a ton of walls up and whatnot. But I'm not asking you for anything more than for you to just lay here with me." He commented. "You don't get it, Harry. This morning..." I trailed off, still having the distant memories repeating over and over in my head. They continued to haunt me, even after all this time..

"What?" He asked. I sighed, walking over and getting on the bed, getting under the covers, since it was cold. "This morning.. You thought it was this harmless thing, having your arms around me like that.. And that's fine that you think that, most people do. But.. It's different for me. You can't touch me." I elaborated, still hesitant to tell him anything about me. "I'm sorry." He murmured, and I saw him look across me, at the photograph from yesterday..

"I can't begin to imagine what you went through." He commented. I nodded, attempting to push away the memories.. They never went away. They remained just as vivid as they were when they happened..

I sighed, pulling the covers up some, taking in the warmth. "Are you okay?" He asked, facing me on his side.. "I'm always ok." I stated.

We laid there in silence for a few moments, the sounds of traffic being heard down below.. I could feel his eyes on me. I sighed, giving into my thoughts, and moving closer to him. He hesitated, his arm slowly coming over me. "Is that ok?" He asked quietly. I nodded..

I was lying directly beside him, his body like a cocoon around me. It took me a minute to be okay with him touching me, and I tucked my head beneath his chin. It was warm, and I felt like I could trust him at least a little bit. Just for a few minutes. I figured he probably wouldn't hit me or hurt me like Ryan did. Right?

We laid like that for a while, and I felt my phone start buzzing in my pocket. I sighed, reaching down and pulling it out. It was Jeff. I hesitated, answering it.

"What?" I asked. "Brynn, where is he?" He asked, impatient-sounding. I sighed. "Jeff, I told you—" He interrupted me. "There's pictures. Someone was taking pictures of the two of you. I know he's with you. Or at least, he was." He stated. "Uh huh.. Ok." I said, remembering the girl from outside..

"He's with you? Put him on the phone." He demanded. I laughed. "Jeff, listen.. If he wanted to talk to you, he would've called you himself." I replied, feeling Harry's hold tighten a little, pulling himself closer to me.. "Brynn, I'm not asking you; I'm telling you. Put him on the phone, or you're out of a job." He stated. I groaned, knowing he was exaggerating. "Harry, he wants to talk to you. He's in a mood." I said, shoving the phone into his hand. He switched hands, his arm coming off of me. He slowly lifted it to his ear.

"What do you want?" He asked. I heard Jeff saying something, but couldn't understand it. "I don't care." He said. He sounded angry, or at least upset. He really doesn't like when people lie to him. Something to remember I guess..

"Jeff, I don't want to talk to you. Leave me alone." Harry stated, hanging up. He turned the phone off, placing it above us on the windowsill. His arm came back around me. "Why is your apartment so cold?" He asked. I laughed. "The window's broken." I replied. "Seriously?" He questioned. I nodded.

**

I eventually had to get up, knowing I had to do work for my other job. I turned my phone back on, getting a text from my other boss, saying that someone was dropping more documents off here soon..

I sat down at the table, turning my computer on. Harry got out of bed, going into the bathroom.. There was a knock on the door, and I got up, going over and opening it. It was Shannon, one of the girls who works with me. She's always the one to deliver any documents or anything I need.. She was carrying a box. "Hey, come on in." I said, moving out of the way..

She walked in, the door shutting behind her. "You can just put it on the table." I said, yawning.
She set the box down just as Harry came out of the bathroom.

"Hey, do you think I could stay here again tonight, or maybe—" He stopped, seeing Shannon. Her jaw dropped, and I sighed, glaring at him. "You.. Oh my god. No way." She got out, clearly in shock.. Harry glanced over at me.

"I'm such a huge fan. Oh my god, I can't believe I'm meeting you right now." She said. He smiled a little, continuing his whole "be nice to literally everyone he meets" shtick. "Wow. This is crazy. Brynn, why didn't you tell me.. I mean, how.. You know Harry Styles?" She asked, still in shock.

I sighed. "Not really. We have a mutual friend." I lied... She ended up taking a picture with him, and he used one of my sharpies to sign her phone case within the next few minutes..

"Great. Well, thank you for bringing the documents." I said, and she turned, looking at me. "Right, yeah not a problem. Bill said to call him if you had any questions or anything." She explained. "I guess I should be going.. It was really great to meet you." She said, giving Harry another hug. She left, and I shut the door behind her, turning and looking at Harry.

"Sorry.. I didn't know someone was here." He said, walking into the kitchen. Once again, helping himself to my food. I sighed, walking over and opening the box. It was more documents, all in French. There was a note on the top that read "Translate and send it to me by Thursday." He was giving me three days to go through hundreds of these documents.

"So, can I stay?" He asked, walking out of the kitchen, eating a bagel with something spread on it.

"What?" I questioned, looking over at him, my mind still stuck on the fact that I'd have to go through all these documents..

"I'm in New York for a week. If I go back to my hotel, Jeff will show up there, and I don't want to talk to him. He needs to know he can't lie to me." He explained. I turned, looking at him...

"Harry.. People are going to lie to you. It's just what they do. Jeff didn't tell you the truth, because he was trying to think what would be best for you—" He cut me off. "No, he was only thinking about my career. He didn't want it to get out that I liked you." He stated, and I remembered Cozumel. I'd totally pushed that conversation out of my head, and forgotten he'd said that to me..

"So what? Harry, you can't expect people to put you first. They will always put themselves first. That's how it works. People lie. It's what they do. You can't change that, and you can't get upset every time someone lies to you. You just have to take it as knowledge. Knowledge that they lied to you once, and will do it again." I explained. He was watching me.

"So, I can't stay here?"