Lie To Me

Lie To Me-Chapter 133

Harry watched it in silence. The only sounds coming from him were the soft breaths he took beside me. Scared out of my mind at what his reaction would be, I peeked over at him through my fingers. His mouth was flat, his nostrils flared, his eyes turned to stone.

My head dropped as fresh tears came to the surface. He was angry. Really angry...

"Harry, I'm sorry. I..."

He shook his head, getting up from where he'd sat down beside me. "Excuse me a moment."

And then he was gone, back out into the hallway, away from the drama that had just been made public on national television. Away from me.

I couldn't blame him, really. And I couldn't deny that this really was all my fault. But to have him leave me, to have him walk away like that when I needed him most...

A few seconds past before I heard his voice again. He was hushed, and I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but I could tell he was going off. Somebody was getting an earful...

I'd never seen Harry quite like this, and frankly, it scared me. I didn't know what to do, or how to react.

Pulling myself out of bed, I tried desperately to wipe the tears from my eyes, tried desperately to gather my strength. Something told me I was going to need it...

The door opened, and just as silently as he'd left the room, Harry walked back in, his hands gripping his phone like a vise.

"Harry?"

"Riley, I'm sorry." He shook his head again, and the shattered pieces of my heart fell to the floor. My chest constricted, my breaths fast and shallow.

"I guess I'll just... I'll get my things..."

"What?"

"I... You... I know you're mad at me, but I swear to you I didn't know. I didn't know we weren't alone. I didn't know they were filming us. I didn't know..." Once again my eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry..."

"Hey..." He came around the bed, his brows furrowed. "Baby, no..." He reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear before pulling me into his arms. "This isn't your fault, Riley. None of this is your fault. It's them! Those... Those...people know they can't get to me like that anymore. They know I'm off limits. So, they went after you. They invaded your privacy, listening in on what you believed to be a private conversation, taping you without your knowledge, or consent. It's not right!"

I burrowed into his chest, my arms coming around him to hold him tight. This was what I needed. I needed his warmth, his strength to keep me together.

"I thought... I thought you were mad at me. I..."

"Never."

Interrupting me, Harry moved, backing up to sit on the bed, pulling me between his legs, his hands coming up to wipe away at my tear-stained cheeks, a soft smirk playing on his face as his eyes bored into mine.

"I need you to get something through that beautiful, yet thick skull of yours. I love you. Yes, you might drive me insane sometimes, and I may never fully understand how your mind works, but I love you. I'm not going to sit here and blame you for something you have no control over. And I'm sure as hell not going to send you away because of it!"

"I... But, you left."

"I'm sorry. Just... Seeing that, seeing what they did. Seeing what it was doing to you. I had to do something. So, I called my lawyers. I wanted to find out if they could help. I didn't mean to make you think..." He shook his head again. "I'm sorry, Riley. I didn't think about it. I just reacted." Pulling me closer, Harry pressed a kiss to my lips, swollen and salty from the tears, still trembling from the overwhelming emotion of having my world turned upside down. "I love you Riley. And I'm sorry those people upset you... I'm sorry they did that to you."

It was my turn to shake my head. Well, as best I could with Harry still holding me gently in his hands. "It wasn't them... That's not what upset me so much."

"Then what...?"

I hesitated, knowing exactly what his reaction would be once I told him.

"I went on Twitter."

"Riley..."

"I know! I just. I had to see... But, all those people... All that anger... All that sadness... All that hate..." I took a deep breath, trying desperately to not start crying all over again.

"Give me your phone."

"What? Why?"

His brows raised, his lips pulling flat. "Give. Me. Your. Phone."

"Ugh, fine," I groaned. "It's sitting on the bed behind you." I pointed to the disheveled sheets where I'd been relaxing what felt like just moments ago.

Leaning back, Harry grabbed it, looking around the room for a minute before opening the drawer on the side table. He tossed it in, slamming the drawer shut.

"What are you doing?!?"

"You are hereby banned from looking at that stuff."

"Harry..."

"I'm serious, Lee. No more. I've been there, I've done that. I know what it's like when something happens, when you mess up or make a mistake. You go on the internet and see all of these people talking about it, talking about you. It feels like the whole world is giving their opinion. The things they say... The things they write about you... It hurts. I've been there, Riley. I know."

My heart ached for the pain that flashed across his face at the reminder of everything he'd had to go through. This wasn't the first time Harry had dealt with this. This wasn't the first time he'd been confronted with people saying horrible things about him.

"I've learned that sometimes you have to just turn it off. You have to ignore the world, surround yourself with the people that love you no matter what, and put it out of your mind."

That one girl's tweet flashed in my head, and I nearly reached for my phone, wanting to check once more, just to see if she was okay. My eyes moved to the table, "But, the fans..."

"No. I love my fans; every single one of them. They make every day worth it. They make the traveling, the hard work, the late nights all seem like nothing in comparison to what they do for us. But, they're not here. It's just you and me. And I love you, no matter what." His smirk returned as he leaned up to kiss me once more. "...Even if you have a big mouth..."

My jaw dropped and I pushed away from him while he laughed at me.

"I do not have a big mouth!! That would be you, Mr. I-can't-wait-until-Christmas-to-give-you-your-gift!!"

I couldn't help but laugh too as he fought to pull me back into his arms. "Okay, yeah, you got me. But, what can I say? I love to see that beautiful smile on your face, and I'll do whatever it takes to put it there."

Note: Since it's after midnight, I just want to wish a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all that celebrate it!! You guys are amazing, and I love each and every one of you!!! You are definitely what I am thankful for this year!!! 😘❤️