Two heart's in one home | H.S. | AU

chapter 26

Harry's bail had been posted and he'd been released.

As I throw open our apartment and find him in the living room, my heart soars. He's here. He's safe. Everything is okay. The hours I spent hyperventilating behind a steering wheel seem so silly now.

Then my eyes land on the gun, black gloves, and envelope resting on the island.

"You weren't supposed to be here for this."

Harry's words muffle in my head. Something inside me screams to look up, to face him, but I can't tear my eyes from the items.

He's going back to work for Zayn.

I reach for a stool, my knees nearly buckling.

"Don't," I whisper. "Don't do this."

The walls close in. My heartbeat's in my throat, pulsing with the threat of a sob. Reality tips on its axis. I need the connection of his sightline to keep me steady, otherwise panic will short-circuit my entire system.

Peeling my gaze from the evidence of what he's about to do, I find Harry focused on the floor. He won't look at me. Not even when I say, "Do you know what he did to me today?" My voice is low, evidence of the lingering cracks Zayn and Elisa's actions have made.

That gets his reaction. He finally looks up, revealing tired eyes with puffy bags underneath. But most prominent is the concern blazing from them. It accompanies the rage, which filters through his hand as it lowers to white-knuckle the countertop.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

He rakes a shaky hand through his hair, his brows dipping in alarm. "I'm fucking serious, Iris. Are you okay?"

No, I'm not. But I will be.

"He trapped me in our hotel room. He held me at gun point, then had Elisa knock me out and watch me to make sure I didn't interfere when he posted your bail or whatever trick he used to get you out. Would you be okay after that?"

His fury ignites. It comes with the spastic shake of his head and narrowing of his eyes.

Good. I want him to feel that anger. The same anger that's been consuming me since Zayn decided to step back into our lives and the fear left.

I place my palms on the island. "Is that really the man you want to work for? Someone who hurts the people you care about. Someone who forces you to leave them behind so they're left to drive back to the city without a license?" Because I have to believe it was him that made that call, not Harry. The Harry I know would never abandon me like that.

"Of course not." He slams his fist against the countertop and I'm marveled it doesn't crack under the pressure. "I want to kill him for the shit he did to you."

"Then don't go to him." My voice is an elevated plea.

He matches it. "I have to."

"You only think you do." I step around the island, desperate to reach him. "What happened to being tired of Zayn's bullshit and lies? What happened to no longer being that man? What happened to the life you wanted here?"

The life we deserve–the one we've earned. Where we find jobs we love, in an apartment that's become a home. Nothing but laughter and intimacy to get us through the hurtles.

"That life's not an option anymore. Zayn's promised to make sure of that if I don't meet up with him tonight." He swallows, losing steam, then takes a deep breath. "I won't let him hurt you again."

There he is. The Harry who just wants to protect me, same as I do with him.

It has me closing the remaining space between us. "Then I can go to my mother for help. Zayn's a businessman. I go to her and make a deal, offer something, my time, weekends with them to maintain a good public image, anything, in return for money. We'll buy your freedom and include Alice's as part of the deal."