After Dark

Chapter 26

*Bo's POV*

I wake up to Harry sitting next to me, his hand in mine. As weird as it sounds, my lips feel lonely now that he pulled away from the kiss. I almost feel like Princess Aurora waking up from a long nap. And, yes, the suggests that Harry is my true love.

It's just that he makes me feel safe. I know that any other guy can do that, but Harry is special. He has that mood where it seems as if he'll defend me from anything. It feels like, once he's done pummeling the guy who tried to pinch my butt (no matter how scary that can be), he'll come and cuddle with me, wrapping his arms around me so nothing can hurt me. I like that about him. I like how I'm not scared of him. I know he won't hurt me physically.

Besides his cold demeanor, Harry is a sweet and loving man. He tries to make me feel wanted. He tries to make me feel beautiful. When I say something bad about myself, he'll immediately take my face in his hands and make me look him in the eye. He'll say, "You are beautiful. You are the most amazing girl I've ever met. I wouldn't want you to be anyone else. I wouldn't want to be any other way than the way you are."

I'm not much-- just a small girl in a big world. But I feel like Harry is my world. Our alone time is priceless. I can't get his goofy jokes from someone else. I can't get his curly hair. I can't get his simple thought process. His cute, yet perverted words. His soft kisses in the middle of a conversation. All his quirks have rubbed off on me, and I love every single one.

"Come here," my hoarse voice whispers. Harry smiles softly and moves closer, rubbing circles in the back of my hand. "Kiss me?" Harry chuckles before pressing his lips to mine, only for a second. He continues to pepper kisses to my mouth, pulling away to look at my face every once in a while.

"I love you, Bo." He speaks quietly. He kisses me again, moving my hair behind my ear as he looks in my eyes.

I only see complete adoration in his features as he smiles at me. My heart swells in my chest and tears spring to my eyes, slowly dripping down my cheeks. I lean up and kiss him again as his hand move to my face, wiping away the wetness. "I love you, Harry." And I feel it. I feel it with every aching bone in my body that I love Harry Styles.

Harry pulls away from me when a nurse enters the room. For the first time, I realize that I'm in a hospital bed in an unfamiliar room. My ears tune in to the quick beeping of the heart monitor a little ways away. I blush as the nurse explains that I need to keep my heart rate down for a while so that I won't go into shock.

I somehow find it hilarious that I didn't mind that Harry just happened to be in my room when I woke up.

The nurse exits the room, but Jess fills in the empty space by my bed and grins when she sees me. She hands two ice cream cones to Harry, one vanilla and one chocolate. I can't help the shocked look on my face when I see her, but don't have time to question why she's here when she runs over to me and tackles me in a hug. "Jesus," I groan when her body hits mine and pushes me into the mattress. "Jess, I am smaller than you," I grunt out, trying to push her off of me.

"Sorry! Oh, my gosh. What are you doing here? Did you know Harry lives here? Are you okay? How are you feeling? Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry! Who is Dan? Do you know him? Why is he out to get you? This feels like a crime scene investigation, don't you think? Oh, and Dan is going to jail. Or at least that's what I heard. I may or may not have eavesdropped on the police officers' conversation. How did you know how to fight like that? Did you-"

"My god, Jess. She just woke up," Harry clasps a hand over her mouth, making the room quiet. I stare at the two, wide-eyed. "You scared her," Harry hisses at his sister.

"Um," I say, not really sure where to start. Instead, I ask Jess, "What are you doing here?"

Harry releases Jess from his hold and she smiles. "Can't a girl visit her brother?" She turns to Harry, who is licking the chocolate ice cream cone. My lip forms into a pout when Jess takes the vanilla one.