Hiii thank you for excusing my absence yesterday, hope you enjoy the chapter :) 

After walking to Harry’s house quickly to grab his book bag and climb in his car, we arrived at school.  This is was the first time we had driven to school together, a fact that surprised me considering how close we lived to each other. 

There was something intimate to me about driving to school together, something that really cemented our feelings for one another.  This was ridiculous, of course; if anything should have confirmed our status, it was what had finally happened last night.  Despite this, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of joy at the simple fact.

It felt like it had been weeks since I had been at school.  So much had happened over the last few days that school had been the least of my worries.  The faces of the students around me blurred together, making almost no impression on me.  Only Harry’s face shown out among the crowd.  I walked closely to him as we made our way through the parking lot, weaving our path through the parked cars. 

“It’s weird being back,” I told him.  He glanced down at me.

“Why’s that?”

I shrugged.  “I don’t know,” I admitted.  I honestly couldn’t pinpoint the source of the difference, but I could feel it.  The shift in my attitude could only be related to Harry, but what exactly that was, I wasn’t sure.  I knew that if I were to run into Colt or any of my old friends, I most likely wouldn’t be able to stop myself from punching him again, which was probably the source of my attitude change. 

I felt apprehensive as we walked down the hallway, approaching his locker to gather the necessary books.  Leaning against the metal, I wearily eyed the passing students, keeping an eye out for the despicable boy who had dared harm my Harry. 

“I think it’s probably because I want to hit anyone even associated with Colt,” I said, voicing my realization.  He frowned at me.

“Joey, I told you…” he said before I cut him off by waving my hand between us.

“I know, I know, it’s not my fault, but that doesn’t change the fact that I want to hit him with a desk,” I said, growing angrier by the second as my eyes scanned the crowd for his smug face.  My eyebrows came together in a scowl just at the thought of him.  I could hear Harry sigh beside me.

“Please don’t do anything,” he pleaded. “That’s probably exactly what he wants.”

Of course this had occurred to me.  That was why they had done it in the first place- to hurt me.  And, probably, because they were just used to abusing Harry.  It was a perfect two-for-one.  Despicable.  My mind was distracted as I continued to examine the hallway, trying to decide what to do to Colt first when I inevitably ran into him. 

Just as I was considering the merits of hitting him in the jaw with a book, I felt Harry’s hand close gently around my chin, bringing my face around to look at him.  He peered into my eyes as I blinked a few times, adjusting to the beautiful sight of him in front of me.

“Did you hear me?” he asked softly, still holding my chin.

I huffed.  “Yes.  Harry I can’t just do nothing, what’s going to stop them from doing it again otherwise?” As much as I loved how gentle and genuine he was, times like this frustrated me.  I wanted him to be mad, to want Colt to be sorry, something.  Anything.  Yet he stood in front of me, placid expression on his face as he practically begged me to let it go. 

“They won’t,” he said surely.  How could he possibly know that?

“Harry,” I started, exasperation creeping into my tone.  “You don’t know that! Colt’s got this stupid school wrapped around his finger and he can practically do whatever he wants and get away with it.” I was frowning now, eyebrows pulled tightly together.

“I’ll be fine,” he said calmly, stroking his thumb across my chin.

“Please let me just yell at him at least? For my sanity? Because the thought of him walking around thinking he’s some big shot for beating you up when he probably had five other guys with him is going to drive me insane.” I could feel myself getting worked up as I spoke faster and faster. 

“And for what he did to you… that’s not okay!  Just because you’re so much better than he is and he knows it and I’m with you isn’t a reason for him to even touch you.  He’s an asshole and-“

I was suddenly shut up by Harry pressing his lips firmly into mine, his hands clasped to the side of my face, holding me to him.  Immediately I felt my body relax into his, hands unclenching from their fists I had been unaware of and rising to rest on his hips.  He pulled back a few inches, eyes searching mine to see if I had calmed down.  His thumbs traced back and forth across my cheeks.

“Please, Joey.  Let it go,” he begged softly.  I stared into his eyes for a few seconds, studying his desperate expression.  Sighing in resignation, I nodded slowly.

“Fine. But just for you.”  A soft grin spread across his lips before he leaned down to give me a quick peck.

“Thank you,” he said, exhaling quietly.

“Well look how fucking adorable.”  The voice sent a chill down to my bones, contrasting harshly with the boiling blood that pumped through my veins.  Speak of the devil.  Colt.  Harry’s hands fell from my face as I turned to glare at him, scowl set firmly on my face.  He stood on a few feet away on the other side of the hall, arms crossed tightly across his broad chest as he sneered at us.

“Looking good, Styles.  Looks like your pretty bruises are finally fading, want me to refresh them for you?” he continued, shifting his derisive glare back and forth between us. 

Never in my entire life had I felt so angry.  Harry ignored him and grabbed my hand, picking up his bag from the floor and slinging it over his shoulder before kicking his locker shut. 

“Let’s go, Joey,” he said, starting to walk down the hallway, trying to tug me with him.  My feet wouldn’t move; it was as if they had been cemented to the floor as I tried to set Colt on fire with my gaze.  He smirked at me, clearly pleased I was so angry at the sight of him.  Harry pulled on my hand again, trying to regain my attention.

“Joey,” he repeated firmly, managing to make me tear my gaze from Colt’s face to him.  His face looked weary, silently pleading with me to go with him and keep the promise I had literally just made.  Shooting Colt one last hateful look, I uprooted my feet from the ground and allowed Harry to pull me away.  Seething, I fell into step beside him, gripping his hand far more tightly than necessary. 

“I don’t know if I can do this, Harry,” I told him, anger seeping into my voice.

“You just promised me, babe,” he reminded me, softening his stern tone with the term of endearment.  I huffed again.

“I know, I know,” I resigned.  I would try my best to keep my anger under control and not murder anyone on school grounds.  “You’re right.”

When we got to class, we sat in our usual seats at the front of the room.  Our teacher greeted me, asking if I was feeling better.  Oh yeah, I was supposed to have been sick.  I assured him that I was indeed much better and thanked him for the extra time he allotted me on the assignments before he left me alone to start the lecture.  Harry managed to take copious notes while I sat and steamed in my chair, still furious about the interaction with Colt. 

As much as I wanted to keep my promise to Harry, I didn’t know if I’d be able to if he kept making comments like that.  Or worse, tried to physically hurt Harry again.  I knew right then that I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from trying my best to actually tear him apart.  

We managed to make it to the end of the day before we ran into Colt again.  Copying Harry, I had brought my lunch to school so I could avoid all things having to do with my old friends, including the cafeteria.  Our lunches had been eaten in our private book cave, secluded from the rest of the world in our own little bubble of joy.  Despite the tense start to the day, we managed to have an amazing time simply eating, unable to keep ourselves away from each other, almost always touching in one way or another. 

If anything about Harry had changed after last night, it was that he seemed to be a bit more affectionate with me now.  He had been so desperately shy for so much of our relationship, never daring to touch me first, kiss me first, or do anything first, really.  Now, I noticed, he was more than comfortable doing so. 

Gradually, he had become more giving with his hugs and kisses, but until last night, he would hardly so much as touch me outside of the safety of our private sphere.  Already today, he had kissed me at his locker, held my hand whenever we walked anywhere, hugged me to his side.  At lunch, he had given me quick pecks every few minutes, tickled his fingers up my leg, even indulged in a quick, sneaky make out session that left me gasping for air.

Yes, my Harry had slowly become the most doting of boyfriends, and I could not get enough of it.  I used to hate PDA- any form of it.  I couldn’t see the point.  Why couldn’t people just wait until they were alone?  Why make others suffer the uncomfortable feeling of watching them?  And did you really need to have your hands on your boyfriends butt?

Now, however, I could clearly understand the appeal.  There was never a moment when I didn’t want to be touching Harry, or have Harry touching me.  I was constantly drawn to him, my fingers yearning to touch any part of him: his face, his hands, his hair, and yes, even his butt.  His tiny, firm little butt that drove me absolutely insane, whether it was clad under the tightest of jeans or completely bare. 

Harry, it seemed, was experiencing the same types of urges, because his touch was almost always felt somewhere on my body.  His fingers traced along my hip, my cheek, my hand, even tucked my hair behind my ear, which had practically made me swoon when he did it at lunch. 

Best of all, though, was when he would kiss me.  The entire world would disappear, and I would stop worrying about having to kill Colt or avoiding my old friends.  I would get lost in my space that included Harry and Harry alone, feeling his lips on mine and his fingers softly holding my face, setting my body on fire with even the lightest of kisses.  Everything he did intoxicated me, and I had no desire to ever come out from under his spell. 

We were just crossing through the parking lot at the end of the day, laughing about some dumb joke Harry had tried to tell me when I spotted him.  The figure that I detested so much lurked between Harry’s car and the one parked next to us, stalking us like prey.  Waiting. 

He wasn’t alone, either.  Two large boys stood behind him, boys I had known for a long time but never really gotten along with, and their names escaped me.  It didn’t matter- if they were with Colt, I immediately knew I loathed them as well.  Harry hesitated upon seeing them lingering there, unsure of what to do. 

Part of me knew it would be wise to turn the other way and simply wait for him to leave, but another part of me, the logical, experienced part, knew that he would simply follow us if we did so.  There was no avoiding whatever was about to happen, and if it was inevitable, it was going to happen on my terms.