Allison has been alienating me these past few weeks, and I can not determine a reason why. I don't like this hot and cold behavior, and I already have too much on my mind to be participating in mind games with her.

-H

——

three hours earlier

Harry didn't like being without Allison.

It's been three days since she last contacted him, and he didn't like that she was avoiding him. With all the preparations for the New Years' Eve company party coming up, he thought keeping himself busy would take his mind off of her for once.

Needless to say, it didn't.

The elevator dinged as it stopped on the top floor, before stepping out into his apartment. The first thing he noticed was a pair of Manolo Blahnik boots by the door, and a mop of blonde hair hanging over the edge of his couch. Sighing, he already knew it was Gemma. Years ago when they were closer, he gave her a key to his apartment in case of emergencies. He didn't know she still had it though.

"Gem." He walked up to the couch, and poked her sleeping body. "Gemma, wake up."

She groaned and rubbed at her eyes, smudging her thick eyeliner on her face. She resembled a raccoon more than anything human. The smell of alcohol was wafting off of her body, and Harry wondered how someone so small could consume this much liquor and not be dead yet.

"I'm not ready, shush," she grumbled out before saying a stream of unintelligible words and covering her head with a pillow. His expensive white suede goose feather pillow, to be exact.

He rolled his eyes, before leaving her alone to sleep. He already had enough of her and to wake her up would be too much effort. He'd just have to buy another pillow, since her kohl colored eyeliner probably made the surface its new home.

Harry was a little bored himself, seeing that he just came from work and had nothing to do. He walked into his bedroom and stripped out of his work suit before throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt. Grabbing his phone, he dialed Allison's number but it rang for a full minute before going to voicemail.

"Allison, please call me back, I don't know what I did but forgive me," he said before sighing and hanging up the phone.

Harry was confused, he'd been attempting to contact her for the past few days but she wasn't answering his texts. The worst part was that because she switched offices, he didn't even have the number for the new place.

He hesitated before moving back to the living room. He had to see her, he had to know if she was okay or just ignoring him. He was getting better, and she needed to know.

Gemma was sitting up now, her arms over her eyes as light snores left her lips. Harry rolled his eyes before walking into the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He placed the glass next to her head on the side table and covered her with the throw blanket that was strewn across the back of the couch. She sighed peacefully and snuggled in the blanket before turning over.

What a mess, Harry thought before he left his apartment. Gemma was already a nuisance and an extra person he did not want in his space, but she was his sister after all.

Allison was causing his compassion to grow.

Speaking of Allison, he was beguiled at her avoidance even though she spoke to him a few weeks ago and he thought they were over it. Running his hands through his long hair, he sighed before changing his course and heading for the hair salon down the street. He was tired of his locks and what good did it do him these days?

He walked into the salon, where his regular stylist was busy with another customer but when she saw Harry entered through the doors, she made a beeline towards the front to greet him.

"Hi, honey," she said with a bright grin as she flipped through the appointment book. "You haven't been here in a while, and I can tell by the way your hair is longer now. Going for the John Lennon look?"

Harry shrugged and pulled it into a bun at the top of his head before sitting down on the couch to wait. "Yeah, I know Brenda. But I want to cut it all the way down."

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Wow, I'm shocked. Are you sure about that?"

"Yes I am. I'm doing it for the woman I want, she'll be surprised when I come home with a new look."

And surprised Allison was when Harry ended up at her door two hours later, with a fresh cut and his hands tightly grasping a shoelace around Emily's throat.

He remembered hearing a familiar voice from the hallway leading to Allison's apartment, and upon further reflection he realized it was Emily. What the fuck was she doing here?

"No! Let me go! No!" Allison screamed at the top of her lungs and instantly Harry walked faster down the long hall when he heard a sick thud.

His heart sped up and he checked his pocket for a weapon but had nothing shard enough but his keys. Instead he quickly unlaced his shoe and pulled it tightly between his fists, knowing he had to be ready for anything he encountered.

When he quietly tiptoed into the apartment, he saw a fallen Allison attempting to crawl backwards to get away from a knife wielding Emily, so Harry thought on his feet and brought the lace to her neck and pulled tight to cut off her airflow.

She struggled for a bit, clawing at the white lace with her long fingernails and trying to elbow him away but his grip was too strong. Soon enough, her movements got weaker and she fell limp in his arms for a full thirty seconds before he dropped her to the floor.

Now, currently he kneeled in front of Allison's frozen form with no understanding of what to do about her. She just saw him kill in front of her, and although it wasn't as violent as Evan, he knew that this was a lot for someone to take in. The body was already long gone out o the apartment based on Romanov's clean up team, but he knew it was going to be harder to cover this one up.

Harry had to promise Romanov two million, and even the usually calm Russian was a bit apprehensive on how he was going to spin this. But Romanov was going to find a way, and Harry had no choice but to hope for the best.

Allison, on the other hand, was numb. She had to assess all the information in front of her. Harry was a killer, and he had practiced his violent tendencies on two people now. The first was because of her, and the second was also a similar situation.

This relationship was toxic, and she had observed that them being together set back his recovery but she was willing to ignore it because she was falling deeper and deeper. The rational part that was hidden for weeks began to surface, and that was why she opted to avoid him as much as possible.

Although she's glad he didn't. She would've been dead if it wasn't for him.

"Allison, please say something," he pleaded, attempting to push the hair out of her face but she flinched back. Harry dropped his hand, hurt over her reaction to him.

She bit her lip, and stared down at her lap. "Harry, I really don't know what to say. I know you did this for me, but I can't be the reason for you."

"Allison, I just saved your life!" He said angrily, shooting up from the carpeted floor. "Emily was here for kill you."

"Because of you!" She shot back, gazing up at him as she stood up. "We keep getting into the situations because we're together. We were doomed from the start because of how we started, and I think that this isn't good for us."

"I don't give a fuck what's good or bad," he replied, marching up to her and holding her cheeks so she could look into his eyes. "I need you, and that's all that matters. If I have to do whatever it is to protect you, I'll do it."

Her eyes widened and for the first time in a while, she could see the burning passion and determination behind his clear green eyes. He was serious, and he wasn't making these emotions up.

"Harry, I don't want to get in too deep," she said, tears welling up into her eyes. "I'm doing all the wrong things and I..."

"Shhh," Harry urged, pressing a soft, tender kiss to her lips, and surprisingly she returned it and held onto his wrists. "I'm taking care of everything, you don't have to worry."

Yes, she doesn't. The whisper was faint, but Harry heard it and this time, he vowed to listen to the voices, because they now knew that Allison was here to stay, and nothing could drive them apart.

——
a/n: lmfaooooo I know some of y'all are like "this bitch actually updated" and the answer is yes I sure did!

I mean, come on. it's a day after Harry's birthday, I couldn't resist. but yeah I'll be back soon and there's only about five very drama filled chapters left so stay tuned!

also peep the photo at the top, I couldn't resist updating Harry's look a bit. long haired him used to be a vibe but no longerrrrr

see you soon,
rachel