Days became nights and nights became days and Harry's bed became my new home. I laid there most of the time either sleeping, hurting, or occasionally brainstorming for ways to escape, although I wasn't confident I could think of anything that would actually work. I took painkillers as needed. I was already most of the way through my second refill although I didn't need them as often anymore. I had also finished the antibiotics and my shoulder seemed to be starting to heal, finally. But I didn't even care. If I had enough strength, I got up to pee and maybe ate a piece of bread or some cheese if I found any that wasn't moldy. What was the use of taking care of myself if Theodore was just going to kill me anyway? There was no way out and he had clearly lied about bring Harry back here.

So I just gave up hope.

Until late one afternoon, I roused from sleep at the sound of something unusual. It sounded like someone was in the bathroom next to Harry's room.

Taking a shower.

"What the hell?" I wondered, trying to shake the fog of sleep from my brain. I took a drink of water as I sat up, and then two more painkillers because my shoulder was a bit achy. I highly doubted that Theodore or Benjamin would be showering in Harry's bathroom but why was the water running?

I got out of bed and grabbed the bat that was still where Theodore had left it many days before. I crept silently into the bathroom and gasped at what I saw.

Harry.

I threw the bat back onto the carpet of the bedroom floor and I stepped over to the glass shower door. He hadn't noticed me yet.

"Harry," I said weakly. He turned around with a start and awkwardly tried to shield his nakedness from me. I opened the door, not caring that he was mildly embarrassed or I was still clothed in a t-shirt and yoga pants. I walked into the shower and burst into tears. "You're back." He nodded timidly and I threw my arms around his chest, choking and sobbing and sputtering. I felt his arms slowly begin to squeeze around me, tightening like a boa constrictor until I could hardly breathe but I didn't dare let go.

As I wept in his arms, I noticed that he wasn't expressing the same emotion. I pulled back, looking up into his face. Expressionless, he just stared at me through hollow eyes. He had a black eye that looked to be in the last stages of healing, turning yellow and green. An ugly gash on his eyebrow was healing into a lightning shaped scar. Glancing down, I noticed his body held evidence of abuse, deep, ugly bruises across his ribs and hips.

"Harry," I choked. "What happened to you?"

He gave me a slight shake of  his head as if he either didn't understand the question or he just didn't want to talk about it.

"What happened?" I demanded more strongly. "Why did he do this?"

Again, an apathetic shrug was all he could muster.

"Dammit, talk to me!" I cried.

He started in a mumble and said, "He...he told me that if...if...if I ever try to take what's his...." He stopped and I had to coax him gently to keep going. "He would kill you. In front of me."

"No, no, that's not going to happen," I frantically tried to assure him. "We don't want anything of his. Let's just get out of here, okay? Let's just get away from him and never come back."

"You're just going to leave me," he said in a cracked whisper. "Do your duty and get me to safety and then leave me."

I grasped his face firmly in my hands and said, "Look at me! That bastard brainwashed you but they were all lies. I love you, Harry. I love you so much I thought I was going to die without you here." I burst into tears even now reliving the wretched time that I'd grieved for him when I thought he might never come back+. "Don't you dare believe that sick, twisted madman over me!"

Harry regarded me slowly and then said, "You have your clothes on in the shower," as if he was noticing for the first time.

I started laughing, both from the pent up stress and from his oddly-timed observation. "That's all you can say?"

A tiny smirk broke his mournful facade.

"I love you, Harry," I insisted. "You are my match and I am yours, remember? I love you and I would never lie about that. Theodore can't take that away. He doesn't know me, he has no idea how much I love you. He is a liar! He has lied to you your whole life, remember?" Instead of continuing to try to convince him with words, I used my grasp on his face to lower him to me so I could press my mouth to his. At first he didn't respond and my heart sank, but I just held tighter and slipped my arms around his shoulders.

His stance softened and he kissed me back, slowly, tenderly...maybe cautiously. But as I continued to hold him and cherish him, I felt him coming back to me, believing that I loved him more than I could ever express in words. Water was cascading off his face and hair and forming a curtain around the two of us. I stopped for a breath and said, "I will always love you. Please...that's the only thing  you have to believe. I'd die before I'd lie to you."

Now a slight nod was his indication that he accepted my word as truth. I slowly extricated myself from his embrace and pulled my t-shirt up over my head. Next, I unhooked my bra and let it fall into the tiny rivers at our feet. His eyes widened but he made no move to touch me. Finally, I shed my leggings and panties and threw them in a sopping heap in the corner of the shower.

While Harry watched me with a stunned expression, I took a bath puff and drizzled some soap onto it. I remembered taking a shower after I had been sitting in my own filth for days, how I longed for someone to be with me, to hold me. I wanted to dote on him, show him tenderness in caring for his cuts and bruises. I started with his neck and chest, sudsing the puff over his marked skin, wishing I could wash away the brown and purple stains. While I took care to wash him, he scanned me up and down, brazenly taking in all of my naked body. This was a first for us, seeing each other like this, but especially for him. I was fairly certain he had never seen a naked woman before. I scrubbed his arms and lifted them up to reach his pits and then smoothed down his sides while he held back a tiny giggle. "Ticklish?" I asked and pinched his skin on either side of his waist which made him laugh out loud and flinch away. Next I lathered up my hands and washed his face, being careful again for his wounds and taking extra caution to not get soap in his eyes.

As he turned around to rinse his front side, I massaged his back with suds and he leaned his head against the shower wall, groaning in comfort. I spent extra time massaging and scratching and scrubbing until I just had to see his face again. I turned him around and knelt down to wash his feet and calves and then his thighs, working my way around to his backside, all the time his eyes fixed on me like a hawk. I handed him the puff and motioned for him to wash his delicate areas, not sure exactly how to go about it without being too rough or too intrusive. As soon as he rinsed, I captured him in a kiss.

Then we both let our hands wander. To places they had never been before, discovering what had been hidden and finding out what gave each other the most joy. I wanted to make another joke about being his teacher but I decided that now was not the time or the place. We were connecting emotionally and building each other's trust and I didn't want to jeopardize that in any way. It wasn't overly aggressive or erotic; it was just...discovery. We were building intimacy by learning to trust each other in our most vulnerable states. He had never had that before and I was beginning to learn that I had never experienced this depth of intimacy either.

We eventually had to force ourselves to get out of the shower as our skin wrinkled and blanched. We dried each other and moved slowly towards his bed, ultimately climbing in and pressing our skin together in every way possible, both of us praying we would never be separated again.

Sleep came easily. Not a restless, angst-ridden sleep but a fulfilled, comforting sleep in a cocoon that held only the two of us. Harry had the ability to banish my fears and anxieties just by holding me close and surrounding me with himself. We slept that way for countless hours, eventually awakening at exactly same time, as if a silent alarm had reminded us that the other one was still there.

We were lying face to face and his fingers filtered through my hair, tugging softly at little tangles. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.

"So are you," I returned and he smiled shyly, that adorable smile I remember from when I first met him. "I'm so glad you're back. I almost died without you."

"Me, too." The light in his eyes had returned and the only remnant of his time away from me were the bruises on his face and possibly some residual exhaustion. But he was perfect in every way that mattered. "Jules," he said so quietly that I almost couldn't hear him. "I don't want to wait. I want you. All of you," he said, now a bit more confident.

I realized I had made that particular decision for us until now; I hadn't necessarily let him voice his opinion. I had simply decided that we should wait for sex at least until we were out of this predicament. But now I couldn't think of a better time for us to connect and solidify our relationship. Harry had voiced his desire and I wasn't going to argue.

"You can have me," I said softly. "All of me."

Instantly, we were pressed together, kissing deeply and moving our hands everywhere within reach. Inexperience was hardly a factor in his actions, only needing minimal guidance from me as we sailed together over the waves of mounting pleasure. I never, ever wanted to be without him again and I knew he felt the exact same way. His hands were tender yet firm and his voice subtle yet consistent, telling me how much he loved me and never wanted anyone else but me. I echoed every sentiment, never wanting to be separated from him.

As if we'd been practicing our whole lives, we joined together and rowed easily over the crests and valleys of passion, clinging to one another as if our lives truly depended on each other. He kept his eyes trained on mine the whole time, except when he had to squeeze them closed because of the overwhelming pleasure. Our union culminated in a surge that burst forth from both of us as we unashamedly proclaimed our love for each other and promised to never again let each other out of our sight.

* * * * *

A happy break in their situation, wouldn't you agree???  <3 (Are you happy now,  @The_Wife_of_Bath ? lol)