Chapter 52

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Chapter 52

A/N and TW:

This chapter contains mentions of sexual assault. I know that this can be a very triggering topic for some, and though I didn't go into any graphic detail, I just want to forewarn that it comes up in the discussion between two characters. If you don't feel comfortable reading this, I have written a chapter summary at the end that you can skip to!

If you are a survivor of assault or any type of abuse – just know that you are loved, you are supported and I am so, so proud of you. Your trauma, whether it may seem big or small to someone else, is always valid and never makes you any less who you are.

I am here if anyone ever needs to talk and I love you so very much. Xo <3

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By the time I made my way down to the kitchen at around 8 a.m., Morgan had already arrived. I wasn't sure what time she'd shown up, wasn't sure I even entirely cared given that my mind was much too preoccupied with other things. Preoccupied with a certain man who had fled this morning, leaving me tossing and turning in his absence, only to wake up a mere few hours later already sick to my stomach with anxiety.

I knew that these jobs were normal for Harry – I understood that it was his lifestyle and he'd done probably hundreds before meeting me, but that didn't mean I wasn't any less nervous. Especially because he'd said it was only him and Zayn going. Yes, he had the security team, but I doubted that the security team was even going to be anywhere close to them when they were completing the actual job they'd gone there to go do.

"Hi, g'morning," she chirped from behind the kitchen counter, turning to greet me upon my entrance. She looked like she'd been up for hours already with both her hair and makeup done, dressed in a faded band tee and light wash jeans. "Made you breakfast," she slid a plate in my direction, wincing a bit. "Burned it though. Harry's hi-tech fucking stove is so bloody hard to figure out."

I gave a short laugh, sliding onto the stool across from her and pulling the overdone eggs and bacon toward me, not having the heart to tell her that both of those happened to make me sick. And that I doubted I could eat with the nerves swirling in my stomach anyway.

"Thank you," I said quietly, picking off a piece of the toast – which she'd also managed to burn. "Did you just get here?"

Morgan walked around the counter, seating herself on the stool beside me. She slid over a mug of coffee, cradling another between her palms. She shook her head. "Got here when the guys left. Zayn dropped me off."

"You've been here since then?" My eyes widened and I gratefully sipped from my drink, revelling in the taste of caffeine sliding down my throat. "Have you been awake this whole time? You could've gotten me up or something, so you didn't have to sit down here alone."

She grinned, waving an arm in dismissal. "Harry told me under no circumstances was I allowed to wake you. In fact, he said I wasn't even allowed to go upstairs until you'd come down yourself because, apparently, I'm–" she made air quotes with her fingers, "–'too loud'."

I rolled my eyes, taking another bite of the toast. "He's an idiot. I would have gladly come down to keep you company."

"Don't worry about it," she reached forward, giving my hand a squeeze. "Had a pretty good few hours anyway trying to get Harry's TV to work. I swear this man lives in a confusing fucking technological fortress. I can't get anything to work."

"No, literally," I took a sip of the coffee. "And I swear he doesn't even use half the shit he's got here. At least it's safe though, right?"

Morgan scrunched up her nose, swivelling on her chair toward the living room. "I guess you're right. But I mean, if I were going to try and break in here, all I'd really to do was–" she suddenly reached behind her, pulling from the waistband of her pants a gun and imitated shooting it directly at the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, "–pew, pew. Shoot right through the glass and I'm in."

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