Devil's Due [h.s.]

Chapter 59

Chapter 59

"Wasn't one of those events supposed to be tonight?" I asked, swivelling around on my seat to face Morgan. We'd been chatting for the better part of an hour in the back of Devil's Due, with her laid on one of the tattoo beds and me on a stool beside her. "One of Damien's," I clarified. "They usually happen on the last Saturday of every month, right?"

Morgan glanced over at me. She was busy applying stencils all over her body of random tattoo ideas she was thinking of getting. "Been moved to tomorrow," she said, chewing on her lower lip and angling her head to the side. "What do you think of this? Too much going on near the elbow or–?"

I peeked over at the outline of a cluster of stars she'd put on the bottom of her upper arm. "I like it," I affirmed with a grin. "And tomorrow? Does that mean you guys still have to go?"

Morgan inhaled sharply through her nose and sat up, turning to face me. Her feet dangled beneath her, heels a few mere inches from the ground. "Apparently he – Damien," she rolled her eyes at the clarification, "has had a lot going on recently. Some shit's gone down with a few of his men, I guess. Not that I really cared what the reasoning was, but yeah, it's tomorrow and we've all still got to go." She caught my eye and quickly added, "But you don't–"

"No, I know," I nodded, swallowing hard. There was no way in hell I was ever going near one of those things ever again. Not if I could help it. Though that went without saying that I still concocted in my head numerous extravagant plans and ideas of how I could get Harry, Zayn and Morgan to stop having to go. Normally those ideas ended with a bullet in Damien's skull. A little too morbid for me to pull off on my own. "I was just wondering..." I went on a little quieter, averting my gaze, "If maybe I should wait until Monday? To talk to Harry, I mean?"

Most of what we'd discussed while back here had had to do with the fact that I needed to tell Harry what had gone on with Damien. I couldn't keep it a secret any longer – didn't want to keep it a secret. Morgan had completely understood and said that I should make sure I told him when it was just the two of us, somewhere where he couldn't freak out or immediately go rogue. I'd also been informed that I should text her as soon as he knew, just in case. I think she could sense my unease with keeping it a secret for so long considering she'd barely even said anything to try and deter me from not telling him, only offered a few hushed words of support.

I'd been so swept up in what had gone on this past week, coupled with the original anxiety I'd had from Harry and Zayn going away to Morocco for work that I'd barely even thought about when the fight could be coming up. That and Harry had been substantially less noticeable with his anxiety about it. When I thought back to how he'd acted around this time the first couple of months I'd known him, it was almost shocking. He'd been an unbearable, closed-off shell of a human that had decided he was going to take out whatever inner trauma he'd been harbouring on me. I'd hated him for it, despite not knowing what was really going on beneath the surface, because his reactions ultimately had me hating myself. And now... Well, now he seemed like he had other ways to channel whatever feelings arose during the buildup to the specific day of the event. I wouldn't go so far as to say he ever truly forgot, just that he'd been adequately sidetracked in one way or another.

"Mm," Morgan contemplated my words for a few seconds. "Maybe you're right. Might be better to tell him after the fight. Wouldn't want to get him too worked up this weekend."

"Okay," I chewed on my inner cheek, nodding. My hands gravitated toward my shirt, where I fiddled with the hem of the material.

"Try not to worry about it, okay?" Morgan reached out to catch my wrist, giving it a squeeze. "Harry seems... surprisingly less uptight lately. It might not go as badly as I'd originally thought. And once the fight's done, there'll be a bit of a weight off his shoulders."