Always A Pleasure || H.S. [COMPLETE]

Seventy-Six

It was nearly two in the morning when Katherine walked through the large revolving doors into the lobby of the apartment with a massive knot of nerves in her stomach. She had no idea how she was going to get through the rest of the night.

"Good evening, Miss Mason," the night security guard greeted her as she walked in.

"Good evening, Mr. Davis," she replied, smiling pleasantly at him.

"Mr. Styles insisted I call up when you arrived home," he told her, looking apologetic.

"If you must," she agreed with a nod, knowing she didn't want to get him in trouble with Harry if he didn't follow through on his wishes.

"Have a good night," she said in parting words as she walked toward the bank of elevators.

"Goodnight, Miss Mason," he called out as he picked up the phone to do Mr. Styles' bidding.

Just as the elevator doors were closing with her inside, she heard Mr. Davis on the phone with Harry, telling him that she was home. She was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed, but knew it wouldn't be possible. She knew she had to deal with Harry and the situation he had put her in that evening.

She quickly sent a text to her cousin Christine to let her know she made it home safely and that Aaron was on his way home. She stowed her phone in her purse again before bending down to slip her black patent leather Jimmy Choo high heels off her feet, carrying them with her.

When the elevator doors opened, Katherine's vision immediately met with Harry's as he stood in the doorway of the penthouse waiting for her.

"Katherine. Fucking hell. Where have you been?" Harry asked exasperated as she stepped out of the elevator.

As soon as she saw his face, she knew she was still upset about what happened, even if she had somewhat settled down about it. She sighed, walking toward him, but her gaze dropped away from his.

"I'm tired, Harry," she muttered as he moved out of the doorway to let her in the house.

"Where have you been?" He asked again, this time a little more impatiently as he shut the front door.

She didn't have the energy left inside of her to fight with him, or to even talk about it. She just wanted to go to bed.

"Out," she said vaguely, avoiding even looking in his direction.

"Katherine," he growled through his teeth and she knew he was demanding an answer even if he didn't say the words out loud.

"I was at Christine's," she snapped at him before shaking her head, her annoyance growing inside of her.

Harry breathed out a heavy relieved sigh, as if all of his worries and fears had suddenly washed away.

"Katherine, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for bringing you to that club. It was so fucking stupid of me. I'm thick. I-I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think of how it would make you feel. I'm sorry."

"Harry, I'm exhausted. I just want to go to bed."

"Mon ange, please. Talk to me."

"You're drunk," she stated plainly, finally looking into his eyes. They only had a few drinks at the club, but the man standing in front of her was unsteady on his feet and slurring his words.

"That's irrelevant," he countered immediately, his eyebrows furrowing with displeasure.

She scoffed as she walked around him to go to the bedroom, noticing the near-empty bottle of whiskey on the counter in the kitchen as she passed by.

"Katherine," he called out before he began to follow her.

Harry caught up to her when she made her way into their closet to ready herself for bed.

"Katherine, please. I need to know you're okay, that we're okay."

"I'm fine, Harry. We're fine. I just needed some time away," Katherine sighed as she set her high heels on the shelf where they belonged.

She immediately slipped the straps of the dress off her shoulders before letting it fall to her feet, stepping out of it.

"Away from me?" He choked out.

"Yes. Away from you," she told him firmly, still feeling the residual anger inside of her over what happened.

"I don't want you to need time away from me," he stated insistently, sounding plagued.

"Well, I can't help that. You just brought your past into our relationship and it was... it was a lot. I didn't like it," she told him truthfully as she stripped off her undergarments before slipping on a clean pair of panties and putting on her old familiar oversized t-shirt that she used to wear to bed on most nights before she started dating Harry.

"I know, angel. I'm so sorry," he apologized, reaching out to grip onto her hand as he tugged her body just enough for her to face him.

"And now... now you're piss-drunk and you're bringing my past to the forefront of my mind," she said, wiggling her hand out of his grasp.

"Mon ange," he whimpered, his eyebrows furrowed deeply as he watched her.

"What made you think it was a good idea to get obliterated off a bottle of whiskey?" She asked him as she tried to rein in all the chaos in her brain.

She really didn't want to compare Harry to her father, because there was honestly no comparison, but it was hard to not be reminded of her father because he had pretty much been shitfaced-drunk for the past decade.

"I didn't know where you were. I didn't know if you were coming home. You shut off your phone. I was frantic. I couldn't even breathe, Katherine. I couldn't sit still. Daniels had to get me a fucking Xanax to calm down," Harry explained, sounding desperate and she hated that he felt that way.

"Well, I'm sorry you went through that. But you have to know that sometimes I'm going to need space," she told him through a sigh.

"Why is that something I have to know? I don't want you to need space," he replied adamantly.

"Well, what you want isn't really relevant in this situation. I needed space, Harry," she told him firmly.

"Mon ange," he sighed, his eyebrows knit together in distress.

"Listen, I'm sorry that you were so worried—"

"Katherine, the desperation I feel— are we going to be okay? I can't lose you," Harry pleaded with so much vulnerability in his words.

"Harry," she said quietly, realizing how messed up he was over this. He honestly thought she left him for good.

She stepped up to him, pressing her forehead to his as her hands gently slipped against his cheeks.

"We're okay, mon amour. You won't lose me," she told him quietly, trying to soothe some of the anxiety inside of him.

Harry let out a heavy breath that he seemed to have been holding in.

"I just needed a little bit of time to calm down," she told him softly.

"Tell me you love me," he said desperately.

"I love you more than you'll ever know," she replied honestly.

He let out a satisfied sigh before sinking his lips against hers, desperately tasting her as his arms wrapped around her, tugging her body to his.

"You make me feel a lot. You make me feel things I can't explain," Harry breathed, his forehead pressing against hers once again.

"Let's... let's go to bed, mon amour. I'm tired," Katherine told him, feeling the exhaustion deep within her bones.

"Okay, angel. Let's go to bed," he agreed before guiding her out of the closet and into their bedroom.