Prom

twenty two

I hated looking at these words. I hated that he was so forceful and that I was scared of whoever this was. I hated that he called my good girl, Harry called me that and know I hated it. I hated that he knew something about us and was using that to get us scared. 

I started looking around the room rather paranoid, as if I felt someone watching me and I think that was when Harry noticed something was up. He walked over to me and sat down next to me, snatching my phone out of my hands in the process. He read over the words quickly his eyebrows furrowing together in worry. I felt his body tense up next to mine and I put my head on his shoulder. I could see the email perfectly and I didn't want to read it but I did and I wished I didn't. Reading it again didn't make it any better. 

"Okay", he said setting my phone on the table and locking it. He wrapped his arms around me and sighed.

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that when he sends you the e-mail with the address we go and just pay this guy off. It would be a lot easier. You and I shouldn't have to live in fear because of this. I want to move on."

I agreed with him one hundred percent. I hated the fact that I was scared shitless and that we were being watched and talked to the way we were. I wanted this to end as quickly as possible and then move on. 

"Do you think they know?", I asked and he shook his head.

"I don't know", he laid down on the couch and I put my head in his lap," I think they might. Why else would they do this if they didn't know?"

"It could be the wrong email."

"Its highly unlikely", he said and walked back over to his desk. He looked through a small notebook and then closed it going into his computer. I assumed he was going back to his work so I laid back down on the couch and tried to relax. My body was way to tense to sleep but I would rather lay down and try to sleep then just sit up and be on edge. Either way I was going to be on edge though. My mind was running a mile a minute with a million different thoughts.

I had a million different scenarios running through my head and I was worried about what would happen within the next week or so with these emails. In the most likely scenario was, we paid off the person emailing me and we moved on with our lives. In this scenario everything worked out perfectly. But there was also the chance of the person continuing to email me even if we did pay them off or the person wanting so much money that we couldn't. Or what if they killed us? 

"Lets go home", Harry said shaking my shoulder.

 I got up quickly and gathered my things. I wrapped my blanket around me in an attempt to stay warm once we went outside. Winter came sooner than expected in Colorado. Harry wrapped his hand in mine and we made our way quickly out of the building. All of his employees watched him and I didn't know why. This was Harry's business and he was allowed to come and go as he pleased. If he wanted to stay all day he could and if he wanted to leave he could. Either way he was going to make money.

"Why are we leaving so soon?", I asked.

"I don't want to waste anytime with you", he said and I was confused.

"We weren't wasting anytime. I understand you working, Harry."

"I know you do and I love you for that, Lana. I'll always love you but I just want to show you something."

Harry used to be secretive when him and I first started getting close. I was really young so it made sense that he didn't want me to know things about him. The older I got and the more serious our relationship got the more stories and things about himself he would tell me. I knew Harry like the back of my hand by now but I always knew there was things Harry kept from me. It never bothered me but I was always curious. I always wanted to know more about who he was before he met my mom and before he got so rich but that was something he liked to keep private. It ate me alive for the longest time but I knew I had to accept it.

When we got home I flopped onto the couch. I could barely breathe from how stuffy my nose had gotten and I was hungry but I knew my stomach would be upset if I ate something. Harry went right into our bedroom and I could hear him digging through some boxed he had in our closet full of things he had but didn't exactly have a place for. He walked back out with a box in his hand and he sat next to me.

He opened the box and inside was a bunch of pictures, books, and what looked like a scrapbook. I wanted to dig right into all of his personal things but he just stared at it and smiled so I decided that wasn't the right thing to do. He pulled out a few smaller boxes and the scrapbook and underneath that were a few small stuffed animals and a pale blue blanket.

"I never told you about this but I was a dad, Lana. I almost had something so beautiful. It was the only other time in my life where I felt like I had a purpose but I had that taken away from me", I felt like he was going to tell me a story.

"I had a little baby boy. He was my everything. He was the only thing in the world that ever mattered to me", he handed me a stack of pictures and I began to look through them. The pictures were all with Harry, the little boy, and a woman who I assumed was Harry's girlfriend or wife and the baby's mother. 

"He's precious", I added and Harry smiled.

"He was the light of my life. I told you before I love my mother, I love my sister, and I love you. I never truly loved many women. I didn't even loved his mother and when she found that out she left me with our son. I was happy with this, I didn't mind being a single dad because I was so in love with this little boy. I could've lived just my son and I for the rest of my life", he rubbed the pale blanket between his fingers while I flipped through endless pictures. Harry, his mother, his sister, and his son were in many of these pictures but never the mother. Harry had kept a well documented book of all the memories the four of them had together. His name "Holden" and his birthday were written across the cover and on almost every single page.

"It seemed like out of nowhere he was taken from me. His mother came with the cops saying I was keeping her son from her and that I had held him hostage. The cops obviously believed her over me considering she was the mother and they took him from me. They packed all of his things I had bought him and took them to her apartment. These were the only things they left me with."

"And I know you probably think I must've not cared for him if I didn't fight for him but I did. I tried for years to get my son back, his mother was crazy. We spent so much time in court and so much time trying to prove I was a good father but I ended up only getting weekends and paying ridiculous amounts of child support. It wasn't until long after that she moved out of state and cut off all contact. I haven't seen him since then", he closed the book of baby pictures and put all the things back in the box.

"That's cruel, Harry", I leaned my head against his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug.

"I would do anything for that little boy, my baby and she took him from me. The thought of how much I missed him and he missed me was never a concern for her. I would given my life for him and I hate that I never had the chance to do that. Ever since then I knew if I ever had something I loved like I loved him again I would have to protect it and love it with all I had. I have you. I have to give you my everything and protect you with all I have because you are the only thing that matters to me."

"I love you Harry", I kissed his cheek and he smiled.

"I have to protect you and I think that the perfect way to protect you is to pay this guy off and move on with our lives together."

I am so sorry for not updating in like six months or so!! I was going through a really rough time at the beginning of the year and couldn't find the power in me to update. Since then I have been editing a lot of my other stories and this one. I am editing them really fast now and also feeling really guilty for not updating so I hope you enjoy this short little heartfelt chapter. I promise you more exciting things will happen after this:)