Shy Side (h.s. au)

XVII

Harry's POV

My arms cradle Lucy as she sleeps, my eyes looking down on her. She's angelic when she sleeps, my heart pounding whenever I see her. It wasn't planned I would say anything about love tonight, but it has been here for me for a while. I think it was when she admitted to me after the basketball game, when a man had taken it upon himself to talk to her, that I finally knew I was in love. Having that fear that she'd leave...it's all a part of love. I've taken psychology classes and literature classes where the themes are all the same.

You can't have love without fear.

Hell, I hold a lot of fear. And a hell of a lot of love for this beautiful girl. She still has a year left in college while I'm graduating in May. I'm taking an extra course this summer and I feel like when the time comes, we could possible start a new chapter together. I feel so crazy talking about this when I've been dating her three months, but I honestly need her. She's kept me sane and on my toes for those three months.

"This one's her room," Matt says, my arms holding Lucy tighter. I know I have no reason to hate Matt, but he's taking his protectiveness to a different level. I didn't know it was a cousin that had randomly showed up at her door, but he should know a boyfriend doesn't just magically disappear. Especially not me when I'm with Lucy.

I step into her room and smile at the purple color, Matt following behind me. He folds her bedsheets down and I gently lay her down, moving my hand to hers. As I pluck her fingers from around my shirt, I kiss her forehead and pull the covers over her. Since it's a single bed, I take one of her pillows and a blanket from the shelf, laying it on the ground beside her bed.

"You mind if I talk to you?" Matt asks, my head shaking. I follow him out of the room and down the stairs, his stature tall but not as muscular as mine.

"You're falling in love with Lucy?" he asks, my head nodding.

"I already am. But I feel if I said that I'd scare her off. I'm always very careful with what I say around her. She's very shy," I explain, his curt nod making me not understand what it is he wants to talk about.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you this, just so you understand Lucy," he starts, my body leaning against the counter.

"Has she ever brought up her parents to you?" he asks, my head nodding.

"All I know is they passed away when she was little," I explain, his hand running through his hair.

"And have you noticed how scared she is of men?" he then continues, my eyebrows frowning. I think back to all our interactions and I recall when we first started dating she was very skittish.

"Yeah, I mean, kind of," I say, his body leaning against the opposite side of the counter.

"Her dad was shit," he says, my lips pressing together.

"Matthew, what do you think you are doing?" Lucy's aunt asks, walking in.

"Explaining why Lucy needed months of therapy to even come close to dad and me," he says, her eyes flickering to me.

"Please, just stay with her. We saw how you looked at her," she says to me, worrying me slightly. What could have happened?

"Mom, he needs to know," Matt says, my eyes diverting back to him. She sighs and Matt looks at me.

"Lucy and her mom were abused. Her dad was in debt and turned to some bad people for help. He couldn't pay one day and one of the men killed...my aunt," he says, his mother coming and hugging him. So her aunt is her mom's sister. I can tell by the way she expresses grief over the mention of Lucy's mother being killed.