Liberate • Harry Styles

seventeen.

THERE ARE CLUES IN THIS CHAPTER SO GET READY FOR THE NEXT ONE Y'ALL

I woke up a couple hours later. The sun was just setting outside the windows and the dark rays were peeking through the hotel curtains. I looked down and saw Harry's tattooed arms engulfing my body.

"Vi?" I heard Harrys raspy voice from behind me.

"Harry." I said meekly. I rotated gently so we were face-to-face. He kissed my nose lightly, his eyes filled with worry.

"Why did you go to the office with Niall?" He asked. I groaned internally; of course he would take this chance (when I am vulnerable) to be jealous.

"You left me with him, Harry. And you wanted me to get help."

"If I was there, I could have protected you. I could have prevented another breakdown." Harry's voice was slightly raised, and I could tell it was going to escalate into another fight.

"Harry, he offered. He said you were paying."

"Paying? Me?" Harry's eyes grew dark. "So he's lying to my girl about my money and my willingness for you to go with him."

I didn't know why, but I felt a sense of betrayal at this small little argument. Why didn't he want pay for the appointment? At least I was trying to get better.

"I'm not your property, Harry. I've said this before, and I'm going to say it again. I went somewhere to make myself better and I thought you were fine with it. Niall just wants what's best for me." I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. "If you want me to pay for the Doctor's appointment, I will."

"No, it's not that, Vi. Jesus." Harry got up and put his pants on, which I hadn't realized he'd taken off. "I just want you to trust me completely."

"Harry, you know I do. But I don't have to be with you every second of the day."

"Then why do I have to keep saving you from situations where if I were there in the beginning, it never would have happened?" He spat.

"You can't protect me!" I exclaimed. "I'm not a delicate flower. I can take care of myself."

"Obviously not, when every time we're apart you have a complete breakdown!" Harry yelled. "Now, if you excuse me, I have a show I need to get to."

"And I have a social media network I need to run." I followed him to the door.

"You need to stay here. You're too fragile." He insisted, and I grit my teeth as he left.

Screw you. I thought to myself. I'm going to do my job, whether you want to protect me or not.

I left the room and went through the back doors of the hotel, making my way to the main street and calling a cab. I got to the show just in time. I was so caught up in Twitter, I walked automatically into the boys' dressing room.

"Vi!" Zayn called from the couch. I smiled as I saw him, happy to meet again.

"I haven't seen you in forever!" I exclaimed. I scanned the room. Louis was on the phone in the corner and I saw Niall crossing the room to greet me.

"Vi." He breathed, pulling me in for a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Niall. The paparazzi just surprised me, that's all."

"Did you and Harry have a fight?" He asked. "He's in the bathroom now, but when he came here he was fuming."

"Yeah, we did. Don't worry about it, Nialler." I gave him as reassuring of a smile as I could manage.