Resolution

33. Saved

"I am unraveling unbearably empty, and if this ground gives way I just hope that you catch me."

Song: Saved

Artist: The Spill Canvas

Harry's POV

My blood boiled in my veins as I stood seething on the spot, certain I had never been more angry in my entire life. This was a different kind of anger that I had felt for Halle at any point in our relationship; that anger had been driven from hurt or pain, while this anger was derived from pure rage. Miles' words kept dripping through my brain, my vision blurring in flashes of red with each despicable word.

The things he had called her and insinuated about her had pissed me off far more than I ever would have imagined. He didn't know her at all, yet he'd treated her like she was some lowly person who didn't deserve a second of his time. While I wasn't sure why he'd acted like he had, I had my suspicions. I thought, sickeningly, that there was a part of him that wanted Halle for himself and had been waiting to see her at some party so he could pounce, seeing as he believed I would hold true to form and never speak to her again.

I also thought he really didn't like the idea of me settling down at all. I was his wingman, after all. Countless times when we had gone out, he'd only gotten laid with help from me. If I were taken, I wouldn't be around to help with that. I think he was afraid of me changing and leaving him behind, which was probably a legitimate fear for him to have because it already appeared to be happening.

These factors along with probably others I would never understand, I suspected, had motivated his even more pronounced asshole behavior, and I was done with him, as far as I was concerned. There was no way in hell he was going to get away with talking to Hal that way, and I certainly didn't want he and his smarmy hands within a mile of her. No, he would stay far, far away from her if I had anything to say about it.

Halle's blue eyes seared into mine as she stood across from me. She had risen from her seat at some point but that was all the farther she had made it before the shock of me punching Miles had frozen her into place. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me, her lips parted as her breathing came out nearly as ragged as my own. I was suddenly very afraid that she was scared of me; she had never seen me hit anyone before, and it wasn't something I did very often.

If she was scared of me, I didn't know what I would do.

"Hal," I said gently, completely forgetting that Jay was standing in a similar position as her, equally frozen into place and uncertain of how to react to everything that had just happened. I took a tentative step toward her, praying she wouldn't flinch away from me.

She didn't. She blinked once as she realized I was moving towards her, and it seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she had fallen under. She took a slow step toward me before breaking into a quick jog, closing the space between us almost instantly. A heavy sigh of relief pushed past my lips as she threw her arms around my neck, hugging her body tightly to mine.

"Um, I'm gonna go," Jay said somewhat awkwardly. I waved my hand at him distractedly before I wound it around Halle's back, pulling her into my still heavily heaving chest. I heard him shuffle from my house and close the door behind him when he left. Halle's face was pressed into my neck as she hugged me, her breath hot on my skin. Her arms loosened slightly as she pulled back, her elbows resting on my shoulders as her hands pushed my hair back. Her bright eyes studied mine closely, her expression one of concern rather than fear.

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly. My hands linked together and rested against her lower back. For the first time, I noticed a tingling sting to my knuckles from hitting Miles' jaw. It hurt, but not more than I could easily handle. Anger still flooded through me as Miles' comments and his irritatingly smug face drifted through my mind once more. I could feel that my muscles were tense beneath my skin.