Get The Girl [h.s] AU

35

I don't remember what time it was that we came back home, all I distinctly remember is the guys walking up and down the stairs with various luggage as if they were getting ready to go somewhere. I was sent to my room before I could even ask what was going on, even then as my head hit the pillow I couldn't sleep. I heard them walking around all night until eventually, I grew tired and gave in.

The next morning, I was blinded by the lights. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the brightness and when they did, Harry was in my bedroom, taking all of my belongings out of the drawers and shoving the clothes in my bag, carelessly.

"What are you doing?" I groan, sitting up and rubbing the sleep off my eyes. I yawn and stretch as Harry throws my bag on the bed by my feet.

"We're leaving." He says shortly and I furrow my eyebrows.

"Leaving?" I repeat his words. "Where?"

"Just get up and get dressed." He says and walks out with something in his hand—a journal. I don't question him anymore, I knew he was twice as angry in the mornings even after coffee. I do as I'm told, get dressed and once I'm ready, I head downstairs. I look around the empty home, you couldn't tell people lived here once because of how silent and alone it was.

Harry walks back in the front door and notices me. "Where are the others?"

He grabs my bag from my hands. "They've already left." He says, grabs a couple of water bottles from the fridge and motions me to follow him out the door. Once in the car, Harry pulls out of the driveway and we are back on the road.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on or why we were even leaving. Why did they guys leave and where were they heading to? It wasn't helping that Harry was giving me short answers as if it was some big secret that he needed to hold in.

"Can you please tell me what's going on?" I finally ask as we pass the warehouse from last night. "Where are we going?"

Harry glances up to the rear view mirror before looking back to the road up ahead. "I was instructed to move you."

"Can you please stop giving me short mumbled replies? It's really starting to get on my damn nerves!" I blurt out, I wanted to tug at my hair.

At this, Harry turns to me. "What the hell do you want me to tell you?" He was getting angry. "It is no longer safe, I have to move you before they find you and kill you?" He spits and I look away with a shake of my head.

"I can handle the truth," I remark. "You don't have to sugarcoat things."

"I highly doubt that." Harry retorts and adverts his stern glare to the road.

—

I don't know why, but something about this car ride makes it different than all the other ones we've been on before. Something that made it hard for me to sleep against the window of the moving car, and I've gotten so used to it before. It felt like something was coming, something I couldn't quite put my finger on nor did I think I could stop it. I felt as though I was being taken for the slaughter.

Harry was tense and I could tell. Usually he's very calm and collected and last night I knew the reason for that, because he enjoys being in the car. He seemed uneasy about something, anytime I even managed to get a few moments of sleep, I'd wake up to find him on the phone and each time he'd see I was awake he'd end the call.

I couldn't question him about it, I knew he'd think I was crazy if I brought it up. Harry ended up stopping for gas and I took this as my chance to use the bathroom despite my resilience to enter the dirty corner store bathroom. It smelled as foul as I had imagined, the floor was wet and with trails of mud but I needed to pee badly. It must've taken me about five whole minutes to set down toilet paper on the seat because there's pounding on the door.

"What's taking so damn long?" Harry grumbles on the other side of the door.

"I'm not trying to catch some form of disease because I sat on a dirty toilet seat," I call out, finally sitting down on the toilet paper and doing my business. "I'll be out in a second." Once I'm done, I dispose of the toilet paper, wash my hands thoroughly with twice the recommended amount of soap and exit the disgusting public bathroom.

I shiver from the cold gust of wind and disgusting bathroom. "You are so delicate." Harry mumbles as we walk inside the store.

I glare at him. "It must be nice peeing standing up." I say, walking towards the snacks. This reminded me of the last time we stopped at a corner store for snacks and gas. My gaze went straight to the door when the bell rings with new customers, my heart dropping.

It was a teenage boy in a grey hoodie with a few of his friends. Flashes of men being shot to their death in a floor very much like this one passes in my head. Harry must notice my reaction to this because he gently touches the small of my back, snapping me out of it. "Are you okay?" He asks and I look back to the snacks and towards him, his eyebrows furrow in worry. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just feeling a bit uneasy." I say.

Much to my dismay, Harry sighs and nods. "I know, I feel it." He says and I'm glad I was right and I'm not the only one. "Get whatever you want, we need to move." I obey and get a few items for the road, Harry pays in cash and we are soon back in the car.

"...You know what's coming, Fiore. There is absolutely no way in hell that you didn't think about the consequences!" I hear my mother's muffled voice say through my father's big double wooden doors that lead to his office.

"Would you leave it alone, woman. I have a plan." My father says, his voice was deep.

"You can't do this to him! Hasn't he suffered enough? Haven't I?"

"You know what has to be done, Frida. You and Mila aren't safe as long as she's still around," I hear my father walk around. "The less you know—"

"Don't!" My mother shouts and I jump a bit. "Don't you dare say that! I already know all there is to know! She deserves to know!"

"You listen to me!" I hear the sound of a chair scraping the floor. "You don't tell that girl a thing, do you understand me? You leave this to me, go tend to your daughters. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? Daughters."

"Not like this." Her voice was much softer now. As soon as I hear her begin to walk towards the door, I run towards the stair case and sit in the middle of it. My mother closes the door behind her, her nose was red and her eyes were watery. She is startled to see me at first but that soon leaves when she smiles and walks towards me on the steps. "What are you doing out of bed, Sweet Pea?"

"I heard you and daddy." I say looking up at her, my small fingers wipe the tears away from under her eyes.

She smiles, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it. "You're my little guardian angel, did you know that? You are strong, Valentina. You're the strongest girl I know." Her hands go behind my neck and within seconds, she undoes the clasp of my necklace and stuffs it inside the pocket of her jeans.

I hear the sound of a door opening and it's my father, he eyes my mother suspiciously. "Frida."

"I'm putting her to bed." My mom says, picking me up in her arms. Once I'm my bedroom, she lays me down next to Mila who was sleeping and tucks me in. "Rest now."

I am being moved awake by Harry, there was flashing lights of a motel sign barely lit flashing through the windshield. I groan, I hated motels. I follow Harry inside the front office, book a room and he unlocks it. This one seemed okay.

"You go ahead," Harry says, setting down the bags on the bed. "I need to make a few calls."