SHE (bk 1)

TWENTY-TWO

As Kendall Jenner sat across from him on his couch he thought of Clementine, the blonde beauty who he'd rather be laughing with. "So who is this blonde you've been seen with lately?," Kendall asks smiling as Mitch chuckles from the other couch.

Harry had dated Kendall about three years ago but they remained good friends because she was a kind person and someone he enjoyed talking to. He knew Clementine would love her and vice versa but he wasn't ready to mix his world just yet, since her and Camille didn't really get along either.

"Her name is Clementine and she is...amazing," he breathes making Kendall peek over at Mitch who nods his head to answer her silent question.

Mitch leans onto the couch, "Yeah he's got it bad, you should have seen them when we were writing the other day. He was looking at her and just coming up with lyrics on the spot," he slaps his knee while Harry looks away from the two.

Clementine was 'golden' in every aspect. Her personality and her kind smile were two qualities about her that really made his knees weak, just thinking about her made butterflies erupt within him.

"I don't want to mess it up," he whispers and Kendall frowns immediately, "My last relationship really warped what I thought love was and I don't want to project that on her. I want to give her unconditional love...something she deserves after what she's been through."

Kendall didn't know what this girls struggles were but by the look on Harry's face they were not small, "What happened to her if you don't mind me asking?"

Harry was reluctant to tell them, the fact that they are not his stories being something he truly believed in. But he also knew neither of the people sitting here would ever tell anyone or bring it up to Clementine directly.

"Well she had an abusive boyfriend for a long time, she told me he has hit her and threw her down a flight of stairs in her apartment building. He worked at the diner she owns...tortured her beyond belief i've seen it, it's just horrible," he mutters out not looking at the two silent listeners as he continued.

"And her mother just died three weeks ago," he looks up at the sharp intake of air and Mitch shakes his head in sadness, "She had cancer and Clementine took care of her because she's an only child so when her mom died she had no one. No siblings, cousins, dad, and then her mom is gone so she is utterly alone trying to navigate life without her favorite person," Harry runs a hand through his hair at the thought of Clementine struggling so much the past month.

He sighs, "Her ex knows where she lives and where she works so she doesn't feel safe anywhere...and she's still just plowing through life so easily. Or at least she makes it look easy, I just feel like I want to save her but I know I need to let her figure it out while I assist in any way I can."

Kendall lets a deep frown take over her lips as Harry finishes, she knew the feeling of being unsafe in her own home. Having had it being broken into and a stalker approaching her when she stepped out of her car but Clementine's story was so much worse.

She really had nowhere else to turn, but she was still making her way through life because that was all she knew. "She sounds amazing," her smile doesn't reach her eyes but Harry knows it's just because of how sad the story was. It even made Mitch silent which was hard to do.

"Have you tried offering her to stay here? I know it might take some convincing but in the long run it might actually save her life if this guy is seriously a psycho." Harry hadn't thought of this idea and wasn't even really sure if she would be comfortable with it but it was worth a try.

He nods, "Yeah I might actually do that so she knows she has a safe place somewhere," his smile turns into a large grin at the thought of her feeling safe somewhere. Especially since it would be with him.

————

Across town Clementine was locked inside her house alone, a blanket wrapped around her as she shook. Someone had been banging on her door for the past twenty minutes, no doubt someone who knew she wouldn't allow them inside.

"Go away Max i'm calling the police," she finally screams and earns a chuckle from the other side, a small laugh that sent a chill up her spine.

Grabbing her phone she dials the number, "Okay let's see who wins first me or the police," A large sound makes her jump in place. Was he trying to break down her door?

"Hi my ex boyfriend is trying to break into my apartment...," a loud scream echoes from her chest when the wood of her door cracks, tears pooling in her eyes. "Please hurry i'm afraid he's going to hurt me please," the 911 director tells Clementine to stay on the phone as the pounding stops.

She stands up from the couch and looks around, "The noise stopped," she whispers and the woman tells her to stay inside and lock herself in a room. Clementine turns to walk into her room when glass shatters in front of her, a sharp pain shooting up her bare leg. "Max stop please."

The phone drops from her hands as Max stands outside the broken window on her fire escape, wondering where she could possibly go to hide from him. Darting toward her room she steps on glass with her bare feet, tears pouring from her eyes as his hand just narrowly grabs at her.

Slamming the door to her room she turns the lock, her heart was pumping and chest heaving with every breath she took. "Let me in Clem...or I swear to god I will make what i'm going to do to you so much worse," she hides herself on the other side of her bed and slams her eyes shut.

The banging on the door starts again, this time the door to her bedroom being even weaker. She wondered if she should just get up and let him in, he had won anyway. He took away any safety she felt in her own home, and in herself for that matter.

As the door pops off the hinges she hides her face in between her knees and waits for him to come to her roughly. A hand steadily placing itself on her leg makes her shoot back with a scream, "Ma'am it's okay we are here...he took off down the alley but we have people after him. Are you okay?"

Clementine takes a deep breath as she starts to nod, the tears in her eyes not holding back as she finally breaks into a sob, "No...no i'm not okay."