SHE (bk 1)

TWENTY-THREE

Harry was making his way across town toward Clementine's apartment, an important question at the front of his mind. The thought of her safety was so important to him, and he hoped she agreed.

Moving around the corner of the club he had performed at he noticed police cars and an ambulance. The lights from the cars were lighting up the streets and caused people to flock toward them. A small crowd had formed in front of the familiar building, her building.

Harry's body jolted into a jog as his heart pumped in his chest, she had to be safe. As he approached a police officer held his hand out to keep him from advancing, "Sir this is a crime scene."

A crime scene?

His eyes searched around him, longing to see the blonde among the city goers. A misunderstanding of this whole thing, but he doesn't get that relief. A lump grew in his throat as he saw her, a blanket wrapped around her in the back of the ambulance.

Her face was pale and emotionless as the guy shined a light in her eyes, wincing when he kneeled to look at her leg. He took in a deep breath before letting his lungs fill up, "Clementine!"

The recognition of his voice showed on her face as a terrified look crossed it, her gaze meeting Harry's. The paramedic says something to her before she slowly nods, the police officer allowing Harry through to her. He barreled through all the people gathering and stopped in front of the broken girl. Her eyes glassy.

"Hi," she whispers out a weak smile trying to pull at the corner of her lips, it hurt to see her fake a smile at him. He reached out and tucked some hair behind her ear, her eyes closing at the tender touch.

"Clem what-," he was cut off by the paramedic who cut her pants with a pair of scissors. A long cut making an appearance just under her knee, "Jesus...how did that happen?," Harry asked dumbfounded by the slice.

She frowns and looks away from the two men, one of them cleaning a wound while the other stared expectantly. He could tell she didn't want to talk about it so his mouth clamped shut, "Can you look at my feet...I stepped on a lot of glass."

The paramedic lifted her foot and grimaced slightly, "There's a lot of glass in your feet we're gonna need to take you to the hospital," he tells her standing up and she sighs gently.

"Do you want him to ride with you?," Clementine's eyes widened for a second before she looked at an anxious Harry. She knew that if she didn't allow him in the ambulance he would most definitely follow them so it was no use. A simple nod sets the man at ease as he climbs into the vehicle with her.

The two of them sit silently in the back of the ambulance as the driver takes off, Harry holding onto a railing as he rocks back and forth. He looked across at Clementine who was staring at her shaking hands, a frown was present on her lips with that crease between her brows. She looked so deep in thought Harry felt bad reaching across to grab onto her hand, flinching back away from him instantly.

Her wide terrified eyes reached his and he smiled gently, "It's just us Clem and I would never hurt you," her asserts and she stares at him dumb founded for a second. How could she have two men the complete opposite so close around her, one caring and thoughtful while the other would rather see her suffer.

She had thought her type of 'guy' was apparently asshole since that was all she seemed to date but maybe it was her? Had she overlooked all the good men walking around her because she thought she didn't deserve the right type of love?

Clementine nods gently and lets her hand grip his hard, the thought of doing all of this alone thrown from her mind. Harry was here and ready to listen whenever she was ready to tell him what had happened, or even if she ever wanted to tell him.

"He broke into my apartment," Clementine looks up at him and Harry subconsciously feels anger build within his chest. "He had been knocking on the door and when I called the police he tried to break it down...but instead he broke the window on the fire escape and the glass cut me when it flew in," she looks down at her patched up leg a small amount of blood already seeping through.

She looked like she was remembering a bad nightmare, the rise and fall of her chest was becoming irregular as the terror was replayed. "He-he...I ran past the window to lock myself in my room and I stepped on the glass, I know that was stupid but I just needed to get away. So I hid behind my bed and he tried to break my bedroom door down but the police came in time," she breathes out, remembering the kind man who carried her to safety.

Harry continued to stare at the beautiful girl in front of him as she held back tears, he may not have hurt her but he truly struck the fear of God into her. "I'm okay...he didn't get me."

She tried her best to send him a kind smile but he saw right through it, "It doesn't matter whether or not he 'got' you he should have never been at your apartment to begin with. You should feel safe when you are at your home and he took that away from you and that is just as bad."

Clementine knew Harry was right but what was she to do?

She didn't have enough money to even think about moving away from her apartment and even if she did she'd have to leave the place she shared with her mother. There were so many memories surrounding that apartment but Max had somehow clouded them for her, only allowing the bad things to surface.

"Harry?," he hums a response as she curiously peers at him, "Why were you at my apartment?," she asks and it seems to catch him off guard, a rosy blush running up his cheeks at the thought.

He clears his throat, "Um I was actually coming to ask you something that I should have done a while ago," Clementine's eyebrows raise in question and she squeezes his outstretched hand in encouragement.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to stay at my place for a while?"