Jessica entered her bathroom and looked at her reflection. Her hair tied up in a messy bun, her nose was swollen but she was sure there wasn't any fracture. And then she looked at her cheeks and stroked it with her index finger, recalling the tingling sensation she felt when Harry brushed them ever so gently last night.

Snap out of it, Jessica.

She turned on the tap and splashed the cold water onto her face, finally waking herself up from the slumber.

- Flashback -

"Leah?" Jessica called out as she walked out from her room. "Leah, are you awake? I'm coming home late tonight so remember to bring your keys please."

Jessica dropped her bag on the couch and headed towards Leah's room, knocking the door before opening it. To her horror, she was greeted by a topless man with his curly hair ruffled, rubbing his eyes. "Leah isn't here, damn it," he snarled in his half-awake raspy voice.

"We agreed to not have men overnight..." Jessica muttered under her breath as she stepped away from the man.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing," Jessica turned around, avoiding any form of eye contact. "Please get dressed and leave."

"Do you know where Leah could have gone to?"

"I don't know, please. Get dressed and leave."

"Chill out," the man hissed as he button up his shirt, walking past Jessica. "I'm leaving."

- End of Flashback -

That was Jessica's first encounter with Harry and it was also the day she didn't see Leah until today. She walked into Leah's room and since she finally got a day off without having to attend to Harry's needs, she decided to search for answers. She was determined that she would find something. Anything.

She started with Leah's dresser where there were still some clothing she didn't pack with her. Jessica was sure to check every inch and in between her clothing. Nothing. She bent down and lifted up the bed sheet to see if there were any boxes still lying around. Bingo. There was a shoe box hidden in the middle underneath the bed. She sprawled onto the floor to better reach out for the box. As she pulled the box towards her, she swiped away the dust that has engulfed the entire surface of the box. She lifted the lid of the box and found polaroid photos of Leah...with her brother Jacob. She look through the entire content of the box, and found a few photos that were taken with a digital camera and had the dates on them. Jessica's eyes widened and gasped.

They knew each other even before I moved in with Leah. Which means Jacob knew who I was moving in with but why didn't he say anything? Wait, Jacob was at the bar when I first met Leah. Was all this a set up.....NO.

Jessica rushed to her bedroom and swung open her cupboard doors and took out her bank book from a cookie tin. She grabbed her phone from the bed and dialed the bank hotline.

"Hi, I'm Jessica Lauren Watson. I would like to check my Savings account balance, please."

After a long process of Jessica having to give all the particulars needed to verify that she is the rightful owner of the account, the person on the line told her to hold while the machine state the account balance.

"Beep. The. Account. Balance. Of. Your. Savings. Account. Is. Zero. Dollars. To repeat, please press 1."

Jessica taped on number 1 again as her hands trembled. "Beep. The. Account. Balance. Of. Your. Savings. Account. Is. Zero. Dollars. To repeat, please press 1."

"NO!" Jessica roared, slamming her phone across the room and dropped her head into her hands, ignoring the pain she felt when her hand knocked against her wounded nose.

-
Harry's POV
"Did something happen to Ms Watson, Mr Styles?" Joe asked as they turned into the street where Jessica's apartment was located.

"She isn't feeling well so I'm going to check on her," I answered calmly though my heart was racing. Why isn't she picking up her phone?

"Send my greetings to Ms Watson, sir. Do you want me to wait for you here?"

"No, Joe, I'll be fine. I'll call you when you can come pick me up, thank you." And with that I ran out of the car and dashed up the stairs to Jessica's apartment.

I pounded on the door with my fist. "Jessica? Jess? Open the door."

Moments later, I heard footsteps shuffling behind the door and the door knob turned. When the door opened, I was greeted by Jessica who looked nothing like the Jessica we've all seen before. Her eyes swollen in tears, so was her nose which broke my heart a little just looking at it, her hair in a mess and she was still in her pajamas. The Jessica I know will never let me see her in this state in a million years. She looked so. Vulnerable.

Suddenly, she threw herself on me, arms wrapped around my waist, catching me off guard. We never hugged or would she ever allow me to but without hesitation, I pulled her in and cupped the back of her head. "Let's get inside and tell me what's going on," I whispered into her ear.

-

I sat on the couch while she sat near the window telling me everything that she figured out before I got there. I was starting to get over Leah and what she has done but now that we know both of them have planned it all along, I was fuming in anger. I was glad how the friendship Jessica and I formed over the past month slowly made me forgive myself for putting Jessica into such a situation. And now, I know I need to help Jessica this time round.

"How much did you have in that account?"

"Over 300 thousand pounds. It took me more than 2 years just to save that much."

"I should have just filed a police report when I found out about what Leah did."

"But I don't want Jacob to be behind bars. I could have been just Leah, Harry. Since she's the person that joins the dots, how we are all connected."

"You told me how Jacob didn't mention a word to you that he knows Leah, oh fuck not only that, he was her boyfriend. That is already very suspicious, Jess."

"You're probably right..."

"I am, Jessica. Look, I know you love your brother but right now what I see is that the feeling isn't mutual, if not he wouldn't have done this to you. Remember when you said a person's not worth it if they cheated on you? Well your brother technically cheated you of your trust. Now is not the time to defend him, Jessica."

She didn't utter a word.

"We're going to file a police report and give them all the evidences that we have. I'll get someone to retrieve the CCTV footage from the office to see if there were any suspicious behaviour from Leah. We'll get through this, okay, Jess?"

She nodded and remained silent. I took my phone from the inner pocket of my jacket to call the office until I heard Jessica said, "You know what's funny?," she let out a slight laugh. "I finally realised how I am always a replacement or the one to get replaced."

"Oh, Jess...you're not-"

"Yea, I am Harry," she laughed as she brushed her hair back. "In school, I was never in the main team, I was always in the reserved team. I took the place of my parents to take care of Jacob when I was only 20. I worked hard to be an editor but I was always regarded as a co-writer and only managed to take the place as editor because she moved on to another company on short notice, a few weeks before you came in and made me replace Leah. And now that Jacob doesn't give a rat's ass about me, I'm back on the bench, in the reserved team just waiting for someone to actually need me."

I placed the phone back into my pocket and walked towards her and sat in front of her.

"Jess, look at me."

"I don't think you actually want to see me up this close, Harry. I look terrible."

"No, look at me."

She turned her head warily and faced me.

"You remember the first time we met?"

She nodded and covered her eyes with her hand. "What an encounter."

I smiled, "I know. It might have been horrible for you to see me like that, I felt horrible to. I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed that deep inside I knew Leah had someone else and that whatever happened the night before was done out of pity for me. But at the same time, I figured there was a reason for all that to happen. Jess," I took her hand in mine.

"When I first laid my eyes on you, I knew I had to have you but I've heard from Leah and could see from the way you reacted towards me that you would never want someone like me. I never meant to hurt you or made you feel like you are merely a replacement but I had no choice, I didn't know what or how to go about getting your attention. And at the same time, I was afraid. I was afraid that you would do what Leah did to me. But I've learnt how it was stupid of me to think that way since you're nothing like her. You're gentle, kind, loving and a good listener-"

"Don't forget funny," she added.

"Yes, and you're funny. You are everything I've been looking out for in a woman. For me to actually put aside time to talk to, laugh with and shower with nothing but love."

Without saying another word, I cupped her face with my hands and pressed my lips into her soft, delicate lips. And she did the same, kissing me back before she pulled back and smiled.

"I don't mean to ruin this moment but Harry, I think you just pulled a Mr Darcy there and it was incredibly romantic, judging from the fact that I look like wreck right now."

"It's not my fault you made me watch Pride and Prejudice," I laughed.

"You were the one who wanted to, Harry."

I shook my head and smiled, kissing her forehead. "Yes, I wanted to. I wanted you. I need you."