It Takes Patience III: Stripped

*Harry’s POV*
My mum made an attempt to grab my face, but I turned my head away from her as I curse myself for forgetting to put on my beanie. She furrows her brow and grabs at me again but I push her hands away. I don't need her pawing at me like I'm a child.

“Stop, mum!”

“Don’t tell me to stop Harold, what is that?”

“It’s nothing! Back off of me!”

Robin comes to stand by the doorway of the kitchen. He’s ever my mum’s silent protection and I wouldn’t mind it if he didn’t act as if he needed to protect her from me. His eyes scan from me and then back to her as if to ask if everything is alright and it begins to agitate me like an itch you have but can’t reach. I appreciate his apparent concern for her, but she’s my fucking mum! I’m not going to do anything to her, if anything I should be the one skeptical about him.

I turn my attention to glare at him and my irritation quickly turns into anger.

“Can I help you Robin? Do you fucking need anything?!” Before Robin can open his mouth my mum interjects.

“Harry don’t speak to him that way! Stop being disrespectful! Look at me.”

I keep my eyes on Robin. His gaze is softer than mine and his arms are crossed against his chest. He looks concerned for me when he follows my mother’s gaze to my face.

She yanks my chin down to give her a better view of my eye and then lets me go sighing. She looks worn out. My mother has more patience than most and I know that I’m a lot to deal with the majority of the time, but I honestly don’t want to tell her what happened because I know that I’ve been a burden for her.

“Harry have you been fighting?”

“No.”

“Then how did you get those marks?” She examines my face closer this time and I try to shrink away from her gaze and take a different approach.

“I don’t think I should really tell you how I got them...”

“And why not Harry?”

Because its none of your fucking business! I internally yell at her and try to keep my mellow mood. Anger was going to get me nowhere with her except an argument.

“Because it’s kind of...personal.” I smirked at her causing her to furrow her eyebrows in confusion. Robin came and sat at the kitchen table and I know it was done only to hear me and my mum’s conversation better. I contort my face at her confused state before I continue.

“Reagan is frisky and she can be kind of rough sometimes. The other night-”

“Stop!” My mum puts up her hand to silence me and I can see Robin’s face redden in embarrassment out of the corner of my eye. Its almost as red as it was when he caught me with a girl before.

“You’re the one who wanted to know what happened.”

“Harry you and I both know that’ not true! What did you-” The doorbell rings cutting off my mum’s sentence and I couldn’t be happier for the distraction. She looks at me one more time before she goes to answer it and I release a breath I didn’t realize I was holding.

“You shouldn’t give your mum such a hard time. She’s got enough on her plate trying to figure out the wedding details. Which I know you had a hand in.”

Robin spoke sternly to me. I don’t think he’s ever used this tone of voice with me before, but then again we never had an issue with each other before. I’m slightly taken aback and a feeling courses through me that I’m sure is guilt, but it’s quickly silenced and replaced by anger once I think about the reasons behind my actions.

“Robin, out of all the years I’ve known you, it seemed that you knew your place. What I talk to my mum about is none of your fucking business! Stay out of it! I've told you that before and I refuse to keep repeating myself.”

If only he knew my reasoning behind it all. The truth would give her a harder time than trying to find a place to carry out dooms day.

He stands to his feet and begins to walk towards me causing me to tense up. When I hear Reagan’s voice at the door, I side step him and go towards the foyer but my hairs stand on end at the back of my neck. I know that he’s watching me and it puts me on edge. I shake my own issues for Reagan’s sake and wait impatiently for her and my mum to stop talking while sitting on the stairs like a toddler in time out.

My mum finally stops yapping Reagan’s ear off and as she passes the stairs to go into the garden with Robin, she eyes me. I’ve seen that look before. She used to look at me that way all the time, before the day the nightmare happened. It’s a look of concern, but it’s not me she needs to worry about. I look back at her with a blank expression and then grin at her for good measure, but her facial expression doesn’t change. Robin pours her a glass of wine and steers her into the back garden after he lights the fire pit and she finally breaks eye contact with me.

Reagan sits beside me on the stairs and leans her head on my shoulder before she offers me a bag. I open it and the togo box to see it full of food.

“You didn’t have to order me lunch, but I’m glad you did.” She grins at me but it doesn’t meet her eyes.

“I didn’t.”

“You’re so thoughtful.”

“That was mine. I just wasn’t really hungry.”

I look at the clock and see that it’s almost five now. I’m starving and by the looks of this she hasn’t eaten any of it.

“We can share it.” Reagan shakes her head.

“You can have it. I’m still not hungry.” I look at her and feel a sense of worry take hold. This is the second time that she has barely touched her food.

She stands on the stairs getting ready to head up them and wraps my jumper around her tightly.

“Do you have anything you’re doing later, like hanging out with your friends or anything like that?”

I haven’t seen them in a while besides Louis and Zayn at work. It would be nice to go out and see what everyone’s been up to, but when I look at Reagan’s face I can tell that she needs me here.

“No. Why?”

“No reason in particular...Maybe we can play a game of pool or something when I get out of the shower? I just need something to do and I don’t necessarily feel like going out.”

“Yeah I guess we can do that.”

She nods her head and continues up the stairs and I guiltily, but greedily head to the kitchen and grab a fork to eat the salad that glasses couldn’t finish.

I head downstairs when I feel my phone vibrate against my ass and am somewhat taken aback by who’s calling. Laurie is cool, we’ve talked a couple times, possibly enough times to count on two hands, but she was the last person I was expecting a call from. We only honestly have each other’s numbers in case of some emergency, that being if either one of us is trying to get into contact with Niall. I don’t know what to think or how to feel about the phone call, maybe it’s a mistake?

“Hi Laurie...Niall isn’t with me.”

“I’m not calling about Niall Harry. He’s with me.”

“Oh, um..Okay?”

“It’s about Reagan. I’m worried about her. She told me what happened.”

I take a deep breath and sit on the bar stool by the pool table sipping the beer I grabbed out of the mini fridge. I’m relieved Reagan talked about what happened to her with somebody, but I wish it would have been me.

“Yeah, me too.”

“We have to do something Harry. She needs help. That’s nothing she should be dealing with alone.”

“She’s not dealing with it alone.”

I get aggravated and somewhat offended by Laurie’s accusatory tone as if I haven’t tried to do anything for Reagan. I’m the one who told her to talk to the police in the first place! She’s not going to ever have to deal with anything alone ever again. She’ll always have me.

“Professional help Harry! There’s only so much that either you or me can do! She hasn’t told her family, just us. She needs to go home, be away from here for a bit and get some type of closure with what she’s dealing with.”

“Don’t you think I’ve-” I cut or conversation short when I hear the door to the basement open,“I’ve got to go, we can talk about this later.”

I hang the phone up and look at Reagan as she walks toward me with a small grin on her face putting her hair up in a ponytail.

She’s wearing her glasses, flannel night shorts, a Pink Floyd muscle t-shirt and a sports bra. So much of her skin is exposed, but I try my best to focus on something else, anything else besides how my fingers itch to trace over every inch of her.

“Who was that on the phone?”

“One of the lads.”

I’m sure if I tell her Laurie is planning on staging some type of intervention for her it would only upset her more.

I set up the table and hand her a pool stick after I take the first shot to break up the balls. Reagan steals my beer and keeps it so I go to the fridge to grab another one.

While taking in her appearance, I try to look for the slightest thing off about her, but she does nothing but smile at me like everything is fine. I clearly know otherwise, but I don’t press the matter at the moment. She sinks in another ball and prepares to line up another shot. When she bends over the table, my mind goes once more where I know it shouldn’t. I really want to bend her over that table under different circumstances or maybe put her on it, but it would be so wrong. Those shorts make her ass look amazing even though all she does is sleep in them and I can almost see the bottom of her bum cheeks...fuck.

I sip my beer and bounce my pool stick off my foot as I get impatient. She’s been bent over that table for a long time and now since I’m trying to focus more on the game instead of her exposed skin and the curve of her hips and ass, I realize it’s because she keeps sinking in shots.

“You’re a little pool shark.” She looks over her shoulder at me and smiles and it almost looks genuine. Maybe her talk with Laurie helped her more than Laurie assumes?

“My dad taught me how to play when I was very little. You’re going to lose.” Her face drops slightly at the mention of her father and she misses her shot.

“That’s what happens when you get cocky glasses.” I take my turn and hit in two of my balls at a time and as I line up my next one I catch Reagan staring off into space.

“Why don’t you go visit them while you have time off?”

“Who?”

“Your mum and dad, I’m sure they miss you. Don't you miss being at home?” She chews on her bottom lip before she shakes her head no, but I know she misses them too. I’ve caught her face timing her mum and dad a few times, but she’s never been really able to talk to either of her parents for long because of the time difference. Besides, maybe if she goes home she’ll open up more like Laurie said.

“The wedding-”

“Probably isn’t going to happen until next year. Don’t worry about that damned wedding and my family when you haven’t been able to barely talk to yours in months!” I cut Reagan off and I know the sentence came out harsher than it should have. That’s a topic I don’t want to delve into right now and the mention of it reminds me of my encounter with Robin a few hours ago.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you.” She nods her head then looks at the ground and back up to me.

“Would you be able to go with me like you were supposed to the first time? Both of my parents want to meet you.”

Her eyes look hopeful but I can’t. It would be too close to the time of my court date to try and fly there with her and then come back.

“I have court.” I shake my head no and she drops her head before she goes to take her turn.

“Then I’ll stay here with you. I want you to be able to go with me when I go.” I walk up behind Reagan and take the pool stick from her before I turn her around to face me.

“I can go with you another time. You should go. I know you want to and I know you’ve got to miss your parents and that mouthy friend of yours who came to visit.” I almost said mouthy bitch but I refrain myself.

Reagan makes eye contact with me but doesn’t answer. She seems stiff in my arms, but as I move to create a bit more space between us, she grabs hold of my wrists to hold me there. Her fingers run slowly up my arms until they rest on my shoulders and she tilts her head up to me to softly press her lips against mine. I kiss her back but break it before it goes too far.

“I’m not made of glass you know? We can do this. I need to do this.”

“I don’t want you to feel like we have to, I can wait until you’re ready. Don’t rush anything.”

“I don’t feel that way and it’s not about you.” Reagan spoke quietly but I could tell that she needed me.

She closed the gap between us once again and I wrapped my arms around her, guiding her backwards towards the pool table.

Notes

Hi Loves HELLO NEW SUBSCRIBERS!!! Thank you all for being patient with me! I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately. Sorry for the sucky sporadic updates. So tell me what did you think about this chapter? Reagan is trying so hard to hide what's going on with her :( Do you think she's rushing into things a bit too quickly? And what about Harry and what he's dealing with, because he clearly still has unresolved issues of his own. What do you think will happen between the two of them? ;) Show me some love and load me up with comments! And, if you haven't done so yet please sub and vote if you're enjoying the story so far!
~LOVE YOU ALL FOR READING~Xx

P.S. Thank you so much to @CoookieKissses for making me a beautiful cover!!!
I love it when you guys make me edits because I'm not that good at doing them myself, so if you want to make me some that would kind of MAKE MY DAY!!! If you're ever bored and want to do it, just send it to me in a message and I will put your beautiful work in the notes after the chapter!!! Xx