Harry’s texts are in italics, Georgia’s are in bold

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since the unanticipated kiss Georgia had shared with Harry. Maybe if she’d known her night would take that sharp, sudden turn, she’d have avoided the party altogether. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. Lately her brain had developed the habit of acting up without her permission, and it seemed to do so mostly when she was around Harry. It was as if the more she tried to distract herself and think about other things, the more her brain wanted to mull over the kiss. She tossed and turned in bed, thinking and rethinking, over analysing and fuming and whatnot, going through a mix of emotions.

She felt guilt, mostly, thick in the stomach, making her sick. It didn’t matter who’d kissed who; the truth was that Georgia had kissed Harry back, and that was enough to ruin her relationship with Melissa. She didn’t know where her cousin stood exactly, when it came to Harry, but she knew that kissing her sister’s ex-boyfriend was off limits. She had to avoid him at all costs.

Added to the existing muddle of thoughts in her brain was the stress of college, which was about to start in less than three weeks. Georgia found herself terribly unprepared in every way to face this new aspect of her life. She felt that if she were to start college with more familiar faces, it would be easier. Admittedly, Melissa was a familiar face. And so were her friends, but they weren’t Georgia’s friends yet. Maybe Harry could be counted as a familiar, though Georgia knew that wasn’t advisable.

Maybe avoiding him would be. If she made sure she didn’t have any run-ins with him, they’d get over it eventually. Obviously that was a little hard, considering the parties that were thrown almost every week.

Avoiding Harry would also prove to be a difficult task if he somehow decided to text her out of the blue. Which he did about two weeks after the kiss, just as Georgia was sitting in the living room with Melissa’s head on her lap, the two girls watching reruns of One Tree Hill.

You free on Saturday?

That was all the text said. No preamble, no greeting, a simple question thrust upon her. Georgia’s stomach flipped and she tensed, quickly glancing at Mel to see if she’d noticed, but apparently, she hadn’t.

Georgia contemplated a reply, or whether or not she should even bother with one, for about twenty minutes. The right thing to do was ignore him and go ahead with her plan of avoiding him at all costs. She set her phone down on the arm of the sofa, only to pick it up a few seconds later, agitated and confused.

If you don’t reply, I’ll just assume that you are and show up at your house.

Sighing, Georgia typed a quick reply.

Why? What do you want?

His reply was quick. I’ll pick you up in the evening, think of an excuse.

I didn’t say I was free. She typed back angrily. And if I was, I wouldn’t go anywhere with you.

When the next reply came, she could easily picture his smirk. Ouch. Is that how you’re gonna treat me after we kiss? How swiftly you dismiss our love.

I’ll kill you.

See you Saturday, seven.

The finality of his message angered Georgia to no lengths. Her anger quickly turned to panic when Melissa looked up at her.

“Who’re you texting?” she asked, curiously.

“Uh—I—Liam,” Georgia spluttered, saying the first name that came to her mind. She mentally
smacked her forehead.

“Oh?” Melissa asked, raising her eyebrows with a slight smirk on her face. “Is that so?”

“It’s nothing,” Georgia mumbled quickly. “We’re just…we’re just talking.”

“Sure you are,” Melissa rolled her eyes, laughing. “It’s good that you are, actually. Liam’s been single for too long. And you could use someone to get over this Lucas heartache thing going on with you.”

“I…it’s not like that, Mel,” Georgia insisted.

“Sure, sure,” Melissa nodded, clearly not convinced. Deciding that Melissa thinking that Liam and Georgia had something going on was better than her suspecting the truth, Georgia let it slide.

---

Saturday arrived quicker than Georgia would have liked. She’d been hoping it would never come, though she knew how far-fetched that possibility was. She’d been unable to come up with a good excuse, but as it turned out, she didn’t need one. Melissa was out for the weekend, gone to visit a friend who she hadn’t met in years. It was as if things were working themselves out, with the sole purpose of letting Georgia and Harry meet. With no possible way to get herself out of the situation, she decided it was best to meet him and get it over with.

When Harry rang the doorbell, he was about half an hour late. Even though Georgia had anticipated this late arrival, she still found herself nervous as she waited for him to show up, wondering if he even would. She couldn’t believe the slight pang of relief that she felt as she heard the bell ring. She realized she’d been a little nervous because there was a possibility that he’d just leave her waiting for him, deciding he didn’t want to show up after all.

She opened the door, and there he was, smirking down at her slightly, like he always was. He was dressed in a simple jacket with a grey t-shirt underneath, black jeans and those damn boots he didn’t seem to be able to let go of.

“Attractive,” Georgia blurted, staring down at the tattered shoes.

“I won’t have this conversation with you again,” he told her.

She chuckled, grabbing the key off the rack, and shutting the door behind her.

Together they walked to his car, Harry walking in front with his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets, while Georgia followed him. They walked the incredibly short distance in silence, and in those twenty seconds that it took to get to his car, Georgia found herself wondering as to what exactly was going on, where he was taking her, and why she was going with him in the first place? Was this a date? Were they just hanging out? Was the kiss something she should bring up? Did Harry even remember it?

“I can almost hear your mind buzzing,” Harry commented once they were both inside the car.

“What?” she asked, his words bringing her back to the present situation.

“You’re thinking,” he said, starting the car. “A lot.”

“I just…”

“You need to stop over thinking things,” Harry told her, glancing over at her.

Georgia frowned. “No, I’m not,” she muttered. Harry only chuckled in response.

When Harry finally pulled up, it was in front of a massive house she’d never seen before. She heard the loud music from inside, and spotted a few people in the front lawn. It was one of the parties she’d now had too much of, the parties she was getting increasingly used to. Harry parked the car and got off, but when Georgia remained inside the car, he rounded the car and opened the door for her.

“You gonna come out or what?” he asked, leaning in to look at her.

“What are we doing here?” Georgia asked him, not moving.

“It’s a party,” Harry told her. “What do you think we’re doing here?”

“Harry, whose house is this?” Georgia asked.

“You don’t know him,” Harry explained. “He’s a friend of mine at college when I first started, a year older than me. He dropped out, though.”

“I…Harry, I don’t know anyone here,” Georgia said.

“You know me,” Harry reasoned. “Georgia, come on. We’ll go in for a bit, okay? Just half an hour?”

Georgia sighed, giving in. “Okay, fine.” She said, and undid her seatbelt, getting out of the car.
She was introduced to several people that night, as they swarmed towards Harry, one by one. She understood why the girls loved Harry’s attention, but the boys seemed to crave it too. Everyone wanted to be Harry’s friend, one way or another.

When Harry was dragged to the kitchen by two his friends, Georgia decided to take a seat on the couch and spend the rest of her time here in hopes that the night wouldn’t end with her having to handle an absolutely drunken Harry. She was fiddling with the hem of her jacket, wondering why she’d even thought of saying yes to Harry in the first place, when someone tapped her shoulder.

She turned to see a boy before her, with a friendly smile and a cup in his hands. Georgia had never seen him before. He sat down next to her.

“You a friend of Harry’s?” he asked her.

Georgia nodded. “Yeah.”

“Mm, I saw you walk in with him,” he nodded, taking a sip from the cup. “Where is he?”

“No idea,” Georgia huffed, casting a look around the heavily crowded hall, hoping to catch a glimpse of the curly haired boy.

“Well,” the boy said, “I can give you company till then, if you don’t mind.”

Georgia looked over at him, looking at her with a soft smile and a slightly hopeful expression.
“Sounds good,” she told him, deciding that if she were going to spend the rest of her night here at this party without Harry, she shouldn’t go through it alone.

He beamed at her. “I’m Simon, by the way,” he said, offering her a hand.

“Georgia,” she smiled at him.

“Well, Georgia, can I get you anything to drink?” he asked her.

“I’m good,” she told him with a shy smile.

“How about a glass of coke?” he asked her with a soft chuckle. “Just one?”

Georgia looked around, once again in hopes of seeing Harry. Again, he was nowhere to be seen. Had he invited her out for this? Just to get her out and abandon her in a place where she didn’t know a single person? She felt her irritation towards Harry bubble inside her, and that’s what led her to agree to Simon’s offer to give her company so she didn’t have to spend the rest of her night rotting with boredom.

“Sure,” she said, looking back at him.

He grinned. “Brilliant,” he said. “Wait here.”

It took him a total of two minutes to run into the kitchen and grab Georgia a glass of coke. When he returned, he took his seat beside her and handed her the cup. “Here you go,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the glass from him, and sipping her coke.

“So you and Harry…” Simon asked, attempting at a conversation.

“We’re friends,” Georgia told him, adding I think in her head.

“Well, then why are you all alone here?” Simon asked her. “Where is he?”

Georgia sipped her coke again. “I wish I knew,” she chuckled lifelessly. “He just sort of disappeared the moment we walked in here.”

“With all these girls throwing themselves at him, it shouldn’t surprise you,” Simon pointed out. “I think I’ve seen four girls trying to make out with him already.”

“Oh,” Georgia managed to giggle as though she found the situation extremely amusing, when it actually made her stomach churn with fury.

“Harry’s always been great with the ladies, though,” Simon continued, not noticing the way Georgia’s hand tightened around her cup. “He’s sort of a God of leading girls on.”

And Georgia was just another name to me struck off that list, she was sure. She drank from her glass, again, mentally picturing herself hammering Harry to death. “Mm, that’s true.” She agreed mindlessly.

“Anyway,” Simon asked, and Georgia sensed that he was changing the subject, for which she was glad. “Don’t take me the wrong way, but I’m sort of glad he left you here.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well,” Simon said slowly, cheeks pink, “I saw you walk in with him and I wanted to walk up to you immediately. But then I figured you were with him and I thought you weren’t to be messed with. But obviously, you’re not together, so…”

“Oh,” Georgia giggled shyly. “That’s...”

“Okay, I creeped you out, didn’t I?” Simon groaned. “I should have kept my mouth shut.”

“No, no,” she told him hurriedly. “That’s really sweet. And I think it worked for both of us, because if you hadn’t come up to me, I would have probably passed out of boredom.”

“Well,” Simon said with a soft smile, cocking his head towards her and leaning in, “ma’am, I can assure you that boredom will not be an issue if you’re with me.”

Georgia laughed, blushing furiously. They continued to speak, Simon dropping in compliments here and there that made Georgia’s heart flutter, and she found herself immensely interested in this boy beside her.

She didn’t know what she was thinking, so caught up in this handsome and unbelievably sweet boy who seemed to be equally interested in her, when she decided to agree to go upstairs with him, somewhere quieter. It wasn’t as if he was going to try anything, he didn’t seem the type.
And besides, Harry had obviously ditched her for some more fun, so why couldn’t she have some of her own? It wasn’t like her to do things without thinking them through, but maybe that was her problem to begin with. Maybe she needed to be more spontaneous, go with the flow and the like.

The first wave of dizziness hit her when she was walking up the stairs, with Simon behind her. At first she dismissed it, thinking that the constantly changing and blinking lights were messing with her head. She stumbled, but only slightly, not enough for Simon to notice. They walked to a bedroom, and Georgia’s dizziness seemed to steadily increase with every step she took.

“You okay?” Simon asked.

Something was wrong, definitely wrong. Georgia knew, even in the state that she was suddenly in, that something was terribly wrong. Suddenly everything around her had slowed down, the music was a buzz in her ears, and her eyes felt heavy. The corridor that stretched out before her twisted and turned and she felt drowsy suddenly.

“Georgia, are you okay?” she thought she heard Simon ask, but she couldn’t be sure. His voice seemed to be coming from another end of an impossibly long tunnel. As if in some distant dream, she felt his arm wrap around her waist and somewhere in her head she felt something wrong in the way he touched her. She attempted to move, or protest, but no sound came out.

“Did…did you spike my drink?” she asked, or tried to. She didn’t know if she could manage the sentence. She didn’t hear his response, or maybe he didn’t respond. She didn’t know.
Suddenly, she didn’t know what was going on, at all.

The next bout of slight consciousness with respect to her surroundings came when Georgia was being lowered on to the bed. “What…” she tried to say, to protest. Because Simon was hovering over her, and she was vaguely aware of hands roaming over her body. “No…” she let out a half assed protest, attempting to shove him off her, but it wasn’t working.

The room was spinning and she felt hot suddenly, along with the urge to throw up. Even in the trance that she was in, she could feel the disgusting manner in which Simon was hovering over her, touching her. She could slowly feel herself slipping away, but she attempted to fight, to hold on and push him off her.

“Stop it,” she slurred, but she couldn’t hear her own voice. It seemed to be drowning in the buzz in her own ears, and a certain darkness started closing in over her, like the closing of a curtain to indicate the end of an act on stage.
---

Harry came out of the bedroom, breathless and wild with rage. Maybe he shouldn’t have come here. Hell, he knew he shouldn’t have. It was a stupid mistake. But this was the last time he’d ever agree to do something like that, and that was a promise he’d made to himself. But then he remembered that that was what he’d said to himself the last time, and that made him angrier. He was about to go down to Georgia, profusely apologize to her and then escape from the hell hole that he’d brought himself to.

He looked down at his hands, making sure there wasn’t any trace of blood left. Satisfied, he decided to make his way back down to the party, as if nothing had happened. That’s when he spotted one of James’ friends, Simon, rushing quickly inside a bedroom, casting a nervous look around. He only caught a glimpse of the girl he’d almost shoved inside, catching a swift movement of her blonde locks and black jacket. The way Simon looked, sweaty and anxious made Harry suspicious, but then he decided it was none of his business. He had to get out of there soon before he got himself into more trouble than he was already dealing with.

The blond locks that Harry had glimpsed reminded of Georgia, who was presumably waiting for Harry downstairs, and had to be extremely pissed off. Despite the knowledge of the hell he was getting the moment the two of them were in the car, picturing her annoyed expression made Harry chuckle.

Blond locks, black jacket.

But obviously, Georgia wasn’t the only girl dressed in that attire. He’d already seen about three blonds wearing black jackets downstairs, and for God’s sake, was Georgia the only girl in this whole town who owned one? So what were the odds that it would be her? Besides, what would she be doing with Simon? She would never agree to a guy like him.

But as he passed the closed door, he felt something stir in his stomach, something that didn’t seem right to him. Surely, there was no harm in checking, it probably wasn’t her anyway.

He knocked on the door, three short raps. He was met with no response. Frowning he knocked again, and was greeted by an angry “GO AWAY!” that was muffled by the music. He knew he was over reacting, and that he should have probably walked away because it was nothing. But he had a sudden suspicion in his head that something was wrong, and he had to do something to subdue it.

So he knocked louder this time, and yelled, “Simon, opened the door!”

“What the fuck, dude?” Simon yelled back from inside.

“Simon, open the damn door,” Harry demanded, knocking furiously.

The door opened to reveal a flushed Simon. Harry couldn’t see who or what that was inside; Simon had opened the door only to a slight crack through which nothing but his head was visible.

“Harry,” Simon said in a way that made it seem like he was almost frightened to see Harry before him, as if he’d dropped in at a very wrong time. That did nothing but raise his doubts.
“What do you want, mate?”

“Is…you know that girl who came in with me?” Harry asked, attempting to subtly look over his head to see what the hell was going on inside. “Have you seen her anywhere?”

“I…I don’t even know who you’re talking about,” Simon chuckled, running a hand through his hair. He noticed scratch marks on the back of his hand, angry and red, as if formed just seconds before.

A sudden crash from inside, the sound of glass breaking, confirmed Harry’s hunch, and even if he wasn’t sure at that moment that the girl inside was Georgia, he knew something terrible was happening and he had to step in.

Simon hurriedly glanced back. “Uh…”

“Simon, let me in,” Harry said.

“I…dude, I’m in the middle of something, if you know what I mean,” Simon said with a chuckle that came out more nervous than Harry was sure he intended. “I can’t…”

“Simon,” Harry growled, not having any of his nonsense. “Shut up. Let me in.”

“Harry—”

“Look mate, either you let me in right now or I’ll break your neck and enter myself,” Harry threatened.

“It’s nothing—”

A soft moan came from inside, a plea so soft it was almost silent, but Harry heard it. “Help.”

“That’s it, move out of the fucking way,” Harry snarled, and shoved Simon away, hard.

There she lay, Georgia on the bed, barely conscious. The button of her pants was undone, her jacket on the floor and her shirt ridden up to reveal her stomach. Harry felt white hot rage curl in the pit of his stomach as he took the sight before him in.

“It’s…she came up with me,” Simon tried to explain, getting up. Harry had managed to push him to the floor in his fit. “In fact, she suggested we come up here, somewhere quieter, so I—”

But Simon didn’t complete his sentence, for Harry had already lunged at him, shoving him against the wall, where the paintings shook and rattled. “So you decided to spike her fucking drink and rape her?” He roared.

“I didn’t—she wanted this—” Simon stuttered.

Harry’s hand enclosed around Simon’s neck. “Don’t you dare,” he warned, his words angering him further. “Don’t you dare suggest she wanted this because that’s a lie and we both know it. Did you spike her drink?”

“No, I fucking didn’t, get off me!” Simon howled, attempting to push Harry off him.

“Listen mate, I just came out of a room after washing blood off my hands and I’m not scared of getting some on them again,” Harry threatened, slamming Simon against the wall. “What the fuck did you do to her?”

“Nothing, man!” Simon said, but Harry could see the fear in his eyes.

With a shout of rage, Harry grabbed him by the collar and led him out of the room. He pulled his arm back and took a swing at Simon’s face, sending him staggering backwards to the top of the stairs. “I’ll fucking kill you!” Harry roared, and by now a dozen people were already looking up, wondering what the commotion was about.

“You’re mental!” Simon shouted back, earning a kick that sent him flying down the stairs.

“Harry!” a girl’s shrill voice came from the bottom of the stairs. It was Avery, an old friend of his.

“Ave, the girl I came in with, Georgia,” Harry said, breathing harshly, his eyes fixed on a writhing Simon at the bottom of the stairs, “this lowlife has mixed something in her drink and she’s passed out in Matt’s room. Go to her, please.”

“Harry—” Avery started, but he cut across her.

“Avery, please,” Harry said. “You need to take care of her, please. I’ll take her home once I’m done with this guy.”

“Is there a problem?”

It was James, who’d finally emerged from the bedroom that Harry had come out of not five minutes before. He had no blood on him, but he hadn’t had the need for it in the first place. Harry had taken care of everything.

“Your friend,” Harry said, without looking at James, his voice quivering with absolute fury, “spiked Georgia’s drink. He tried to fucking rape her. I’m going to kill him.”

“I didn’t,” Simon moaned, attempting to get up.

“You son of a bitch—” Harry shouted, starting to run down the stairs, ready to beat Simon to death when a fist closed around the back of his jacket, stopping him.

“Listen here, mate,” James said in a voice that was only meant for Harry to hear.

“Get your fucking hands off me, or I’ll beat the shit out of you too,” Harry promised, glaring at James.

James sighed, but let go of Harry. “Harry, there’s no need to get violent,” James said. “You can get into some serious trouble with the cops if you raise another finger at Simon, you know who his dad is.”

“You think I care—” Harry roared, but James cut across him.

“You should,” James said, his voice soft, as other struggled to hear what the two were talking about. “Think about your mother. And Jade. If you got into something…”

Harry struggled with himself, as he was in half mind to punch the living daylights out of James, who he hated more than ever for bringing Jade up, and then march down to kill Simon. But the other half was screaming in agreement to James’ words, and that angered Harry even more.

“Tell you what,” James said. “Why don’t you let this go, and I’ll make sure that the thing that happened in the bedroom doesn’t get out anywhere. I’ll handle Simon, you go take care of your friend.”

“I don’t need your fucking favours,” Harry growled at him, knowing just how bad owing James favours could turn out.

“This isn’t,” James said, putting on a concerned look that Harry could see right through.
“Georgia needs you right now. You should go to her.”

“Fuck you,” Harry spat at James, and then turned to look down at Simon. “You come anywhere near her, and that will be the last thing you ever do, you hear me?”

Without waiting for another response and without bothering to care about any of the scared and confused looks that everyone was giving him, Harry briskly made his way to the bedroom.
He saw Avery sitting on the bed with a barely conscious Georgia beside her, with her head lolling from side to side on the other girl’s shoulder. Avery was petting Georgia’s hair when she looked up to see Harry walk in.

“You didn’t kill him, did you?” she asked, concern written all over her face.

“Not yet,” Harry huffed. “Is she okay?”

“Her drink was spiked for sure,” Avery told him, and Harry felt another wave of anger hit him.
“She’s going to be okay, though. She just needs to sleep it off.”

“Oh thank God,” Harry breathed, brushing his hair out of his face. He knelt down on the floor in front of Georgia, leaning in. “Hey.” He said softly, pushing a strand of her hair away from her face, letting the back of his hand run across her clammy cheek. “You okay?”

She didn’t respond, eyes dropping shut as she fell forward slightly. Harry caught her as she fell on him, setting her upright again. She was almost gone, passed out on Avery, who was supporting most of her weight.

“I’ll take her home,” Harry sighed.

“You sure?” Avery asked. “She can crash here, I’ll stay with her.”

“No, I’ll take her,” Harry told her. “Thank you so much, Avery.”

“Don’t be stupid,” she waved him off. “Just make sure she’s okay. Call me if you want any help.”

“I will.” Harry nodded, grateful.

“I’ll help you take her to your car,” Avery said. “Wait here a minute, I’ll just make sure that fucker Simon’s out of here.”

Harry nodded. “Yeah, I’ll wait.” He said. He took Avery’s place next to Georgia, who leaned on him instead.

He stroked her arm and hair, holding her in his arms. He looked down at her as she lay on him, eyes closed, mouth parted slightly, breathing deeply. Though Avery had assured him that Georgia would be okay, Harry had a dreadful sort of feeling in his chest as he looked down at her. He thought it was good that Avery had gone down to make sure that Simon was out of the way, because Harry was sure that if he saw the guy right now, he wouldn’t stop till he killed him.

Avery came back in to assure Harry that Simon was gone. She helped him carry Georgia down to his car. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about the incident already; the music had restarted and the party had resumed. He put Georgia in the passenger seat and quickly turned to hug and thank Avery, and then drove back to Georgia’s house.

Carrying her inside was no big task, and he was only praying and hoping that no one was home. He dug the keys out of Georgia’s pant pockets and unlocked the door, supporting her with one arm. He led her upstairs to a bedroom, not even sure if it was hers.

“What…”

A soft murmur left her lips, her eyes fluttering. Harry gently lay her down on the bed, taking her shoes and jacket off for her. “Ha…” she tried to say.

“Yeah, right here,” he told her gently, bringing the blanket above her body to cover her. He ran the back of his hand against her cheek, and watched as her eyes shut with the movement.
“Fuck, you better be okay.” He whispered into the quiet air, his words directed towards Georgia but he was only talking to himself, because she didn’t respond.

He didn’t know how he decided he wasn’t going home that night, but he sent a quick text to his mother, asking her to take care of Jade. He got under the blanket with her and lay down next to her, one arm folded behind his head, the other resting on his chest. He shut his eyes, hoping that sleep would come as he lay next to Georgia, but all he could picture was a jumble of her on the bed, buttons undone and passed out, and the pleading face of a young boy, bruised and bloody.

Notes

OKAY SO THREE V IMPORTANT THINGS PLS READ

1) UHHHH HAPPY FUCKING NEW YEAR!! HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE A GREAT YEAR AHEAD AND KISS LOTS OF BOYS (OR GIRLS! OR BOTH!) AND HAVE NEW AND EXCITING THINGS TO HAPPEN TO YOU AND SEE NEW PLACES AND MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND HUMP HARRY STYLES YA!

2) THANK YOU FOR A L L YOUR COMMENTS EVERY SINGLE ONE I JUST OH MY GOD I CAN NEVER THANK YOU GUYS ENOUGH IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME I LOVE YOU GUYS YOU GUYS MAKE ME HAPPY THANK YOU THANK YOU

3) guys, i understand that you get impatient because of slow updates like i totally understand, but i have a lot of work other than updating and sometimes the latter has to take a backseat. school work and editing and extra studying because exams are round the corner (and maybe parties here and there i am sozz). so please try to be more understanding, and i'm only asking you to bare with me, i'll update as often as i can.

I LOVE YOU GUYS THANKS FOR READING AND LISTENING YOU GUYS ARE THE BOMB! tell me how you spent your new year's eve! AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!!