Harry Styles One Shots

Part 4 of Harry is Y/N's new bodyguard and Y/N's sure they've met before

iv.

Bill was a quiet man.

From the moment Y/N had met him, he'd been reticent about his personal affairs, no matter how much she poked and pried (there was plenty of poking, because he came into her life when she was around twelve when she was learning nosiness was one of her personality traits). There were a few pieces of his life that she'd learned from idle conversation when she forced him into a walk, or if she pretended not to listen while Martha asked him about his family. But even then, there wasn't that much to hear – he was relatively private with his colleagues as well.

Y/N knew that he had divorced his wife ten years ago, and from word of mouth, it was messy. He had two children from the marriage: a daughter, a little older than herself, who lived in Spain and taught English in Valencia, and a son who he doesn't keep in contact with. For about a year he took care of his brother's son while he and his wife sorted...something out, he had never been clear what exactly it was, and Y/N remembered thinking he must be a good dad. He was patient and calm, and if he disciplined him it was with gentle guidance without raising his voice even an octave. Between her and a drunk Martha, they believed he was trying to make up for his son, amending his parental wrongs from before.

As far as Y/N knew, Bill went to work and then went home – maybe he'll golf if the weather was warm. She thinks he likes reading, or he might have just pulled a book out to keep her from chattering his ear off during the day. And he enjoyed a glass of wine, Y/N knew that for sure, especially after a grueling day.

Bill had always been kind enough and relatively gentle with her. The few times there was potential trouble and she was confined to her flat, he had always made her feel safe. She trusted him with her life, just as she trusted Martha, Niall, Adam, and now Harry, and had known there was no need to worry when she was with him. That he would protect her, that he'd been protecting her for years at this point, that he was someone who brought her comfort in presence alone.

So this was surprising.

Initially, when Harry's frantic hands, panicked voice, and wide eyes tore her from sleep, she thought she was having another nightmare. Disloyalty and betrayal were common themes in the murk of her dreams, and while she never could figure out who was doing it, what was wrong, why it was happening...she knew it was unexpected. That she was scared, that it might be some shadowy figure she knew. Had her subconscious noticed something she hadn't? Or was this just general paranoia that always seemed to linger with her?

It wasn't until he'd held her face between his palms, steadied her, and asked her if she trusted him – that she realized she was awake. The thoughts and feelings in her brain were so mixed up; typically Harry was the signal that everything was better. To be confronted with such a harsh reality, a cruel one, instead of one filled with warmth and sleeping beside Harry in the comfort and warmth of her bed...well, it was dizzying and not in a way she'd appreciate.

It was a cluster, getting up from her mattress, grabbing for the pajama pants that had puddled on the floor beside her bed. She rushed to pull them up her legs and just as soon as she finished, Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her behind him. Her shoes were at the entryway – her slippers, which she stuffed her foot into hurriedly just before Harry shoved them through the door. They don't run, but their pace is quick down the hallway and for once she appreciated the carpeted blue floors muting their footsteps.

The floorplan had always confused her, with how many twists and turns the hallway created. Her only pathway had ever been from her door to the elevator and back again, she'd never had any business turning right after exiting her flat, nor did she have a point to go left, and right again where there was a large, blue door leading to a stairwell that she had never seen before. Harry's grip on her wrist is tighter than he's ever held onto her before, bruising almost, like he was worried someone would materialize from behind them and try to take her while he was pushing them forward.