You Again [h.s]

60. To Be Free

"What are we doing Harry?" I roll over on my side and pull the sheets up higher to cover my exposed chest.

"Laying naked in your bed." He says simply, hands under his head as he lays on his back staring up at the ceiling.

"Where does this leave us?" I ask, kind of scared for his response.

"I do love you Ella and I probably always will, but my opinion remains about me wanting to protect you. If we give this a shot, we can't be seen in public together and we have to meet secretly every time we see each other. You deserve better than that."

"I'm fine with that." I say and he looks at me with wide eyes. "I mean, I would like nothing more than to be out in public with you, but if sneaking around is the only way I can be with you then I'm just going to have to suck it up." I sigh, rubbing my tired eyes.

"Suck what up exactly?" I look over to see him smirking. I get my pillow from under my head and hit him with it. "Hey!" He throws the pillow on the floor and grabs my hands, pulling me on top of him. I lay on my hands which are flat on his chest. I can feel his bandage on the side of my stomach, but he keeps on telling me to stop looking at it and to stop asking him if he's in pain.

"I just want you to be free from David Harry. That's why I told the police."

"But they need to stay out of it. David doesn't care if he goes to jail, he will just get one of his boys to come and kill you, me and everyone we care about." He puts a strand of hair behind my ear. "I don't want you to be fearful everywhere you go."

"I have you and plenty of other friends who can protect me Harry."

"None of them will be able to protect you the way I can. Jacko could slightly, but nothing compared to me."

"Oh wow." I hold my hands up in surrender. "You certainly haven't lost your ego whilst being in hospital. You've lost a tonne of weight though."

"Which is why I can't wait to go back to the gym. I feel like a noodle." He chuckles.

"You're gonna regret saying that because I'll call you that from now on." I flick his nose and he scrunches his face together.

"You know, even if David leaves I'll never be free from him unless I leave here and leave America altogether."

"So why didn't you do that a long time ago?"

"Fear." He looks away from me. "Yes, me, fearful."

"Harry." I cup his cheeks in my hands. "You have the chance now, so why don't you free yourself?"

"I'm not leaving you here. He will come and get you." He shakes his head. "And my sister, Luke and Lottie. They just moved here to start a new life. They say it was a coincidence, but I bet Gemma pushed Luke to take the job as soon as she seen New York."

"I'm sure they'd be able to find new jobs and don't worry about me Harry. Think of yourself for once."

"I have mates here too. I don't want to leave this place. Yeah, I might be miserable most of the time but I really do like it here." He says honestly and I know if David wasn't in the picture he actually would.

"I'll always care for you Harry. No matter where you are in the world."

"Why did you say that?"

"Because it's the truth." I state the obvious. Why did he ask me that?

"It's just a coincidence." He pushes me off him and sits up. I'm getting worried now by the look of seriousness on his face. Is he keeping something from me again? "I need to tell you something. I trust you to keep it secret."

"Of course."

"My mum emailed me." He swallows a lump in his throat.

"Oh my god Harry." My jaw drops. "What did she say?"

"That she wanted to patch things up, but I don't know what to do. She emailed asking if I was okay because she heard about the email and that she misses me and wants me to go see her in the uk."

"So why don't you? This could be your escape."

"I'm not going alone and I don't want to tell Gemma because she will just push me into forgiving her when I'm not ready for that." He crosses his arms. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, it's your decision to make and I know that I had a good relationship with my parents from what I can remember and I would do anything to have them back." He nods his head. "But I don't know what your relationship was like with your mum and I can't say go for it when I don't know what she's like. But what I can recall from what you've told me is that she loves you and still cares deeply for you. After all, you're her son."

"Thanks El." He takes my hand and brings it to his chapped lips. "I'll think about it, but I still don't know."

"Put it this way, I don't want this to happen but what if your mother died suddenly. Would you regret not seeing her when you had the opportunity?"

"Of course I would."

"Well, there you go." I smile at him. "I think you just answer it for yourself. You don't have to forgive her, but I think it's a good idea for you to let her explain herself."

"Yeah, okay." He nods his head. "I'll go ask the doctors when it's alright for me to go up in the air and when I get the all clear I guess I'll go."

"I'm proud of you." I bring him into a hug and he kisses my neck.

"I love you Ella."

"I love you Harry."

A/N: the moment you have all been waiting for - are they back together?