As I had intended, Harry didn't hear me say thank you. Which was good. Everyone left and Eleanor suddenly got the craving for some Starbucks, refusing to let me or Harry go with her.
I sat awkwardly on the couch, my hands folded in between my legs, because I was criss cross applesauce. Harry was in the kitchen cooking, and I could smell the different spices. Not that I would eat very much of it. Whatever "it" was.
"Flora!" Harry sang from the kitchen. I jumped, snapped out of my reverie.
"Yes?" I called, my voice soft.
"I made Chinese if you want some!" I could hear him clattering about as he got out glasses and plates. I stood silently and danced fluidly over to the kitchen.
Harry was adorable with his eyebrows creased in concentration as he tried to make the plates perfect. A slight giggle escaped my mouth, but I quieted it before he could notice. He turned to the doorway and opened his mouth like he was going to sing again, but instead nearly dropped the plate of food he was holding when he saw me standing in the doorway.
"I didn't see you there, Flora," Harry smiled, hanging me a large plate of food. I smiled nervously back.
"I was fairly quiet," I said, grabbing a set of chopsticks and sitting down at the bar. I will eat all this food that Harry has worked so hard to prepare, I thought to myself, taking a bite of the broccoli.
"Fairly quiet? You're like a ghost!" Harry exclaimed.
"I'm sorry," I said, looking at my plate of food.
A hand under my jaw frightened me, and I flinched away. When I looked up, Harry had his hands in surrender. "I forgot, I'm sorry. But it's not your fault you're so quiet. And I wouldn't have you any other way," he smiled before focusing intensely on his food.
"I'm home!" Someone sang from the door. Why did everyone in this apartment sing? I mean, damn!
"What did you bring for me?" Harry asked, abandoning his food and bouncing to Eleanor like a kid on Christmas.
"A venti mocha frapp with extra whipped cream. I brought Flora a venti iced caramel macciato with extra caramel and a triple shot of espresso, just how she requested!" El announced, passing out drinks. "Oh, Harry! You made food!" El chirped, sipping her drink.
"It's really very good," I added quietly. Eleanor beamed and Harry stared at me like I'd just given him the best present in the world.
****
"You're welcome to my bed, again. And I can trade with Eleanor or sleep on the couch," Harry offered.
"If I argue, are you going to let me take the couch?" I asked, fiddling idly with my drink straw.
"Nope." Harry smiled, loading the last plate in the dishwasher.
"Then thank you," I smiled. Hopefully my smiles weren't too grimacey otherwise I'd look horrid. Although, my black eye and busted lip probably didn't help anything anyways.
I excused myself to bed, waving at Harry and Eleanor as they let me leave them. I knew I wouldn't sleep very much, the nightmares always plagued me. I crossed my fingers and hoped that there wouldn't be any screaming.
**HARRY'S POV**
Screams filled my ears from my room. Eleanor and I looked at each other before bursting in to my room, to see something morbidly tragic.
Flora was thrashing around on the bed, like she was trying to fight someone off of her. Her hands were sculpted into claws as she gripped the sheets. Her screaming was loud, blood curdling, and true. Like she was really experiencing whatever was happening in that dream.
"Flora! Flora! You're okay! I promise!" I gasped, shaking her awake gently. Her eyes fluttered open, full of fear, before she instinctively flinched away at my touch. She sighed sadly as she realized what happened.
"I-I'm so sorry, guys," she whimpered, burying her face in her hands. "I'm so sorry!" She whispered over and over again.
"Flora, we're not angry. We were worried," Eleanor said, petting Flora's back soothingly.
"You're not angry?" She whispered.
"We cannot be angry at you for a nightmare. You are too precious to us already, Flora. We love you like family," Eleanor's words rang with truth. Flora sniffled before throwing her arms around Eleanor. When she pulled away, Flora turned to me.
Hesitantly, as though gauging my reaction, she wrapped her arms around my neck. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered. A lump formed in my throat.
I was getting really attached to this girl.
**FLORA'S POV**
My brown hair was streaked out behind me as I ran. My legs pumping faster and faster until I realized that I was chained to a bed, and my hair was being blown by a fan
"HELP!" I screeched, yanking my hands violently against the cuffs that held them there. "HELP ME!" I screeched again, tears forming in my eyes.
"Nobody can hear you cry, nobody can hear you scream," a menacing voice said from the corner of the room. My teary eyes searched for the mysterious voice, until I saw him. Sitting in the corner. Twiddling a knife in his large hands. I involuntarily barred my teeth.
His laugh told me that was definitely the wrong thing to do. "Oh Flora, always so feisty. But a little cunt shouldn't be like that. She should be taught the rules," he turned angry. Very angry. I whimpered, my wounds already chaffed and bleeding.
"Next time, you can't run," he whispered menacingly before lunging at me and securing me to the bed. No matter how loud I screeched, he didn't relent. I could feel the knife cutting me, burning away my flesh.
"Flora! Flora! You're okay! I promise!" A voice like silk said, my shoulders shaking. It took me a moment to realize what was happening.
I started to cry. "I-I'm so sorry guys!" I said into my hands. "I'm so sorry!"
"Flora, we're not angry. We were worried," Eleanor soothed, rubbing my back in small, comforting circles.
"You're not angry?" I whispered.
"We cannot be angry at you for a nightmare. You are too precious to us already, Flora. We love you like family," Eleanor said truthfully. Without a word, I flung my arms around her neck. After I pulled away, I looked at Harry. The boy who had saved me from my nightmare-figuratively and literally. Was I really going to deny him a hug?
I leaned in slowly, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Thank you, Harry," I whispered in his ear. He hugged me tightly before letting go. As he and Eleanor stood to leave, I whimpered. "Please don't leave."
Harry looked at me for a moment before sauntering back over to the bed, snuggling in under the covers. He opened his arms, inviting me in. For some strange, unfathomable reason, I went into his arms. Letting his warmth surround me.
Why was I trusting him? Those who you can trust, take it all away. As Florence and the Machine said: "And I never wanted anything from you. Except everything you had and what was left after that too". Would Harry take all I have?
I put those pestering questions out of my head and allowed myself to drift to sleep in Harry's arms.
**HARRY'S POV**
In her sleep, she looked not so scared. The black eye was hidden by the darkness, the moonlight hitting only her unscathed side. Her full, pink lips were parted slightly, her breathing deep. In her sleep, she hooked one leg around my hip, my tee shirt riding up so that her bare stomach was pressed to my stomach. She buried her head in my neck, murmuring my name. I brushed the hair out of her face, and she smiled at the contact.
"Thank you, Harry," she murmured in her sleep, her lips puckering out slightly to graze my neck. I got goose bumps.
"No. Thank you, Flora," I whispered back, running a hand down her hair, feeling it's smooth texture.