- HARRY -

After telling goodnight to the guys I wandered into my large bedroom. I had never been so tired. It was two in the morning and the guys and I had been drinking and gaming all night long. I had hoped to push the disappearance of Katrina out of my mine but once I was alone all thoughts of her came rushing back. I fell onto the bed and crawled over to where my phone lay plugged into the wall.

I frowned. Two missed calls and a voicemail from an unknown number. Hitting call, I rolled over and listened to the voicemail.

"Uh...hey Haz...its Katrina. I just...um," I could here voice crack over the phone and suddenly I was wide awake. I pressed my phone closer to my ear as she continued, "You said to call if I...um...you knew what, never mind. I'll...I'll catch you around. Sorry to bother you."

Was that it? That's all she said? I immediately hit call. She was crying. She needed help, so why didn't she ask for it?
"Come on!" I practically yelled into the darkness.

"Hello?"

"Katrina?"

"What?" Said a deep voice. It was a guy. Why was it a guy? "Oh shit! You know the blonde chick?"

"Yes where is she?"

"You weren't the one the hit her right?"

"What?" I yelled. "No I didn't fucking hit her? Is she okay? Where is she?"

"Dave's Diner," the stranger replied. “Look man, that girl needs help. We tried to get her to the hospital but she wouldn’t budge. I wish you luck dude.”

I could hardly process the words coming from the phone as I flew about my room. Within two minutes I had my keys, wallet, and shoes. And before I knew it I was in the car driving to Dave’s Diner and praying to God I would find Katrina alive. The strangers description of her had really freaked me out. Who the fuck would have beaten her up? And why didn’t I have my phone on me? I could have - no should have been there to help her.

I was driving in a daze and it took a moment before I realized I was pulling up to the dinner. Jumping out of the car, my eyes were automatically trained on the interior of the diner, looking for any sign of Katrina.

And there she was. Huddled in the back corner with her red flannel wrapped tightly around her. I opened the door and ignored the waitresses greeting - my only focus being Katrina and making sure she was okay.

“Katrina…”

Her head snapped up and her eyes went wide. The sudden happiness at seeing her had burst like a ballon when I noticed the black eye and split lip.

"Katrina! Oh my god!" I reached out but she instinctively flinched away from me. I noticed the old lady at the bar shoot me a disapproving look.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, not meeting my eye.

"You called me remember?"

"Yeah well...I changed my mind."

"Kat please, we need to get you to hospital."

"I don't want to go to the hospital." She crossed her arms, wincing slightly at the action.

"Can you walk?"

“Harry I'm not going to the hos-"

"Fine! You don't have to go to hospital. But you're sure as hell not staying here."

She shot me a look before letting out a sigh. Slowly she stood, nearly toppling over when her right foot hit the ground. I bent down and easily lifted her up bridal style. The action caught her off guard but she didn't protest.

"C'mon. You're staying at mine tonight."

I knew Katrina was thin but I guess I had never realized how thin until she was in my arms. She weighed almost nothing and I made a mental note to feed her better meals than pizza in the future.

I set her down gently before helping her into the car. The ride was mostly silent. Through the passing streetlights I could see more of her injuries. Her leg was already bruising and she had cuts on her hands in addition to her lip and forehead. My hands grew tense on the steering wheel as I wondered what kind of sick bastard was capable of hurting someone that much.

"Spit it out."

I frowned as turned to her. I tried to hide my embarrassment at having been caught by playing dumb and shrugging my shoulders.

Katrina rolled her eyes. "Stop staring and just ask."

"Alright fine...who hurt you?"

"An asshole."

I sank back into my seat. Her teasing was relentless. But even if she won't give me the names, learning anything about what had happened to her would be an accomplishment.

"Are you still seeing this asshole?" I quizzed. She gave me a small smile in return before pulling her feet up on the dashboard and hugging her knees.

"Only when he finds me."

"Well then we are about to play the best game of hide an seek you've ever seen."

She bit her lip in attempt to contain her smile, but failed miserably when she burst out laughing. "Has anybody ever told you you're insane?"

"You mean insanely awesome? Yes."

She rolled her eyes and whacked me on the shoulder as we pulled into the driveway. Katrina looked at the house and took a deep breath. “Are the others awake?”

“No.”

“Good,” She nodded. I got out of the car and ran over to her side just as she was opening the door. “You know I can walk on my own right?”

“No you can’t Kat.”

“Yes I-"

“Would you stop trying to be brave for a minute and just accept help?” I asked, a bit more rudely than I had intended. Katrina scowled at me but let me lift her up nonetheless.

The house was quiet when we entered, and I tiptoed upstairs towards my room. The boys, their girlfriends, and Gemma had all crashed here after drinking leaving my room the only option.

“Where are we going?” Katrina whispered as I walked through my room and into my master bathroom.

“You’re bleeding.”

“And you're overdramatic. I'm fine curly.”

I set her down on the counter and turned on the faucet. She watched me as I moved about the bathroom, gathering the first aid kit and clean towels. For some reason my actions seemed to amuse Katrina for when I returned to the counter she had a small smile on her face.

“Do you make a habit of rescuing people?” she finally asked.

“Do you have a habit of running away?”

“Yes.” I looked up at her with a frown. She broke into a small smile, displaying her cracked lip. “What, are you going to yell at me now?”

“Why didn’t you tell us you needed help?” I asked. Her smile disappeared and she began playing with the sleeve of her flannel.

“I dunno.”

I pushed back her hair gently and pressed a clean cloth to it, she winced at the action but didn’t pull away. We fell into a comfortable silence as I began cleaning the cut while she watched me intently.

“Any other injuries I should know about?” I asked once I had finished.

“Just bruises.”

“Why has your shirt got blood on it then?” I quizzed. “Or should I say my shirt seeing as you stole it from me…”

She broke into another small smile before biting her lip and suddenly looking uncertain. Her breathing grew heavier as she looked up at me.

“Katrina, you won’t be the first topless girl I’ve seen. Let me see where else he hurt you.”

She actually laughed at that one, and I couldn’t help but smile along with her. But her smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared and she once again grew silent, her eyes downcast. I gently took her hand in mine and she gave me a small nod.

I helped Katrina pull off the flannel, made difficult by her limited mobility, before helping her slowly remove the Nirvana T-shirt. My chest ached as I stared down at her beaten torso. Almost every bone was visible due to her malnutrition and it was only made worse by the purple bruises spotting her frame. There was one cut visible on her ribs just under her left breast.

“Katrina-”

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

I let out a weak laugh, “are you sure? Cause it looks pretty damn bad Kat.”

“Well gee thanks,” she mused weakly before resting her head back against the mirror.

I took her face gently in my hands before pleading, “Katrina you’re going to die. You can’t keep living like this.”

She took my hands and lowered them from her face. I watched as Katrina stared blankly in front of her, her eyes dull and void of emotion.

"You don't understand," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I can't just leave. It doesn't work like that.”

"Well why not?" I asked.

"He'll find me.”

"Not if we take you away.”

Her eyes flickered to mine, her pupils as large as marbles. Then she broke into an almost manic laugh, that fucked up smile sucking up most of her face.

"What are you going to smuggle me away in your suitcase?”

"You're skinny enough to fit," I mused.

She leant back onto the mirror once again as I finished cleaning her wound. Her eyes had begun to sag as the events of the day finally washed over her.

“Katrina?”

“Mhm?”

“At least stay until you’re better.”

“You say that like I have a choice. We both know you’re not letting me out of your sight like this.”

I let out a weak laugh knowing her statement was completely true. There was no way I was letting her go back out into the world like this. She was practically at death’s door already. “Come on. Bed.”

I scooped her up gently and carried her over to the bed. As soon as I set her down she snuggled down into the soft, warm sheets.

She let out a yawn before saying, "Harry-"

"Don't worry Kat, I'll be on the sofa."

"That's not what I was going to say," she mumbled.

"What were you going to say Goldilocks?"

She broke into a small smile, though her eyes were already closed. "Thank you."

Notes

Here's another one for ya!
What do you think Johnny will make Katrina do to 'pay off her debt'?
How do you think the rest of the boys will react to seeing Kat in this state?

Thanks again for reading and giving this story a chance! Hopefully I can have another chapter up for you before this long weekend is over!