Love Don't Die

I woke up from my nightmare but stayed under the sheets. Maybe it was all a dream. Maybe I was so high on cocaine I imagined the whole thing.

But when I took off my cover and saw I was in a hotel room, I knew I was wrong.

I looked around and saw my clothes folded neatly on an arm chair placed in a nice little breakfast nook. On the table was a plate of French toast next to a tall glass of orange juice, and I saw a small note creeping out from underneath it. Harry was nowhere to be found, so I decided getting some food in my stomach would do me good, even though all I wanted to do was throw up.

In my underwear, I dragged my feet towards the meal waiting for me. My head was pounding, and what I needed more than anything was an aspirin. I sat down in the plush seat and grabbed the little note, nearly knocking orange liquid across the wooden table.

Take some time to yourself. I’ll be back soon. Harry .x

Time to myself? What I needed was a time away from myself. A time where I could escape my actual being and be someone else. Someone who was happy and not a fuck up. But of course I couldn’t do that. That would be too easy.

Picking up the fork and knife placed next to my plate, I began to devour my breakfast. After the first bite I couldn’t stop. I felt like I was in college again, where I used to stuff my face and then wretch it all up before class. But this time I didn’t want to purge. I disappointed myself enough, and becoming a bulimic again wouldn’t help me or the situation I was in. So I kept eating. And once I was finished, I wanted more. I got up to ring room service when I heard the door open.

Harry walked in with his head down as he held a bundle of papers. When he finally did look up he smiled at me.

“Did you have a good breakfast?” He asked as he came over and kissed my forehead.

“It was delicious, thank you. I was actually just about to order more--” he grabbed my arm before I could walk away.

“Wait I have something I need to talk to you about first.” He motioned for me to sit back down and I reluctantly obliged. He started to fuss with the papers in his hands as he sat across from me and I started to think that a nice fat omelet with extra gouda and sausage sounded amazing.

“So I kind of spent a lot of time in the office suite downstairs,” he said and I snapped out of my food daydream. He handed me a piece of paper and I stared at it. It was a review of some fancy villa in St. Tropez. I quizzically looked up at him and he grabbed my glass of orange juice and took a sip. I raised my hands in protest and he grinned before speaking again.

“That’s where we’re going,” he told me as he drained the rest of my drink. “And this juice tastes like ass.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I spat as I enviously stared at the empty glass, “plus why are we going here?”

“Because we’re running away together.” I stared at him blankly while he shuffled the rest of his papers. I rolled my eyes and started to think that hollandaise sauce sounded perfect for my omelet.

Harry started to carefully lay the pieces of paper in front of me and I glanced down at them. Each held a different story, but the main subject was clear – Rusty’s death. And not only her death. One of the headlines that stood out the most to me was “Young Girl’s Death Perfect Lead for Police Ambush.” The tears rushed to my eyes but I fought them back as I glanced back up at Harry.

“What does this all mean?” I choked out, coughing to hide anything I was actually feeling.

“It means there’s a chance, Toni. The shooting is all over the news. I couldn’t open the damn web browser without seeing it as a top headline. The police know it was the Bones. Witnesses were all over, and in one article I even read a pedestrian tackled a member. The car chase was on there too, but thankfully no one could read my plates so our identities are safe.” He reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

“How does that give us a chance?” I asked, slightly shaking. Just hearing a few words about yesterday made all the haunting memories come back.

“Because they have actual evidence, babe. The news said the police are planning on using this and the fucked up drug shit to bring them down for good. Once they’re behind bars, you’re safe.” He smiled as the last few words left his lips. I was safe?

“Well how soon are they going to do this?” I couldn’t bear to lose anyone else while the fucking cops got their shit together.

“Probably a few weeks, maybe even a month. But that’s why I showed you the villa. We can escape there while all this bullshit goes down and then come back without a scratch. We’ll take a private plane there and hide, just you and me.” I saw the twinkle in his eye and suddenly my body felt warm. But once my thoughts started to race, I was frozen.

“You and me…but Harry you don’t have to do this. This is my problem. I’m sure they don’t even know you’re involved. I can’t have you giving up your life just to save mine. You should stay and I’ll go. Matt went to the States and maybe I should, too. I can’t ask you to do this for me, Harry.” At this point I had gotten up and was pacing the room. Before I could make another figure eight Harry rose and grabbed my waist.

“You’re not asking me, babe, I want to. We’ve come this far together, why not keep going? I can help you, Toni. Besides, I was needing a nice holiday anyway.” He pecked my lips and I stared up into his green eyes. The swelling had gone down a little on his right eye, but there was still a circle of discoloration around it. I raised my hand and traced it, Harry slightly wincing from the pain.

This stupid little fucker. Why did he care so much? I was a complete cunt to him, I even abused him. Yet he kept coming back. He kept wanting to help me. Was he mental? No one has ever stayed with me for this long. And it’s not like I ever got in trouble with a drug gang before. Yet here he was, standing strong by side.

As I continued to stare into his eyes I realized something. He loved me. Harry actually loved me. The only time you’ll sacrifice your happiness for someone else’s is if you love them. But how could he love me? I’d only known for a few months, and only recently have I been seeming him on the regular.

He started to trace my bottom lip with his thumb and it was at that point I realized something else. But before I said something I would regret later I gripped the hair behind his head and shoved his face into my own.

His lips felt so perfect against mine, but still I tried to fight the thoughts running through my brain. I pushed him onto the bed and unclasped my bra. He grabbed at my breasts and fondled them as I aggressively tried to undo his jeans. I had them nearly off of him before he pulled me closer to kiss him again. A jolt of pain ran from my bottom lip to my heart as he bit down into it, making me crave him more than ever.

Before I could do anything more he held onto my bum and flipped me over, disposing of his jeans in the process. He threw off his shirt and then held down my arms as he started to kiss along my neck and collarbone. I moaned as he continued to kiss down my body, and lifted my legs so he could take off my knickers. He then grabbed my arms from my side and held them above my head, one hand tightly grasped on my wrists.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he demanded, his eyes locked with intent on my own. I was shocked by his demanding tone but did not disobey. Still holding onto my wrists tight, he lifted my body and forced himself into me.

I cried out in pleasure as he moved in and out of me, overcome with how perfect it all felt. I was never a loud one during sex, but this…I couldn’t contain myself. I whimpered and wailed as he kept his rhythm while still holding his face close to mine.

“Oh, Harry! Don’t stop!” I screamed as I dug my finger nails into the flesh of his toned back.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” he sarcastically groaned and I had the urge to slap him but didn’t want to move my hands.

His pelvis continued to slam into me until I could no longer see straight. I bit into the bird on his right shoulder as my body jolted from the pleasure, and I felt his muscles convulse as he let loose inside me. He pulled out but held his body above mine, our lips just barely touching.

“I hope there’s a lot more of this in St. Tropez,” he said as I felt him smile against my mouth.

“What else would we do for a month?” I joked as I lightly kissed him. He climbed off of me and started to put his clothes back on.

“It should take us about an hour to get to Heathrow from here. That’s where my plane is and we can call the pilot on our way over. When do you want to leave?” he asked as I sat in bed and watched him. He was so good looking. Not only did he have a perfect face but his body was like something I’d only seen in films. And the way his tattoos adorned his skin was uncannily sexy. And not to mention his charm, or how the left side of his mouth raised when he thought of something clever to say. Oh God, I thinking I was starting to fall in lo—

“Yes, let’s go now.” I jumped up and started to clothe myself. I needed to stop thinking like this. All I needed was to get out of here and try to move on. This holiday was what I needed in order to continue on with my life. And if Harry happened to still be in it after that, fanfuckingtastic. But right now this was about me, no matter how much I didn’t want it to be.

I played with the radio as Harry drove of us away from the little hotel we were staying at. I had no idea where we were, but I honestly didn’t care. What mattered was where we were going. I finally found an Elton John tune and leaned back as the music filled the car. Everything was going to be okay. The Bones would never think to look for me in St. Tropez. Things were finally starting to look up.

We were driving for about twenty minutes in the middle of some boring field until Harry finally called his pilot.

“Right, about 45 minutes then. Thanks, mate. See you soon.” He hung up his phone and then grabbed my hand. “Are you excited?” I nodded my head and smiled, and he squeezed it tighter.

I looked out my window and noticed something approaching us in the side mirror. I then turned around and my heart dropped to my stomach.

A large black van was hot on our tail, and the guy in the passenger seat was holding a gun.

Notes