Page 82 of Harmony

“She’s been sleeping a long time. I’m worried she was injured last night and we couldn’t tell.”

“I have her. Please, let her sleep.”

“Fine. If she is hurt and you delay her treatment, I will castrate you.”

My lips curl into a smile, but I keep my eyes closed.

“Understood. Now go.”

“You’re awake,” Nate says as soon as the door closes.

I lift my head, smiling at him. “I am.”

“How are you feeling?”

The memories from last night filter into my brain, wiping the smile from my face.

“I’m as okay as I can be.”

“Understandable. Do you want anything?”

“How long have I been asleep?”

He looks at his cell phone.

“Sixteen hours or so.”

I feel my eyes widen. “Wow.”

He brushes a strand of hair from my face. “You went through a traumatic experience. Your body needs rest to heal.”

“Physically, I’m fine though.”

“Mental health is just as important if not more so than your physical health. What you went through is not something anyone should have to go through. You’re going to have a lot of emotions to work through. You’re not going to feel better overnight and usually sleeping so much would be concerning, but it’s okay to take a couple of days. Then we move on to the next step.”

“What’s the next step?”

He gives me a warm smile. “We learn how to move on. It’s different for everyone. Maybe you want to get a therapist to talk to. Willow talks to one. Perhaps that’s not for you. It could be you want to talk to me. Maybe you want to take on a new hobby to help work through it. There are a million ways to help move through this. It all depends on what you want to do. No matter what, I’m here to support you.”

“Why are you being so good to me?”

The side of his mouth quirks up. “Didn’t you know, Comet? I fucking love you. You’re my whole world. My reason for breathing.”

My breath catches. I thought what I heard last night was some made-up part of my imagination telling me what I wanted to hear.

“You can’t,” I gasp.

“I can, I will, and I do. It’s a done deal, babe.”

“We argue all the time, Nate. I can count on one hand the number of conversations we’ve had that didn’t end in an argument.”

“That’s what I love most about you. You’re feisty. I have to admit. All those times before? In class? I started those arguments for fun. I don’t know if you remember, but the second week of school Roger spoke against your opinion aboutOthello. You turned to him and in a matter-of-fact way told him exactly why he was wrong. Watching your eyes light with fire? Fuck, Comet. I was hard for the rest of class. So the next day, I argued with you. Then it became our thing.”

“Wait, you argued with me on purpose?”

His cheeks redden, almost as if he’s embarrassed. “I don’t think it was a conscious decision. At least not at first, but after a while, yeah. Even after I thought you betrayed us, I couldn’t help myself. I don’t know how or when you did it, but you were under my skin. Youareunder my skin.”

“I never meant to be.”

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