Chapter 10 – Cindy’s Party Pt three

William

“We’re taking her home now,” I voiced through the earpiece before carefully walking towards Harmoni. She jumped when my hand reached her shoulder, her eyes wide with fear.

“You’re okay, Harmoni, you’re okay,” I whispered soothingly. I wrapped my vest around her shoulder, shielding her from the cold and protecting her modesty. Her head slowly lifted until her eyes met mine. Her beautiful green eyes glazing with unshed tears.

Seeing the hurt and the amount of wariness in them made my stomach drop. I hadn’t been able to get to her fast enough. It took her a few seconds to recognize me before she threw her arms around my neck and started crying harder.

“Let me take you home,” I murmured, sliding my arms under her leg, I lifted her off the couch. Her arms stayed wrapped around my neck, gripping me tighter as she buried her face in the crook of my neck, tears still flowing freely along the side of her face.

I quickly looked at the fence surrounding the garden. It wasn’t high, meaning I could probably cross over it with Harmoni in my arms.

Once we were on the other side, I turned back to see that the garden was deserted. No one had seen anything. Benjamin and David came to join us. Their eyes widened when they saw Harmoni, but no one said a word. We rushed to the car. I was about to set her down in the back when I realized she had no intention of letting go.

Shifting her slightly, so I was holding her with one arm, I fished out the car keys from my pocket and threw them over to Benjamin. I sat us down in the back with her sitting on my lap, curled up against me. I gently ran my hands through her hair, calming her the only way I knew how at the moment. She wasn’t crying anymore, but she still hadn’t let go of me or looked at me. Probably running what happened over and over again in her head.

The car ride was silent, apart from the sniffing sounds coming from Harmoni. How could I have let this happen? I was watching her for fuck’s sake! How did I not notice sooner what was going on? I should have never let her go to the party in the first place. What the fuck was I thinking? Unconsciously, my grip around her waist tightened, pulling her closer to me.

Harmoni’s grip on my shirt hardened, effectively bringing my attention back to her.

We arrived at the house only minutes later, David and Benjamin gave me a meaningful look before regaining their respective positions. I discreetly sneaked into the house and brought her to her room. Silently thanking Mr. Pearson for giving me full access to the house and keys to bypass all security systems.

I let her down to her feet once we entered her room. She quickly walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I decided to go downstairs to get her a glass of water.

Tonight’s events sobered her up quite fast, but she would still need some water to survive the day tomorrow. When I came back, I noticed her sitting on the floor, her knees to her chest while she rested the back of her head on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. She had changed into an oversized t-shirt and some shorts.

She looked my way when she heard me.

“I thought you left,” she whispered.

“Not yet,” I handed her the glass of water. “Drink up, it’ll make you feel better tomorrow,” she nodded and forced the entire glass down before putting it away on her bedside table.

“Thank you, for everything.” Her voice trembled with each word. She reached for something on her right side before handing me my vest. Turning around, she sat back down on her bed.

She gazed down at her shaking hands, letting the silence surround us. She looked so vulnerable and wounded. All I wanted to do was wrap her in my arms and tell her everything was going to be alright and that I would never let anything happen to her again. It tore at my heart to see her like this, I wished I could take some of the pain away, but I didn’t want to push her to talk to me if she wasn’t comfortable doing so.

After another minute of silence, I was about to leave when I heard it.

“I’m sorry,” the words were barely audible, she sounded broken. Her shoulders were slouched, and her head was hanging. My heart sank at her defeated look. I wasn’t condemning how she behaved at that party, but it also pained me to see her so desolated. She hadn’t deserved what had happened. No one deserves to be assaulted.

I sank on my knees before her.

"Why?" I asked. I needed to make sure she wasn't sorry for being attacked. That was all on the guy.

"I'm sorry I left for the party. I know I wasn't supposed to, and I'm sorry I got in trouble, and you had to come in... I'm just sorry.” Tears started falling feeling along with her cheeks as she continued to avoid my gaze. Before I could answer anything, she lets her head fall into her hands.

"I can't believe this happened! He wouldn't stop,” she said. "I tried to push him away, but he wouldn't stop. He just kept telling me how much of a good time I was going to have. He told me about how he had been watching me at school and how I was asking for it. He said I was purposely swinging my hips when he was around."

Tears ran down her face as the words poured out of her mouth. "But it's not true, I didn't! I promise I didn't do that. I wouldn't do anything like that. I never even noticed him at school before,” she insisted. I believed her, but did she believe herself?

"I know Harmoni. I believe you,” I told her sincerely. She seemed slightly relieved.

"I should have never danced with him, or worn that stupid dress. Hell, I should have never gone to the party in the first place,” she continued as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

I reached out to her, tilting her face up so she could look at me.

"Harmoni, it wasn't your fault," I declared slowly and calmly to be sure she heard me correctly.

"Yes, it was,” a gut-wrenching sob tore through her chest "I flirted with him. How could I have been so foolish?"

"Listen to me Harmoni, when a girl says no, it means no. No matter the circumstances. He was the one who was in the wrong. He was the one who should have stopped and let you be. This is not your fault.” By then, I was sitting on the bed next to her, rubbing reassuring circles on her back, trying to settle her down and let her realize that I was speaking the truth.

Her weight shifted as she came closer and laid her head against my chest. Her breathing slows down, but the tears remained. My arm wrapped around her shoulder in a protective embrace.

We just sat there in silence, neither one of us saying anything.

"Do you want to press charges?" I asked warily, breaking the quiet enveloping us.

She pondered the question in her head before answering.

"Yes. If it can prevent this from happening to anyone else, then yes. I just hope the school doesn't have to know,” I was proud of her. Even though what happened to her terrified her, she preferred to voice it out if it could help others. Where was the selfish girl I had met over the past few days?

"Okay. He won't be charged because there probably isn't enough evidence, but at least there will be a record of it,” I explained truthfully. I felt her nod against my chest.

"Please don't tell dad,” she finally said, sitting up straight and looking at me. "He would go all kind of crazy, and I would probably end up locked away forever,” she said, slightly chuckling. Although she made a joke about it, her eyes showed that she was genuinely anxious about her father finding out. I could understand why she didn't want her overprotective father aware of this.

On the other hand, as his employee, I felt like I had to. I was torn between the two paths, but looking up in her jade-green eyes, I could see how fragile and vulnerable she was. So I nodded, praying I had made the right decision.

"I'll take you there tomorrow,” I said, " text me when you are about ready to go, and I'll come to pick you up.”

"I can't," she said, almost shyly. "I don't have your number.”

I did an internal facepalm. ~Smooth, real smooth Wil~. I took her phone from her nightstand, and after she unlocked it, I entered my number in it.

"Now sleep, it's late already.”

She shifted and went under the covers while I stood up and left.

“Goodnight Will.”

“Goodnight Princess.”