the song for this chapter is "Don't Come Back For Me," by Jaymes Young :)

***********

There is a dark room inside of my head

Developing images I'd rather forget

You laced your tongue with a poison

And it makes me remember

Oh, whatever you do
Don't come back for me
After all I've bled for you
I can hardly breathe

***********

Tate

     I stood in the bathroom finishing up my makeup and putting the last few touches on my hair.

   It felt good to be all dressed up for the first time in months. I had chosen a long sleeve fitted black mini dress that had a turtleneck collar. I paired the dress with heeled black boots and my minimalistic gold jewelry. 

   Harry had boughten me a flat iron today after I made the briefest comment about how crazy and frizzy my wavy hair had been. I had told him he didn't need to, but just like every other item I had acquired today, he bought it anyway. 

  I had straightened my hair and pulled it up into a sleek high ponytail. 

  As for makeup, as always, I kept it pretty minimal but decided to add a few extra touches just to mix things up a bit. I did a bronze eye look, accompanied by a brown-winged eyeliner that I had smudged out to blend it into the eyeshadow. I never really liked to wear lipstick, and so I just applied my cherry tinted lip balm and a bit of clear gloss to give them some color. 

    I reached into my toiletry bag and sprayed on the jasmine and bamboo perfume that I was even more fond of after today's events, and smiled at my appearance in the mirror.

  I didn't want to be conceited, but I did look good. I felt good too. 

   My legs were soft and smooth from shaving them in the shower earlier, and I felt so put together for the first time in a long time. 

   Once I was finished, I pulled open the door and walked back into the bedroom, feeling my breath catch in my throat as my eyes landed on Harry.

  He was standing over by the window, gazing out at who knows what, but looking absolutely and positively divine as he did so.

   He was dressed in an all-black suit, his hair perfectly styled, and I could smell the familiar and wonderfully intoxicating scent of his cologne from here. My eyes raked up and down his tall frame, stopping and smiling when I spotted his shoes.

   He had bought them today, I had convinced him to do so. They were Gucci boots, all black minus the gold horse bit clasp on them, and the embroidered little rainbows. It was the most color I had ever seen him wear, and even though it was a small victory, it was a victory nonetheless. 

   I think he wore the color black beautifully, but in my head, I always envisioned him in different colored suits that I knew he would be capable of pulling off. I had hyped him up in the stores we went into so much, that I had convinced him to buy some, and other colorful items of clothing as well. I could tell he wasn't comfortable enough to wear them yet, but I'm glad he at least decided to wear the boots for now. Hopefully, he would wear the other stuff too. But, alas, I was fine with the baby steps he was taking. 

  "Wow," I breathed out, without even realizing that I had done so. 

  Harry's attention snapped over to me, and I watched as he had a similar reaction to my appearance as I had just had to his own. His eyes went wide and his lips slightly parted as he drank in the sight of me. 

  "Wow to you too," he exhaled in a breathy chuckle.

  I blushed and sheepishly strode over to him, hearing my heels clack against the floor as I did so. 

 Harry shook his head in amazement as I stopped right in front of him.

  "You look...I mean... you're so..." he fumbled over his words, and I just laughed.

 "You too," I replied, not needing to hear him say the words to know what he was trying to say. 

 Harry's eyes were soft as he admired me, and his lips spread into a small smile.

  "Come here," he beckoned, reaching an arm out and snaking it around my waist, pulling me into his chest. 

  Even with the heels on, I still craned my neck to look up at him. 

 "Oh, by the way, look," I smiled, pushing back from him slightly to lift up my dress, revealing the black garter on my thigh, strapped all the way around with the throwing knives Harry had trained me to be able to use.

    I could audibly hear Harry gulp as he looked.

 "Well...wow...that's...that's hot," he admitted, nodding his head and blushing furiously at the sight of the knives strapped to my bare leg. 

   I grinned and shrugged. "Okay, so I guess we really aren't a normal couple," I laughed, referring to the fact that we were going on a date both heavily armed. I knew Harry had his knife in his back pocket, and I'm sure there was a pistol or two inside his coat pockets. My handgun was tucked safely in the new black bag that Harry had bought for me today, accompanied by some gum, the burner phone Abel had insisted I have, and my lip balm. 

     "No, no we are not," he began, grabbing one of my hands and pressing a kiss to my knuckles, "and I am perfectly okay with that."

   "Me too," I replied in almost a whisper, and I swear, we could have just skipped dinner altogether and stood there all night staring at each other, but I knew we had a reservation to keep, so I spoke up and broke the intimate moment. 

   "Are you ready to go?" I asked softly, and Harry seemed to zone back in from admiring me.

 "Ready when you are baby," he grinned, looping his arm through mine and walking over to the door. 

************

   Just like everything else I had seen in Spain so far, when we arrived at the restaurant, I was in complete awe of it. 

    I had always thought the restaurant that I worked at was insanely nice, but compared to this place, it was nothing.  

   I walked hand in hand with Harry as we approached the hostess at the front desk. The cool metal of his rings chilled my fingers in a delightful way and I ran my thumb across the ridges of the ring closest to it, loving the feeling of it under my skin.

   As we reached the hostess, I got flashbacks of the night Harry and I first met. Me bumping my head on the countertop like an idiot, him flashing me a smile and using the charm that I had now completely fallen for, and then him disappearing and making me question if he was even there at all. 

   I remembered the events that followed, him cornering me in the alleyway, insistent that I was involved with something of which I had no knowledge of, me stupidly and curiously following him home in Reggie's cab, and how days later I ended up back at his place, and in his bed.

   The flashbacks happened within a span of a couple of seconds, and led me back to this very moment, now, with his hand in mine, and knowing Harry for who he really was, not the cold exterior that he put on display for the rest of the world to see. 

  "Reservation for Jones," Harry spoke casually, and I almost chuckled as "Mr. Jones and Me" started playing in my head again. 

   The beautiful hostess smiled up at us and nodded, scanning her reservation list with her index finger, before stopping and tapping on the name Jones.

   "Yes! Mr. and Mrs. Jones! Allow me to grab you some menus, and I will guide you to your private room, my name is Alessandra if you need anything," she replied cheerfully, reaching down and grabbing the menus, managing to reemerge unscathed, unlike me the night that Harry and I had met. I could practically feel the bump I had gotten on my head that night as I recalled it. 

    I raised my eyebrows at the words "private room," glancing up at Harry to find him staring straight ahead with a proud smirk plastered onto his face. I didn't even want to think about how much it had cost him to reserve a private room at this place, as I was sure the food was expensive enough without adding the cost of a private area on top of it.

    "Right this way," Alessandra beckoned, leading us through the restaurant and towards an oak door near the back of it. Using her hip, she pushed the door open, revealing a beautiful private dining area. There was a table with a silk tablecloth draped over it, and I could see the gold and engraved legs of the table peeking out beneath it. 

    There was a pearly white vase in the middle of the table, with an elaborate flower arrangement. The table setting was done to perfection, each utensil in place down to the millimeter.  The walls here were ornate, looking like something out of a museum or a painting perhaps. There was a black marble fireplace on the wall behind the table, the faint heat of it sent chills up and down my body as it warmed me from the cool night air we had been in. 

   Alessandra placed our menus down on the table and stepped back, clutching her hands in front of her.

   "Your server for the night will be in here shortly with a wine list and some bread, is there anything else that I can get you before I go?" She asked courteously.

   "No thank you, this is absolutely perfect," I gushed, and she smiled proudly.

 "Wonderful! Well, if you do need anything, your server will be in here soon, and if they are not available, you know where to find me," she replied, pushing her shoulder-length black hair behind her ear. 

    I quite liked her haircut, perhaps I would cut mine like that someday. 

 "Thank you so much," Harry answered her, and she gave us a wave before retreating out of the room, pulling the door so that it was just barely cracked as she left. 

   "Harry, this is...this is so beautiful. Thank you, seriously," I spoke genuinely, and Harry walked up and cupped my face gently, leaning down and kissing my lips. The small action was enough to awaken the swarms in my stomach, and I could have melted into him right then and there.

  "Of course, baby," he replied, leaning his forehead against mine for a brief moment before walking over to one of the chairs and pulling it out, gesturing for me to take a seat. I blushed and obliged, sitting down and grinning as Harry scooted my chair in for me, making sure that I was completely situated before he took his own seat.

    Before I had a chance to say anything, the door to our room creaked open and revealed our server, bread, and menus in hand.

   "Hello, my name is Terrence, I will be your server this evening! Here is some bread to tide you over for a bit," he began, placing the basket of bread down next to the flowers, "and here are some drink menus. While you look over those, may I interest you in some water to start?" he asked, clapping his hands together and smiling back and forth at us expectantly. 

  "I would love some water, thank you so much," I replied, returning his cheery expression.

 Terrence nodded and shifted his gaze over to Harry.

    "I will have a glass as well, thank you very much," he added.

 "Of course, I will be right back with those waters, and to take your drink and appetizer orders," he replied, before exiting the room and leaving Harry and me alone once more. 

   Some of my hair had begun to slip out from my ponytail, despite the copious amount of hairspray I had used to ensure that it wouldn't. 

  I groaned and tried to tuck the loose hairs back into the elastic, but it was no use as they just continued to fall back down and brush against my cheeks. 

   Harry noticed my failed efforts and stifled a chuckle as he watched me struggle.

 I sighed and lowered my hands down in defeat.

    "I'm going to run to the restroom to fix this really quick, I'll be right back. If Terrence comes back before I do, would you mind just ordering me a white wine?" I requested.

   "Of course," Harry grinned. "Any particular one?" he added.

   I shrugged. "I trust your tastes, surprise me," I replied.

   Harry nodded and smirked. "I tend to be good at surprising people," he remarked.

     "Mhmm," I chuckled. "Okay, I'll be back," I sighed, standing up and walking over to press a kiss to his forehead, and he grasped my hips instantly.

   "Or you could stay," he offered suggestively, and I rolled my eyes.

    "Can you please try to contain yourself? At least until we are back at the hotel?" I begged, but a smile was fighting its way onto my lips. 

  Harry pouted out his bottom lip and loosened the grip he had on my hips. "Fine, I'll try. But I was kind of hoping to have dessert before dinner," he smirked, biting his lip and looking seductive and adorable all at the same time. 

   I lightly smacked his chest and scoffed, then grabbed his hands and slowly slid them off of my body, keeping eye contact as his palms warmed my skin.

   He looked as though his mouth had gone completely dry, and it was only then that I winked at him, before spinning around, grabbing my purse off of the back of my chair, and heading out of our private room and back into the main area of the restaurant. 

     I flicked my eyes back and forth, scanning the room until I spotted a hall that looked like it was the restrooms. As I approached it, I sighed in relief as I found that I was right.

   I pushed open the door to the ladies' room and set my bag down on the counter. I then undid the elastic that had failed to secure my hair, before flipping my head down and gathering my hair tightly. I redid the elastic, and then pulled back the sleeve of my dress to grab a second one, wrapping it around the first to hopefully keep everything in place this time. 

    I smoothed down my ponytail and in a very dorky way shook my head back and forth a little, and even hopped around, hearing my heels clack against the floor as I did so, just to make sure that my hair stayed in place. 

  I pointed my finger at myself in the mirror.

 "You, my friend, are a fucking weirdo," I informed myself. 

  I instantly brought my hand up to my mouth, realizing that I hadn't even checked to see if anyone else was in here.

   I felt my cheeks burning as I ducked down and checked underneath all of the stalls, feeling a wave of relief washing over me and I realized I was in fact alone.

  But it appeared that I had celebrated too soon, for right then, as I was crouched over in a dress and my high heeled boots, the door to the bathroom flung open, startling me so bad that I had to reach up and grab the counter to stop myself from falling over like a rolly polly. 

  I heard faint laughter as the person who entered spotted me hunched over.

   "What's the matter? Lose an earring or something?" she laughed. 

   I glanced up and saw a girl who looked to be around my age, wearing a mid-calf length emerald green dress. It was made of a satin material, and it shined in the light as she moved. She had light brown hair that she had styled in a low bun, with small pieces of her hair hanging out and framing her pretty face. 

   I didn't know what other excuses to give other than the embarrassing truth that I had been talking to myself, so I played off of her own words, and reached up and grasped my left earring lightly. 

   "Yes! I found it, thankfully," I replied, playing it off pretty well as I stood back up, smoothing down my dress, extremely grateful that the knives were strapped high enough on my thigh that they weren't revealed when my dress had scrunched up as I was crouched on the ground.

   The girl nodded and laughed more.

 "Earrings are tricky. I have so many pairs of earrings that I absolutely adore, but I can never wear because either the back of them comes off or the clasp comes undone," she sighed, walking over to stand next to me in front of the mirror. 

   "I know what you mean," I laughed, glad that she bought my lie.

 "That's why I always tend to buy cheaper earrings, I don't trust myself not to lose a nice pair," she smiled at me, leaning forward and grabbing a kleenex, using the corner of it to fix some of her dark red lipstick. 

    She groaned as she accidentally swept more of the dark stain onto her face.

 "Why the fuck did I wear such a dark lip color to dinner? Remind me never to do that again please," she sighed, conversing with me as though we were old friends. 

   "Will do," I laughed.

  "Sorry, I know I come off kind of strong," she chuckled, "I'm Avery," she grinned at me in the mirror, reaching to turn on the sink to wet the kleenex and wipe it over the area she had smudged again. 

    "It's okay, I mean, I was hunched over on the floor when you walked in here," I laughed, "and I'm Ella, nice to meet you."

   I am surprised that I managed to use my fake name so smoothly, without even batting an eye to think about it. Harry would be so proud. 

   Oh shit. 

   Harry.

 I had been in here for about ten minutes, I didn't want to keep him waiting. I felt bad leaving Avery as she really seemed like she could stand here and talk for hours, and it was nice to talk to someone who had no idea who I was and who wasn't trying to kill me for once, but I also didn't want to leave Harry just sitting at the table, waiting for my slow ass to show back up. 

   I picked up my bag and smiled at Avery again. "It was really nice to meet you," I repeated, hoping to leave but she immediately cried out.

    "Wait, before you go, am I good?" she asked, smiling and gesturing to her mouth to check for any lipstick that had gone awry.

   I gave her a big thumbs up and smiled. "All good."

   She sighed in relief and patted my arm. "Thank you, okay, enjoy your dinner!" She laughed.

 "You too!" I waved, pushing the door open and heading back to our private room. 

***********

Harry

    Tate had been gone a long time. 

  As much as I tried, I couldn't stop myself from worrying about her. I hated that I always had to be so concerned for her safety, I hated that she was involved in a life that caused her to have to check over her shoulder wherever she went.

   I didn't want to panic, but I also didn't want to take any chances. I decided there was no harm in just heading over near the restrooms and making sure everything was alright.

    Her untouched wine glass sat on the table, gleaming from the light that the fire provided. It glowed and reminded me of the flecks of gold in her hazel eyes, and even though I was practically just with her, I missed the sight of those eyes already.

   I stood up and placed my napkin on the table, standing up and walking towards the door. But right as I reached for the handle, the door opened.

    I began to exhale a sigh of relief but sharply sucked it back in when the person behind the door was in fact not Tate, my Tate.

   Instead, there stood a girl with fair skin and auburn hair, complemented by the cherry red mini dress she was wearing, the color of it reminding me of how Tate's lips looked with the lip balm she had on. 

  She looked just as frazzled at the sight of me as I did at the sight of her, both of us taking a small step back. 

    "Sorry," she chuckled, "I guess I have the wrong room," she blushed, nervously biting her lip.

 "That's alright," I laughed, thinking that this would be the end of our discussion, but I was wrong.

   Instead of exiting the room like I thought she would, she entered it instead, pushing the door shut behind her.

    She glanced me up and down, a lustful look in her eyes.

 The suggestive look didn't even phase me. While I was flattered, I only had eyes for Tate, and no woman's charm or beauty could cause me to falter from that. 

   "But maybe it's a good thing I got the wrong room," she shrugged, stepping closer to me and causing me to take a step back.

   "What's wrong, handsome? Am I really that sore of a sight?" She teased, pretending to look hurt.

   "No, no. I'm sorry, I just don't want to give off the wrong impression," I explained, trying my hardest not to grimace in disgust as she raked a perfectly manicured hand up and down my arm.

   "I have a girlfriend, I was actually just headed out to look for her," I continued, growing extremely uncomfortable at this interaction, wanting desperately for it to just end.

   I continued to step backward until I suddenly hit the edge of my chair. I let out a startled gasp as the girl then pushed my chest, causing me to fall back and hit the seat.

    She placed one hand on my shoulder, leaning forward, and clearly not taking the hint.

 Her lips parted and the words she said next were about enough to make me sick to my stomach.

    "Oh, Harry...I know you do."

 As soon as she finished speaking, her other hand flew up and revealed a syringe grasped between her fingers. I tried to reach up and grab it out of her hand, but I wasn't quick enough.

   She jammed the syringe into my other shoulder, pushing the contents of it into my bloodstream. I tried my hardest to push her off of me, to stop it, but it was no use. I could already feel my senses being dulled as she drained the remainder of the serum into my veins.

    I opened my mouth weakly, feeling like I had a numbing cream of sorts on my mouth, like when you are at the dentist or something. It was nearly impossible, but I managed to push one final word out of my lips before everything went black.

    "Tate."

***********

Tate

    I maneuvered my way through the restaurant, retracing my steps until I finally spotted the door to our room. I smiled to myself as I pictured Harry sat there, looking handsome as ever with his new suit on, his face illuminated by the fire and faint lighting that the room provided.

    I couldn't wait to have the first taste of whatever white wine Harry had selected for me. It had been so long since I had had a nice glass of wine, the last that I could remember ironically being the night that Harry kidnapped me.

   I laughed to myself as that realization hit me, although I'm sure anyone looking at the situation from the outside would not find it funny whatsoever.

         I continued to stride towards the door, apologizing profusely when I nearly ran into a server carrying a tray of food, the steam of it floating off of the tray and into my nose, making me even more excited to eat than I already was. 

   After what seemed like a mile-long journey, full of obstacles and distractions, I finally reached the solid handle of the oak door. I grasped it and turned it around in my hand, already grinning to myself in anticipation of seeing Harry.

    We really were like two young teenagers, completely enthralled with the crushes that we had on each other. Giddy at just the thought of each other, no amount of time apart from each other being too short to be excited about reuniting once again.

    I pushed the door open, beaming at the thought of his face, taking one step in the door...

  and then freezing entirely.

  The grin on my face was gone. The butterflies in my stomach were now ones of anxiety. I had to blink a few times to make sure that I was really seeing this, and that it wasn't another one of my horrid nightmares.

    But after all of my blinking, the confirmation that I was fully awake, and that this was not a figment of my imagination, hit me like a ton of bricks.

   Harry was in here, but he was not alone. And he was not looking at me.

 Instead, he sat on his chair, with a girl in a short red dress perched on top of his lap, straddling her legs on either side of him. 

   Her wavy auburn hair cascaded down her back, dragging my eyes down to see Harry's ring clad hands loosely resting on her hips.

   I heard the familiar sound of lips being pressed against each other, and I truly feared that I would throw up right then and there. 

   My heart was feeling like one of the practice targets I had been using earlier. And the longer I stood there, the more bullets of pain and heartbreak seemed to pierce right in the center, a perfect bullseye each time. 

    I couldn't fight the tears forming in my eyes, or the lump beginning to rise in my throat. I felt betrayed in every sense of the word, and I found myself wishing that this was just a nightmare and that any minute now, I would wake up, and be filled with relief.

   But it wasn't a nightmare. It was real. And I couldn't bear it any longer.

    It's as though he didn't even notice I was in the room. Like he was too entranced with the mystery woman perched on his lap to even acknowledge my existence. I peeked down at the rainbows on his new boots, my heart churning even more as I recalled how much fun we had had earlier today picking them out. How happy I had been just moments before at the thought of seeing him.

    But now? I wanted nothing to do with him.

  So instead, I shut stepped back out into the main area of the restaurant, pulling the door shut behind me, and heading towards the exit.

    I didn't pay attention to anything other than the doors at the entrance of the restaurant, making a beeline for them, not able to hear anything but the sound of my heels clicking with each step I took, and the sound of my heart physically breaking. 

    I managed to exit the restaurant without making a scene, but the second that the large doors closed behind me, I pressed my body against the side of the building, sucking in a sharp breath...

   and finally allowed my tears to fall. 

AN: WOW... HOW DO WE...UH...HOW ARE WE FEELING? PLZ DON'T HATE ME HEHE! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GONNA HAPPEN? I AM ANXIOUS AND I AM THE ONE WRITING IT HAHAHA! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT! ILYSM! xx, G.