the song for this chapter is "Off To The Races," by Lana Del Rey :)

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My old man is a bad man

But I can't deny the way he holds my handAnd he grabs me, he has me by my heart

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    Tate

       The longer the night went on, the less talkative I became. We had dinner that Niall and Abel had prepared together. It was quite good, a casserole of some sort. I suppose when you have to be on the road and in the shadows as much as they were, you had to learn how to cook for yourself. I wasn't complaining one bit, I would much rather have a home-cooked meal than takeout. I never knew how to describe it, other than there was something about watching people actually prepare the food that seemed to make it taste better because you saw firsthand all of the work that went into it. 

    We all chatted for a bit and mindlessly watched the TV, but I wasn't really paying attention. As the night went on, all I could think about was that with each minute that passed, it was growing closer and closer to when the boys would leave. And this mission was obviously very personal to me, seeing as they were literally going to be breaking into my aunt and uncle's house.

    I just hoped and prayed that they wouldn't do anything out of the ordinary tomorrow. I know that everyone had been instructed by Harry not to harm anyone, but I really didn't know if I fully believed that if something happened, and they showed up early, that Will would be able to follow those rules.

    I was immensely grateful that he had decided to at least begin making an effort to not be a complete and total ass to Harry and me, but I still didn't fully trust him. I think it would be rather naive of me to just assume that he had changed his mind about what he thought of me completely within the span of an hour and a half.

    It was around midnight when all of the boys finally began to disperse. I said goodnight to all of them before going into the kitchen to get a glass of water, I could feel Harry's eyes on me, but I chose not to say anything until we got to my room. 

    I walked up the stairs alone, and in a way, I was sort of glad for those few brief moments of solitude. I couldn't help but blush as I walked into my room, my cheeks feeling hot as I relived the earlier events of today in my mind. 

   Harry had always been attractive to me, even when I couldn't stand him. It would be dumb to try and dispute that he was extremely good looking. But today, he had been the sexiest person I had ever met. I could have guessed that he was sexually experienced, but he took on a whole other side earlier, one that I never imagined I would be so in to. 

   It's not like I had no experience, but I didn't have a lot. I had nothing against anyone who wanted to do sexual things, nor who they chose to do them with. I think that if something makes you happy, and it isn't harmful to you or others, then you should do it. Life is too short to worry about what other people will think about you, and besides, they are all probably too busy worrying the same thing.

    But for me, I just had never been super into random flings and hookups. There wasn't some deeply rooted cause for this, it just had never particularly drawn me in. Perhaps that's because I hadn't met my type yet. I had a few past boyfriends whom I had obviously found attractive, and with whom I had done sexual things with, but none of whom made me feel the way that Harry did. I always told myself that I was into the more quiet type of guy. Not necessarily a goody-two-shoes kind of guy, but a nice guy, who would rather stay in and watch a movie instead of going out to a bar or something. 

       Harry was the last thing I would have expected to be my type. With my other boyfriends, whenever I did anything sexual with them, obviously, I wanted to, but it was never in that, "I can't keep my hands off of you any longer," kind of way. It was good, and fun, and sweet. 

    With Harry, it was everything. It was sweet and fun and passionate and sexy and hot and erotic, and I found myself craving him in a way that I had never craved another person before. I wish that I could say I felt ashamed, having such strong sexual feelings for someone who not only I barely knew, but who by the world's standards, was a horrible human being. But I didn't.

        When I lost my virginity, I was eighteen, and it was to a guy who I had been with for a little over a year. I loved him at the time, and he made me feel comfortable, and it was a sweet experience. When we broke up, everything was very mutual, and we ended on great terms. Ever since that though, I never slept with anyone. I had done things with people that I had dated briefly over the last two years, but none of those relationships were ones that I felt comfortable taking that step in. 

         But when I was with Harry? He made me want to do unspeakable things. I truly didn't know how good someone could make me feel until I met him. 

Suddenly a knock sounded on my doorframe.

    Speak of the devil.

 "Hey, can I come in?" He asked.

    I smiled softly at him, trying to appear as cool, calm, and collected as I could manage, although, judging by the look on his face, I could tell that he already knew something was up.

    Harry's amazing deciphering skills when it came to people and their emotions always amazed me. I mean, I guess he had to be that way in his line of work, he had to be able to read people to judge whether they were telling the truth or not, or if they were a threat.

       So I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that he had already managed to read me so well, but I still was. Harry could read me better sometimes than people I had known for my whole life.

    He pushed himself off of the doorframe and came into the room, shutting the door and locking it behind him. He then went over to the windows and shut the blinds and pulled the curtains shut, before walking over to my bed and sitting on the end of it, looking up at me expectantly.

    "What?" I tried to ask dumbly, but Harry just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

  "Tate, I know something's on your mind, so talk to me. Is it what happened earlier? Was it too much? If it was, I am so sorry, and it won't happen again-"

    I put my hand up, chuckling a bit as I cut him off. 

"No, Harry. It was not what happened earlier, the only way that could ever upset me is if it didn't happen again," I grinned cheekily, causing him to smile while letting out a relieved sigh.

     I stared down at him for a while, waiting to see if he would drop it, but he instead stood up and kicked off his shoes, before flopping back down onto the bed on his stomach, perching his head in his hands like a schoolgirl exchanging gossip at a slumber party.

    I walked over to the other side of the bed and set down my glass of water before joining him on the bed, laying down on my back and folding my hands on my stomach, choosing to stare at the ceiling instead of Harry. 

   "It's nothing you did. I'm just still nervous about tomorrow," I began, and Harry started to speak, but I cut him off again, sitting up straighter so that I could look at him.

    "Just let me finish, please. You really don't need to try and comfort me. I know full well that you have explained the plan forward and backward at least fifteen times to me. You all have, and I am so appreciative of that, I really am. I know that most kidnapped people don't get to know all the ins and outs of things, so thank you for that," I joked lightly, causing Harry to smile.

    "I know the plan, I know it pretty much by heart now. But even knowing that, I can't help but worry. I know I was never super close to my aunt and uncle, but I also never had anything against them. And whenever I was with them, they were nothing but kind to my mother and me. So, regardless of how well I know them, they are still my family. Some of my only family and I can't help but be nervous about tomorrow," I finished, shrugging at Harry, who had his lips pursed together.

      He let out a sigh before sitting up and crawling closer to me, laying his head down on the pillow next to mine, his curls splaying across the pillowcase.

       "I know you're nervous. And I appreciate you telling me how you're feeling. If you seriously just need to vent about it you can. Just know that I will be doing everything I can to ensure that this goes smoothly. We all will," he assured me, lightly running his hand through my hair. 

   I opened my mouth to question Will's loyalty, but I decided against it. At this point, everything was out of my control, and even though I didn't like that, I also knew that I had to accept it. 

   "I'm nervous too," he suddenly spoke, although his voice was much softer than it had been.

  "That's not very reassuring," I chuckled, not quite sure where he was going with this.

     He rolled his eyes. "Not about the mission. I have complete confidence in that. I just don't want to leave you here alone," he sighed.

   "Then take me with you," I replied, suddenly having an idea that might help us both. 

        "Tate, I already told you I can't do that," he chuckled lightly.

    "Exactly. You have told me your plan for tomorrow so many times I have honestly lost count. And Abel has gone over the plan for me staying here tomorrow with you the same amount if not more. That's why I was saying you don't need to try and tell me something comforting, because it's just life, Harry. Sometimes things happen that we can't control. All that we can do is try our best to be prepared, and trust that everything will work out," I explained, lightly squeezing his arm when he tried to look away from me. 

     "Harry, look at me," I demanded gently, eventually getting him to make eye contact with me.

 "We need to trust each other, and hope for the best. It's the only thing we can do," I sighed. 

  He let out a big huff of air, before offering me a weak smile. "I know, you're right. I guess we should try and get some sleep, there's no point in worrying any longer."

   I smiled at him and surprised him by leaning forward and pressing a quick but firm kiss to his lips.

     "Exactly, let's go to sleep," I smiled.

 And that's exactly what we did. We got in bed and held each other, both of us doing our best to drift to sleep, and to push our thoughts out from our mind.

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       The day went by all too quickly. I tried to act as normal as I could, given the circumstances. However, I find it hard to believe that being shown by a professional assassin how to properly load and use a gun was considered by most people. I suppose it was my new normal though.

     Harry made me practice loading and unloading the gun so many times that I don't think I could forget the process even if I wanted to. He also left me with a knife, his knife, to be exact. It was the same one that had gotten me into this mess in the first place, and so it only seemed fitting that, if need be, it would be the one to get me out of it as well.

    Abel had gotten the burner phones and had programmed all of the boys' numbers into, while also leaving me two extra chargers for it on the kitchen counter. Harry made us call each other a few times just to be sure we had put the numbers into the phones correctly, which seemed a bit excessive, but I had to admit, I appreciated how seriously he took my safety.

     There were about ten minutes before they had to leave and head to my uncle's place, and while the other boys were packing up the cars, Harry and I were upstairs in my room. I had already said goodbye to the other boys and was surprised when even Will told me to be safe before he headed out to the car. 

     Now it was just Harry and me, stood in the middle of the room, staring at each other. 

Harry was the first to speak, which I was thankful for, as I didn't quite know what to say.

      "We will be back before you know it. But seriously, just promise me that if anything happens, no matter how small, you will let Abel know?" He asked, his eyes filled with concern. 

    He was dressed in his typical neutral colors, opting for his usual all-black ensemble today, which he always managed to pull off beautifully.

     "I promise. You be careful too, okay? I should be the least of your concerns today," I reminded him.

    He tilted his head back for a moment and laughed. "Yeah, because it is so easy to not think about you," he replied sarcastically, the sweet words making me smile.

     "Well, try not to," I shrugged, taking a few steps forward to close the space between us. Once I reached him, I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him in and hugging him tightly.

      Never in a million years did I think I would be standing here telling Harry to be safe. And I most definitely did not think that I would be hugging him so tightly to my chest that I thought he might burst from the pressure.

     He hugged me back, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of my head.

   He pulled away after a little bit and used his index finger to tilt my chin up to face him. He opened his mouth to speak, but then decided against it, and instead removed his other arm from my waist and cupped my face with both of his hands, leaning forward and connecting our lips. 

     The kiss was soft and sweet and filled with concern, and I melted into it. Time seemed to freeze as we stood there, completely engulfed with each other.

    The only reason why we stopped was that the burner phone on the bed started to buzz, and Abel's name lit up the screen. I laughed as I picked it up and answered it.

    "Hello?"

       "Hi! Could you tell Harry we are ready? You can call me back as soon as he leaves," he chirped through the phone.

     "Yep, sounds good. Good luck to you all," I smiled, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

  "You too, Tate, talk to you in a second," he replied sincerely, before ending the call.

      I tossed the phone back onto the bed and made my way back over to Harry.

   "They're ready to leave. So...I'll see you later," I shrugged, not knowing what else to say. 

      Harry laughed at my awkward reply, leaning down and pressing one final kiss to my lips.

     "I'll see you later, Tate. Try not to trash the place while we are gone!" He replied sarcastically, a smile creeping onto his lips.

      I raised my hands up in the air. "I make no promises," I joked back.

     Harry walked to the door, before turning around once more.

        "Bye, Tate," he spoke softly.

       "Bye, Harry," I waved.

      He hesitated for a moment before finally going down the stairs. I waited until I heard the front door open and close, before going back over to the bed and plopping down onto it, picking up the phone to call Abel.

    He answered almost instantly.

  "Hey, Tate! Can you hear me okay?" He asked, and I heard some background noise through the phone.

    "Yeah, I can hear you. So, do you have the security footage outside of the house already pulled up?" I asked.

    I heard the clacking of his keyboard before he finally replied. "Yep. We are all set. We should get there about a half-hour before they usually leave, so we will have plenty of time to get in place, that way, we can be in and out as quickly as possible."

     I smiled at his reply. "Good, thank you guys for being so cautious with this, I know that you don't have to be," I admitted.

       Abel laughed through the phone. "It's for you, Tate. Of course we have to."

   His answer made me smile. As far as being held captive goes, I guess you could say I had it pretty good, although I didn't for a moment take that for granted. And even though things were going well right now, I never let the possibility of things going to shit be off the table. 

    "Okay, you are on speakerphone, so feel free to talk whenever. The phone is plugged in and I will just be monitoring the security footage, so if you need anything, all you have to do is tell me," he spoke.

    "Sounds good, I'm going to go downstairs and get one of the chargers, and then probably just come back up here and read one of the books you got me," I replied.

   "Okay, sounds like a plan. Talk to you whenever, I guess," he laughed, and I couldn't help but laugh along with him.

    I went downstairs and got the charger, along with a glass of water, before heading back up to my room to read. I could hear the occasional typing through the phone, and a few mumbled words as the boys drove to my uncle's house.

     Now all I had to do was wait.

AN: I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER AND THAT YOU ARE READY FOR THE NEXT ONE BECAUSE I DON'T THINK YOU ARE HEHEHEHE! ILY ALL SM! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE AND COMMENT! xx