Opening the door to my room, I immediately stop at the sight of Harley sitting on the floor at the end of the bed, with her legs up to her chest. Tears rolling down her cheeks as she stares at the blade in her hand.
“Harley?” I call her name but she doesn’t look up.
“Angel Eyes, come on, look at me,” I whisper, closing the door behind me and moving toward her.
As I squat down in front of her, she finally looks up. “I’m not strong like you,” she whimpers.
“What do you mean, baby? What happened?”
Shaking her head, she closes her eyes and tells me what she overheard Luna and Victoria talking about. Rage slams into me as she finishes. “They’re right you know. Everyone’s always being gentle around me, as if I’ll break down at any moment. Look at me now. Sitting in tears fighting with myself as to whether or not I just end it all.”
“Fuck, Harley, give me the blade in your hand,” I murmur, holding my hand out for it.
Slowly, she does as I tell her to and places the thin blade in my hand. Examining it, I notice it’s a blade from my razor. She’d broken it apart to get the thin metal out.
Getting up, I toss the blade in the trash and move back to her. This time instead of squatting in front of her, I sit down next to her, twist myself until I can lift her up off the floor and onto my lap where I cradle her to me.
“I’m glad you didn’t cut yourself, Angel Eyes. I’m fuckin’ sorry this shit happened and about what you overheard them saying about you, but I’ll tell you now, baby, you’re not weak, you’re not bland, you’re perfect just the way you are. Everyone is different. My brothers are treating you as you are. They are only doing as they feel they need to. In their eyes they see this woman who needs a big brother to look out for her. Whereas others aren’t like that. For instance, when Rachel got here people treated her differently, no one knew how to treat her. Victoria she was her own woman, she hid who she really was and that made things difficult between her and Tracker. He thought he needed to protect her but come to find out she has the strong personality within her that shows she’s different.
“Harley, what I’m trying to get at is just because you’re far more sensitive than the other ol’ ladies around here, doesn’t mean you’re any less of a human being than them.”
“But I am. My granddad said women like me need to know our place and that place is always kneeling at the feet of those who are strong. Who are deserving of attention. I was taught to never meet anyone’s eye unless spoken to. My parents died before I knew who they really were and in the process, left me with a man who didn’t want to raise another child. I had an aunt that didn’t want me either. I’ve never been wanted by anyone in my life,” Fuck, if her words don’t gut the hell out of me.
I know I need to get to church right now but first I need to show my woman she’s not a lesser being than anyone else.
Holding her in my arms, I climb to my feet and carry her into the bathroom. I gently place her on her feet in front of the mirror. “I want you to keep your eyes focused on the mirror.”
Harley does as I tell her too.
“Good girl, Angel Eyes,” I praise her.
I keep my eyes on her as I slowly lift her shirt up over her stomach, over her breasts, and finally pulling it completely off her. Next, I slide her leggings from her body. Without taking her eyes off the mirror Harley steps out of them leaving her in only her bra and panties.
“You know what I see when I see you?” I ask, tilting my head to press a kiss to her shoulder.
“No,” Harley whispers.
“Tell me what you see, Harley,” I murmur.
“I see me.”
“That’s not true, baby. If you did, you would be seeing what I see every time I look at you,” I say, pressing another kiss to her shoulder. I lift my hands tracing circles on her skin loving the way she trembles under my touch.
“Nate,” she whispers.
“Yeah, Harley,” I rasp, turning her slowly in my arms to face me. “I love you, baby and I swear on my own life when I say this, you’re not weak or bland or anything else. You’re you and that’s perfect for me because that means I get to be your strength. And as being that for you it means in times like this you lean on me. Whether it’s a horrible day or not, you can always lean on me.”
“I love you, Nathan, so much. It’s why I couldn’t do it,” she whispers, pressing her head into my chest.
“That’s good, baby, because there’s other shit you’re gonna find out soon and it’s going to literally rock your world,” I mutter, tightening my arms around her.
“What do you mean by that?” she asks, lifting her head up to look at me.
“I can’t tell you that just yet, but I want you to remember this, I’m right there with you all the way.”
“Okay, Nate, I trust you,” she says, her eyes glistening with
