A/N – Hey guys! Welcome back! Here's another chapter – hope you enjoy, and if you do, leave a review and let me know!
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Chapter 19
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Harry stirred slowly, dragging himself from sleep. He felt something pressing down on his chest, and opened his eyes. A mess of blonde hair greeted him, splayed out all over his chest. He grinned down at the sleeping figure. He gently shifted her off of him, and stood up and stretched.
"Half bloody seven," he muttered to himself, glancing across the room. "She wanted up for eight."
He turned, contentedly watching Mal. "I'll wake her up in a bit," he decided, kissing her forehead softly, and walking over to the bathroom.
He closed the door behind him, and approached the shower cautiously, scratching his chin as he tried to remember what Mal had said about turning it on. After a few minutes of pushing and prodding buttons, he had a hot stream of water gushing from the shower head.
He quickly stepped in, allowing the hot water to cascade over him. "Oh my god, that's good," he groaned. "Hot water. Unbelievable."
He showered quickly, grabbing one of the bottles on the shelf at random and pouring it onto his hair. "I'm sure it'll be fine," he chuckled.
Once he was done, he stepped out and towelled off, before walking out to retrieve his clothes. As he finished getting dressed, Mal rolled over in the bed, groaning. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. She saw him, and smiled.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi back," he answered, pulling on a pair of boots. "I used the shower by myself," he grinned proudly. "Are you proud?"
Mal laughed, getting up and coming over to him. "So proud."
She ran her eyes over him quickly. "You look good, Pirate. Where did you get those?"
Harry was wearing a slightly subtler version of his usual pirate attire. There was a lot of leather, per his request, and a pair of black boots. "They were sitting there," he said, gesturing to Evie's designing table. "I figured they weren't for any prince here at Boreadon," he teased, "So I put them on, and lo and behold, a perfect fit!"
"Yeah, she made them for you. She said it was a joy to work with so much leather. Expect more outfits soon," she replied, leaning back against the headboard of the bed.
"So," Harry started awkwardly.
"Yes?" Mal grinned.
"About last night. We never really finished our conversation, did we, love?"
"Nope."
"Should we?"
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Ben," Harry stated, watching her.
Mal sighed. "Okay. Shoot."
"You're goin' to break up with him?" He asked quietly, phrasing it as a question instead of a statement, his eyes full of uncertainty.
Mal grimaced, patting the bed beside her, inviting him to sit. "Yeah."
"How?"
"I have no idea," she muttered. "He's gonna go nuts. Maybe we don't have to tell him. Maybe we can just find you a ship and we can sail away. How's that sound?"
"Perfect, love. But highly unlikely."
"Yeah," she sighed again.
Harry paused, trying to think of something to say. "You know if you want me to, I'll help?"
"I know. But I think it might make things worse if it came from you, Harry." Mal groaned, throwing her head back. "He's gonna go insane. He's gonna actually go insane."
Harry watched her concernedly. "You alright, love?"
"Yes. No. I don't know," she pursed her lips together in concentration. "I don't know what to do, Harry. School starts again next week. We kinda have to have a plan before then."
"Well then," Harry said, standing up and tugging Mal with him. "We have seven days to worry about it. I'm sure we can spare a few hours today to relax," he said, leaning down and kissing her gently. "It'll all be fine, love. We'll work something out. Promise."
"Hmm," Mal started, smiling. "I'm supposed to trust the word of a pirate?" She teased.
Harry laughed. "Get dressed. I don't know about you but I'm starving. And we have five minutes before we're supposed to meet the others for breakfast, so, you'd better get a move on, princess!"
Mal glared at him in mock annoyance. "Princess?"
"You're the Princess of the Isle."
"No, Evie is."
"Yeah, technically, but, realistically, you are. Your mother's the Queen of Evil."
"That doesn't make me a Princess over an actual Princess, moron."
"Oi! Cheeky!" He grinned, enjoying their banter. "You're my Princess then," he whispered, capturing her lips in his.
"Does that make me a Pirate Princess?" She laughed.
"Yep. Ma wee Pirate Princess, then. Sorted."
She laughed, and began taking clothes out of various drawers. "I'm gonna be longer than five minutes getting ready, Harry," Mal started.
"Three minutes now, love," he responded.
"You remember where the cafeteria is?" She asked.
"Aye. Why?"
"Go and meet the others and tell them I'll be there in a bit, and order me something nice," she answered, kissing his cheek, and walking into the bathroom. "See you in a bit," she called through the door. Suddenly, it flung open again. "Make sure no one sees you until you get back out into the main area, or they'll know you weren't in your dorm last night," Mal smirked, poking her head around the door. "See ya at breakfast, Pirate!" The door closed again.
Harry chuckled, grabbed a black leather jacket off a rail in the corner of the room, and left, shutting the door behind him.
He arrived shortly after at the cafeteria, and strolled casually over to the others. Jay was pushing three tables together, to accommodate for their large group. Harry approached him; Evie, Carlos and Gil standing back slightly, not knowing what would happen.
Harry stood behind him, waiting for him to turn around. Jay turned, throwing daggers at the pirate with his eyes.
"God, if looks could kill," Harry quipped.
"You wanna bet?"
Harry cleared his throat. "Look, mate, I know we disagree about a lot of things, but we do have one thing in common."
"Oh yeah?" Jay snarled. "And what's that?"
"We both love Mal," Harry answered, looking him straight in the eye.
Jay froze, staring at him. "What did you say, Pirate?"
"I like it better when she calls me that," he muttered under his breath. "I said I love her."
Jay grabbed him, pulling him close to him. "Do you even understand how broken she was when we left?"
"That wasn't my fault," Harry muttered grimly.
"No it wasn't. But it doesn't change the fact that she was a wreck when we got here."
"I'm not going anywhere this time."
"Fine," Jay grumbled. "But listen to me, Pirate. You hurt her; I swear to god I'll kill you."
"If I hurt her, I'd want you to."
There was a brief pause. Then Jay extended his hand. Harry gawked at it, shocked.
"We good?" Jay asked. "We were friends on the Isle," he said, glancing sheepishly at the floor. We should stick together now, right? Look after Mal."
Harry shook his hand. "Aye. Thank you."
"Okay then," Evie exclaimed. "Crisis averted!" She gestured to everyone to sit down. As they took their places, she spoke again. "So, the others will be here soon, and they're kinda nervous to meet you two," she smiled, pointing at Gil and Harry. "So make sure you're on your best behaviour," she said, glancing around the otherwise empty room.
"What others?" Harry asked.
"Um, Lonnie, and Doug and Jane. They're, ya know, the rest of our group."
Harry smirked. "They're your booty calls?" He laughed.
Evie blushed. "Don't call them that. But, uh, yes. I suppose."
Harry chuckled.
"Uh, Harry," Carlos joined in. "Where's Mal?"
"She's in the shower. She said she'd be down in a bit."
Evie watched him, smiling.
Gil sat down on one side of Harry, the other unspokenly Mal's.
"Where were you last night?" He asked his friend.
"With Mal, ya moron!" He laughed.
"Did ya, you know?" Gil asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"No," Harry said sternly. "We talked, and then we fell asleep. She woke up in the night, and we talked, and went back to sleep. That's it."
At this, he remembered something that had happened the night before. "Evie," he said, leaning over the table to the girl opposite him. "Mal said something last night that she didn't mean to, and then shut up about it, and I thought you could fill me in."
"Okay," she replied, "Shoot."
"She said something about panic attacks."
Evie sighed. "Yeah. What do you want me to say?"
"Well, do you know why?" He asked, desperate for information.
"Not really. She doesn't talk about them much. She said once that it felt like she was losing control. She didn't really know what was happening. But you'd have to ask her," Evie admitted.
"Okay," he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Thanks."
"No problem." Evie glanced at him, debating whether or not to say something. "She needs you, Harry. You're good for her. Don't screw it up," she smirked.
"I won't," he answered truthfully.
"I know," she replied, smiling.
Just then, they heard voices outside. Jane, Lonnie, Doug and Mal walked in. Jane sat beside Carlos, Lonnie beside Jay, and Doug beside Evie. Mal strutted over and took the empty seat beside Harry.
"Hey," he murmured, smiling at her.
"Hi. Have we ordered yet? I'm starving!"
"No, we were waiting for you guys. So," he said conspiratorially, "Tell me who everyone is."
"Yeah, okay, Gil, you listen in too," Mal started, leaning forward to see him on the other side of Harry. "That is Lonnie," she said, gesturing, "Jay's girlfriend. She's the daughter of Mulan. That," she pointed out, "Is Jane. She's the daughter of Fairy Godmother." She lowered her voice. "There's something going on with her and Carlos, but no one knows exactly what it is. She's insanely shy, and is terrified of both of you," she laughed quietly. "And that is Doug," she indicated. "He's Evie's boyfriend. He's really sweet, and he's the reason we got to talk on the Isle."
Harry smiled, "I owe him one then."
"'Mal?" Came a quiet, timid voice from the other end of the table. "Will you introduce us?"
"Sure, Jane." Mal got up and stood at the head of the table.
"Guys, this is Harry, and Gil. Yes, they are pirates. No, they're not scary. No, Jane, they're not going to kill you. Okay?"
Everyone laughed. Jane relaxed, slightly at ease. Carlos glanced at her. "I'll look after you," he said softly.
"Okay," she blushed.
Mal went to take her seat again, noticing that there was a spare seat beside her. "E, who else is coming?" She asked.
"No one, why?"
"Eh, just an extra seat then."
A voice came from the doorway. "Actually, I could use that spare seat."
Ben walked in, sitting down next to Mal.
"Oh crap," she muttered under her breath.
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A/N - Phew! Long chapter this time! Hope you enjoyed, and if you did, leave a review and let me know! :)
