ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨

♛♛♛

"Hazel!"

Little Jamie ran through the opening glass doors, arms wide open as his little legs carried him toward the young woman.

"Hi, Jamie!" Hazel exclaimed, taking in his small arms that fell around her neck.

He squeezed her tightly before pulling away with a jump in his step.

"Percy dropped me off, he has to go do some stuff," Jamie said the word 'stuff' rather sarcastically, which had Hazel cracking into a fit of giggles.

"Stuff, huh?" She lifted him onto the bed and began grabbing her tools and necessary equipment.

"Yeah," He replied, drawing out the word while swinging his feet back and forth.

"Guess what, Hazel?"

"What?"

She turned around and saw him take out a mini Ninja Turtle figure, the blue one.

"I'm going to be a rockstar when I'm a grown-up. You know like play the guitar and stuff,"

He started making the blue Ninja Turtle jump from one of his thighs to the next one, Hazel found it utterly amusing.

"You know what Jamie, I think you'd make an amazing guitarist,"

His hair fell in front of his eyes as he jerked his head up to look at her, his face mirroring confusion. "A what?"

She let out another giggle, her eyes nearly watering from all the laughter. "A rockstar, Jamie."

He grinned and nodded. "Well, I think so too, Hazel."

She hummed and started to give him his check-up.

"Hazel, what's that on your cheek?" He pointed his little finger toward the red mark, Hazel internally sighed at the question.

After dinner last night, Julius was keen on having Hazel sleep at his house last night. But Hazel convinced him enough that both her parents would be sleeping by the time she was home.

He didn't believe her, so he dropped her home and walked her to her front door, checking inside the house to see that it was trashed but both adults were passed out along the couch.

Julius walked her to her room, made sure she was tucked in and safe, and then proceeded to tell her to lock her bedroom door.

She did and she pecked his cheek goodbye, leaving her flustered behind.

The events of last night were almost forgotten. Only because Julius had made her forget, his soothing touches and the words that fell from his mouth that seemed was made purely for her.

"I accidentally slipped walking up a staircase and hit my cheek against the edge of the stair."

Jamie frowned, he looked quite concerned for a five-year old.

"Are you okay, Hazel?" He placed his hand onto her cheek, he could reach her because Hazel was already leaning down checking his heartbeat.

She smiled and pulled his hand away slowly. "If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here treating you, would I?"

He giggled and shook his head, seemingly dusting the situation off.

"So, what's new with you? I heard you have a little crush," She grinned at him as he blushed a deep pink.

"Oh, yes, um," He nervously swung his feet and Hazel sat beside him, pulling the paperwork onto her lap as she began filling it out.

"You want to know a secret?"

Jamie leaned in close, nodding his head numerous times.

"I like someone too,"

Jamie grinned and clapped his hands excitedly and then scooted even closer to Hazel.

"Oo, tell me!"

She shook her head and continued to jot down notes.

"Only if you tell me first,"

He pursed his lips but agreed slowly.

"Her name is Sasha, she's in my class and Miss Stone put us as partners for the Math Quiz of the day,"

Sasha? Hazel thought it was Sarah? Wow, maybe Percy was really bad with names.

"Really? And was she nice to you?"

Jamie shrugged, not sure. "I guess so. She said she liked my reading glasses,"

Hazel gushed and returned to the papers, filling out the bottom part and leaving the rest for Percy to sign and read over.

"And I told her I liked her eyes," He smiled, pointing to his left eye. "She has brown eyes, like chocolate."

"Chocolate's the best though," Hazel said, nodding approvingly.

"It is," Jamie said and sighed, lying his back down on the bed. "Do you have any chocolate, Hazel?"

Nodding, she stood and went over to her candy stash and took out a small Hershey's chocolate.

"That's for being good," She smiled and he gave her the largest grin, thanking her.

"Now tell me who you like." He bit into the chocolate and Hazel tossed some M&M's into her mouth.

"His name is Julius, he was my best friend but I started to like him more than that."

"Did you tell him you liked his eyes?"

Hazel smiled and nodded her head. "I did."

Jamie nodded in approval. "Good."

Percy arrived within the following ten minutes and completed the remainder paperwork, while Hazel assured him that Jamie was doing fine and that he should just get his lenses checked by his eye specialist in case his reading ability had increased.

"Thanks, Hazel, I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded and gave him a fist bump, something they did nowadays instead of saying goodbye.

Jamie waved at Hazel as Percy guided him away, Hazel waved back and suddenly felt for the little boy.

Their home life wasn't that good, Percy's job pays for a decent home and groceries, while Percy's mother is a drug addict, in and out of the home all of the time.

Their father died a few years back just after Jamie was born, and that was when all things went south for the two.

Their mother got into drugs to cope with the pain, and Percy had to step up just as a young teenager to be a parent figure.

The universe could be cruel to some of the best people.

♛♛♛

Hazel was packing.

Two suitcases were already full, now she only had one more.

Hazel decided to keep some of her things here, all the unnecessary things. Like her old diaries, some books she didn't quite love, and her old stuffed toys.

She was only bringing a few of her favourite novels, and also because Julius had a whole library full of them.

In her smaller bag, she would take all the chargers and electronics; such as her laptop, speaker, and two spare sets of earphones. Including her AirPods.

Hazel hardly ever used them, only because she found that they weren't as loud as the earphones. She could still hear everything.

After spending her last hour doing all of that, Hazel was finally happy and approved of her much emptier room.

Shoving the suitcases to one side, Hazel dumped all of her school work onto her bed. She had a few quizzes to uptake, a few online assignments to start, and a simple movie to watch while doing all of that.

But before anything, she wanted to take a long shower and consume all that's happened today and yesterday.

Crying these days has seemed to be a lot more open rather than enclosed. Before she met Julius, she used to cry by herself, comforting herself as she cried into the night.

But now, all she seems to do is cry whenever something terrible happens and it's worse when Julius is around because he always sees her crying.

It was embarrassing but she couldn't lie and say that she didn't like the comfort he brought when she did.

An hour-long shower later, Hazel is in bed with her earphones and she's typing away on her MacBook.

Every time her finger hits a key it feels like the world drops at her feet, her fingers felt as if they were going to numb at some point.

But she did continue, not having a choice for that matter.

She hummed along to Doin' Time by Lana Del Rey, each word memorised in her memory and she smiled listening upon the words, feeling happy at this moment.

That happiness ended as soon as it came because the slow, steady knock on her bedroom door had made everything tense.

That particular knock she knew far too well. It was her father's.

Removing the one earphone, she stood up from her bed, nearly falling due to the two hours she had been sitting for, her weak legs were slightly wobbly.

Slowly, her palm turned the doorknob and as the wooden door opens, she is faced with her numb, looking father.

"Hazel," He motions for him to enter her room, unwillingly she steps aside.

As he steps through, his eyes seem to look everywhere, all around her room. Each step he took in was followed by the breaths of Hazel, her very unsteady breathing.

"You're really leaving, Hazel?" He asks, glancing at the three stacked suitcases. Hazel nods and moves to her bed, taking a seat and swinging her legs.

"Who are you staying with?" He picks up a picture set on her desk, one of her and Liana three years ago.

"What makes you think I'm staying with anybody?" Hazel retorts quietly, her fingers playing with the stuffed penguin she had bought from an aquarium years ago.

He lets out a snort, placing the picture back delicately and turning to her. His tall figure had intimidated her slightly, even though it was her father, he wasn't the same man he was when she was a child.

He used to be sweet. Always telling her goodnight, tucking her into bed, and hugging her always.

Hazel misses the old him, the father who called her beautiful and reminded her that she was the best thing to happen to him and Mum.

But those days are long gone now, as is his loving heart.

"You're not suitable yet to be living on your own, and to be paying rent every month."

Her lips fell into a pout, her eyes saddening as the words hit her greatly.

Hazel was smart. Maybe she could be stupid sometimes, but she thought she was genuinely a smart woman. And she could afford to live by herself, she can clean up after herself, do laundry every day, maybe she couldn't cook but she was willing to learn.

"So, who is it?"

Her father crossed his big arms over his chest, observing her from the wall he leaned against.

"One of my close friends," She replied, not going into depth about who Julius was exactly.

Another breathy sound left his mouth, the distasteful sound left Hazel's heart in the gutter at this point. But his next words hurt her even more.

"You have friends now?" He questioned sarcastically.

Ouch.

Hazel didn't have friends in high school or growing up. Her sister was considered her only friend and she was the only person who stood up for her or invited her to sit with her group during lunch and recess.

Liana was the older sister everyone wished for, and Hazel never took it for granted.

"I do."

He looked at her sceptically, obvious that he was thinking.

"Who? What's her name?"

She shook her head, standing from her bed. Hazel wouldn't tolerate the questions, he had no right to be questioning her when he or his wife couldn't even make an effort to ask her about all of this before she was leaving.

"I have a lot of studying to do, Dad. Do you mind?" She motioned to the door, holding it open for him.

He sighed and moved out of the room, the sound of his footsteps growing heavier and heavier. Her mind was racing with thoughts and curses, her father has never been so rude and blunt. But, she shouldn't have expected anything else.

As she was closing the door, he spoke again making her sigh.

"Just a name, Hazel?"

With another dreadful sigh, she gave in and simply said her hero's name.

"Julius."

And with that, she closed the door. But, she hadn't missed the way his face dropped amongst hearing the name, she questioned it but Hazel wasn't going to ask why.

No, she definitely wasn't.

♛♛♛

Tuesday had finally come around for Hazel.

After the dreadful talk with her father the other night, she had been avoiding them ever since. It seemed that their drunken nights had stopped for just one night.

They still drank, but it was quiet. Very quiet.

It was so quiet that Hazel genuinely thought they had drunk themselves to death. She ended up racing down the stairs to see if they were okay, and they were. Sitting silently and destroying their liver.

Hazel realised then that last night would be the end of the interminable torment. And she couldn't help but feel even better than she already did.

Her classes went by fairly quick, Percy wasn't in today, which wasn't anything new. He took fairly a lot of time off during the week, and when he was in, he'd always message Hazel if she wanted to grab a hot chocolate with him or lunch.

She hadn't talked to Julius since that night they were together, he hasn't messaged her either, but she assumed he'd be coming to hers tonight.

This leads us all to now, where she laid on her bed for the last time, looking up at the patterned ceiling that could never satisfy her with any secret messages indicating that she was a lost princess.

A loud roar came from outside, an engine that could only be known as Julius' car. Her heart jerked at the mere sound of it, launching her off her bed and toward her closed, bedroom window.

His car was parked outside, and as his door swung open, she leapt out of the window's view and made her way down the stairs.

The falls of her breathing exhilarated quickly, her excitement was so barely heightened she wouldn't even think she'd be able to talk.

As she swung her front door open, her eyes met Julius' who was just walking up the short set of stairs.

"Hi, Juls!" She ran up to him, swinging her short arms around his waist and hugging him so tightly that she was surely going to hurt her arms. But she didn't care.

She felt his full lips press against the side of her head, the sweet caress of his affection had her internally gushing and falling.

"Hey, Angel."

His voice seemed lower today, much quieter too.

It could only mean he wasn't too happy, probably to do with work she assumed.

"I'm excited," She said, still holding onto him.

Letting out a breath of air, that seemed a lot like a laugh of some sort, he soothed her hip with his hand while his arm loosely hugged her back.

"All your bags upstairs?" Julius whispered gently into her ear and she nodded, slowly pulling her head back.

"Yeah, I couldn't carry them by myself. These muscles can only do so much," She patted her arm, letting go of him completely now.

And then Julius let out a short chuckle, which opened Hazel's mind up to the fact he was grumpy seconds ago, she had managed to make him laugh amongst that.

"Go wait in the car, I'll bring them down."

She moved behind him to get to the car, but he took her hand and effortlessly spun her around to face him.

With shocked eyes, a fast, beating heart, Hazel felt his lips capture hers within seconds.

One hand pressed into the small of her back, pulling her to his chest. And the other was deep into the thick hair behind her head.

Her body swelled with butterflies, and the sensation of his sweet lips exploring hers blindly made her melt.

Pulling away, his forehead rested beside her head. Each breath of his caressed her ear, each breath of hers fell into the darkness, so many feelings but the smile on her lips was enough to tell what she felt the most.

"Sorry, darling," He rasped into her ear, his voice deep and menacing but in a way where he didn't sound apologetic at all.

She could feel him all over her, from the brush of his lips against her lobe to the large hand against her back, and then to the hand tangled in her red hair.

"I had to do it, you're irresistible."

She snatched the keys from his grip and kissed his cheek before rushing back down the stairs. While he walked inside the house and she trailed towards the car, she could hear his breathy laugh behind her.

When she got inside the car, she slid into the passenger seat and inhaled the scent of new leather and of him.

Mangos.

Hazel witnessed as he exited the house with her two bags. His shoulders rolled back, arms bulged with muscle, his tattoos appeared significant and the veins popping from his hands and continuing up his flesh had her feet rolling back and forth on the surface.

Weird feelings circulated her stomach again, going down, and down, until reaching her core.

Letting out a breath of frustration and with the mix of her being physically uncomfortable, Hazel kept still as he dumped the suitcases into the back and then carried his long legs back into the house for her last bag.

As she waited, her feet moved again below her, which caused something under her seat to move too.

She frowned, moving her foot away and immediately reaching her hand under the seat to fix what she had moved.

But her hands only received the feel of cool metal, the medium-sized handle fitting around the base of her palm, and for some reason, Hazel knew what it was.

With a scared gasp, she let go of the object and it fell in front of her feet.

The gun had impacted immediate flashbacks running through her mind, the last time she had touched this weapon was when—

Exiting the car, a small sob escaped her mouth and she tightly shut her eyes, trying to keep silent.

She sat on the curb, breathing deeply looking at her feet, trying to focus on the smells, feelings and sounds. Something she'd known to do when having a panic attack.

Tears kept pooling down, but she was silent as she cried, reminding her of older times.

When footsteps were heard behind her, and the house closing too, that was what she focused on.

Focusing on the heavy steps heading her way, which sounded rather quick.

The suitcase dropped, and a figure loomed over her as if she could just feel the slight concern drawn on his features, those deep brows arched into concern as his face remained emotionless.

Hands went under her arms, warm arms that comforted her immediately.

"Shh, you're okay Hazel," He whispered softly, those sweet hums rumbling off of him and vibrating into her heart.

Her hands shook as she clutched the side of his arms, the feeling of the fabric had her fingertips memorising the cotton.

"You're safe," He said again, his arm rubbing up and down her back, pulling her aching head to his chest as he held her safely.

As his words absorbed through her, the fire within her slowly, minute by minute, decreased its flame.

Her hammering heart and trembling body were safe in his hands, under his touch and grasp, drawing a tranquillity over her that she had never known existed.

"Take a deep breath, Hazel," He said into her ear and then moved his hands to release her face in front of his.

Through blurred eyes, his features slowly came into sight properly and the face of Julius made that heart of hers steady ever so slowly.

"Ready," He says, taking a silent breath in through his nose, she watched his chest rise and halt, while her own followed his too.

And then as he exhaled through his nose, Hazel exhaled through her mouth slowly and shakily.