"How stupid can you be? It's really not that big of a deal, doll." Scott laughed, casually slumped on the couch. He can't be serious. This is a big deal.

"Oh so you think cheating on me is okay?!" I shouted. "This is the third. time." I spoke through gritted teeth. "I know damn well, if it were me you wouldn't be saying 'it's not a big deal.'"

Scott stood up from the couch and slowly walked over to me, towering over me and making me lose all confidence in myself. I coward, shrinking in my own skin.

"You watch your mouth when you talk to me, you hear?" He said lowly, his hot breathe right at my face. My breathing picked up and I closed my eyes, scared of what was going to happen next. I braced myself for the impact. Scott's hand gripped the roots of my hair, tugging hard.

A yelp escaped my mouth but I refused to cry in front of him. With one shove, he slammed me against the wall, there was instant pain to my head. I winced, he let go of me and I fell to the floor and he proceeded to kick me. Over and over again.

"You think that I care about your opinion??" He laughed. He bent down and grabbed my hair again forcing me back up to my feet. "You are nothing without me. Nothing." He spat.

A gasp left my lips as I jolted up from the bed. I frantically looked around the room, terrified of who was in it with me but relaxed when I saw that I was safe, in my room, in the Style's household.

I checked my phone, 3:30 AM.

I got up and went to the restroom, I splashed some water on my face and stared at the mirror. I could see it. I could see everything. Every scar that once littered my face and my arms. My hand grazed my left cheek, a very faded scar laid across it. Very faded, but unforgettable. In passing, you'd never be able to see it, especially when I wear make up. But I see it, I don't think I'll ever not see it.

"You are nothing." I repeated the words that played in my head.

I walked to the kitchen, deciding it was best to just grab a cup of tea, there's no point in trying to get back to sleep. I never can after a nightmare like that.

I sat in the living room, debating if I wanted to watch tv or just stare out the window.

"Anastasia?" I lifted my head up to see Harry rubbing his eyes at the doorway of the living room.

"Hi.. Sorry, did I wake you? Why are you awake?" I shifted upright in my spot on the couch. Harry slowly walked to me and then plopped next to me.

"I heard some noises, just wanted to make sure there were no intruders." His voice was low and he was clearly tired, he talked slower than normal.

"Just me.." I said softly, my finger ran over the rim of the mug softly. Harry's hand grazed over mine before taking the mug from my hand and bringing it to his lips.

"That's mine, sir." I pouted, Harry let out a small chuckle before handing it back to me.

"Is there a reason why you're awake?" He asked hesitantly. I just shrugged, letting my head fall back on the couch.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, I think Harry understood I needed this. I needed to sit in silence for a moment. We both knew it was a bit of a mentally rough day.

"You don't have to talk about it." He spoke so softly, like I would break if he talked too loud. I nodded my head, lost in my own thoughts to even fully pay attention to what he was saying. My mind kept thinking back to my dream, I haven't had a dream about him in so long. It's like flashbacks of when we were together, after I realized how awful he actually treated me, it haunted me.

I guess talking to Harry about it a few days ago triggered something in my brain, and now I'm finding myself scared to fall asleep yet again.

"I have these... nightmares." I say softly. Harry looked at me, his eyes were droopy but he was paying attention to my words. "About Scott." I said. I let out a huff, not sure where I wanted this conversation to go.

"I don't know, like flashbacks. I used to get them a lot, but they kind of went away a few months ago." I shrugged. "It's just hard to sleep.. when you know you'll be reminded of the past." I said, surprisingly I felt comfortable enough to talk about this.

Harry lifted his arm and put it around my shoulder, bringing me close to lean my head on him.

"What happens in the dreams?" He asked softly.

"Just.. everything I guess. It's different every time, sometimes they repeat but.. It's just arguing, shouting, belittling, the pain.. both mentally and physically." I said quietly. "I spent 3 years with him.. That's a lot of memories in my brain." I chuckled, a lot of horrid memories. "Sometimes it's different scenarios of what could have happened if I stayed. More beatings, more arguments, more pain." I muttered.

"There were so many times that I felt like nothing.. He made me think that without him I wouldn't know how to live. That he was the only person that could ever love me." I sighed. "If there's one thing to describe that man, it would be manipulative. He was so manipulative.. I thought I was crazy.." Before I knew it, tears fell down my cheek. I hated this, I hated crying in front of anyone, I hated showing weakness.

"To some degree, I'm glad that I was able to grow from this.. that I went through what I went though because I had to. There's not a moment in my entire life that I felt weaker than when I was with him.." My eyebrows knitted together as I spoke, my heart tightened with pain as I thought about every little thing Scott did to me.

Scott controlled every part of me when we were together. He decided who my friends were, he decided what I wore, he decided where I worked. Everything had to be ran by him, I wasn't even my own person. I was just a being. Scott was so good at gaslighting me. Whenever I fought back or even tried to have a say, he would gaslight me and make me think that this is what I wanted.

"It was 3 years of torture basically. I thought I was losing my mind.." I whispered sadly, I wiped the tears from my face and sniffled my snot back up my nose, this is not a pretty site to see.

"I'm sorry for what he did to you." Harry said, his thumb stroked my arm soothingly. "I don't know the extent of everything, but nobody deserves to go through what you went through.. especially someone like you."

"What does that mean?" I laughed, taking a sip of my tea. "Someone like me?"

"Anastasia, I haven't known you for very long. Not long at all, but I am fully aware of the person you are." He spoke a little louder. "You are a brilliant, vibrant, loving and caring young woman. A woman that always puts others needs before her own. You deserve so much Anastasia, you are a fighter. The more I learn about you, the more I'm amazed." I sat up from my position and looked at Harry as he spoke, he had a small grin on his face as he spoke.

"I don't trust people very easily, Anastasia. But I trust you with my life. With the kids lives. There's not a lot of good souls in this evil world.. I'm just glad I found you, angel." Harry raised his hand to graze my cheek, his finger pushed my hair out of my face. My heart swelled at his words. I like when he calls me angel.

"Thank you Harry." I said, putting the mug on the coffee table and engulfing him in a hug. "Nobody's ever said anything like to me ever." I whispered.

"Well it looks like I'll have to do it more often now." He smiled at me. "You look really beautiful with your hair down by the way..." His eyes grazed over my face repeatedly. I gasped and my hand flew to my hair. I didn't even realize that my hair wasn't in its usual ponytail. My eyes widened and I hastily tried to bunch my hair up as fast as I could.

Harry's immediately tackled me and pushed me down so that I was laying on the couch, his hands pinned mine on either side of my head. He was so close.

"You are absolutely beautiful. And if you're comfortable with it, I would like to see you like this more often." He said gently. "Uhh.. I meant, with your hair down.." Harry stuttered and blushed. I didn't say anything, just nodded my head.

"Uhh.." I said softly, not sure what was happening. I looked at the position we were in, Harry straddled me, my hands pinned down. This was a delicate moment but gosh I just wanted to kiss him right now.

"Anastasia." My eyes snapped to his, his face was very close to my own.

"Ha-" I was cut off with his lips gently placed on top of mine. He didn't move, just held his lips to mine, it took me a few seconds to register what was actually happening, I smiled and finally pushed my lips up into his.

Harry let go of my wrists and I immediately tangled them in his hair, his arms wrapped around my waist and he flipped us so that we were both laying on our sides. He placed one of his hands on my cheek and stroked it gently.

This kiss was slow and gentle, it was sweet and not very long. But it was enough to leave a wide grin on my face. It was enough to get me to forget about the nightmares, to forget about Scott. All that mattered was Harry and the way his arms were tightly wrapped around me right now.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that.." Harry whispered, his hand still stroking my cheek softly. His eyes landed on the skin he was touching, his finger grazed one spot in particular. The same spot that my eyes gravitate towards when I stare at my bare face in the mirror.

"Did he.." His eyebrows furrowed together and his eyes filled with concern. I grabbed his hand and placed it on my lips, kissing the pad of his thumb softly and nodded.

"It's okay, though." I said, placing more small kisses on his finger. "I'm okay, now." I said sincerely. I wanted to say, I'm okay now, with you.

Harry huffed slightly, but his face softened, his arms wrapped around me even tighter, bringing me closer to him.

"Let's just go to sleep now." He whispered and I happily nodded my head in agreement.

We slept in each others arms on the living room couch. It was the best sleep I'd had in a long time.