All Chapters of Collide In Plain Sight: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

PierceI don't need to wait for my alarm to go off. I'm already wide awake, just waiting until I can roll out of bed to make Harlow breakfast. It had been nearly a week since out first swim in the pool and Harlow had seemed to finally be settling in with me. She didn't look nervous every time I walked into the same room as her and she even started asking me to do things with her. She started to learn how to paint as well and seemed to actually be enjoying it. She had spent a lot of time in the pool, floating around in the warm water on a giant blow up flamingo I ordered for her. She looked relaxed and like she was enjoying this respite instead of constantly being wary of her surroundings. As soon as my alarm beeps, I jump out of bed and hurry to shower and get dressed. I bustle down the stairs, straining my ears for any movement in Harlow's room, but it's quiet. I walk towards the kitchen, confusion rippling through me when I hear the banging of pots and pans. When I walk in the room

Harlow"Pierce!" I shout up the stairs as I struggle to carry a box up from storage in the basement. "Yes, love?" he asks, appearing at the top of the stairs. "Can you help me with this?" I ask."Of course." he responds, hurrying down the stairs. I grin to myself as he hurries to help me, thinking how nice it would have been to have him around when I was moving into my house. That couch was a bitch to get through the door. I follow him up the stairs and towards the dining room where he sets the box down on the table. "What is it?" he asks. I shrug, feigning ignorance. "It says antiques on the side. I was really just curious and the light down there is bad." I explain. He nods and plants a kiss to my head before turning towards the kitchen. "You hungry, sweetheart?" he asks. "No." I respond quickly. Too quickly. He turns to look at me suspiciously, but I just smile at him. "What?" I ask. "Nothing. I'll be in my office if you need anything else." he says, going to walk by me to

HarlowI'm woken at some point in the middle of the night by a strange sound that I'm not familiar with. It's pitch dark outside, still the middle of the night so I lay quietly in bed, waiting to see if I hear it again. A strangled sound comes from outside my room, making my heart start to pound in my chest. I push up from the bed and tip toe over to the door, pressing my ear against it. A moment later I recognize the sounds of retching and instead of being worried there's an intruder in the house, I'm worried about Pierce. I walk out into the hall and towards his door, knocking gently. He doesn't answer and I hesitate for a moment. "Pierce?" I call out. "I'm alright." I hear him call back weakly. "You don't sound alright." I shoot back, my hand hovering over his doorknob."Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm fine." he says before he lets out a tortured groan. "That's it. I'm coming in." I warn him, pushing his door open. It's dark in his room other than the light filtering in from hi

HarlowAfter a day or so of feeling like shit and then another day of eating mostly crackers and bananas, both Pierce and I seemed to be back to our normal selves. Although the newfound closeness we had from being sick together had stuck around. I was still sleeping in his bed at night, although we spent most of our days still lounging around so it wasn't really an active choice, more like just a happy accident. I didn't hate it. In fact, it was kind of nice to roll over in the middle of the night to reach for him and find him close to me. He seemed to be enjoying it too. I usually woke up to him wrapped around me, clinging to me in his sleep like he was scared I would disappear. He had even started working from bed on his laptop. It was interesting listening to him talk to his employees. He sounded calm, knowledgeable and professional.Then he would hang up the call and say it could have been an email. He's my spirit animal. So when he rolled out of bed on the third morning and pu

HarlowHe said he loves me. He said he loves me, and I want to believe it. I really do."You love me?" I ask, trying to swallow around the lump in my throat. He chuckles a little and leans forward to press his lips softly against mine. I feel him smile against me and I tighten my arms around him, wanting to stay just like this forever. He pulls away slowly and reaches his hand up to hold my face gently. It's wet, but I don't care. It still feels so good. "Of course I do, sweetheart. I think I've loved you from the moment I first saw you. At first it was more about obsession, attraction. But the more I got to know you, the deeper I fell. You're not just beautiful, Harlow. You're intelligent, kind, funny, sarcastic. You're perfect." he murmurs as his eyes trace my face so reverently I feel like he's trying to memorize ever detail. "And now I'm completely at your mercy." "Pierce, I-" I start, but he cuts me off with a gentle peck to my lips. "You don't have to say it back. Actually,