Walk Away h.s punk/au

30.

September wasn’t a good month for Katherine. She cried from the moment she got home from school to the moment she left. It was hard to know that I couldn’t do anything as she just spiraled. She was a young, beautiful girl that deserved the world and she could barely get out of bed in the morning. Aaron and I had managed to get a handle on her drinking and limited how much she was around because she wiped out when she was wasted.

I sat at work with Aaron hating every second of it but what else did I have to do? I could be holding Katherine and making sure she was safe, that would’ve been okay. I stared at the computer screen biting my lip at the thought of Katherine and how easily she trusted me. She just melted into me and it was a pleasant change. Her innocent brown eyes always seemed to cave into me, trusting every move I made. Her demeanor was far different now than before the break up. Before she critically analyzed every move I made, trusting Harry and only Harry. There was something wondrous and childlike in how she trusted people. It was a one-time deal with her. You break it, you buy it seemed to fit her heart.

Glancing at the screen saver I realized I had done nothing productive in the past fifteen minutes. Sighing I glanced over the cubicle to Aaron who was folding paper airplanes out of memos. It was Friday and no one wanted to be here. Leaning back in my chair and swiveled around, enjoying the hypnotic rotation. My thoughts crept back to Katherine and the nights I spent with her. The way she curled up to my chest, resting her head near my heart and I wondered if that’s how she slept with Harry. I knew I wasn’t Harry. Harry was her first love, her first date, her first kiss, her first time, her first heart break. Harry would always hold a place in her heart. He’d always own her heart. I decided that I didn’t want to own her heart I just wanted to fix it up because Katherine wasn’t Gemma. She’d never be Gemma. Gemma Anne Styles was and always will be the person who kept me up at night. She’d always make me regret leaving. She’d make me damn my family for leaving her. She’d always be around because she gave me Leo. She would always be my wife. Even if I ever remarried, they couldn’t possibly be Gemma. That included Katherine.

Despite this, I wanted Katherine. I wanted her in every meaning of the word. I wanted to hold her, I wanted to love her, I wanted to take care of her, I wanted to feel her soft skin rubbing against mine. I knew this would take time though. Katherine needed to heal before I tried anything, so for now I’d be her best friend, looking after her like any best friend would, but once she was better I’d make my move.

Drumming my fingers on the desk I kept glancing to the clock, desperately wanting an escape. The manager of our floor approached my desk. “Nick, there’s a call for you, hook up your phone like I asked and answer it.”

He left, checking to see what Aaron was doing. Turning on the company phone I picked up the black cord, putting the ear piece to my ear. “Hello.” I said drearily.

“Is this Nick Sanchez?” I didn’t recognize the voice on the other end but said that it was in fact me. “Um, your listed as an emergency contact for Katherine Sweeny one of my employees.”

The heartwarming news that Katherine made me an emergency contact side tracked me momentarily from the main issue, that something was wrong with Katherine.  “Is she okay?” I realized that wasn’t one of my brighter moments because she obviously wasn’t for them to be calling.

“Ah, well, see that depends on how you classify okay. She’s a doll, really, and seeing her like this is very disturbing. She just broke down and has locked herself in the bathroom. I wouldn’t think she’d hurt herself, but I just don’t know what to do.”