shorts || h.s.

epilogue one

It was a good day, in Harry's opinion. He hadn't broken down that day. He remembered to take every pill. The sun was shining, but not too bright. The breeze was small, just barely pushing back his baby hairs. There were a few clouds decorating the blue sky, slowly turning dark.

As he stood on his balcony, gripping onto the bars every time something interrupted his peaceful silence, he watched the sun go up. He stayed there until it disappeared again, enveloping the rural area in darkness. He took a deep breath, knowing his good day was coming to an end.

The television snapped on in the living room behind him as the stars started to come out of hiding. His nurse began bustling around the room, tidying up broken glass and shattered frames from last night. She muttered things as she cleaned up his mess, very well knowing there would probably be another one in about an hour. He knew she caught a glance at him standing in the darkness because she started mumbling curse words at herself.

"Harry," she beckoned, pleading him to return inside before the darkness affects him again. "You know you aren't supposed to be in the dark, love," she cooed.

He backed up, staring at the full moon, returning into the artificial light. The nurse waddled around him and pulled the doors closed.

"Margo, you don't have to do this," Harry monotoned. He was sincere, keeping up his grateful character, but everyone, even he, knew something was gone from him. They could hear it in the tone of his voice and see it in the color of his skin.

Margo was a short little lady, small and round. She had the biggest blue eyes to match her short curly black hair and her almost white skin. She always wore sweatpants with a tee shirt with a tourist attraction logo on it. Harry admired her for taking care of him day after day. She was always there, seven o'clock, on the dot, to clean up after him and care for him.

"Of course I do, dear, it's no problem," she smiled at him. He nodded. Harry noticed she was shaking.

"Margo," he started. She stopped folding the blanket and looked at him. "Why are you trembling?" He asked.

Her smile dropped and she gently laid the blanket down. She smoothed it out and locked her moving hands together. "I have to show you something, Harry," she mumbled.

"What is it?" He asked, scooting away from her because of her tone of voice he had never heard before. She was frightened.

"Do you remember Connor?" Margo asked, wincing a bit, ready to take the blow.

"Yes," Harry replies calmly, nodding slowly.

"She's made a video, on YouTube. You're nearly the only person in the world who hasn't seen it," she explained, twiddling her thumbs.

"Alright," he nodded.

It was only minutes before Harry was hunched over his coffee table where the laptop laid, his bum halfway off of the couch already. Her hair was pin straight, something he'd never seen her do before. The background was black, making her eyes pop out at him, bringing a prickly stab to his eyes. His trembling arm wanted to reach out and hold her, but she wasn't there.

"Harry, I know you don't want to watch this, but it's been about two weeks since she's put this up and it's gotten almost a billion views already. I really think you should see it . . . ." Margo trailed off, leaving him alone in the comfort of the dark room lit by the screen in which she was seen on.

He pressed the space bar gently, hesitantly letting the video play. He took note of the time at the bottom: five minutes exactly. There was silence for four seconds until she began.

Her head tilted to the left a bit, something she always did when she was speaking to people she didn't know. "Hi," she squeaked, pulling at Harry's heartstrings. "I'm Connor Hollick, and I was raped by Harry Styles.

"I'm sure most of you out there already know the full story, and if not, it's still on every single tabloid and website, even after two years. So, catch up on that before you finish watching the video.

"I'm not here to share details and gossip. I'm here to tell you my story. I'm making this to show you that it might not seem like it gets any better and that everything is over, but it's okay. I've been through therapy for two whole years and I still hurt everyday, but I'm better.

"This video is part of my healing process. A couple days following the incident, I told my friend that I wanted everyone to know what he did to me, but for all the wrong reasons. I hated him with ever fiber in my body and I just wanted him to hurt, too. I've realized that I don't want to expose him, I just want everyone to know that this can happen to anyone.

"I was so close with Harry. He was my favorite person in the whole world, my best friend, and my love. I never had a single thought that he would ever lay a hand on me. And I'm sure he didn't think he would either. But it did happen, and there's no erasing that. Your rapist can be anyone. It can be your dad, boyfriend, brother, friend, or a complete stranger.

"That doesn't mean you should live your life in fear. Every good memory I have is with Harry. He's a terrific guy, best I've ever met. He just made the mistake of a lifetime. Let loose and enjoy every minute of your life, but just be cautious. Protect yourself, make smart decisions, and don't trust anyone.

"I trusted Harry with my entire life, with everything I had. After the incident, I've learned the most important lesson in life. Trust is only an illusion. Trust is just a word people use to say that they care about someone. Trust doesn't actually exist, we've just all been fooled.

"I was wearing shorts that day. My favorite shorts because Harry always kept the flat warm and cozy. I knew he was on edge that day and trying to distract himself with anything he could. He subconsciously found a distraction in my arse. I knew I should've changed my pants, but I trusted him. And that was my bad.

"Now, in no way am I saying this was my fault, but I just want everyone to know that you need to believe in yourself before you build up faith in anyone else. Because trust doesn't exist. You can love someone all you want and believe in them and have them believe in you, but never give them any responsibility concerning you. That never ends well.

"But, it does get better. You will heal and you will bruise and you will scar, but in the end, you're your own favorite person because you fought through it and overcame the challenge of a lifetime," she finished, flicking the camera off. Harry watched the screen go black for the rest of the six seconds before he slammed it shut.

He was happy. She was happy. She's okay. She's alright. She's better. And he was smiling.

"Harry?" Margo rushed in. "Are you okay, darling?" She gushed.

"Yeah, I'm perfect," he spoke, emotion floating through his words.

"Why are you smiling?" She panicked.

"Cause she's happy," he shrugged, heading off to catch up on hours upon hours of lost sleep.

alright so ahem that's the first one.

you can begin asking questions now, whether it's about the book, the characters, or me. Please ask some because I know for a fact all of you are itching to know at least one thing. pleaaaaase :)I'll answer them  in "questions/answers" them after the author's note.