Yellow || hs au

| 90 |

—

April.

Harry

   The sky is completely cloudless and a shade of blue that makes everything in the world feel right, even though it's not. The sun is shining brightly, bringing warmth into the air after a long time without it. My arms are crossed over my chest as I stare out the window of my room. The fenced in courtyard is filled with so many patients, most of them are laying in the grass, soaking up the nice weather, others are tossing footballs and frisbees. It's practically May now, only a few days until the month begins, and I'm relieved.

I sigh quietly to myself as I turn away from the window, facing the bare and empty room I've lived in for six months. The bed is stripped of the sheets and my suitcase is packed and placed by the door next to the smaller backpack filled with my necessities. I stare at them for a moment, remembering how shitty I felt the first time I got here. I didn't unpack for a few days, I barely left my room. All I could do was miss Clover. And now, I get to see her in a few hours, and it feels unreal.

I glance at the clock on the wall, and it's just a few minutes past twelve. My parents should be arriving in about an hour to pick me up. I wanted Clover to be the one to come and get me, but today is her last exam of the year and she wouldn't have had time. I haven't gotten to talk to her much this week at all, she's been studying nonstop and I didn't want to distract her. I've talked to Zayn quite a bit, he says she's doing really well and that makes me feel a little bit better about the lack of communication between us this past week.

"Styles? You in here?" My thoughts are interrupted by Ricks voice flooding through the door before he pushes it open. He peeks his head in, our gazes meeting almost immediately before he steps inside fully. A wide smile breaks out onto his face, slightly hidden from the growing stubble around his face. "How's it feel?" He questions, closing the door behind him and leaning against it, crossing his arms over his chest. The dark circles under his eyes are more noticeable than normal, reaching almost all the way around his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I ask, Rick chuckling and holding his hands out with his palms faces towards the ceiling. He gestures to my packed bags and empty room, his widened eyes finding my own. He stares at me like I'm insane for not understanding.

"You're getting the hell out of here, going back home to your girl!" He exclaims with a laugh, dropping his arms to his side as he lets out an exasperated sigh. "That's gotta be such a good feeling, man." He states, shaking his head at me. He still holds a smile on his face that doesn't reach to his eyes, the sweatpants covering his legs are baggy and he stares down at them for a long moment.

"Oh. . . It's a good feeling, yeah." I shrug, slowly moving to sit in the small wooden desk chair where I spent a lot of my time here. I turn it to face towards Rick, who is now stood staring at my bags, the smile on his face gone. "Feels kind of weird, y'know? Like it's not real." I try explaining. Rick glances up at me, his lips pursed tightly together in a line as he slowly nods his head at me.

I swallow hard, dropping my gaze to my hands that are clasped tightly together in my lap, my knees spread apart. This might be the first time I've ever sat with Rick and been silent. Usually the two of us get into good conversations, neither of us caring what it's about. I just think it keeps us both sane and neither of us like to necessarily be alone in a place like this. Sometimes it's good to have some time to yourself, but most of the time I'd rather be around other people. It makes the days go by faster. But nights, they go incredibly slow. And all of the thoughts you manage to distract yourself from during the day, come back full force the minute your door closes for the night.