This Was Home [h.s.]

| 19. BREAK-IN |

Brin's POV

"Harry?" My fingers gently wrapped around one of his shoulders as I shook him.

He was in that dazed state again. His eyes were opened, but they appeared glazed over. He was physically there, but that seemed be it. I wasn't sure what to do about it either.

"Harry?" I softly cooed once more.

That time broke him out of his trance. His eyes blinked slowly. A confused look etched onto his face when his eyes finally met mine.

"Brin?" He roughly croaked out.

He leveraged his arms out in order to sit back up. He looked side to side and then placed his contact back on to me. He shook his head, a small laugh escaping his lips. It sounded strained and slightly forced.

"Sorry, guess I zoned out for a second," he said as he scratched the back of his neck.

My eyebrows scrunched on my forehead and I shrugged. "Seems like it."

I continued to peer at him from the side. He still looked a little out of it, but he showed more signs of life compared to a few minutes ago. I averted my gaze away from him, looking at the ground below.

Harry's truck reflected beams of light from the sun that shone down on it. Dust and debris had encrusted itself on the sides of vehicle and windshield. I probably needed a shower as much as his car did.

But I knew we had to leave soon. We still had about 14 hours left of driving to make it to Uncle Dan's. If we were careful, we could be there in 2 days.

I steadied myself with my hands as I stood up. My body swung around to head for the window to go back inside. My hands braced against the frame and I peeked over my shoulder.

Harry hadn't moved. He continued to look out past the trees and toward the factory. I wondered what all went down there—what all Harry had to see down there. I rid myself of the thought and walked back over to him.

I was half-worried that he had gotten stuck in that trance-like state again. My hand lightly rested onto his shoulder, his head reactively shooting behind him. His eyes scanned me up and down and I watched the tension physically loosen from his body moments later as he twisted around again.

"Should we go?" I questioned.

He obviously was uneasy about something. I had to tread on eggshells with my words. I didn't want to say anything that would make him snap or become entranced again.

"Yeah, let's go," Harry said under his breath.

He pushed himself off the shingled roof, shooting a faint smile before passing me. I brushed it off. There was no need to keep thinking so deep about what was going on in his brain. It was exhausting sometimes.