After the End: Book 3

57. Back to Work

Harry's POV

I woke up on Monday morning and immediately battled the urge to vomit. I didn't even process where I was or who was around. I just sat straight up and battled the entire body nausea that took over my entire being. My head spun and my mouth was dry. I had to blink several times before I registered consciousness well enough to take several controlled breaths.

When I was certain I wasn't about to vomit like the worlds most disgusting geyser, I focused myself enough to stop my vision from swimming. I took in my surrounding and the memories came flooding back.

I was in Corys house. I'd been there for the past 3 nights of the weekend, since Friday. The previous two nights, I'd slept on the sofa, but I was in her bed this time. I was on top of sheets wearing sweats that here too big for me. I thought they might have been ashes. The drawstring was pulled tight to keep them above my waist. The tshirt I was wearing was Corys. It was tight and plain and black but the breast pocket had a flower on it.

I looked to either side and found that I was alone in the bed. The room was quiet and empty but I could hear movement elsewhere in the house. I had no idea what time it was. Like the previous days, I didn't remember going to bed. I always remembered the mornings, but never the nights which had been the goal. I remembered Cory promising to watch a movie and black out with me on Friday and I'd convinced her that was a good way to pass the weekend away. At least I'd convinced her to stand back and let me handle my time that way. All I had to do was agree not to get out of hand. I supplied coke and she supplied drinks and we had an objectively good time as far as I could recall.

Each night, after her friends had gone away, we'd grabbed a bottle and turned on a movie and I'd forget anything that happened after that. I'd wake up in the morning without memories. It was pleasant. It made sleeping easier. It made sleep last longer.

Cory was pleasant about my plan the first two nights, but the previous night she'd wanted me to go home. She'd had Ash over for sex and he'd complained about my presence in her house again, which was probably due to my intentionally subtle taunting. She'd come out of her room to find me on the sofa eating crisps and setting up lines of coke. I'd been taking Xanax like candy but she found that pretty tame compared to what I'd done before so my drug use wasn't bothering her. She'd looked tense when she'd come out fo speak to me, as if her entire body was displaying the nerves she felt in her brain. She'd been wearing a shirt so loose and see through, I could actually see her nipples and rigid shoulders. I'd offered her a Xanax at the sight and she'd raised her eyebrows before telling me I probably needed to get back to my own flat.

I'd refused. It had been a very casual rejection and she'd seemed surprised by it. She'd looked down at me like she wanted to argue, but  then she'd just shaken her head and smiled at me like she felt bad about something.  Then she  went back to the bedroom.

Yelling had ensued behind the closed door. I let it go on for a moment as I tried to register the words. My head had been foggy, but I deciphered both of their voices back and forth. I couldn't tell what they were arguing about but I gathered that Ash's voice was aggressive and angry and I absolutely wasn't about to ignore that.

I had risen from my place, walked across to the bedroom door and flung it open as loudly as I could. Cory had stood across the room from him with wide eyes and hunched shoulders. Ash was across from her, shirtless and angry. His fists had been clenched at his sides and when he took in my entrance to the room, he'd cut off mid yell.

My eyes had scanned the space. Cory looked defensive. Her back was up against the dresser and everything about her screamed intimidated which I didn't see on her often. Ash looked aggressive. He looked how he looked when he wanted to hit me. He looked how he looked when he actually had hit me the one time before I'd floored him.