You are Home // H.S

00. Prologue

Harry

Didn't I just fall asleep? Why on earth is my alarm already ringing? I reach over to press snooze on my phone, though only a few seconds later the violent thing is going off again.

Bloody Hell.

I open my eyes, realizing it is still dark outside. It was most definitely not time to get up yet. The noise my phone is making is still echoing through my mind, and as my head comes out of its sleepy state, I realize that it isn't my alarm that woke me. Someone is calling me. Immediately I snatch the phone from the nightstand, and my heart seems to stop beating as I see who is calling me.

No. Please be okay. Please don't be hurt.

My head starts playing through the worst possible scenarios I could imagine, yet I hoped that everything was okay.

Maybe she just needs a lift home. Maybe everything is okay.

But the films that are playing out in my mind won't stop. And I can't seem to shake off the feeling that something went horribly wrong.

I answer the phone, the same thoughts repeating themselves over and over again. Please be okay. Please don't be hurt.

"Elle?" I whisper, worry clearly noticeable in my voice.

"H-Harry..." I hear her cry out my name on the other end of the line and my heart immediately shatters in two. 

Please be okay. Please don't be hurt. 

"P-please, help me." Her voice is merely a whisper, in between sobs, an uneasy feeling starting to spread through my body.

I can't think clearly anymore, now. I need to get to her. Fast. Immediately I jump out of bed and make my way to the closet. Quickly, I snatch some joggers from the ground, putting them on before I make my way down the stairs.

"Elle?" I exclaim, unable to get out more because I am simply out of breath. I need to calm down. I can freak out when I have her safe in my arms. For now, I need to get to her first.

"Are you home, Elle? Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay." I press out as fast as I can.

"H-home." She sobs, as I grab the keys off the counter and slip into some shoes.

He hurt her. Why else would she be calling me? I should've done more when I had the chance. She shouldn't even be in that relationship anymore. I know that she thought about ending things. But I thought she wanted to do that soon. Before something could happen again. 

I should have said more. But I didn't. Too afraid to say anything, that may scare her away. I just got her back in my life. I didn't want to lose her already.

"Please, hurry. I- I'm scared, Harry." But hearing her like this, her voice merely a shadow of her broken self, already had me feeling like I lost her.

"I'm on my way now. Stay where you are, love. Do you understand?"

I could hear an almost non-audible noise, as she tries to answer me, indicating that she understood what I am asking of her.

"I'll be there soon, Elle," I state as I jump into my car and start the engine. 

As much as it pains me to hang up on her, I need to get there as fast as possible. But it doesn't matter that she isn't on the phone anymore. The horrible thoughts about what might have happened won't leave my mind as I speed down the streets, trying to get to her as quickly as I could.

He hurt her. Badly. She would never call me if it wasn't bad. She didn't even tell me about the first few incidents. If I wouldn't have noticed the bruises, she would have never said a word. Oh, God.

The severity of the situation dawns on me as I speed down the street, the streetlights flying past me as I get to 100. I try to regulate my breath in order to not start sobbing. But I can't hold it in. 

I am scared for her. I am scared for myself because I care so much about her. 

It pains me to even think about, what he could have done to her. I can't get my mind around the fact that he treats her like this. I accelerate a little more, not giving a shit about a speed fine right now. All that matters is that I get her out of there. 

It probably only took me about 15 minutes to get down here, knowing how fast I was driving. But as I pull up in the parking lot, it feels like hours have passed, between getting her call and arriving here in front of her apartment building. I reach down to my phone, seeing the messages that popped up.

Elle: I'm in the bathroom. I think he's gone.

I leave my phone in the car, only taking my keys with me. Looking around me, I notice the empty spot where Elle's van used to park. That bastard must've taken it. I hurry to the front door of the apartment building, and lucky for me, the old door won't lock anymore. I rush up the stairs taking two sets at once, my heart seemingly falling out of my chest as the anxiety creeps up inside of me.

The second I get to the floor that Elle lives on, I see the apartment door, which is left wide open. I take a few deep breaths before I step inside, trying to prepare myself for the worst. 

But what I find as soon as I step in, leaves me in a chokehold. My hands shoot up to my mouth as I gasp in pure terror, my eyes widening immediately. 

Nothing could've prepared me for what I am seeing right in front of me.

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