DEEP END // Harry Styles

Kiss Me Goodbye

Apologies for the wait! Here's the new Deep End chapter :) Also I wanna share some good news that I submitted a different version of Deep End for my final submission of my Creative Writing MA and I got the highest grade in my class! Thank you for supporting this series and these characters. It means a lot to me.

Ezili tried to calm herself as she shouldered her way across the packed living room toward the kitchen. People shouted greetings to her. She didn't know them. She didn't bother to stop and get to know them. There was no time for that. There was no time left. She'd been here for too long. Harry was right. She didn't belong to this world. She was putting on a façade. Whoever these people thought she was didn't exist. Whoever she thought she was didn't exist.

Tears blurred her eyes as she staggered to the freezer and retrieved the frozen heart. As she turned, her own heart almost flew out of her chest. A tall figure was looming over the kitchen counter.

"Dawson!"

He tilted his head, a puzzled look on his face. "You okay?"

She sniffled. A feeling of ease settled inside her as she saw Dawson. For a second, she almost flung herself at him and begged him to hide her somewhere, anywhere. But he was only a mortal, an innocent, who deserved everything but being dragged into this mess. The cold from the frozen container stung her fingertips, and she was instantly reminded of the graveness of her situation. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and pressed her lips into an almost smile. "I'm fine."

As she marched to the door, he immediately blocked her path. "Ezili, what happened?"

She wished she could say something, but her throat was clogged. Then her mouth clamped shut, and she shoved him aside, hard. His back slammed into the door, and his eyes widened. She wasn't sure if he was shocked by how strong she was, or because it was the first time she'd ever been violent towards him. There was no time to wonder. She bolted out of the kitchen, hair flying as she strode to the door and grabbed her jacket and handbag on the way out. She shoved the container with the heart into the bag as a cold wind pimpled her skin. She could taste an incoming storm in the air.

When she made it all the way down the steps, she found Koa waiting for her by the front gate. A taxi was waiting for them. Ezili wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket and eyed her sister up and down. Koa was wearing a bright orange dress that looked too big for her. How was she not freezing?

"Did you–"

"No, I didn't kill anyone for this." Koa rolled her eyes. "I bought it with the paper notes I stole from that lady sitting by the station."

"You stole money from a homeless person?!"

Koa shrugged. "It's just paper. It's everywhere."

Ezili rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister's elbow. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

"Ezili, wait!"

"Oh, God," Ezili groaned. She knew whom that voice belonged to without turning around.

"Wait, that's your other human boy," Koa exclaimed. Ezili put her hand on Koa's head and shoved her into the back of the taxi. Dawson rushed down the steps of the mansion and strode towards them.

"Where are you ladies going?" asked the taxi driver.

Ezili asked him to give them a few minutes, then grabbed Dawson's arms as soon as he came close. "Dawson, you need to go back inside."

"Ezili, what happened?" Dawson asked, panting. Then he saw Koa, and his eyes widened. "Dolores?"

Koa waved at him, a wicked grin on her face. Ezili tugged at his arms to turn his attention back on her. "She's not Dolores. She's my sister."