one minute || h.s

forty-five

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Harry.

Sunday night came all too soon. Prior to packing up her belongings, us being separated-the end of our relationship seemed like just a bad dream. A reoccuring nightmare. As I carefully tucked her things away in boxes and crates, I was forced to go over every bit of our life together. Some things taking me back to the beginning. Our friendship in the early stages, starting with the invitation to the red carpet premiere. The invitation that started it all.

Two and a half years prior...

"What're you bloody talking about, mate? My hair is cool. Don't hate on the hair." Zach laughed loudly as we stood there on the red carpet, the Los Angeles sun beating down on both of us. The crowd was loud, annoyingly so, but I tried my best to ignore them.

"I'm just saying, it looks fücking girly. A mixture between girly and a disgruntled bird's nest, I don't know." I allowed him to continue on, making jokes about my mess of curls while sipping what may have been my third glass of champagne. A girl's voice stood out from a few feet behind us and the smile on Zach's face immediately widened. I watched as the thin, deeply tanned bird hugged him tightly. I recognized her only slightly, knowing she was sort of an Indie film star. She was beautiful, but not in the stereotypical Hollywood sort of way. Her beige, floor length jersey dress contrasted entirely with the color of her skin but clung to her slim frame nicely. Her green eyes were alight with little makeup and her hair was plain and straight and she continued to make jokes, good jokes, unlike mine.

"M'Harry..." I said, a lazy smile on my face as she shook my hand.

"Oh, no need for introductions. I know who you are." She grinned up at me, her smile was something I felt like I'd read about in only the most artistic of novels.

"Yes, but I don't quite know you, doll."

"Hallie Mantegna. You're hair is very pretty, by the way."

"Thank you?" She giggled and shook her head.

"Not really a compliment...well, not entirely." She had me laughing now and I think that's when I decided that I needed to be around this girl all night.

"Hey, did you ever hear about the guy who invented lifesavers?" She glanced down at her feet before her green eyes were back on mine.

"No, would you mind enlightening me?"

"They say he made a mint." I thought she was going to piss herself and when she finally stopped laughing, she shook her head once again.

"That was the worst joke I've ever heard."

"But you did laugh..." She stepped away and sent a me playfully, friendly wink back.

"Yes, yes I did."

The text on the card became blurry as I wiped at my eyes. The memory of our very first conversation seemed to have only been yesterday. Things had been so easy. So, so simple. My heart, I'm almost positive, wasn't even beating anymore. I felt internally empty. Broken and shameful and empty. I brought all the boxes and bins into the hallway and left them by the door. At 6:15, my night went from bad to just fücking awful. When the gate buzzed, I didn't even bother answering it, I just pressed the button to open it. Upon opening the door, I prayed it was just my imagination. I prayed he wasn't actually standing there. Words weren't even able to form, I was that shocked-that disgusted. "Listen, man, I don't wanna make this weird. I'm just here to grab her things." She sent him? She fücking sent him? "Dude?"

"What the fuck is she doing, talking to you?" He rolled his eyes.

"We're just...she just called me, I don't know. She's hurting, I guess? I mean, can you blame her?"

"She's hurt, so she bloody calls you?!"

"We're really going to have this conversation right now?"

"I told you to stay away from her."

"Yeah, and I did-"

"Not after practically stalking her and harassing her with phone calls and pathetic text messages."

"You know, it's sad that you're trying to grasp onto this...bottom line is, she's hurt. She's upset and she called me. She didn't call you." He stepped around me and moved towards the small cluster of boxes. "After I ran into her at the park, I stopped. I stopped calling and I stopped trying to get a hold of her. She told me that she had moved on and that she was happy, and you know what? As pissed as I was that she was happy with someone else, I was also just really glad she was able to let someone in. I think that's what scared me the most, because I know how guarded she was. I was terrified I'd ruined her." His words sank in and I understood what he was leading up to. "I didn't ruin her, Harry. I hurt her and I fücked up, but I didn't ruin her. That one's all on you." I watched silently as he began taking each box and bin and crate out to his stupid Land Rover. When he was finished, he turned to me. "I'm not happy things didn't work out between you two, and I don't want you to think I was sitting around, just waiting to pounce. I really do care about her and I wish that she could've stayed as happy as she was. If she was happy with you, then I was happy for her-"

"Stay away from her, Adam."

"I'm not going to do that, man. If she wants me around, then I'll be around. If not, then I'll leave her alone. But I'm not going to base that off of you and what you want." I felt repulsive. I felt shittier than I ever had before. As he drove down my driveway, I realized the full extent of my mistakes. I'd driven Hallie back to the man who broke her heart in the first place. He didn't go to her. I sent her running to him.