Half a heart Without You

Part III

I wasn't sure if I heard him right.

"What" I said, pulling away from him, my face a set look of confusion. Harry, engaged? What did he mean by that? He wasn't dating anyone; and as far as I knew, he wasn't even really interested in someone. So how could he be ready to be married? And I still didn't know why his mom had called.

"Harry, what are you talking about? Are you going out with someone? Why didn't you tell me?" I asked wearily, standing up and running my hands through my hair.

Harry was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke. "Louis...I- I don't know her. You know my family is very proper and-and this is something that's a tradition...." He was on the verge of tears again, and I instinctively sat down next to him on the bed and put a hand on his arm, comforting him.

Harry came from a richer family, so naturally, they were very respectable and were on the old fashioned side. His parents were CEOs of large companies; he didn't necessarily want to follow in their footsteps-he just wanted to do whatever made him happy, not what made him money. They had always wanted to build mold him into a success, but he would never go for it. They almost had a right fit when he moved out to live with me.

"Harry," I said, treading my fingers into his. "I don't understand. Harry, look at me." He took in a shaky breath and turned his head to look at me.

"Lou...when I was a kid, well, maybe even before I was born, I was betrothed to another family's daughter...my family never really talked about it, I guess they always assumed that I knew."

Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I was hurt. Extremely hurt. I knew I had no right to be...but I guess I had always hoped that Harry and I would be together somehow. How could I not know this? I struggled not to burst into tears right then and there.

"But...you never really participated in family things...why don't you just back out?" I asked.

He sighed. "Because I wouldn't just be hurting my family, I'd be hurting another family too. And a girl who was promised a husband."

"Why should you have to marry someone who you've never met before, especially if you didn't even know?" I said angrily, pulling away from him.

"Louis, you don't understand...," he whispered. He covered his face with his hands, hot, wet, tears trickling down his flushed cheeks. "I can't just leave...."

It was silent, with only the sound of Harry's sniffling.

"Do you want to marry her?"

"Of course not. I don't love her, I don't even know her," he said bitterly. "The reason my mom called to remind me. She told me her name for the first time too. It's Angela."

"I'm sorry, Harry."

He stood up and went to his dresser to grab some clothes. "I'm going to take a shower," he said, heading towards the door."

"Wait-Harry?"

"What?"

"When's the wedding?"

He hesitated. "A week from tomorrow."

And he walked out, leaving me sitting on the bed alone. I didn't know what to feel. I just had an empty pit I my stomach that desperately wanted to be filled. My mind went blank, save for a few phrases.

Harry was engaged.

Harry was getting married.

Harry and I would never be together.

Tears threatened to escape my eyes but I would not let them. Why should I? Nothing matters anymore. The one thing I want most in the world was going to be handed over to a girl who didn't even deserve him. She knew nothing about him. She wouldn't make him happy.

My anger turned towards Harry. Why would he agree to this? He was an adult, capable of making his own choices. Why should he have to marry some girl who didn't know the first thing about him?

What was going to happen to us? He would move out, probably to a really expensive house with Angela. There won't be any room in his life for me.

I laid down and took his pillow and hugged to my chest. It smelled like him, a sharp cinnamon smell that tickled my nose.

I didn't know how long I lay there before I fell asleep.