Aurelia [h.s.]

thirty-six

Harry spends every single waking moment with Aurelia and Darcy. He tells her that he loves her just about every single minute and Aurelia doesn't push him away jokingly and she doesn't tease him like she used to.

She started to look like she was 'sick' only about a week after they returned from their cruise and her appointment is still two weeks away. Aurelia doesn't talk about it at all because she doesn't want to address the fact that she's dying.

Everyone can see it and everyone knows. Her cheeks have started to sink and there are dark rings under her eyes because she isn't sleeping. She's hardly eating either and she looks like she's been living off of bugs. Aurelia absolutely hates it and so does Harry.

He called her parents when they got back and Aurelia cried and cried for hours as he held her. They've flown out to see her and, while he wants to be selfish and have her all to himself, he can't do that to her parents.

Aurelia's been in the shower for forty-five minutes and Harry can't take it anymore. He needs to be with her because he knows that she's crying and because he really needs to be near her for as long as he can so that he can soak up everything about her.

Harry stands up quickly and he doesn't bother to shut the bathroom door after he enters the steamy room because the door to the actual room is still shut. Aurelia's mother is watching Darcy for them because she knows that Harry needs to be with her alone more than he needs to breathe.

Aurelia hears him come in, he isn't very quiet about it, and she isn't surprised when he joins her under the scalding water or when his hands automatically wrap around her waist and pull her closer to him.

Harry presses a gentle kiss to her neck and gently lets his hands glide up and down her arms because he knows that it calms her down. "Please stop hiding from me. I don't care if you cry. I mean, I do, just not if you cry in front of me. Pushing me away right now doesn't help either of us, sweetheart. You know that. Please, just let me love you while I still can."

Aurelia sighs and turns around in his arms so that she's facing him, "I'm sorry. It's just so hard to-"

He knows what she's going to say and, before she can say it, he interrupts her with a kiss that she feels in her bones, his hands press into her cheeks as she melts in his arms.

"I know. It's okay. It's okay, Aurelia."

Harry frowns as she lets out a broken sob and presses herself closer to him, although, there isn't much space there to begin with. She's clinging to him, but he doesn't mind at all. "No, it's not."

His lips meet her forehead, "I know sweetheart, I know."

The next few hours pass slowly, but the next two weeks feel like they're gone in the blink of an eye. It's all moving too fast and Aurelia's lost that calm nature that she had about dying when she first stopped with her surgeries and the chemotherapy treatments.

She's laying in a hospital bed and she's about to disappear for surgery. Harry's trying his best to keep her calm and to tell her that everything's going to be alright, but they both know that he's lying and it's not helping at all.

"You're going to be fine sweetheart, okay? We'll get through this."

The way that he's speaking really makes it feel like a goodbye and Aurelia's fighting desperately to hold in her tears. She knows that his optimism is false because they've known that this was coming for weeks now and neither of them can ignore the fact that this is it. This is the last hospital visit and the last time that they'll see each other for a long time.