Paperboy. (h.s. au)

15.

There are some things that just aren't fixable, and from experience, I know one of these things is a broken heart. It has to be given time and patience for it to mend itself. I know this not from a personal experience, but from helping Victoria, Lily, and now Harry. There's crying, aggression, remorse; pretty much any negative feeling is involved in the process. In short, not fun. It's times like these when I'm happy I'm not in a relationship.

But, while a broken heart is unfixable, it is patchable. Covering up the wound temporarily by means of distraction. And you could say I'm an expert at that. I've lost count of the number of times I've bought friends ice cream, made them food, watched movies with them, sat there while they rage and cry over their ex. I'd say that that's another talent of mine- comforting anyone from a small child to a grown adult.

Harry however, seemed a little more broken up than Victoria or Lily have been in the past. He just cried and cried. I'm not really sure if he did stop crying, if I'm honest. It was heartbreaking. After some time, we traveled from the kitchen to the living room couch with two spoons and a tub of ice cream. My mother originally bought it for David when he passed the deep end test at the pool, but I figured this was more important. I'll buy him some more.

We watched a funny movie Netflix and ate ice cream. Whenever Harry made a bad joke ("it's like we're Netflix and chilling," talking about the ice cream) I figured he was okay enough for the night. He went home, and I haven't seen him since.

We have been having brief texting conversations, though. He'll text me something like, i'm sad, and I'll answer something like, want to talk about it? To which he answers, no. Eventually I would just send him cat pictures in response instead of asking him about it. After this happened a few times, I think its time for another patch for Harry.

But one can only eat so much ice cream before it loses it's comforting powers. So to avoid over-ice creaming him, I mull over the rest of my options. After some time, I realize that my only remaining options are bubbles or balloons.

I choose balloons because we still have some in the hallway closet from David's last birthday party. They're on the top shelf, so I have to climb to get them. After completing the difficult feat, I take a look at the balloons. They're green and the package is dusty, but there's still six or seven in there. It'll do.

After thinking that I'd like to drop these off at his house, I realize that I don't know where Harry lives. I almost forgot that he didn't live in the newspaper office.

I'm blowing up balloons and tying them to string when I text Harry, asking for his address. I figure there's no way I can make the question any less weird. The funny thing is that Harry doesn't ask why, and that he just gives me his address. It's the address of an extremely tiny apartment building a few streets down. Does he live there alone?

After accidentally popping a balloon and "scaring the dickens" out of my mother and the cat, I tell her I have to give these to Harry and go out to my truck. It takes about 5 minutes to actually get the balloons into the small back seat area, but I manage. I slowly drive to the apartment building with the music on in the background. It's a cloudy day, just gloomy enough to match Harry's feelings.

I'm not sure what it is about grieving people, but being the non-griever always brought my spirits up. This does not mean that I get my kicks from seeing other people suffer, it just means that I feel useful and helpful. I love the feeling that I'm helping someone in need.

After letting a small band of elderlies cross the street in record timing, I make the final turn onto Harry's street.

There's a parking lot behind it, so I stop there and unload Harry's balloons. I once read that green is the most soothing color, that your eyes never get tired of green, so I guess this is fitting. I make my way up the four flights of stairs to the top floor, and on the last one I find the first room on my right- room 414. I fasten the balloons to Harry's doorknob and admire my work.