Boys Like You

Chapter 27

Scarlet's Pov

The water in the shower was cold. And as it fell against my skin it felt like ice covered knifes, piercing into my tender skin before the tip scraped across my fragile bones. I felt light. Like a feather floating through the sky, effortlessly. The water seemed to wash away all of my sins, and all of the secrets i had been keeping inside - secrets that didn't belong to me. I woke up this morning feeling like someone else and it scared me. I looked into the mirror and didn't recognize the person staring back at me. In fact, my reflection made me feel sick.

The sound of the front door opening gently and then slamming shut snapped me from my day dream, and suddenly i could hear a range of different voices. I stood still, concentrating on the sounds that now filled the once quiet house. I recognized Zayn's voice, and then Cooper's voice followed.

"So, what's up? Are you taking us to church?" I heard Cooper tease Harry, his loud voice echoing through the house before everything fell eerily silent.

I stepped out of the shower and left the water running as i slipped into a pair of Harry's joggers and a grey jumper, the material now sticking to my still wet body. The sound of the water hitting against the shower floor soothed me slightly, and for a few moments it blocked out my torturous thoughts.

I made my way towards the bathroom door and pulled it open, tiptoeing through Harry's room and into the hallway. I reached the top of the stairs and could now hear them more clearly, and i now heard Niall's voice, too.

"I'm worried about her." I heard Harry whisper.

I gulped heavily as he continued to talk, and i knew he was oblivious to the fact that i could hear him. Was he talking about me?

"Who, Scarlet? Why?" Zayn asked, his tone laced with confusion.

I hurried down the remainder of stairs and walked over to the living room door, pressing my ear against it, hoping to hear him a little more loudly. I could hear him pace back and forth on the other side of the rusted wood, and they were all trying to keep their voice as low as they possibly could, but they were failing miserably.

"She's acting like last night never happened. I tried to talk to her about Jennifer, but she just shrugged her shoulders and said there was nothing to talk about." Harry continued, his voice a little sadder now.

That's because i don't want to talk about it. My stomach turned at the thought. All this time i thought i knew the truth. I thought Harry had told be everything. And i couldn't help but wonder what other secrets he was keeping from me. He didn't tell me to protect me, i know that - but i doesn't make it hurt any less.

"Maybe she's just tired, mate. It must have been a lot for her to take in. You know, finding out that Jennifer killed someone - Jack's brother." Niall mumbled, trying to put Harry at ease.

"Nah, it's more than that. I think she's loosing her fucking mind. It's like she's trying to convince me that everything is alright, but it's not. None of this is alright." My breathing hitched in my throat, my heart pounding against my chest as his words haunted me. I think she's loosing her fucking mind.

Was i loosing my mind? And did it matter anyway, I would probably be dead by Christmas.

"Why the fuck would you think that?" Cooper laughed, unable to take Harry seriously. There was a silence, and a deathly one at that, before Harry's stern and husky voice spoke in a hushed whisper.

"She's - She's just been looking into the broken mirror all morning. And no, not in a vain way. In a 'Who am i?' kind of way." My eyes closed over, my mind racing with a thousand thoughts a minute. My heart welling at the sound of immense pain in his words as he spoke. Had i caused this? Had i brought him this much despair? I felt utterly hopeless and comfortably numb.