--
Harry
A light tap on the door distracted me from my guitar just as Elsie barged through the door with a smile on her face. She shut the door behind her and sat down on the corner of my bed. Her bags fell onto the floor as she let go of them to unwrap a crème colored scarf from around the top of her beige leather jacket.
“What are you doing?” She asked, resting back on her palms. I stared at her blankly. Where had she even come from? And since when were we at a point where barging into my room without knocking was totally casual?
“Playing guitar. How about you?” I began strumming a few chords again.
“I didn’t know that you played.” She bobbed her head slowly to the tune of the song me and Ed had been working on. “Just coming to check on how you’re doing. We never finished our conversation last night.”
“I guess you’re implying we should finish it now?” I laughed, placing the guitar down on the stand next to my couch.
“Jumping to a good conclusion, I see.” Elsie laughed kindheartedly, “I’ll start?”
“I’m listening.” I spread my legs out across the couch and averted my attention towards Elsie who was now lying across my bed comfortably.
Elsie sighed and closed her eyes, “Well, Mollie was diagnosed with Multi Personality Disorder when she was ten. There’s herself, Mollie. Then there’s Hazel who is a total prima donna bitch. She only comes out when Mollie is feeling insecure but she isn’t as bad as Scarlett.”
“The one who did that to you?” Elsie opened her eyes and looked at me, noticing that I was motioning towards the stitches on her face.
“Yes.” She ran her nimble fingers along the wounds as she continued, “Um, Scarlett isn’t exactly pleasant. She’s pretty much the spawn of the devil and she only comes out in really stressful situations. Which I guess means that the reason for the incident yesterday was my fault. I left Mollie alone for a week for selfish reasons and she just snapped when I finally came back, I suppose.”
I watched as she continued to blame herself for her sister’s problems and her breakdown yesterday. Her face fell from the happiness that was spread into her cheeks when she walked in to an indecipherable sadness. I realized then just how much she cared about Mollie. She blamed herself for something that no one could have prevented.
I stood up from my position on the couch and walked over to the bed, “Scoot over.” Elsie opened her eyes in shock that I had interrupted her but obeyed. She shifted towards the end of the bed and I slouched down next to her. We were both sitting now, with our backs against the wall. “You may continue now.” I smiled over at her and she laughed, closing her eyes again as she leaned her head back against the wall.
“As I was saying, the breakdown was probably my fault but I plan on coming back every day to see her as long as school doesn’t get in the way. I’m just as important to her healing. She depends on me but I guess in a way I depend on her too because I don’t really have anyone else left.” She put her hands in the air and shrugged. The way she talked with her hands but kept her eyes shut was indisputably adorable. “My mom ran out when we were younger and my dad’s in jail.” She opened the eye closest to me and I saw her sneak a peek at me before continuing quickly. “Yeah, that’s it really. It’s nice to get that off my chest.”
“You shouldn’t blame yourself, Elsie. You’re Mollie’s everything, even I can tell that much.” I watched her open her eyes and look at me. “I guess I understand the whole not having anyone, except I truly have no one. My parents died ten years ago and I’m an only child.” I didn’t want to tell her why I was truly here, or what was wrong with me. She’d run out quicker than the rest of my family did when they found out.
Elsie nodded slowly, turning her eyes away from me and letting them focus on the window above the couch on the opposite wall. I didn’t remove my eyes from her face though; instead I let them fall on her stitches as I studied the bruising around them. “Looks like we have a lot more in common than I thought, Styles.”
“I guess so, El.” I paused, “Can I call you El? Like I don’t know, is that okay with you?”
“Calm down.” Elsie giggled, “That’s fine with me. I actually kind of like that.”
I blushed and looked at my hands as I fidgeted with my fingers. Elsie slid off the bed, obviously noticing my embarrassment, and walked towards my wardrobe. She mashed the power button on the side of my television and bounced back towards the bed, remote in hand.
“Up for Skins?”
“Like the show?” I watched her sit back down, a little closer than last time.
“No, Harry, I brought you a bag of skin because I heard it’s your favorite snack.” She rolled her eyes sarcastically and flipped through the channels until she found it, “Yes, the show.”
“Didn’t you know? That’s why I’m in here, because I’m a cannibal.”
“I feel so safe!” Elsie teased.
By the end of the first episode, I had somehow ended sprawled on top of Elsie’s legs, halfway asleep. It was nice to have someone there, to actually laugh and spend time with someone who wasn’t going to treat me like everyone else. It was rare for me to open up, and even if I hadn’t opened up all the way, it felt good to talk about things. For some reason, I trusted her. She was different than any other person I had met. I could hear Elsie breathing softly behind me and I focused in on the soothing melody until I fell asleep, happy.
--
Elsie
Harry’s head rested against the tops of my shins as another ‘Skins’ episode began to start up on the TV. “Harry, Harry?” I called, trying to see if he was still awake.
“Hmmm?” He hummed, half asleep.
I chuckled, placing his mop of curls against one of the silky pillows atop the queen sized bed. I swathed his white duvet around him, taking his slender wrist in my hand. “What are you doing?” He said in a tired voice, leaning over to look at his scarred ligament.
“Nothing, just go back to sleep.” I whispered and he nodded sleepily, rotating onto his side.
I observed his back arching up and down as he inhaled and exhaled. I smiled as I cautiously knotted the red, navy, and green bracelet around Harry’s ivory skin. I ran my fingers over the protruding scar tissue, feeling the ridges of the cuts. I had made the bracelet to give to Harry, a reminder that I’d be there to help him get over his scars. I knew that Harry didn’t want people to see his scars either, so the bracelet was necessary.
Harry’s full, pink lips separated as he muttered an imperceptible sentence. I smirked, brushing a stray curl out of his soporific face. I sighed, getting off his bed and settling myself on the less comfortable couch. The itchy material rubbed against my body. I glanced up to see Harry still in the same spot that I had left him. His extensive eyelashes lay gently on the tops of his cheekbones and his lips sat in a seamless pout. I huffed, flopping down onto the cushions of the couch, thinking about the day’s events.
Harry and I had shared something today. We opened up to each other, not fully, but we let each other inside the other’s mind. That was something I’d never done before, but it felt right. I licked my lips, staring up at the popcorn ceiling. “Night, Harry.” I whispered, closing my eyes and falling into a deep slumber.
