Breathing the Dead ~ H.S

Chapter Twenty-Nine

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: GOODBYE, MY LOVE

"Niall," I said as soon as I'd reached him at the gate, "have you seen Harry?"

"Yeah. He's walker-clearing,"

He nodded in the direction of the gate, and following his eyes I saw that Harry was there at the far end of the bramble patch; yanking a zombie out of the thorns and kicking down its knee before stabbing it in the back of its head with his dagger. There was something angrier about his movements – and I could tell that he was upset.

Poor baby...

"He's been pretty down since Vivienne & Alex left," said Niall, "but that was already nearly a week ago. I didn't think it would last this long. Maybe it's something else? Did you guys have a fight?"

"Nope. It's still Vivienne that's bothering him," I sighed and shook my head, "how could she do that? How does she expect to keep Alex safe on her own?"

"I don't know," Niall frowned, "she should've stayed here. I really liked Alex. How could she think that he was causing conflict in the group? As far as I know – it was just Drake & Rachel who were complaining. And Max, sometimes."

"Yeah..." I bit my lip, "I'm gonna see if he's OK. Can you open the gate, please?"

"You got it, boss," Niall gave me a faint smile before he opened the gate for me, "good luck, yeah?"

"Thanks," I smiled at him before gulping and making my way over to the end of the brambles.

However, as soon as I'd reached the middle of the bramble patch, I realised that Harry wasn't there anymore. I began to get confused, but then I suddenly heard the faint sound of a body being dragged away somewhere, and I looked to my left just in time to see Harry dragging the walker he'd killed around the corner to the graveyard. I quickly rushed after him, and I arrived at the graveyard where Harry was busy digging a hole in the ground.

"Hey," I said quietly; making him jump, "I've been looking for you,"

"Sorry, love," he replied, "I had jobs to do."

"Harry..." I took a step closer to him, "you're not OK, are you?"

"What're you talking about? I'm fine," he said before he went back to digging the hole.

"Vivienne taking Alex away has made you so upset, hasn't it?" I guessed.

"It's fine, Laura. It was her choice," he sounded like he was speaking through gritted teeth.

"But you're not happy," I sighed, "Harry, I hate this. I hate seeing you upset just as much as you hate seeing me upset," I stepped closer yet again, "you're missing Alex, Haz. I know you are. You don't have to hide it."

He sighed. "Laura. Don't worry. I'm...I'm fine," his voice wobbled a little bit.

My face softened in sympathy for him. Immediately I walked right over to him and took the shovel out of his hand; chucking it on the ground and wrapping my arms around him before I kissed his cheek and rested my head against his chest. Harry let out another shaky sigh as his arms slinked around my waist – his chin resting on the top of my head.

"It's the cuddling I miss the most," he said quietly, "he'd hold on to me and bury his face into my neck just like Ollie did,"

"I know, Harry. He did that all the time. It was so cute,"

Harry said nothing and only nodded slowly.

"Please don't be upset," I looked up at him and gently squeezed his shoulders, "you're going to have kids of your own one day, Harry. Just as cute as Alex and just as gorgeous as you," I gave him a faint smile.