The Man on the Moon (The Man Duology)

Chapter 4

He was the Eiffel tower, standing tall and strong. A stream of water dripped from his clothes and, eventually, into a puddle on my front porch. His familiar grey hoodie merely covered his body. Discreetly, it clung to his skin like an over-attached girlfriend.

"What are you doing here?" My breathing became erratic and cold. Although I left the note in his room, I wasn't sure of what I wanted to come out of it.

Harvey's defined bone structure peeped from underneath his hood. His head was bowed, letting his chestnut locks fall in front of his already hidden face. "I..."

My heart clambered from beyond my rib cage, begging to burst out of my chest and run at him. Hearing his voice was sweet sorrow. I never thought I would hear it again.

"I got your note." He finished, stumbling over his words.

Wide and fixated, my eyes didn't leave his body. His shoulders seemed broader than before; his eyes seemed darker. His tear stained face was finally revealed from his hood and his hair fell down like a mop. A soaking wet mop, at that.

Awkward clanging of cups, full of hot chocolate, saturated the air between Harvey and I. There was so much to speak about but where should we start? Should we start at the fact how desperate I was? Or how ignorant he was?
My hands wrapped around the mug like they once wrapped around him. He glanced at them and mimicked my actions. Did he miss me too?

As soon as he stepped into my kitchen, he took his soaking wet jumper off and hung it up to dry. He wore a black and white baseball tee, which was almost as wet as his jumper.

"I must say," Harvey began, gesturing to his cup. "I am the world's greatest mum."

Chuckling, I nodded in agreement. Harvey's sense of humour always got the better of me, I have to admit. The silence settled in again, complementing the heavy down pour outside.

After a few minutes of looking at each other, to our mugs and to the floor, Harvey finally started conversation again. "Where are your dad and Julia?"

"They went out," Too blunt.

"Anywhere nice?"

"On a date,"

"On a date?"

"Yeah, we were supposed to have lasagne but they left me with take-out."

"Lasagne sounds better," He glanced around for the pizza. "Where is it?"

A small chuckle escaped my mouth. "It hasn't come yet. You're welcome to stay. That's if you want to."

"You should know me by now, Eleanor, I wouldn't turn down pizza even if the world was ending." Harvey flashed his casual, but million dollar, smile at me.

At that moment in time, my world was ending. Although it was only my heart breaking, it felt like millions of civilians were fighting for their lives against a hurricane. My emotions tore them apart, from their families, and disturbed everything that seemed normal to them.

Silence fell upon us again, causing me to cough and fill the air with something. Anything.

"They will probably be back soon-" I muttered, but was interrupted.

"I am sorry," His deep voice coated his apology. "I'm sorry for breaking up with you. And I'm sorry for shutting you out."

"It's okay," My body melted into the seat.

"It's not," His voice was raised slightly now, as if he was angry at himself, as if he was about to cry. "It's not okay."

"Well, let's make it okay," I arched my body forward, preparing myself for the answer of what I was about to ask. Was I even ready to know the answer? "Why did you do it?"