The Unexpected Journey-A Prince Harry Fan Fic

Chapter 96

Harry stood, unable to move, and stared at where she had just been standing. When she left, it was as though all life rushed out with her.

He stood, breathing heavy as everything slowly began to sink in. His chest felt heavy, his head hurt, his eyes grew hazy with tears. He felt scattered, confused, angry, disgusted, upset, unsettled, off-guard, and terrorized all at the same time.

What had just happened?

What had just happened?

Had he really just watched as Maddie walked out of their home, out of his life? Had he really just told her it was over? That he didn't want to marry her? Had he really just let some asshole with a kidnapping plot put those feelings in his heart, those words in his mouth?

Had he really just trashed Maddie and everything she had given to him, everything she had given up for him? Had he really just trashed...everything?

He needed answers.

But what was the right answer? What was the right thing to do? Was her safety more important than his own needs and desires? More important than the hearts he was breaking as he spoke, as he ended things?

More importantly, maybe most importantly, was he a fool to think that he would ever really have control over any of it?

He didn't know. He had no idea. But what he did know, what was becoming abundantly clear, was that the best thing to ever cross his path had just walked out his door.

And he was still standing there. Why was he still standing there?

In that moment, Harry felt completely unable to even begin to get a handle on his emotions; everything in him was amiss.

All he could deal with were the facts. And the fact was; Maddie had been the focus of a kidnapping plot. That man had been sending letters to Buckingham Palace for months and he had finally made good on his threats; on his promise. Maddie had been in unthinkable danger. And all he had been able to focus on was how to keep her out of it. And in those moments of dire, he had searched for and found the only plausible way to keep her out of anything like this in the future. She had to leave.

And the fact was—she had left.

His heart sank. And he hadn't even realized that it was possible to sink further.

She had looked him right in the eyes and said good-bye; just as he had planned, just as he had wanted.

She had left; just as he had planned, just as he had wanted.

His eyes rose from their focal point on the floor and turned to scan the room, wondering thoughtlessly why he wasn't feeling the relief that usually accompanied getting what he wanted. As his head turned, taking in the living room, something happened.

When people go into shock—like when they faint while donating blood—their bodies go into crisis mode and all the blood in the body rushes to the core—protecting the vital organs at all costs. It's as though the entire body turns its focus to one single mission.

Survival.

And, when the crisis passes, when the shock wanes, the blood begins to slowly return to the limbs. It's the strangest sort of sensation—the way the senses come back; slowly and one by one. It's as if one is awakening to the world all over again—vision, smell, hearing.

And it can be overwhelming and confusing. It can cause a panic of its own accord.

When Harry's eyes passed over the living room, it was that jolt, the smelling salts that bring back a fainter. It was her—everywhere. That ridiculously soft blanket draped over the couch, the three pairs of heels under the coffee table that he threatened to throw out every night, the stacks of magazines that she had already read through multiple times—that she insisted were NOT clutter. He saw the running shoes he bought her as a joke—fresh and unused and sitting next to his by the door. He saw the painting of Bendal he had given her hanging on the wall. He saw the vases of marbles on the mantle.