Pieces // H.S

Chapter 26: Harry: Sometimes Quiet is Violent

I heard people banging at the front door outside, minutes after I had hung up on Niall. I thought, if I keep quiet enough, maybe no one will know where I am or think I’m dead. Then it occurred to me that they could simply force the door down here, like they had done at the front. I pushed the heavy shelves to block the door, to prevent entry. If they bang hard enough on the door it’ll push the shelf down, hopefully killing me. I couldn’t bring myself to kill myself, somehow, so if an accident happened, then I wouldn’t have to do it myself. I heard voices outside in the garden. I assumed that they were the police.

“Hello? Mr Styles, are you in there?” asked a police woman.

I didn’t answer and she tried the door. So I threw a spanner at the wall to let her know that I was there. She said something down her radio and some people left. They had obviously come to clear up my remains, if I had killed myself. She tried the door again and the shelf rocked pushing the door back again.

“The door’s locked and blocked, sir. By an object, not Mr Styles.” She said to her superior.

Two men came to the window and looked in at the object, then squinted at me. They quickly retreated from the window and reported that a large shelf was blocking the door and that I was sitting directly in its pathway.

Then I heard my mum’s voice.

“Let me see my son!” she screeched and I heard my step-dad pushing and shoving through policemen and security guards. “Oh my boy! Come out from in there! Come home with me!” She broke down crying and my step-dad comforted her.

“Come out, son. Yes, I came. Your real father. If you’re still alive, listen. I watched you grow in the public eye. I’m so pleased to have a son like you. I’m going to leave now, before your mother kills me. I love you.” My Dad came. He left so soon, though. I wanted to say something, but he had already left.

My Mum sobbed loudly, but I just turned my head and almost immediately fell asleep. I woke again at dusk. Outside was silent apart from the birds chattering in the trees. More and more people woke as the press started their reports again.

- - -

BBC News:

Mike, you have an update for us on the Styles case?

“Yes, I do, Hugh. The police have announced that Mr Styles is alive, but they cannot enter to assess his condition. He has been unresponsive to both his mother, father and police officers. The family would appreciate some peace at this point so we could not interview either his mother or father. We have been reliably informed, that Jane Hamilton is no longer being questions and they do not expect her to have had any involvement in Mr Styles disappearance. ”

- - -

Many of my friends and family tried to get me to talk. Louis came, he even brought his baby. The baby cried a lot so it had to be taken away, but Louis stayed.

“Harry, come out. You’re even making baby cry. We just want to see your face again. You were always selfish like this though, so I don’t expect you to do anything. You don’t realise the hurt you cause everyone around you. I want to talk to your face, I want to help you as a mate. I know I haven’t said much recently, we’ve both been busy, but we’re still mates, huh?” Louis was disheartened when no reply came. I heard him leave the garden and tears ran down my face again. I just couldn’t say anything to anyone. It was like my voice was trapped inside. Liam and Zayn came at the same time after Louis. They went through moments in our life as a band, listing funny moments (which were followed by an uproar of laughter), highlights and lowlights. They said each time that we were better together. They realised that it couldn’t be the same anymore. They were married now and had kids. I still had nothing in that way.

“We’re sorry mate. You must be low right now, but things’ll get better. They always do.” Liam said and they both left, their spouses towing them back home.

Niall and Felicity both came when everyone started to give up on me. Niall just said “If you want to get home for Christmas, not be stuck out here, you need to get Jane Hamilton to talk to him. There’s no use us all coming here, I mean he didn’t even answer to his own mother, for Christ’s sake. We’re his past, Jane is his future. I mean something obviously happened that night. That was the night he talked last. Come on Felicity, let’s go!”

What if Jane did come? Would I be able to talk to her? Also, what did he mean my future? He clearly knew something I didn’t about Jane, and about me. A ripple of noise went through the people gathered outside,

“Well! Don’t just stand there muttering, go and find Jane Hamilton!” That was obviously the highest rank of police that had come to handle my case. I had forgotten, it was nearly Christmas. I wondered how near. I got a can of baked beans down from the top shelf and cooked it on the gas camping stove. I stored some of my non perishable foods in the out building, just in case something happened and I needed them. It was a bit weird, but that’s what was advised by the government, that time we had the winter that went on for months. I never really bothered to take them out of the outbuilding. There was also a tap with drinking water in here, that came as a safety precaution with the building.

I was about to go to sleep again when someone knocked on the door.

“Hi, it’s Jane. I tried telling them that you won’t talk to me, but they didn’t listen… We haven’t spoken recently so I would ask you what you’ve been up to, but you wouldn’t even talk to your own mother so there’s no point in me even trying. I am genuinely worried about you, but I bet that means absolutely nothing to you.”

“Jane,” I managed to croak. Not talking for a few days does weird things to your throat. “It does mean something…” My voice died out and I started coughing.

“Oh, ok. You said something. It’s a shame everyone’s asleep. Your mother’s still out here. You do realise that you’re forcing all these people to camp out in your back lawn. You can’t stay in there forever. Besides, there can’t be an unlimited supply of food. On the matter of food, I thought that maybe you might like something different to eat. I had someone pick you up something from Nando’s. I don’t know if you might like it, it’s a bit cold, but I was informed by a fan of your’s that you like Nandos. I think it’ll fit under the door if you want it. Shhh, the doctor said you shouldn’t really eat it if you’ve been living on the same types of food for a while.”

The one tin of food a day diet didn’t really fill me up. I was starving, so the thought of a Nando was one of heaven. She pushed the little box through the gap in the door carefully, so not to squish its contents. It slipped into the open of the floor in front of me. I hadn’t moved for a while so I had to crawl across to it. The contents was still slightly warm and it tasted delicious in my mouth. It disappeared too quickly. I think Jane could hear me eating, so she waited until I had finished.

“I’m sorry about all that stuff I said, that time. I wasn’t right to say that. I was just so surprised at what you had done, and I wanted there to be another reason for what you had done, like someone hacked your phone, or something.”

“Huh, that’s what I should have told you.” I was thinking, then I realised that I had said it out loud.

“You did the right thing, telling me the truth. I think we can forget about it, if you want.”

She offered me the choice to forget what I had done to her. It would be such a burden off my mind.

“Really? I wouldn’t forgive myself for what I did.”

“That’s how I’m different to you. Maybe, we could be friends again. After all, you’re not that bad a person. Your like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. A good man and a bad man.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Was that meant as compliment or not? I wanted to hug her, but obviously I can’t walk through walls and I hadn't washed in a few days so it was best that I didn’t.

 A/N: The video is where the chapter title came from :)

**Coming soon: 'You can't repeat the past'...**