Love and All It Does

09

Harry's POV
"Mom's acting weird." I say to Gemma who seemed distracted. "You too." I raise an eyebrow at her. "Is something up?"

She waves me off. "Oh, you know her. She's just being...mom."

"Stop lying." I frown at her. "Why did she have to ask that girl to talk outside when she's talked to my friends in here?"

She stares at me. "Harry."

I raise an eyebrow again, tilting my head.

"You and your suspicions." She shakes her head, fishing her phone out of her pocket.

I scoff. "You're not a very good liar, Gem."

She looks up, glaring at me. "We're not hiding anything from you, Harold. Stop making baseless conclusions."

I shrug, looking behind her through the window.

Mom comes in, her eyes seemingly puffy like she had just finished crying. I look past her and through the door. "Did she leave?" I ask mom who hasn't moved an inch from entering the room. Something felt off. "Did you make her leave?"

"Harry." Gemma says sternly.

Mom looks at me, eyes stinging and almost dark. "No. She said she had to. I told her to say goodbye to you at the very least, but she said she was in a hurry."

I nod, unconvinced. I can't help but feel like there's something she's not telling me.

Anika's POV

I took the bus back home, my eyes tired and red. I feel kind of lethargic. I can't imagine how the days would be like for me. I plump by the front porch and cried. I rather not but there's no better option. Anne's voice rang in my head over and over.

Yes, my son had amnesia.

He almost took his own life.

He hated the fact that he was vulnerable.

Imagine being the reason he feels that way.

Think about how it would make him feel to be lost again.

Stay away from Harry.

Brick by brick my walls start crumbling down. And I cried to the point I found it hard to breathe.

Harry is physically Harry, but the Harry I know is just gone. He's a new person. And although I still see a fog of his idiosyncrasies, it still doesn't feel right. His amnesia separates us like glass.

"Anika?" My sister's voice cuts through my thoughts, and when I glance up, she rushes from the driveway and towards me. "Anika! Oh my god, what happened? Why are you crying?"

I stare up at her and I stifle to contain my grief, but when she sat down beside me, pulled me closer to her and sighed, my tears gushed out like waves.

"Why is...life...so unfair..." I mumble in between sobs. "It hurts so much..."

After a while, I pull back to wipe my eyes and nose. Anne was just staring at me. "The last time you cried this hard was when mom left...seven years ago. This must really be bad."

I don't say anything.

"I'm not gonna force you to tell me what happened, but I'm hoping you would soon enough because I want to help you. That's what sisters are for, right?" She smiles at me and I feel like crying again.

— —

The next morning, I thought I'd feel better.

It turns out, I just fell in an even worse state. I couldn't let a second pass without remembering Harry and feeling the tears threaten to blur my vision. I close my eyes. I don't want to go to school. I don't want to be seen this awful. On top of it all, I don't want to see Harry.