Through The Dark COMPLETED

Chapter 50

Almost a month had passed since the Tahoe trip.  It had been a crazy time.  Julie asked her therapists for clearance to go back to work early, and after a bit of discussion with her, they agreed.  She just wanted to be busy and didn't want all the alone time to think about everything that was going on.  The hospital scheduled her the same nights as Amanda, although she hadn't asked for that. But it did seem to work out better that way as she wasn't alone at home much either.  Julie was slightly annoyed with herself for wanting someone around all the time, but she was just plain scared.  She had thought so much about her past the last month or two that she was anxious about a lot of things.  Jumpy and a bit paranoid.  It sucked.  She wished this healing process would go a lot faster.  She wished that it wasn't so difficult to get through every little thing.  She had spoken to Harry multiple times a day, every day, but she still missed him like crazy.  And she still thought every bit of this would be easier with him there, but she knew she needed to learn to do it on her own.  Why was everything so damn complicated?

Amanda spent much of her time making sure that JJ was ok.  She didn't mind really, but it was hard watching JJ struggle.  It was difficult watching her jump every time they heard a loud noise or an unexpected knock on the door.  Amanda also relayed a lot of information to Harry; they weren't plotting behind JJ's back, but JJ did seem to hold more back from him when he wasn't there than she did when they were together in Tahoe.  Amanda felt Harry had a right to know that things may not always have been as good as JJ made them out to be.  Even though she and Niall weren't able to see each other this past month, she was super glad to have him.  They talked to each other all the time, and he had been such a big support to her.  He listened every time she had trouble dealing with things.  Niall was an amazing man, and she still wondered how she had gotten so lucky.

Niall was upset he hadn't had any time the past month to see Amanda.  He knew she understood, but it was still tough.  The guys were set to leave for tour in about a week.  He was glad she shared so much with him and that she counted on him to help her through everything.  Amanda was such a beautiful, smart, loving girl, and he was extremely happy they'd met by chance on that crazy day in LA.  What they have gotten through together so far was no struggle for him.  It seemed easy.  Like it was the only thing to do.  No other choice.  He loved her.  He would help her through everything.  He was trying to figure out how to get back to LA for a couple of days before they flew out to the first tour location.  He had to do it now though for it to work.

Harry struggled being so far away from Julie for so long.  Even without Amanda, he could tell Julie was struggling even though she wouldn't fully admit it to him.  She wanted to make sure he didn't feel guilty.  She always tried to convince him she was ok and that it was ok he wasn't there.  She had pulled back some in the open and honest department, but he wasn't surprised really.  She had a lot to get through.  She had been so open and so honest in Tahoe, he didn't figure that would be possible to sustain forever.  He was still extremely proud of her though.  Julie really had given him her heart.  The wall wasn't completely down, but he had a doorway through to it.  He was grateful.  He was also sad.  It was his 21st birthday today, and he was with his family.  He should be ecstatic.  But he wasn't.  His girlfriend was in another country.  All he wanted to do was be with her.  And on top of that, he had been trying to call her and hadn't been able to reach her all day.  Seriously, he thought she would make it a point to talk to him on his birthday.  He received a short "Happy Birthday" text with an "I love you" when he had woken up, but that was it.  He sighed.

"Harry, love."  Anne said to him.  "It's your birthday. I think maybe you should be a bit happier."

"Yeah, mum.  I know.  I'm sorry.  It's been a great day.  But it's almost over.  We're sitting here at dinner, and I haven't even spoken to Julie yet.  It just seems...wrong.  I'm not sure how to explain it.  It's bad enough I can't be with her today, but now she's not answering or calling me back.  As far as I know, she's not mad at me."  Harry said looking up from his phone to his mum.