Ink || h.s [sequel to grapite]

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The soft patter of rain gently lapped across the window. It had been raining all day, which didn't come as a surprise. Dark rain clouds drifted through the sky, leaving a gloomy shadow in their wake.

I didn't plan on moving from my bed. The warm barricades of my duvet had given me good enough reason not to. If I extracted myself from the sheets, I'd presumably return within an instant.

Except I hadn't been expecting several heavy knocks to grace the front door. The knocks filled the whole house with their echoes. Naturally, I was tentative as my bare feet padded against the soft purple carpet of the stairs. I didn't wish to open the door to a complete stranger. When I unlatched the door, my worst fears were confirmed.

"I see you didn't bother to tell me you'd returned," Harry folded his arms and sunk into the frame of the doorway. A smug smile was plastered across his face. The smile didn't sit well on him, it looked as though his words held a bitter after-taste and it took everything in him not to swallow them down.

"Did I have to?" I asked plainly.

"It would have been nice." His hands reached for the Ray Ban glasses that covered his eyes and he removed them, slotting them onto the neck of his loose t-shirt. I noticed that the t-shirt was slightly sodden from the rain and clung to his body tightly.

"I'm not yours anymore Harry, I don't have to tell you anything." Deep down I was still his. I'd give him anything and everything but I resolved to give him nothing more than rejection. I needed to find a way over him, like he had with me.

"I missed you, you know," His voice softened in tone, and his body slacked with relaxation.

"That's nice." I answered shortly.

"You left without an explanation. I thought you loved me like I loved you?" The hurt in his eyes left a burning guilt that ate away at the pit of my stomach. He never had got over me. He was still as hung up as I was, but I was too stubborn to admit that to him.

"I thought I loved you, but now I'm not so sure. You changed Harry. I stepped on that plane and you changed. It's as simple as that really. There's not much left to say." I shrugged, beginning to notice the icy breeze that bit at my exposed ankles.

Anything I thought that the two of us had shared was now buried in the past - in all those years ago.

"No Sadie, you're the one who changed. I'm still who I was. I grew older, that's all. You're completely unrecognisable." His glance shifted to the floor. "I got a few tattoos. I got famous. Inside, I'm still the boy I always have been. A few pieces of ink can't change that."

"Goodbye Harry," I sighed, shutting the door and leaving him in the rain. I waited for his knuckles to land against the door, but they never did. I didn't blame him. I would have walked away too.

Morosely, I stumbled up the stairs with eyes that were drowned in tears. Lethargy overwhelmed my body, and I greeted the white sheets of my bed with much welcome. For the entirety of the day, I remained in bed. I didn't move from the position I had curled into.

I didn't even bother to move when I heard the lock on the front door clicking. The familiar rustling came from downstairs that always ensued when my mum was home. I lay in the mess of sheets and listened as she packed things away and sorted out the house.

Her gentle footsteps creaked up the stairs as I buried myself further into the duvet, almost succumbing to the comatose that encased my body.

"Hello darling," Mum said tenderly. She sounded exhausted from the long day of work.

"Hi," I mumbled, untangling myself from my cocoon. It had been so long since I saw her last, that I savoured her words and drank in her appearance. She too, had not changed but merely aged. Her tired eyes and the lines that adorned her face each told a story.

"How was LA?" She settled herself at the end of my bed.

"It was fine." I lied. Everything within me yearned to be back in the exotic sun, surrounded by tanned boys at every corner.

"What's wrong then? You sound sad." Her concern set me off again, and I felt the tears welling up.

"I'm fine, I'm just tired."

"Sadie, you forget how well I know you. I'm your mother, I know you aren't fine." She chuckled lightly, the creases in her eyes becoming more prominent.

"I promise I'll be fine, I just need to sleep."

(A/N) This isn't great, but there's so much resentment between Harry and Sadie that needed conveying. The plot of the story is all planned out, I'm not just writing blindly. I know exactly where I want this to go and how I want things to happen.

I just hope that you guys enjoy it.