Family Ties

Shattered Silence

Harry's POV

"Yeah Mace, that's it!" Liam called out beside me as we watched her pass the soccer ball over to her brother and sprint toward the goal.

We watched as Hank passed the ball over to their other team mate, who quickly shot it back to Mace and she swiftly kicked it right past the goalie and into the goal. Her face immediately lit up as she looked right at me and threw her arms up, her brother and team mates all running over to pat her on the back before they ran back over to the sidelines.

"Did you see?! I scored a goal!" She said excitedly as she ran over to us.

"Great job, Monkey!" I said as I held my hand out for a high five.

"Thanks!" She grinned as she high fived Liam and ran back out onto the field.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped my lips as I watched her excitedly run back and take her position, Hank giving her a thumbs up before the referee blew the whistle and the game started again. It was the last year they'd be able to play on the same team before they got split up, so I was thankful we weren't having to juggle them back and forth to different game times yet.

"Did you look over that Welch proposal yet?" Liam asked me as we watched Hank take the ball up the field.

"I glanced at it, I just don't see how it's doable bro." I sighed, feeling the stresses of work rest their weight on my shoulders once again. "I didn't look too thoroughly, but I hate the idea of putting the other projects on hold. They were already delayed when I was off for the funeral and stuff, we need to finish them before we take anything else on. I'm still not back to full capacity yet, I can't commit to new stuff."

"I get it bro, I just think it's a really good opportunity. I wanna make sure you really look at it first." Liam shrugged.

"I will, I just haven't had time. I've still got three days until I have to give him an answer. I'll sort it out."

"I know you'll do whatever is best, I support you either way." He said as he placed his hand on my shoulder in reassurance. "How is Han, anyway? I haven't seen her in a while."

I sighed as I thought of Hannah, the weight of that adding to the heaviness I already felt regarding work and all of the bullshit going on.

"She's uh...she's alright. She's doing the best she can." I said simply.

It had been two days since she'd finally gotten out of bed, since she broke down to her dad and promised me she'd try harder not to shut me out. For the past two days she'd made an obvious effort, but she was still in the middle of grieving and obviously struggling with depression.

Every morning, she'd pull herself out of bed and get the kids ready for school, dropping them off and running any errands she needed to before returning home to have a nap. She was exhausted, it was written all over her, and no matter how much she slept she just seemed to never actually feel rested. I did my best to be supportive, trying to find the balance between being helpful and giving her enough space to sort her own feelings out, but I couldn't help but feel like there was still a distance between us and I hated it.

All of the little things she used to do, the way she'd run her fingers through my hair as I told her about my day, lacing her fingers between mine while we drove somewhere, cuddling up to me on the couch, they'd all been slowly disappearing over the past couple of months, and it appeared that they'd stopped all together. I think I'd tried to be extra affectionate in an effort to make up for our lack of contact, making sure that I always kissed her hello and goodbye, trying to be aware that she needed a lot of comfort. At the same time, I think at times I was doing it more for myself than I was for her, desperate to feel close to her in some way. Hannah and I had always been so affectionate, so connected and physical with each other, that being around her and wondering if it was okay to touch her was agony.