Our Numbered Days ∥ fillie

backstory.

chapter fourteen.

"hi! this is─

"really, millie?"

"okay, i have to say that line every time i pick up a call. plus, it could be another teenager in need of help. it's part of my job! not everything is about you, finnie."

"you make it seem like you have a call every ten seconds."

"yeah i know. in fact, my boss is starting to think we're dating or something. funny, right?"

"uh yeah.. pretty funny. anyways, i finally finished the harry potter books!"

"and? how do you feel?"

"wow, it's amazing!"

"i know right?"

"i can't believe it's all over, though. now i feel like my same old self again, like i have nothing to live for anymore."

"no finnie, don't say that! it's like that one saying goes, hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home."

"but.. what do i do now?"

"read the books all over again. watch the films, watch avpm. relive the fantasy, it'll always be with you, finnie."

"wow.. thanks, millie."

"for what?"

"for this. introducing me into the series and listening to me, it helped me a lot."

"no problem."

"yeah."

"mhm."

"yeah."

"okay finnlard this is getting way too serious. we need to talk about something more.. fun!"

"well i haven't been too suicidal today. i also have been painting and reading a lot more recently. i've been distracting myself."

"that's good. so, what even triggered it?"

"why i want to kill myself?"

"well yeah. i'm a phone operator who works for a teen helpline. keyword, help. it's my job, doofus."

"weirdo."

"grumpy gills."

"okay, we're getting nowhere!"

"fine! just start talking."

"well, it started because of my home life. my mom's an alcoholic, and i've never seen my father. she brings in different men all the time, and she tells me it's because she needs to make ends meet. on top of that, my girlfriend died. she took her own life, the assholes at my school wouldn't stop bullying her. there was nothing i could do to stop her from taking them.."

"taking what?"

"..pills."

"oh my.. jesus."

"no, it's just me. but i've been told the resemblance is uncanny."

"i was feeling sorry for you, finnie."

"don't, because i don't like sympathy. people have been feeling sorry for me for the past year now, and honestly i'm sick of it."

"well, how'd you find out? that is if you don't mind me asking."

"i uh, got a phone call from her mother. she, unlike myself, had a good home life. a family who cared about her, so when her parents found her dead in the bathroom it wasn't.. it wasn't a pretty sight, millie. she was blue, and cold.. already stiff. that was the hardest i've ever cried in my entire life, with her lifeless body in my arms. but then i googled ways to get over my depression, i didn't wanna end up like her but it was getting hard without her by my side. that's when i called this helpline and─

"that's when magic happened?"

"yeah. you listened to me, you helped me. i defeated my demons with harry potter.. and you too, i guess."

"well i'll always be here for you, finnie. i'll always be here to listen to you."

"always?"

"always."

─
fluffy.