Between Us [Spaces Sequel]

t w e n t y - s i x

Time flies. Time waits for no man. Time heals all wounds. All any of us wants is more time. Time to stand up. Time to grow up. Time to let go.
Time.
- Meredith Grey
___________________________

Two weeks later, I came home from university, exhausted as ever. Ever since I got the letter from my father, I hadn't talked to him. Since I had never been in an actual relationship before, I wasn't quite sure what Harry and I were. Were we broken up? On a break? I had no clue. He had called several times in the past weeks, but I never answered. Everything that happened with my dad was too much for me and dealing with our relationship problems stressed me out even more. He had texted several time, which ended with me telling him that I just needed a little more time. More time to think. At this point, I didn't know what to do anymore. I needed more. More happiness. More time. I needed him to be able to spend time with me without schedules. I needed to make a decision. Leaving him on the hook only made me feel way worse. I didn't intend to hurt him, really. I just didn't know what I wanted, at least that's what it felt like. I never learned what it meant to follow my heart. Nobody ever told me to follow my heart. All my life, I had barely been encouraged. I grew up in a broken home with a broken family. I never told anyone what was going on. I didn't want to be a burden to anyone, nor did I want to hear any comments. It took me a lot to wear short sleeves for the first time. I never wore them to school, but I wore them in university. Nobody ever asked me about the fading scars on my arms, fortunately. That was the first time I had hope. Hope in myself. I hoped that somehow everything would improve suddenly. And for once I actually thought that time really heals all wounds.
Unfortunately, my life was a mess again. My abusive father turned up and I couldn't even manage a healthy relationship. Slowly, but surely, everything was going downhill again. It took me forever to notice, but scars never fade, whether you can see them or not. Time doesn't heal wounds, it cuts them open again or pours salt in them. There was no doubt that I would some day have to tell my kids where I got my scars from. I would have to lie to them. And all those scars I wore over my skin. My surgery scar that was healing, my bruises and little  physical inperfections. They would always mark my body. They would always define my past. They would always define who I was.
And not to forget, the mental scars. They can't be seen, but that doesn't mean they aren't there. All the pain I had been put through in my entire lifetime would never pass, it would only fade and eventually, it wouldn't hurt as much as it did before. The conclusion that I have come to: Time doesn't heal wounds, but it takes their importance. Maybe one day I would look down at my arms and not think about my rough past, but about successful recovery. Maybe one day I could look down at my surgery scar, not thinking about my father, but thinking of it as a battle scar. Sometimes I couldn't help thinking that my parents knew what they were doing when they gave me my name... Scarlett.
I snapped out of my thoughts as my phone interrupted my ever so pessimistic thoughts. The caller was unknown. At the same time, I felt relief and sadness that it wasn't Harry calling. I picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hey, this is Louis," I heard an ever so familiar voice say. His thick british accent I would always recognize.
"Hi," I said, not sure what to answer. "Is everything okay?"
"Well, more or less," he said and sighed. "Listen, I hate doing this. I really do. I swore to Harry that I wouldn't be, hold on let me quote him, 'an absolute arse'. He made me promise to not call you, but I did anyways. Because he's a mess, like an actual mess. You can not possibly imagine. He sits in his room all day crying, weeping more like. I have never ever seen him like this and I've known him for quite some time."
That only made me feel worse. "Wow, now I'm the absolute arse."
"Listen, I know you're angry and I don't know what happened between you two. Just talk to him, whatever you say. Just free him, because he's hurt and I can't see him like this any longer. So, whatever you need to say to him, whether you want to break up with him or you want to forgive him. Please just talk to him."
"I will," I replied, feeling nauseous from hearing the word 'break up'. "I promise I'll call him."
"Thank you," he said. "He really loves you. Just thought you should know that."
"I know," I said, smiling sadly. "So do I."
"Good," he said. "And could you please not tell him that I called you?"
"Why?"
"Well, I will have to be on tour with him for some time and if he finds out, he will literally kill me," Louis explained. "He doesn't like showing that he has a weak side."
"Got it," I said with a slight chuckle.
"Well, then. I hope I'll see you soon," he said. "Have a good day."
"You too, Louis."

I spent the rest of the day pacing up and down. Harry loved me and he was genuienly hurt. He was the love of my life and I knew that being without him, I would be unhappy, like I had been the past weeks. When Louis had told me that he was a mess, my heart broke into a thousand pieces. While I was only thinking of myself, I completely ignored the way he was feeling. Maybe if I had known that he was so down, I would have called him earlier. I never thought that I could be this important to someone. Harry loved me and I had been acting like a bitch. When we started dating, I knew his job. I knew that he would be gone a lot, but I fell in love with him anyways, because it was right, at least that's what it felt like. Loving him just felt too right and hating him had been the most exhausting. Every single day since Sydney, I had been longing for him. His touch, his voice and all that made him Harry. I didn't care whether he was famous, because the way I know him, he was just a boy from Holmes Chapel with a dream. I would always love him. I could never stop.
Eager to call him, I grabbed my phone with shaky hands, before I sat down on my bed. My fingers could dial the digits of his number by heart. My heart started racing, as I heard a noise at the other side of the line.
"Hello?" His raspy voice mumbled.
"I'm so sorry, did I wake you up?"
"Scarlett," he suddenly said, suprised. I heard an object drop in the distance, making Harry swear. "Sorry. No, you didn't. I've been wide awake for hours."
"Right," I replied with a tiny giggle. "I am calling because I want to apologize to you. To be honest, I was a bitch to you."
"You weren't," he stated. "All you needed was time."
"I wasn't finished, Harry. Those past weeks, I should've called you. I really should have. I don't want time to think, I don't need it, Harry. You are the love of my life. You are my best friend. You are my person. You make me stronger, you make me brave and I need you. I need you more than I ever needed anyone. Just thinking about losing you, breaks my heart. I don't care if you have to go on tour, because I'm proud of you and I support you. Somehow, I know we can do this, because we're stronger than breaking up over something like this."
"I love you too much," he whispered. "You don't know how much I need you, Scarlett. In the past weeks, I was done, because I can't live without you. I promise I'll make more time for. I'll call you every night and I swear to God, next time I see you, I won't let you go."
"You better," I replied, making him chuckle slightly which sounded like music to my ears.