Don't Give Up on Me

Prologue: Best of Friends

Y/N wasn't entirely sure how she and Harrison met. If you asked Harrison, he would say that he walked up to Y/N one day on the playground one fall afternoon at the nearby park. She could have sworn that she threw sand in his face, though that was neither here nor there. Either way, those two were seemly inseparable since the age of 6. Fast forward 15 years, and they were both 21 figuring out what they were going to do with their lives, or rather, what Y/N was going to do. Harrison had joined the Corps of Royal Marines shortly after his 19th birthday, and while his family had their reservations, they supported his decision. Y/N, well, not so much.

"Why? What in your right mind made you think this was a good idea?!" Y/N questioned Harrison.

"I just figured since I'm not going to uni, I should probably do some form of good while you're off learning something. Besides, acting hasn't really gotten me anywhere as of late..." Harrison looked away from his best friend briefly when he mentioned acting.

You see, Harrison loved the arts, and more specifically, acting. Harrison's other best friend, Tom Holland, had already been in a few films, and Harrison wanted to join Tom more than anything. Both Tom and Y/N were there every time Harrison was denied a role, and it began to take its toll on Harrison.

"But you can help old ladies cross the street! Or volunteer at a hospital, or something else! Why do you have to put your life on the line in order to do 'some form of good?!'" Y/N used air quotes.

"I'll be fine, Y/N. I will probably end up doing some desk job anyways. I will be okay." Harrison's blue eyes pierced Y/N's, and almost her very soul.

"Okay," Y/N let out a sigh. "But if you ever get hurt, I will personally kill you."

"Yeah, sure!" Harrison chuckled as he pulled Y/N into a hug.

As they embraced, Y/N took in his scent. Cedarwood and vanilla. She had memorized his scent, but this time it was different. It was more potent. It wasn't because it was stronger, but she wanted to have this embrace seared into her memories. She wanted this moment to last forever. What she didn't know was that Harrison wanted that too.

–

"You'll write to me when you can, right?" Y/N asked as she embraced her best friend.

"Y/N, dear, I'm only going to recruit training. Besides, Tom will be around before he goes to Atlanta for filming." Harrison hugged Y/N tightly, taking in the scent of her hair.

"You're going to be gone for 32 weeks. That's 8 months Haz! You better be writing me a letter at least once a week!" She said sternly.

"I will, I promise. I need to get going though." He said as he slowly loosened his embrace.

"Be safe, okay? I don't want to get a call from your mum saying you were being extra while training and ended up getting hurt." Y/N slightly chuckled.

"Look, I know I'm a div, but I will be okay. Don't worry about me love." Y/N's heart quickened at the sound of the new nickname.

"Okay. I love you." She quickly hugged him one last time.

"I love you too. Don't cry, okay? I'll be back soon." Harrison comforted her one last time before walking out of her flat.

As Y/N watched him walk out the door, time seemed to stop. She committed his exit to memory, and as the door shut, she began to sob. It killed Harrison to hear her on the other side of the door, but he kept walking knowing that if he turned back he would desert the Corps.

–

Throughout Harrison's training, he kept his word and wrote Y/N a letter every week. Y/N looked forward to the post everyday just waiting to see if his letters came that day, and when it did, she read them incessantly. As time went on though, his letters became shorter and shorter. He shared less about how he missed home, his family, Monty, and Y/N, and more about how the food was disgusting and he was lacking sleep. His sign offs went from "Love, Haz" to "- Haz" to eventually not even signing off the letter. Y/N reasoned that he was getting busier with his training, but she would be lying if she said that she didn't feel hurt as his writing changed.