Breaking Slowly // h.s. au

Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

*Harry*

Songs-

Are You Hurting the One You Love- Florence + the Machine

Bleeding Out- Imagine Dragons

Dirty Paws- Of Monsters and Men

"Else you know you can stay another night." I say wrapping my arms around her waist.

"No I can't." She shakes her head and crosses her arms.

"Yes you can." I pout. She sighs.

"We have school tomorrow." She points out.

"Mhm." I draw circles with my fingers along her hipbones.

"I have to go Harry." She removes my hands from her waist and spins around- her ponytail nearly hitting me in the nose, "I'll see you tomorrow." She stands on her toes and pecks my lips before turning to leave.

"Not so fast." I grasp her hand and press my lips to hers forcefully. She's taken aback at first by the forcefulness but soon relaxes into my touch and kisses me back. Her soft pink lips- the same ones I think about non-stop are pressed against mine firmly. Having her here with me is all I want- all I need...

"Harry." She groans against my lips. God damn.

"Elsie." I mock her tone. She presses her hands against my chest and takes a step back.

"I have to go." She tries to offer me a smile but the corners of her lips twitch and it falls into a frown.

"I know." I look down at my shoes for a moment before looking up at my beautiful girl, "Don't be sad anymore love." I brush my thumb across the corner of her lips and she leans into my touch but then restricts herself- she's hit the walls she's constructed for herself.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school." She stands on her toes and pecks my cheek before walking out my front door and leaving me with nothing but the faint smell of her perfume and the phantom feeling of her skin on mine.

*****

*Elsie*

I walked out of the building with my head hung low and my nails pressed into my palms. Why can't life be easy? Why can't I be better? Why am I such a fuck up? Why can't I let anyone care about me? Would they even want to care about me?

I shake my head and continue to walk down the street. My feet are starting to feel numb and my knees are starting to shake as I continue down the asphalt.

As I walk up the familiar road that leads to my house the ache in my wrist gets worse. I get past all of my neighbors houses and soon am embraced with the scent of my neighbor's potent bushes and the sodden air. It rained last night.

The fall is a beautiful time but it means everything is colder and I'm consistently reminded with shivers raking my skin.

I reach into my jeans- the same ones that I fished out of Harry's laundry basket- to get my house key but my hand brushes upon something metal that makes my blood run cold. I run my finger along the paring knife and across the edge of the lighter before searching in my other pockets and finding my house key.

As soon as I open the door I'm greeted with silence.

They're not home...