nerd.

quarante-sept

Dedicated to @TheWorldOfWifi bc you voted (: and your writing is amazing, so the rest of y'all should check it out!

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Arielle Evans 

I wake up to my phone buzzing annoyingly on my nightstand. 

"What?" I grumble. "It's three in the morning." 

"Sorry, love." Harry sounds panicked, and I can hear his footsteps thudding back and forth. "Did I wake you?" 

"No shit, Sherlock." I climb out of bed and walk outside the house, not wanting to wake anyone. "What's wrong?" 

"I was wondering, how long would it take you to drive from Yale to here?" Harry asks. 

"At least a day or two. Why?" I reply. 

"Marcel's been in an accident." 

*

t's 5:00 a.m. and I'm on the road, speeding towards Belgrade. I had left a note on Delilah's nightstand in hopes that she would pass it on to the other people in the house as well as the professors. I tried to find a plane ticket, seeing as it was much easier, but there was nothing this last-minute, so I had to settle for driving. It's not that bad, actually, if I were to exclude the thoughts racing throughout my mind and the pounding of my heart. 

Harry had seemed too frazzled to give me any other details, so I had told him I would be there soon before hanging up and hurriedly throwing random clothes into my suitcase and rushing towards the car. Now I have 31 hours to go, as the GPS tells me. Yay me. 

I pull into a gas station just to top the tank off so that I can go for the next few hours, and the pump takes forever and a day to fill it up. I finally yank it out and retrieve my card from the machine, throwing my hair up into a bun before getting back into the car. 

*

I finally arrive in Belgrade at 9:00 a.m. a day later after giving up and staying at a hotel for a night in between drives. I text Harry to see where he is as I knock on the door to my old home, the memories instantly coming back. 

"Coming!" I hear someone shout, and I recognize the voice as my mother's. I wait patiently at the door as I hear Mom fumble with the lock and finally open the door.

"Arielle?" she asks, surprise taking over her features. 

"Hi, Mom." I say quietly, nibbling on my lower lip. 

"What are you doing here?" she asks. 

I look up at her, surprised. "What do you mean? I texted you that I was coming." 

"Oh, sorry. My phone has been dead for the past few days because I can't seem to find my charger." Mom half-smiles at me, and I return the favor along with a small giggle at her clumsiness. My phone finally buzzes, and I instantly whip it out of my pocket, knowing exactly who texted. 

HareBear: hospital close to mine...do u want me to come and get u? 

The Little Mermaid: nah i'll be there soon, thx for waiting for me bb (: 

"I'll be back soon." I tell Mom without tearing my eyes away from the small screen of my phone. 

"Where are you going?" she asks, and I roll my eyes. 

"To the hospital, Mom. If you had your phone charged, you would've known that Marcel was in an accident, which is the whole point of me coming," I groan, pinching my temples in exhaustion. 

"Marcel was in an accident?" she yells, causing the old lady across the street to frown at us and wrinkle her nose before picking up her newspaper and walking back inside. "Sorry." she says, this time much quieter. "Do you want me to come to the hospital with you?" 

"No, he might get overwhelmed with too many people there." I shake my head rapidly. "I'll go by myself." 

"Okay, but be back soon. How long are you here for?" 

"Just a few days. I have classes this week so I have to get back soon." I shrug, and Mom nods. I take that as my cue to leave, and I sit back in the utterly annoying car seat that I have been perched in for the past two days, driving to the hospital where my best friends await. 

*

"Marcel Styles. What room is he in?" I demand, drumming my fingers against the cold wood counter and waiting for the chirpy lady to answer. 

"Marcel Styles, Marcel Styles." she mutters, scrolling through something on her Dell. "Ah. Here he is, room 204. Up the stairs and to your right, ma'am." 

"Thank you." I mutter hastily. I sprint up the steps, taking two at a time, and I jog down the hall, running my fingers along the wall to find the door that says 204. "Ah." I mumble when I find it, and I swing the door open, revealing a stressed-looking Harry and a barely moving, scarred Marcel. My hand goes flying up to my mouth as tears begin to surface at the corners of my eyes, and I close the door behind me, cautiously walking towards the hospital bed. "Oh my God," are the few words that come out of my mouth first when I see how badly Marcel has been injured. His lip is cut right down the middle, he has a long, jagged scar down his arm, and his face is bruised in nearly every spot, probably from the air bag. 

"Arielle?" Harry whimpers, his eyes teary and red. My heart nearly breaks at just the sight of him. He stands from the plastic chair, wrapping his arms around me and sobbing into my shoulder. "I missed you, so much." Despite the serious situation, I manage to laugh, a smile coming to my face. 

"I don't think that's your biggest problem at the moment, babe." I giggle, and Harry cracks a smile, swiping the residue of tears from his cheeks. 

"He hasn't woken up for hours. The doctor says he has a chance of going into a coma." Harry says, his voice wobbling. Instead of responding, I just hug him tighter, something I haven't done in a long, long time. He brings me close to him, resting his chin on my shoulder and sniffling quietly. When he pulls away from me, I expect him to say something else, but what he does is exactly the opposite. 

He leans down and kisses me. 

*

a/n-

ok so a lot of you think that she's going back and forth between mason and harry too much but tbh she hasn't even talked to mason since she went to uni so yea there's no back and forth there 

also, marielle or harielle? because the book will probably be ending soon, maybe idk 

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love you guys, xx