Beating Hearts - Dangerous Fellows

Chapter 2 - Porcelain

Lawrence brought you back up to the classroom where Scarlett stood tapping her foot angrily. She glared at you. "Oh- look it's-"

"Scarlett. Don't." Lawrence cut her off. You looked away with embarrassment. He looked back at you. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off as- creepy or something. I just don't want to throw you back out there when I know it's dangerous."

You shrugged. "Very creepy. I mean seriously- you're weird."

Lawrence gave you a look of hurt. "Oh- I- well-"

You stared and then gave him a worried look. "Lawrence- oh my god I was kidding." He sighed in relief. He looked almost embarrassed. Zion leaned on the back two legs of his chair.

"Lawrence might be 18 on the outside but really he's old man just trying to take care of his-" Zion counted. He couldn't finish his joke as he kept counting and then messing up and trying to redo it. "Never mind."

"That's what I thought." Lawrence said and walked to the front. He grabbed some papers before ushering for everyone to sit down. "We are going to start our meeting. (Y/N), we have meetings during breakfast and dinner to talk about our plans for today or tomorrow. We also do patrols and night watches to make sure the school has no zombies lurking inside, and to also repair the building a bit. I hope you don't mind helping once you get the hang of everything." You shook your head.

"No of course not. You guys are giving me a place to stay. I'll do what I can." You said confidently. He smiled and thanked you before quieting everyone and continuing the meeting. You couldn't help but stare at him as he was so mature for his age. He did not act like a teenager, Zion was right. You giggled at your own joke getting a few stares.

"Would you be okay going on patrol with Harry today- (Y/N)?" Lawrence asked, smiling warmly. You nodded. He sent everyone off on patrols and continued to write on some paper.

***

It was getting colder outside. It was the time when leaves began to fall and it felt like Halloween was coming. You loved Halloween. Too bad you were in the middle of a damn apocalypse. The wind whispered sweet nothings down your back as you looked and inspected every crack and hole on the side of the school wall. As you ran your fingers down the cracks, feeling the bumps against your fingers, you thought about the guys. You hoped that they would like you. It would be pretty awkward if they didn't. Okay- really awkward.

"Is everything good over there?" You turned to see Harry smiling at you. He looked so pretty like that. His hair was gently blowing in the wind as his body faced to the side. He looked like someone out of a painting. Was it even possible for people to be pretty in the middle of an apocalypse? You didn't care.

The light made his face look like porcelain. Standing up slowly and looking at him with soft eyes, you nodded. "Yeah." Harry turned back around. You guys took a walk around the outside of the school. "So Harry- tell me about yourself." His eyes widened with surprise.

"Me? I have nothing to tell."

"That's a lie. Everyone has something to tell."

"Uh- I- okay." He paused. "I- was very average in school. I didn't have a lot of friends-" he laughed. "I enjoy music. Listening to it. And walks." Hardy played with a ring on his finger. He was hiding something.

"You're hiding something."

"What? N-no I'm not."

"Liar. That's a beautiful ring." You didn't want to get into it if he felt uncomfortable. But it was a beautiful ring.

Harry looked at it with a sad smile. "It was my moms. She gave it to me when my dad-" he stopped, but looked at you and then continued. "My dad was abusive. He hit me- a lot. I get migraines because of it. My mom gave me the ring and told me, 'this will bring you happiness.' After that- he left. My dad. I was supposed to meet my mom during the protests- but-" tears slipped down his face.

The porcelain had cracks. It had something behind it- something that wasn't pretty. You wish you could repair those cracks so it was beautiful again. "I was so stupid." He laughed. It wasn't a happy one. "I didn't meet her and now I don't even know- I don't even know if she's alive." He started to cry. Boys were strong. They weren't supposed to cry. But this one did- and it was beautiful, because it was real. Authentic, broken, and sad. You pulled him into a hug. You stood there for a good 30 minutes. You didn't mind. You liked sharing raw emotions with other kids your age. And you knew why. Because nobody wanted to share those feelings. So when you did- it was so real- and it felt amazing to finally tell someone. You knew Harry felt that way too.

You looked up at the sky. Everyone is scared- afraid- and worried of what will happen. You knew Scarlett was too. That had to be why she was mean. There was no other explanation. That was the problem with teens. They get scared to be authentic so they build walls to hide themselves. You would give her time. In the mean time, you wanted to fix the porcelain that had cracked. Harry looked up at you. "(Y/N)- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"You're fine."

"What?"

"You're okay. Don't apologize. That must have been really tough. I'm sorry you had to go through that." You grabbed his shoulders and looked at him in his eyes. "But listen to me. You can't change what happened. So just focus on now- and remember you have a full life ahead of you. Live that life to its fullest no matter what's happening around you. I'm sure your mom is safe- and I'm sure she's as worried as you. We will survive and find her, okay?" He just watched you. You couldn't tell what he was thinking, and his expression didn't help.

But then it did. He smiled as some more tears streamed down his face. His hair blew in the wind. "Thank you- thank you so much." The sun shine in his face as it did earlier. There was that beautiful porcelain again. You wanted it to stay that way, so no matter how many times it cracked, you would fix it.

AUTHORS NOTE
I hope this chapter was okay! It was really over dramatic and sad. I was listening to more piano music so I can't tell if it's too cheesy or not. Sorry!