The Fallen King | ✓

Chapter 17

~Chapter 17~

Whoever said that time healed all wounds must have been on crack or something.

It had been a whole week since the funeral and I didn't feel any better than before. Okay, maybe I was expecting this whole 'healing process' to take effect far too quickly but I just couldn't bear the pain anymore.

Zack was dead. My brother was gone and by association a part of me was missing too.

Everywhere I had read online said that it took time and acceptance to start feeling better but how much time could it take? I was already a bit of an emotional wreck before all of this and now my emotions didn't even know which way to turn.

It was all just too much.

Like every day since I had arrived, I was in Zack's room, trying to feel closer to him. It was comforting at first but now it just reminded me that he was gone.

Zack wasn't going to tell me stupid jokes or steal my phone for the millionth time or try and pretend he had a say in my love life or go to wild parties with me or let me win when we played video games so I wouldn't give up or build pillow forts with me anymore.

We wouldn't have any more memories together. I had lost my brother and he was never coming back.

That piece of information had been a hard pill to swallow and it was still getting stuck on its way down my throat.

Besides, even if I could 'accept' his death, it didn't make it any easier and it didn't lessen the pain. So, naturally, I had decided it was best to cut off all human contact so I couldn't get hurt again by becoming a hermit who lived out the rest of her days in Zack's room.

Although it may have seemed like a rather drastic choice I was enjoying the peace quite a lot.

I hadn't checked my phone since I'd gotten here and without social media wearing me down I was feeling so much lighter. I couldn't see anyone calling me harsh names on my latest post and no one was dragging me in five directions to do endless jobs; I was free.

I had built up a rather tough exterior over the years and honestly the harsh comments and endless work didn't bother me as much anymore but it was still nice to have a break to let my mind recharge. In fact, it was so nice, I was actually considering taking my aforementioned decision seriously by staying in Zack's room forever and never leaving.

I knew that was a stupid idea but at that moment I just didn't care. I didn't have much left to live for so there really was no harm in cooping myself up in here for the rest of my days.

However, my serenity finally came to an abrupt end that morning when I heard a pestering tapping on the bedroom door. I had assumed it was Nathan, Wyatt or dad coming to try and cheer me up like they had tried every day so I had ignored the noise and went back to sleep.

What I didn't consider, however, was that it could've been someone else trying to talk to me. So, five minutes later, when the door was unlocked with the key from the outside and Axel was standing there I was shocked to say the least.

"Finally, Harper," he said, stepping into the room, not wasting a second.

I gaped at him for a moment, unsure of what to say or how to act. It took me a few seconds to realise that this was Axel I was talking to so there was no need to put up fronts or facades. There was no need to pretend I was fine.

With this knowledge in mind, I sat upright, hugging the bedsheets around me as I moved over to make space for him to sit next to me. "I like your freckles," he said suddenly as he moved towards me, giving me a gentle smile.