Afterlife || irwin

[ 9 ] 2014

[ 9 ] 2014

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"Your brother seems to be taking it hard. We can make him forget all his sadness and worried with just one command."

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Harleen was a mess when Aaron left. Though her one true love was Arthur Vega, Aaron Quinn had been her best friend, the man she had shared her entire life with. He was the person who had given her a home, and their beautiful children. The house felt empty without him, and it showed in everything that they did. When they had dinner together the first night, Harleen cried silently as she ate her meal, picking at the food on her plate aimlessly. She had eventually lost control of her emotions and disappeared into the kitchen where she broke out into full on sobs.

From the dining room, Billy and Harley could hear her blaming herself for what was happening. "Its my fault he's gone." 

At that point, Billy had pushed his chair back and raced to the kitchen to console her. He pulled his mother into his arms tightly and let her cry. Her tears quickly stained his shirt. Harley remained in the dining room. For one, she wanted to keep an eye on the twins who were only a few months old. Their care giver was taking a break in her bedroom to relax for a little while. And also, Harley didn't know what to say to her mother. Her own feelings about the situation were conflicted. She understood that Harleen and Arthur were separated by circumstances that had not been their fault.

But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of resentment towards them. Arthur had been married once in the past, to Michael's mother. Harley thought to herself that he could easily just find another woman who wasn't Harleen. He was a good guy, and he wasn't bad looking. Harleen was married to Aaron still and they had a chance to save their marriage if they could just talk things out. But that was also Harleen's decision to make. No one could force her to get back with Aaron if what she really wanted was to go to Arthur.

The care giver took the twins upstairs to get them ready for bed and eventually Harleen and Billy made their way out of the kitchen. Billy, trying his very best to make the situation better, or at least to distract his mother for a little while, had invited Cindy over. They were going to watch some movies together. He had invited Harley, but Harley declined, going up to her room for the night. Harley had never been the emotional kind. She never knew what to do when someone was crying. She cared about her mother and wanted to console her just like Billy was doing, she just didn't know how to. 

She stayed in her bedroom the whole night and didn't want to go to school the next morning. But she figured it would be better to go and distract herself rather than to stay at home and watch Harleen wallow in her sadness. 

School wasn't much eventful either, since Calum was no longer there. She spent the whole day with Niall, Andrea, and Dempsey. Paul was in one of the independent study rooms in the library preparing for a presentation he was to give after school. Despite him being absent from his job for more than just a couple of days, the principal liked him and was offering him a permanent position for the upcoming school year as a math teacher. Paul and Dempsey were still thinking about returning to Mexico to start a new life away from all the hunting and the organization. But he thought it couldn't have something to fall back on in case they decided to stay in Australia.

Cindy had talked to Billy and promised Harley that he would do the right thing. But up until then, Billy Quinn was unwilling to talk to the principal and come clean about the incident with Calum. He did not want to tell the principal that he had pushed Harley first and that he was just defending her from her older brother.

Her whole day felt longer than usual, but when the final bell rang, she was ready to head home. But she was stopped by Cindy Hemmings, who had a big smile on her face. "I know its not a good time." The blonde started, linking arms with Harley and placing her head on her friend's shoulder as she spoke. "But today is the quarter final match for the boys basketball playoffs. We're going to cheer for them. You should come."