Mint [H.S.]

8

Little Lion Man - Mumford And Sons

It was not your fault but mine... and it was your heart on the line... I really fucked it up this time. Didn't I, my dear?

HARRY

"Here Harry, I made you some tea," Maddie explains, once she hands me a warm cup. I glare at the pink and purple printed mug with some blonde Disney princess painted around it. "Whenever I'm having a bad day, Daddy always makes me tea and gives me a cookie. This is my favourite mug too so be careful." She hands me a tissue paper with small chocolate chip cookie inside.

"Thanks," I accept the cookie, taking a small bite from it.

She takes a seat beside me on the back porch of their quaint townhouse. The Sunday afternoon sun was warm against our cheeks. There was still a cold breeze that passed over us but it wasn't too bad. The city was busy but it wasn't something I wasn't used to. It made me think about London but I quickly push those thoughts away... something I tended to do with everything in my life. Push it away...

Maddie doesn't say anything as she sits beside me on the cushioned bench. Her small legs curled up beside her and a book in her lap. It still freaked me out how similar we were. She stays quiet, her mind too preoccupied with the pages of Little Women. I pull out my own book, Women that I had been reading since I bought it last night.

There's an almost calm silence that falls over us as we read. It was almost a familiar silence. The kind of silence that I would experience many times with Isabella back home when we'd lounge in our living room, too enraptured by our novels to talk. It was one of those silences that you knew you were comfortable enough to be with the other person without needing to actually talk.

This silence right now was too similar to that. I never thought that I'd find myself sitting with a kid who happened to be my own sister... reading. This was a concept that I still had the hardest time fathoming. Something that I was still processing... it was weird, but in this strange way... I didn't mind it. I never experienced something like this and it was strange. It was unfamiliar... foreign... but strangely comforting.

The warm liquid of the tea felt soothing against my scratchy throat. I've been living on a diet of tea and fast food over the past few months. However, it seemed like my stomach wasn't able to hold anything else. My appetite was slowly disappearing and these sharp pains were taking its place.

I knew that Maddie was catching on. Her beady little eyes kept watching me whenever I'd slowly move across the living room, or whenever I'd pause to take an extra breath. "Are you okay? You should go see a doctor..." she kept saying last night during our long trek back to her house. "I'm fine," was all I said back, a small lie but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

"Maddie... Harry... where are you two?"

I take a quick glance over at Maddie who is still too fucking enthralled by her book.

"Maddie... Harry..." Dylan's strong voice calls from inside. I don't bother moving or calling out to him. He was a smart guy, I'm sure he'd figure out that since the door was open we were outside. Besides, I'm too damn lazy to open my mouth to speak.

"Oh, there you guys are," he chuckles, finally realizing that yes- because the door is open we are outside... "I swear, you two are too alike," he chuckles, whilst taking a seat on a patio chair.

"Maddie?"

"Hmm?" She glances up from her book, "Oh, hey dad," she lazily greets him, before looking back down at the pages in her lap.

Dylan laughs under his breath, shaking his head to himself. He leans back on the chair, loosening his tie that hangs around his neck. There are dark circles under his eyes and his hair is a fucking mess. He looked like he had been working all night when really, he's only been gone for the morning. "How was your day?" He asks, leaning over so he can rest his elbows against his knees.