Relapse / / h.s.

Chapter Twenty.

Everything was quiet. That's the thing about thunderstorms. People don't come outside unless they absolutely have to, and today was my lucky day, apparently, because there was no one in sight as I drove. Rain pattered against my windshield, drops racing each other down the glass.

I'd woke up this morning feeling different. I wasn't sure what it was, but there was a feeling inside of me- like I needed to get out of the house. I needed to get off of the couch. I needed to go for a drive. Which is why I was all alone, at nine in the evening, driving in the middle of nowhere with only the rain and the cornfields to keep me company.

I wasn't sure how long I'd been driving. As the rain hammered against the windshield, everything inside of me seemed to calm. It had been way too long since I'd felt this way. I was willing to drive as long as I could.

   Just as I rounded the dirt-path corner, something flew out from under the passenger seat. I braked the car long enough to pick it up. It was the CD Elena had given me- The 1975. I tried setting it back on the seat, but it was like it was taunting me. Listen to me. Listen to me.

   I popped it into the player. It was quiet for a second and then an electric-drum sound flooded the car, drowning out the thumping of the rain.

   "Don't call it a fight when you know it's a war." The singers accent was thick- like mine. He was undoubtedly British. It all seemed too new-age for me. I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

   "Go and sit on the bed because you know that you want to," he sang. It was catchy, I had to give them that much.

  As the album went on, I found myself intrigued. No wonder Elena liked them, they were actually good. They had good lyrics and she was right, they were different than anything I'd ever listened to before.

As I listened to the final song come to an end, I couldn't help but think of Elena. How was she? This was the longest we'd gone without speaking since we'd met. I wondered if she was thinking about me, and before I realized what I was doing, I was heading to her house, playing the CD all over again.

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All of the lights were off in the house besides  one upstairs in the corner. I thought it was her room, but I had only been here a few times. There was no way to know for sure. I sat in my truck, listening as the CD came to an end yet again before pulling out my phone and dialing her familiar number.

"Harry," she said shortly on the fourth ring.

"Come outside."

"What?" She asked.

"Come outside," I repeated, staring up at the lighted window.

The curtain moved in the window of the only room with the light on and just a head of bright blonde hair was visible.

"It's eleven-thirty," she protested quietly. "And it's raining. I'm not coming outside."

"Please?" I begged. The rain has slowed, coming down in scattered sprinkles instead of a downpour "I want to talk to you."

She let out a long sigh. "Fine, we can talk, but I'm not going out there," she whispered. "I'll come let you in."

Elena hung up before I could respond. I cut the engine off. With the roar of my truck gone, I could clearly hear the chirps of the crickets all around me as I made my way to her door.

She was already waiting for me by the time I made it up there, her hair was tied in a knot on top of her head and she was wearing a plain red crew neck that was about three sizes too big for her. I didn't say anything as she let me in, instead engulfing her in my arms.