Cherry Weekends

Chapter 15

"I was on the kitchen floor," Harry mumbled as that one memory was suddenly crystal clear to him. "I didn't even thank you," he whispered into the silence. He swallowed hard and met Niall's eyes, "Thank you," he spoke sincerely.

Niall nodded, "I didn't know exactly what it meant, or what you needed it for, but the second you had it, you typed so fast and sent some random text like it was the most important thing in the world. Then you clutched it to your chest and passed out," Niall shrugged, "I couldn't tell what you had sent or if it had even been coherent."

"You are not alone," Nicole suddenly answered. She slid her phone across the table to Niall and he could see a text conversation with 'Troglodyte' listed at the top. Every message was the same, 'You are not alone'. Sent on both April 23rd and October 7th; Niall didn't press about the second date just yet as the moment didn't feel right for it. Nicole reached her hand across the table and grabbed Harry's, "Thank you," she spoke earnestly.

Harry shook his head, "I never needed a reply."

"You deserved one," she squeezed his hands as she fought back tears. Niall almost cringed as Harry and Nicole pulled apart, he could tell it was only for his sake, and, though strained, they began telling the story again.

Jimmy had never seen someone pull themselves off one of the annoyingly tight lunchroom benches so quickly before and could barely swing his head around in time to watch Harry run straight out of the cafeteria and take off across campus despite the raging storm.

Everyone around him was staring at Jimmy for some sort of explanation regarding Harry's sudden departure, but the boy simply shrugged his shoulders and returned to his pie.

Harry was soaked as he stormed through the doors of the familiar housing unit and slipped numerous times in the process of making his way toward the stairs. He saw the janitor, an older man who was always very friendly to Harry and grabbed the keys he was using to open the janitor's closet as he ran by. "I'm sorry Hector, I'll get them back to you ASAP, I swear."

Hector raised an eyebrow before smirking, "Girl?"

"Of course, not Hector," Harry shouted behind him.

Hector shrugged his shoulders and set back to work with his spare set of keys as though nothing had happened. He knew Harry was a good kid and wouldn't cause any real trouble. He just figured the boy was finally giving in to his baser instincts and defying the tyrannical dean Hector had never been fond of. Either that or he had left one of his assignments in Jimmy's room again.

Harry slipped many times as he raced up the stairs, and once more around the final corner at the top, barely missing falling back down the steps he had just climbed. He continued fumbling with the keys, dropping them in the process, but finally grasping the one he needed as he slipped again.

Nicole was silent and numb as she made herself a soothing cup of tea which she was already deciding she no longer wanted. The day outside appeared as miserable as she felt, but if she allowed herself to cry, she feared she would never stop, and she was already disappointed in herself for skipping all her classes. She had decided that she wasn't strong enough to make it through. She wondered if her parents would have been disappointed as well.

It was two years to the day her parents had been taken far too soon. Just as that thought crossed her mind once more and she felt the tears building all over again, she heard some sort of commotion outside in the hall and then the door suddenly burst open. "Harold?" she furrowed her brow as he stepped into the room, soaked to the bone, and breathing hard.

He stepped forward and allowed the door to close behind him. "I'm sorry," he panted as he shed his jacket and sweatshirt, pulled his darkened beanie from his head and allowing them all to fall to the floor near his muddy shoes he kicked beside the door where he saw Nicole kept her own. "I should have been here sooner." He quickly crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Nicole, holding her as close as possible.

"It's not fair," she mumbled against his chest as she held him tightly in return, "It's just not fair."

"I know," Harry nodded and kissed the top of her head, "I'm right here Nic... you're not alone... I'm right here..."

Nicole's tears eventually calmed with fatigue, and she fell asleep in Harry's arms. He had pulled off his wet jeans before he had crawled into Nicole's bed with her, holding her tightly, sweeping his thumb back and forth on the small of her back as he followed her into a rather sound sleep.

Author's note: 2nd half of this chapter will be posted shortly; please let me know what you think or vote if you enjoyed :)