Salt and the Sea

The Enemy - Andrew Belle

"Took a break for the night." Harry laughs. He told Coast everything almost instantly when he met him. He was easy to talk to, kind, and honestly just someone who felt like Harry's old life. "Has Louis come down?" Harry asks, voice a little nervous. He keeps his eyes downward and doesn't look directly at Coast. The old man has always been able to read him.

Harry can hear Coast chuckle kind of smugly. "No. Boys' been up there for a few days. I've gone up and given him food quite a bit." Harry looks up to meet Coast's eyes, something must have sparked in his eyes to make Coast sympathetic. "You're worried about him, aren't you?"

Harry takes a long deep breath and releases it. "I haven't known him for that long. I don't know about his story or about what he is running away from... all I know is that he doesn't deserve to be feeling like he is."

"Hm." Coast hums. He looks down at his tea and sturs it with his spoon. "And you know how it feels? To be in his place I mean... you know how lonely that is and you don't want that for him?" Coast looks up and smiles.

"Yeah. Exactly." Harry runs his hand through his hair and leans back, turning to face the window looking out on the coast. "I know what it feels like to try and run from your own mind. It's one thing running from a place and another to be running from something inside that ends up following you no matter how far you try to get away from it."

"He's lucky to have a friend like you." Coast states, cleaning and placing a hand on Harry's shoulder like a grandfather would. "Just remember that you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved."

Harry smiles. "I don't want to save him. No one should try and save anyone. The only thing I want to do is be there for him and be someone he can lean on. As hard as it is, I feel like one day he could learn to trust me. No one should be alone in their battles. Trying to save someone is different than standing alongside them, helping them fight against the tides... isn't it Coast?"

"Yes. I guess it is."

August 22nd

I haven't left my bed all day. To be honest, being alone with nothing is better than being surrounded by people feeling nothing. My brain couldn't and wouldn't stop flashing with images of Drew. Images of that night. Imagines of the night before. Images of Harry. Images of me on the train, me on the coast, me with him on the blanket last night.

I didn't understand why I hated Harry so much when I first arrived here until now. I realized that when I saw him, drunk and confused, I didn't see him but I saw Drew.

I saw the way his eyes were clouded and his pupils dilated. The way his hair, brown and curly, covered his face dripping with rain. The way he just saw right through me yet wasn't sober enough to understand me. The first time I saw Harry, I saw Drew. The one thing I was trying to run from not only followed me here but happened to be the person who has made this place feel a little like it could be more. Harry asked me yesterday what my trigger was. It's him.

Okay, I guess that isn't a fair statement. It isn't fair to blame Harry for how I feel. In all honesty, it isn't fair to anyone. My past isn't anyone else's fault. Well... maybe it's one person's fault but in all honesty, it's mostly mine. It's always mine.

— Almost 1 year prior —

Louis was getting ready to go to the party when his mother called him downstairs. As he descended down, skipping excitedly, he looked through the cut in the wall to see his mother and siblings laughing while The Lion King played on the telly. He couldn't help but smile at the sight, easing some of the tension he was feeling inside.

"Lou!!!!" his younger sister yells, Phoebe getting up and meeting him at the bottom of the stairs. "Can you come watch the movie with us?" Her eyes looked up at him pleadingly. All of a sudden, all his siblings started begging as well. Daisy running to her side and trying to drag Louis into the room, Fizz and Lottie still sitting on the couch but begging with big dough eyes as well, and his mom holding two sleeping babies in her arms. He looks to his mother who gives him apologetic eyes and smiles gently.