Untouchable

Chapter 33

I didn't hear anything as I took my shoes off, but I knew that Harry was home. His car was in our garage and I could see his keys lying haphazardly on a front table. It was deathly silent in our house and I felt like I was in a horror movie until I heard a faint bang coming from our kitchen. I sighed shakily and made my way through the house.

I hovered in the doorway of the kitchen. Harry had his back to me and was reaching up into a cabinet for a tea bag. He knew that I was watching him.

"Welcome home, asshole. Do you want a cuppa?' he asked, his tone biting.

My stomach churned.

"Harry, I-"

"No," Harry snarled, turning around, "Don't you fucking dare apologize because it's absolutely useless."

His knuckles were white as he clenched the mug in his hands. His jaw was clenched and his expression was dark and furious. I risked a glance at his wrists. He had taken the bandage off and I could see the healing scabs from across the kitchen. It made me feel nauseous.

"You knew how I was feeling, Louis. How I'm still feeling, actually. Like I can't be certain of bloody anything in our relationship right now because I'm not sure if you'll stick around for tomorrow. And you fucking left anyways without warning me and leaving me some shitty note. You didn't even call me, Louis. You didn't say a single fucking thing to me and you just left!" he barked, "You could have told me you were stressed out instead of pretending everything was okay and then disappearing for almost a week! You could have, I don't know, maybe actually communicated with me for once? You know, that thing we were literally talking about improving in our relationship the same day you left? I would have understood Louis, you know that, right? I'm not as self-centered as you might think; I understand if you need space because I need it sometimes too! You're human! But you just decided to leave! Did you even care about how I felt? I was worried sick, Louis! I didn't know where you were until Liam called me! And then you wouldn't answer any of my calls or texts, what the fuck was that about?"

"I didn't have my phone," I said quietly, before he could continue.

It seemed like the most logical thing to say and I had no idea why.

Harry's face was turning purple.

"You're such a fucking coward," he growled.

"No! It wasn't so I could ignore you, I swear!" I protested, "I'll tell you everything. I went back to the beach I went to before when I needed to be alone and the whole purpose of going was to isolate myself to the point where I have to figure things out in my head because I have no other choice. I couldn't have had my phone with me. It would have been a distraction."

He stared at me and then snorted, shaking his head.

"I think, now I need some space," he muttered before turning abruptly and stalking past me out of the kitchen.

"What?" I asked the empty kitchen.

I scrambled after him and watched him shove a pair of boots on and grab his keys. He was the angriest that I had ever seen him. He was scaring me.

"Where are you going?" I asked tentatively.

Harry looked up, his eyes narrowed.

"Well it's not like you ever told me," he spat, "Why should I tell you?"

He threw open the door and slammed it shut behind him.

***

I did laundry first. I needed something to take my mind off of how angry Harry had been and how afraid I was, so I washed all of my clothes from the beach. I knew that Harry stress-cleaned and had probably washed all of the clothes that had been strewn about the floor when I left, so I emptied a random drawer of t-shirts and threw them into the wash as well.