Lights. Camera. PDA. (HS // au)

If only time could just turn back

Savannah

My hands start shaking the moment Mom delivers the dreadful news to me; Dad had to be hospitalized due to hypertension.

Tears pour down from my eyes and fall from my cheeks as I clutch the phone tightly and press it against my ears. My voice breaks as I ask her, "How..? What happened?"

"We saw the news."

That's it. That's all I hear as I hang up the phone and break out into a miserable sob. I have been so busy with handling myself and catering to my needs after the incident, that not once did it cross my mind that my family must have seen the news. How could I be so stupid to think that something so huge would stay hidden from them?

"Savannah.." Harry comes and stands beside me, his voice low and full of concern. "What's wrong?"

The tears in my eyes blur my vision as I look at him, and I blink a couple of times to clear it. "It's my Dad.. He's in the hospital -"

I burst out into another sob and crash into his chest, clutching his shirt tightly. He wraps his arms around me and and rubs my back slowly in a vertical notion.

"Shh.. It's okay," he coos in my ear, his deep but soft voice soothing me just the slightest bit. "Let's head home, yeah?"

I pull back and nod, furiously wiping my tears and pulling on a straight face. The world has seen and witnessed enough of my tear stained face, they already have enough stories on me to last them a lifetime. I will not give them the satisfaction of watching me breakdown for someone I love, I will not allow them to involve my family in their ridiculous non-stop gossips.

We excuse ourselves from the gathering, telling everyone that it's been a long day and it'd be better if we rest. Sam gives me a suspicious look, probably wondering why on Earth are Harry and I suddenly feeling so exhausted when we haven't even done any work, but I manage to give her a tired smile which seems to convince her.

I put on my shades as Harry and I step out of the studio. My heart shatters into pieces as I force myself to keep a poker face, every inch of my body is ready to fall down on the floor and cry till there is nothing left inside of me. It takes a lot of power to get seated inside the car and fasten my seat belt, all the while my legs and hands are shaking.

"Calm down.." Harry whispers as he puts the car in reverse and we drive away.

The drive back to my place seems to linger on, taking as much time as possible while my thoughts seem to go out of control. Every little scenario that I can think of has managed to plant its seed in my mind and now I can't stop myself from analyzing and overthinking. Harry keeps sneaking glances at me, constantly asking me if I'm alright, consoling me and letting me know that nothing bad will happen. But, I can't help it. It's been so long since I saw my family, and now Dad is in the hospital because of me.

Stop thinking like this, Savannah. Stop it.

"We're here." Harry informs me as he parks the car. 

I take a deep breath and get out of the car, Harry holds my hand as we walk in through the door. I don't exactly know if he's doing it for the paparazzi or for me, but either way, I'm glad he's here because I might've just lost my sanity a long while ago if he wasn't.

I shifted back to my apartment a couple of days ago. It just felt awkward living at Harry's place, even though he was nothing much welcoming; always making sure I was comfortable. He even set up a room for Hazel, but I insisted that we move back to my place. Hazel seemed a bit confused and she kept pestering me as to why I was feeling so uncomfortable in my "boyfriend's" home, so I had to tell her that we haven't exactly taken things this far as to live at each other's place. That was that, Hazel and I came back to my apartment.