Broken

Chapter 24

I woke up with a searing headache. My throat felt dry, and it hurt when I swallowed. I sat up quickly. Much to my relief, I was still in Olly’s room. I looked around, and found Olly on the chair, watching me with a tired smile.

“Hey there,” he greeted. “I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up.”

“What time is it?” I asked, my throat feeling scratchy.

“It’s just hit two.”

“In the morning?” I asked.

“Yeah. Autumn came around. She got really worried, but her flight is at four so she had to leave.”

I smiled at the thought of Autumn coming around to say hi. “What about you, when are you leaving?”

“I was meant to leave tonight.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because you were passed out in my room.”

“No,” I groaned, rubbing my face. “I’ve ruined your visit.”

“Not really,” Olly grinned. “I cancelled it.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“It’s my fault, right?”

“Not at all. Now we can spend the holiday together,” he laughed.

“You could’ve left me with Harry. Or did he leave?”

“Nah, he leaves in the morning. I figured you didn’t want to stay with him after his insensitive comment.”

I brushed a loose strand of hair off of my eye. “True…”

“I had to kick him out of here, he wasn’t leaving without a fight.”

“Did he hurt you?” I asked anxiously.

Olly shook his head. “I hurt him.”

“How?”

“I hit his head after you passed out. I scolded him for being so inconsiderate.”

“Did he tell you about my mum?” I whispered.

Olly nodded. “Sorry. I know it’s personal and stuff but he really likes you, so I was giving him advice.”

“Yeah, well that failed.” I scoffed, standing up.

My legs felt like jelly, but I stabilized myself.

“Where are you going?” He asked anxiously.

“Back to my dorm so I can sleep.”

“Alright, goodnight.”

“Night, Olly.”

I smiled at him and opened the door slowly. “Should I walk you back?” He asked anxiously.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” I smiled.

I walked down the corridor, glancing at Michael’s dorm. There was no noise coming from the inside of it. Directly opposite, was Harry’s dorm. I stopped and listened, and when the door knob started to turn I widened my eyes and jumped back, trying to make it look like I was walking down the corridor. The door opened just as I ‘walked past’ his room and I glanced at what I assumed would be him walking out.

Instead, a girl who I didn’t recognise with lilac coloured hair walked out, her cheeks flushed. By the state of her clothes, it was obvious what she had been doing. The walk of shame at two thirty in the morning, how classy. I slowed down, and watched her come out. She giggled at me, waving friendlily. I nodded at her. It comforted me to see she wasn’t wearing an article of his clothing.

Harry stepped out after her, watching her slowly. He was standing in his boxers, and they were dangerously low on his hips. He yawned, watching her go. His eyes then fell on me, and he froze, mid yawn. It looked comical, and I should’ve laughed, but the only thing I could manage to do as he watched me was flash him an icy smile that looked more of a sad smile than an icy one, but whatever, before I continued my route to my dorm.

~*~

“You aren’t going to go back at all?” I asked Olly, leaning on my bed.

“I want to go back,” he mused.

“Then go. You didn’t go for Christmas, you may as well go for New Year’s,” I grinned.

“But I’ll miss your birthday.”

“So?”

“So? It’s your birthday,” he sighed, waving his arms around for effect.

“Honestly, I don’t mind. If you really want to celebrate my birthday we can do it when you get back,” I said honestly.

I was never one for birthdays. My dad had never thrown me a ‘party’, so pretty much all I did for every birthday of mine was have a cake to celebrate. Usually alone. Sounded pathetic, didn’t it? It was, really, but I told myself it was cool because I ended up having more cake.

“I don’t want to leave youuu,” he sang, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and dancing slowly.

I laughed. “You’re such a doof.”

Olly went to Scotland in the end, and I spent my birthday alone. The day after my birthday, the twenty eighth of December, was when I decided to leave my dorm and walk around. I went to the cafeteria, and there was a lot of gossip about people coming back from their holidays. We had about a week left, but there were only a few people who had returned. Most were staying with their families for the New Year.

“I heard Harry Styles is coming back with a girlfriend later today,” a girl laughed.

“A girlfriend? As if!” Her friend snorted. “He doesn’t know the definition of commitment.”

I paused, frozen to the spot. Harry was coming back with a girlfriend. A girlfriend. Girlfriend. “Where did you hear it from?” I heard myself asking.

The girls turned to me and one smiled. “Jack told me.”

Jack, I assumed, was one of Harry’s friends. I nodded and smiled at her. “Okay.”

I turned around, and glanced at the time. Ten o’clock. If Harry was coming back today, it would mean he’d come back before five, probably. Five was when the doors were locked. I decided I didn’t want to see him, it was too soon. I hadn’t self-harmed, but what he had said really hurt me. I decided to stay in my dorm all day.

It was at around seven o’clock when there was a knock on my door. I frowned and paused Netflix. No one came knocking for me. There was no one to come knocking for me. Olly wasn’t due back until the second of January.

I opened the door and almost had a heart attack when I saw who it was.

“Happy late birthday!”