They Will Run You Down

Nineteen: Pieces of Me

Immediately following Harley's meltdown, John went after her. She had withdrawn into herself, however, and gave him the cold shoulder when he tried to speak with her. Harley even went as far as to cover her entire body and head with her blanket, cocooning herself from the world.

John offered to sleep on the floor to give Harley some space, of which he thought she might need, but she insisted it wasn't necessary as long as he stayed out of her blanket bubble.

When morning came, John got up and met Robby and Edvin in the kitchen as he had the morning before, but Harley stayed right where she was.

"How's she doing?" Robby asked after handing John a cup of coffee.

John had a sip before he answered, shaking his head, "I don't know"

Edvin, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since the incident, crossed his arms and leaned against the counter, "I didn't mean to freak her out"

"She's going through some things right now," John explained.

Edvin sighed, "I'll apologize to her when she gets up"

But Harley didn't get up.

The morning shifted into afternoon before John was anxious enough to check in on her.

He slipped into the bedroom quietly and padded over to the bed, sitting on the edge near where Harley lay in a ball with a pillow over her head.

"Harley? Are you alright?" John asked gently.

Harley's response was muffled by the pillow, "Peachy"

John took a breath and scratched the stubble on his chin, "I'll take Rebel for a while, yeah? feed him and take him outside for you. Let him get some exercise"

"Sure," Harley responded without moving from her position.

John did as he offered, taking Rebel into his care for the day. It wasn't like Harley to be so sluggish when she was upset. In John's experience, she was generally more ambitious when she was feeling low. Anxious to move, eager to distract herself from her feelings and thoughts. But this time it was different and John wasn't sure how to help.

He brought Harley supper and a glass of water in the evening, but both sat on the nightstand untouched until John came back and took it away.

It was a long, hard day for John. He sat around worried, unwilling to leave the house as long as Harley was still cooped up. Edvin and Robby left every so often to tend to town matters but continuously checked in to see how things were going.

Nightfall came and Harley remained sequestered. John was exhausted and took Rebel outside one last time before finally bringing the pup and himself to bed. He quietly entered the room and crawled into the bed beside Harley, who had once again cocooned herself under her blanket. But once Rebel trampled over to the margin of her shelter, Harley lifted a corner and allowed the pup to crawl under the covers beside her.

John lay on his back and gazed up at the darkened ceiling for quite some time before he decided to speak, "You can always talk to me, Harley. I just want you to know that"

Harley was quiet for close to half an hour, long enough that John had begun to drift off. When she spoke, he was roused back into wakefulness.

"That- guy you met yesterday, Shaun, he was my foster brother," she said quietly, still under the covers.

John blinked away the sleep in his eyes and took a breath, "Yeah, his wife said that"

Harley uncovered her face to look at John, "What else did she tell you?"