Medley

98: HARRY'S JOURNAL.

"Part 2: HER MESS IS MINE."

"Oh, it's you." She reacted to the sound of my boot heels walking towards her. "You're here." Her voice was a quiet whisper.

"Where else would I be? And who were you expecting it to be?" I asked, not sure of why my presence there on that roof came as such a surprise to her.

"Stefan."

For the first time her eyes stopped looking lost in the distance and found me. But only for a second.

I kneeled next to her and offered her my handkerchief, a few tears were still running down her face although the sobbing had ceased before I arrived.

"Why would I let your brother come for you if I'm here?"

I didn't know what I said to make her eyes water again. She took a deep breath before answering to prevent herself from drowning in her own sorrow.

"Because Caleb did."

I can't understand how that asshole could ever see her in this state and not try to console her. All I could think during the argument with her father was that I wanted to protect her from his words and the damage they would cause her. And when I saw her storming out of the house with her wounded heart dragging across the floor behind her, all I wanted was to take her pain away in any way I could.

"I'm not Caleb."

A hint of a smile seemed to form at the corner of her mouth but it could've been the shadows of the trees on her face playing tricks on my eyes.

"You're most definitely not Caleb."

I sat down next to her mimicking her position.

"Can we stop saying his name? I think I've heard it more than enough times for one day!"

Again, her eyes reconnected with reality and she looked at me intently for a long minute before she spoke.

"I'm so sorry you had to witness that." She paused to clear her throat. "I'm sorry my dad treated you the way he did. I'm sorry he spent all night comparing you to Caleb. And I'm sorry I brought you into the middle of this chaos that is my... family."

Her voice struggled getting the word 'family' to come out clearly and audible.

"Emilia, Emilia... Are you seriously concerned about me right now? Come here, you crazy, silly woman!"

I unfolded her hands locked around her knees and pulled her arm to force her to lay her head on my shoulder. I held her as tightly as humanly possible in hopes of capturing all the hurt in my arms and take it all away once I let her go. Wish it could work like that.

"Don't you waste one tear or one more second worrying about me. What your dad said to me, the way he treated me, I can take it! The way he talked to you however-"

She interrupted me.

"I thought I'd gotten used to him talking to me that way. But I guess I never really will."

How could she?

"What I said to him was horrible. Using the kids to hurt him... I'm a monster!"