Trigger warning.
I hate you.
Harry read the words over and over as he sat in his car in his driveway, punching the steering wheel a couple of times. He shoved the note back into his pocket, slamming all of the doors that lead from his car to his room. He paced around his room, punching the wall beside his bed, his knuckles burning. He didn't care, all he could think about was the crying girl he had hurt so badly. He couldn't believe he said all of those things to her, he couldn't believe he had actually laid his hands on her in a hurtful manner. All he wanted to do was punch himself in the face, but he punched the walls instead, creating a few cracks and a few holes beside his bed.
"Harry!" Anne threw the door open, seeing the furious boy in front of her. "Don't you dare hit that wall one more time." She said, her finger pointed at him, her voice stern. Harry's breathing was deep, trying to calm down in front of his mother. "You're acting just like your father, and I will not accept that behavior from you." Anne shook her head, a deep frown on her face.
Harry realized how much he was acting like his dad, more regret filling his body. "I'm sorry, mum." Harry spoke quietly, looking down at the floor.
"What the hell did you do, Harry? You haven't acted up like this in years." Anne moved closer to her son, reaching out to hold his upper arm.
"Nothing." He huffed, moving to look out of the window and keep his gaze away from his poor mother.
"You did something, don't you lie to me. Where's Annabelle, Harry? Did you act that way around her?" Anne was scared to hear the answer, knowing he probably scared the girl off.
"Nothing happened." Harry grumbled, crossing his arms and turning around.
"Harry Edward, if you laid a hand on that poor girl-"
"I didn't do anything!" Harry shouted, his hands falling down to his sides. Anne shook her head, disappointment in her eyes.
"Get yourself together. You will not act like this in my house ever again." Anne exited the room, slamming his door shut and walking downstairs to call Gemma. Gemma was the only other person who knew how to handle Harry when he acted this way.
"What did he do? He hasn't gone off the rails like that in so long." Gemma sighed, sitting on the bed in her dorm room.
"I don't know, Gemma. He won't tell me anything, and I have no idea what's happened to Annabelle."
"What does Annabelle have anything to do with it?"
"He took her to London, they were supposed to come home today, but not until this evening. I don't know what he did, or what she did, but he's not acting right."
"Maybe I should come home early, mum." Gemma suggested. "I'll only miss a day of classes. You don't need to be alone with him when he's like this."
"No, no. Stay at school, I can handle him. I got good at handling your father when he acted like that, I'm sure I can handle my son." Anne had her elbow on her knee, her head in her hand.
"Right," Gemma's voice was soft as she remembered how her father would act when his temper boiled over. "I'll be home tomorrow, okay? Just let him simmer down until I get there." Anne agreed, ending the phone call when she heard glasses shattering.
"Bloody hell, just come home now, Gem. I have to go." Anne hung up, throwing her phone on the couch as she ran back upstairs.
Gemma hurried home, arriving in an hour when it usually took her an hour and a half to get home. When she entered, she heard shouting coming from upstairs. She rushed to Harry's room as quickly as possible, swinging his door open.
"You broke everything, Harry!" Anne shouted, sweeping the glass from his floor.
"Stop, mum." Gemma took the broom from Anne's grasp. "He made the mess, he can bloody clean it." Gemma tossed the broom at Harry.
"What the fuck did you do this time?" Gemma shouted at him, giving him a dose of his own medicine. It was the only way to make him calm down.
"She fucking hates me, okay?! I hurt her and she hates me!" Harry yelled back, making the room go silent.
"You laid your hands on Annabelle?" Anne's eyes began to tear up, making Harry's mind go back to when he made Annabelle do the same thing.
"I didn't mean any of it, I was pissed off and she wouldn't listen to me. She wouldn't even look at me." Harry's chest heaved up and down.
"You're going to clean this mess, right now." Gemma told him and grabbed Anne's hand. "Think about what you've bloody done this time." She mumbled, leading Anne back downstairs.
Once the house was finally silent and Anne was finished crying over her son, Gemma made a pot of tea.
"Do you think we should go check on her? Who knows what he said and did to her." Anne asked Gemma, holding the warm mug close to her body. Gemma nodded, her face was sad just like Anne's.
"God knows she'll never talk now." Gemma sighed, sitting her mug down and picking up her car keys.
Annabelle sat in the floor of her bathroom, a small razor blade between her fingers. She had done exactly what she promised herself she would never do again, she had broken her promise to herself. She cried over Harry, she cried over the finger prints he left on her arm, she cried over the lies he had told her over the past four months. How could someone say they love you, then turn around and break your heart so badly? She cried over how close she had gotten to him, how close she had gotten to actually talking to him. She cried over everything they'd done together and how stupid she was to trust someone, especially a boy who so easily lead her on. She believed all of his sweet words and gestures until she saw the condoms, then she started doubting everything. All of her doubts were confirmed when he lost his temper so easily, why did he lose his temper so easily? She knew he could blow up at any moment when they argued, but everything he had done was so unexpected and harmful.
Annabelle wiped away her tears when she heard the doorbell ring. She grabbed the nearest towel and held it over her arm to clean the mess, quickly tossing it aside and pulling the grey sleeve of her jacket down. She walked downstairs, moving quickly as the doorbell rang again. The smallest part of her hoped it would be Harry, begging for her forgiveness, but she knew that was such a stupid thought.
When she opened the door to see Gemma and Anne, she squinted in confusion.
"Are you alright?" Gemma asked immediately, both of them walking inside without even asking for permission. Annabelle watched them walk inside and shut the door behind them. "What did he do to you?" Gemma continued, turning around to look at her. Annabelle didn't answer, she didn't even move, she just watched them with confused eyes. Anne sighed, taking Annabelle's hand and gently and leading her to sit down on the couch.
"I know this is confusing, Annabelle." Anne held her hand on her lap. "But we need to know if you're okay. What did he do?" Anne's calming and motherly tone helped Annabelle relax, her warm hands holding her cold one.
"Harry- he's acted this way before." Gemma blurted, sitting beside Anne. "This is so crazy," Gemma mumbled while shaking her head. Annabelle pulled her hand away from Anne's to roll up her right sleeve, showing the few fingerprints on her wrist. She kept her left wrist close to her body, hoping she wouldn't bleed through her sleeve like she had done so many times before.
Both of the girls gasped, reaching out to comfort Annabelle. She felt so weird, so many emotions had taken over her in the past few hours. She had just lost her whole world in a matter of minutes, and she was now feeling the worst she's felt in so long.
"I am so sorry," Anne said, cupping Annabelle's cheek with her hand. Annabelle nodded, mustering up the best smile she could give them. Anne knew Annabelle was young and would probably feel more comfortable around Gemma, being closer to her age. "I'm going to go make some tea." Anne stood up, leaving the girls alone.
Annabelle sat silently, rolling her sleeve back down and keeping her eyes on the ground.
"He hasn't acted this way in years," Gemma said, trying to keep her voice soft. "I mean- he always had a temper when he was younger, but lately he's been such a sweet person." Annabelle stayed quiet, trying to figure out what was happening. Surely she was dreaming, this was too crazy to be actually happening. Harry had hurt her, and now his family was in her house trying to comfort her.
"We're sorry for barging in," Gemma placed her hand on Annabelle's arm. "We just needed to see if you were okay, all Harry would tell us is that he hurt you." Annabelle nodded at Gemma's words, confirming them.
Twenty minutes later, they were sat at the kitchen table drinking tea. Anne had started lightening the mood by making jokes, somehow making Annabelle grin every once and a while. Harry was just like his mother when it came to his methods of making someone happy.
Anne's phone began to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket. Her smile disappeared as she saw the name of her son on the screen. "Should I put it on speaker?" Anne asked, seeing Gemma shrugging. She answered the phone, deciding not to put it on speaker.
"Mum?" Harry's voice said through the phone, his voice shaky and innocent. He was crying, and he wanted his mother. "I'm not breaking things anymore, I promise I'm not." He sniffled his nose. "Where are you?"
"I'm at Annabelle's house." Anne answered, trying not to let herself baby Harry. He deserved to be punished after his harsh actions.
"Oh god, mum- is she okay? Please tell me she isn't crying, is she crying?" Anne looked at Annabelle, seeing her eyes had tears in them. Annabelle could hear everything he said.
"Yes." Anne answered, looking back down at her lap.
"Mum you have to help her, tell her she'll be okay. You have to hug her and let her cry until she feels better, okay? Please?" Harry continued to cry, realizing how much trouble and pain he had caused in just one day. "Please, tell her I love her, tell her she'll be okay, mum you have to make sure she is okay."
Annabelle stood up, walking out of the room. She didn't want to hear his voice anymore, not while he was crying and hurting.
"Okay, Harry. Calm down, we're taking care of her." Anne glanced at Gemma, both of them worried about Harry.
"Can I talk to her? Please mum, let me talk to her."
"No," Anne quickly answered, hearing Annabelle's quiet sobs coming from the living room. "She's crying, Harry. You may not speak to her." Anne heard Harry cry as well, his hands running over his face.
"Go cheer her up, go find her Peter Pan movie, let her watch it and," Harry whimpered. "She'll probably cry at the end when Peter gets hurt, but that's okay, just make her she doesn't cry over me anymore, mum."
"Why did you do this to her? You two were on such amazing terms before you left for London." Gemma took the phone from Anne, speaking angrily to Harry. "You've already hurt me and mum enough in the past, why did you have to hurt an innocent girl who already had enough problems?" Gemma almost shouted, she was so angry. She knew how it felt to be yelled at by Harry, her own little brother. She couldn't imagine how hurt Annabelle must've been, knowing she were probably in love with the stupid boy.
"Gemma," Anne said cautiously. Harry hung up the phone, making Gemma roll her eyes. They spent the rest of the day following Harry's instructions, watching Peter Pan with Annabelle and letting her cry until she didn't have any tears left to cry. They left a few minutes before Annabelle's parents got home, Annabelle taking a shower and going to bed by eight p.m.
She couldn't sleep, but she didn't care. She didn't want Harry to hold her until she could rest. She didn't want him to call her and tell her random stories until she peacefully fell asleep. She didn't want to see his face, she didn't want to feel his hands on her skin. She didn't want his curls tickling her chest when she woke up, she didn't want his lips on hers anymore.