Three updates in one day, you guys must be so proud of me;-)
I'm sorry there are so many trigger warnings lately, but we're starting to dig deeper into Harry and Annabelle's past, which were pretty dark times for the both of them. So once again, I must warn you...
Trigger warning.
Harry had spent the next day cuddled up beside his mother, giving her apologies numerous times. "I'm sorry, mum." He mumbled after hours of not talking to anyone. "I messed everything up, again, I know I did." He wasn't crying anymore, but he felt like shit.
Then a week later, when he still hadn't even tried talking to Annabelle, he decided to drown his regret in a bottle of vodka and a few bottles of Coca-Cola. He was drunk off his ass, stumbling around his house and running into tables and walls.
"Mum," Harry slurred, entering her room. She wasn't in there, she want anywhere. Before he had gotten drunk, she told him he was going to the store and to visit Julie. Apparently he didn't remember, continuing to stumble around the house until he found his phone.
7:48p.m.
To: Annabelle
Hey bagybyyyy is me maum at yhouer howuse
8:03p.m.
To: Annabelle
Mmuum whwre arw u you j
8:05p.m.
To: Annabelle
Needvrrmind ananbellle me mim is hiwm noe
Harry giggled at himself as he fell down the bottom step, landing on his bum.
"Hey mumm!" Harry shouted happily, dancing into the kitchen. "Where did you gooo?" He giggled, sitting on the counter in front of his mother.
"I was at Julie's house, dear." Anne lightly patted his knee.
"Who-" Harry hiccuped, "Who is Julie?"
"You know Julie, Dave's wife." Anne tried her best not to mention Annabelle's name. In his drunken state, he could easily freak out and become angry or depressed again.
"Who?" Harry hiccuped again, laughing at the funny sounds coming from his throat.
"Annabelle's parents, sweety." Anne said softly, patting his cheek.
"Ohhh, Annabelle! How is Annabelle, mum? Is she happy? I hope she's-" he hiccuped, "Sooo happy, she's soooo pretty." Harry frowned.
"I'm only telling you this, because you won't remember a thing tomorrow morning..." Anne sighed. "I think she's hurting herself, Harry." Harry's eyes snapped up to look up at his mother.
"Why, mum? She's too perf-" he hiccuped. "Too perfect to do thaaaat." Harry's eyebrows were crinkled, a deep frown on his lips. Anne shrugged, not wanting to talk about it anymore.
When she was at Julie's house, she walked upstairs to use the bathroom and saw a bloody towel on the floor beside the sink and a razor blade sitting on the side of the bathtub. She wanted to confront Annabelle about it, but she didn't want to intrude on her personal issues. She kept her mouth shut about it until now, her heart heavy.
"Maybe I should go talk to her," Harry jumped off of the counter and fell down.
"That's not a good idea, you're so drunk, honey." Anne helped pick Harry up, leading him to the couch.
"Yeah mum, I'll go talk to Annabelle, I'll tell her how muuuch I love her!" Harry exclaimed as Anne sat him on the couch.
"No, no. You're going to sit here and go to sleep before you get yourself hurt. How much did you drink?" Anne pushed Harry's hair away from his face.
"Errrm," he hiccuped, then sighed. "That whole thing." He pointed to an almost empty jug of vodka, surrounded by three cans of Coca-Cola.
"Good lord, Harry!" Anne picked up the glass bottle, shaking the small amount that was left in the bottom. "Why would you drink all of this? You haven't drunk like this in a long time." She sat the bottle down and pulled Harry to lay down on her lap.
"I miss Annabelle soooo much." Harry yawned. "She was the bestest girlfriend in the world ever."
"You're the one who made her leave, buddy." Anne ran her fingers through Harry's hair, making him hum.
"Annabelle used to do that," he hiccuped again, "Soooo much, you know, and then," his voiced raised like a little boy who was getting excited. "Then I would kiss her." He smiled, sitting up and looking at his mother with a goofy grin. She laughed lightly, rolling her eyes and pulling him back down onto his lap.
"Just give her time, maybe she'll forgive you if you ask her nicely." Anne talked to Harry as if he were a young child, knowing it kept him calm when he were this drunk.
"Yeaaaah! I'll buy her flowers and candy, oh mum! Let's go pick flowers from the garden for Annabelle!" Harry jumped up, stumbling to the door.
"It's dark outside, Harry." Anne laughed, holding his arm as he opened the door and turned the porch light on.
"Not anymore." He grinned again, stepping out into the cold air and walking towards the small garden Anne kept. The flowers were going to start dying soon from the cold weather.
After Anne helped Harry pick a few red roses and a few tulips, she took him and the flowers inside and put the flowers in a small vase with water. She helped Harry up the stairs, him running to the bathroom once he got into the hallway. He puked until his voice was hoarse, feeling just a bit less drunk than before, but still to drunk to function alone. His mother helped him brush his teeth and tucked him into bed, sitting a trash can beside his bed and a bottle of water on his nightstand.
"Goodnight, Harry." Anne kissed his clammy forehead.
"Goodnight, mummy, I love you soooo much." Harry mumbled, turning over and falling asleep.
The next morning when Anne woke him up, his head was pounding and he felt like puking again.
"What the hell did I drink last night?" He asked, taking a few pills for his migraine.
"A whole bottle of vodka. You're lucky you didn't have to go to the damn hospital." Anne's voice was distant and annoyed. Harry groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I don't care how hungover you are, you're getting up and finding your own place today. I'm not dealing with you getting wasted every night, you're twenty-one years old. It's time you take responsibility for yourself." Harry's mother walked out of his room, leaving him to bask in his hangover.
He picked up his phone to look at the time, unlocking his phone to look at the picture of Annabelle he used for his home screen. He obviously wasn't going to change it, he loved the picture of her smiling at a stupid joke he had told her. His heart ached, but he knew he was the one to blame for all of this. He knew he had to be the one to fix it, he would never forgive himself if he didn't at least try to make her happy again.
He opened his message app, wanting to read over the last texts him and Annabelle shared before they went to London.
"Shit," Harry groaned as he saw the three drunken texts he had sent her last night, all of them had been read and ignored by her. He got up to shower, puking as he got undressed. His throat burned and his eyes felt like they were going to fall out of his head, but he needed to go do something, anything to make it up to Annabelle and find himself a place to live since his mother was basically kicking him out.
After showering and making himself look at least half decent, he walked into the kitchen to grab some toast.
"Here." Anne handed him the flowers he had picked last night.
"What are these for?" Harry grabbed them, being careful of the thorns on the roses. Roses were Annabelle's favorite flower.
"You insisted on picking flowers from the garden for Annabelle last night. You kept trying to go give them to her, but I made you stay here."
"Oh. Well thank you. Maybe I'll give them to her now." Harry looked up at the clock, seeing it was noon.
When he knocked on Annabelle's door, he expected her to ignore it, and apparently she did, for there was no answer after knocking three more times. He twisted the knob and the door opened. He called out her name, receiving no answer. He began to get worried, knowing her parents were at work and she must've been here alone. Quickly, he walked to her room, seeing her door was open and she was nowhere to be seen. After searching the house for her, he decided to lay the flowers on her bed in a neat pile, writing a note and leaving it beside the flowers. He had no idea where she could be, he hoped she were safe and sound, wherever she were at.
After spending a moment in her room, thinking about all of the moments they had spent cuddling in her bed, he walked through her hallway and down the stairs. He couldn't stop thinking about how dark and depressing her room looked with the curtains closed, her bed slightly messy, and random books scattered all across the floor. If she were as much of a mess as her room, he would actually punch himself in the face for what he's caused.
He left her house, shutting the front door and taking his time to get back into his car. His head was still thumping, but he knew he had one more stop to make before going home.
It only took him two hours to decide which apartment he wanted. It was a very nice place with friendly neighbors. The apartment he signed a lease for had a large bedroom, a kitchen, two small bathrooms, a very large living room, an office room, and a small walk-in closet in his bedroom. It was only eight-hundred a month, which was a crazy good deal for an apartment that nice. The apartment was already mostly furnished, with a large couch and chair in the living room, a desk in the office, and a large dresser in the bedroom. Harry wouldn't have any problem picking out a bed and any other appliances he wanted. He was actually looking forward to going shopping, maybe it would help him get his mind off of Annabelle.
Harry spent the next few hours out and about at furniture stores, buying a new kingsize bed, a chair for the desk, a coffee table for the living room, a nightstand for his bedroom, and all of the kitchen and bathroom appliances he wanted. He even managed to get towels and soaps, loading the small items into his car and having the bigger things delivered to his apartment. He helped the two heavy men carry his new furniture into his new place, smiling when he finished setting everything up and tipping the men for helping him.
His apartment was almost ready to be lived in, all he needed was food and his things from home. He arrived back home at eight p.m., his mother questioning where he'd been all day.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you." Anne smiled, pulling him into a hug when he said he'd rented an apartment only fifteen minutes away and managed to fill it up with everything he needed for now.
"We should talk about something." Anne began getting serious, sitting Harry down at the kitchen table. "I know we're all financially in a great place, you're father was a very successful man when it came to running his own company." Harry nodded. "But one day, we're not going to have all of this extra money laying around. I've kept over half of my share in the bank for the past six years, and Gemma has kept her share in the bank as well, except what she used to pay for her studies. What have you done with yours?" Harry's mother gently approached the situation, constantly afraid of Harry's temper that could go off at any time nowadays.
"I set fifty percent aside, in the bank as well. I still have plenty to pay for everything as long as I'll need, and the fifty percent in the bank will stay there in case of a rainy day. I'm responsible with my money, mum."
"Good, good." Anne patted Harry's hand that sat on top of the table. "Have you considered getting a job? Just to have something to do, and have some extra spending money?" Harry shrugged at her question, licking his lips.
"I worked in a department store for three years, I hated it so much. I definitely don't want a job like that again. I don't know, mum, maybe I'll look for something more interesting in my free time and see what comes up. Right now I'm just focusing on moving into my own place and fixing things with Annabelle." A small sigh left Harry's lips.
"Speaking of Annabelle, how did things go with her today?" Anne held Harry's hand in a comforting way, her thumb stroking over his knuckles.
"She wasn't home. I put the flowers and a note on her bed. She will probably throw it all away or burn it." Harry chuckled.
"Did you know she got a job?"
"She did? Where?" Harry's voice was almost frantic, he thought she'd never take a step out of her comfort zone and get a job.
"The flower shop downtown, um, Miss Angie's Flowers I think is the name of it." Anne nodded to herself.
"When did this happen? How did you know?"
"Julie told me she applied there the day after everything happened and was hired two days ago."
"Wait, does Julie and Dave know what happened between us?" Harry's eyebrows rose, hoping they were oblivious to it all.
"Not really," Harry's mother looked down. "All they know is that Annabelle came home from London, very upset, more than usual. Apparently she always seems upset around them, but they mentioned that they noticed her behaving a bit differently than normal."
"In a good or bad way?" Harry's concern was very evident.
"Not a good way, I'm guessing. I don't know exactly what they've noticed, but Julie said she's either in her room or at work. She hasn't eaten a thing, and apparently hasn't rested. You know how pale she is already, Julie said she just looks sick." Anne shrugged, knowing she has probably told Harry too much for his own good.
"All of it is my fault. I'm the one who got angry at her for nothing, I don't even know what happened, mum, that's the problem. It's like I lost control of everything and words just started flying out of my mouth before I had time to think about what I was saying." Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, she was ignoring me and I have no idea why. We had such an amazing time in London, I don't know what happened. All I can remember is seeing how hard she tried not to cry, and then I just kept yelling at her and she told me she hated me and I lost it."
"She talked to you?" Anne gasped, her own eyes widening.
"Not exactly. She sort of did in London, it was just one word, but it was still the best thing I've ever heard." A smile crept onto his lips, remembering how happy he was when she did that.
"Then how did she tell you she hated you? I'm sure she didn't mean it, Harry."
"Oh no, she definitely meant it." Harry reach into his jacket to pull out the note, showing his mother the back of the paper with the hurtful words scribbled on it. He had looked at it every day.
"What's on the front?" Anne took the paper, reading everything Annabelle wrote about him in the hotel the night he said he loved her. "What is all this?"
"I told her I loved her. So she wrote that for me that night. Then after I yelled at her, she took it and wrote that she hated me. It hurt so fucking bad." Harry mumbled the last part, taking the note back and putting it in his pocket.
"Listen to me, Harry." Anne moved Harry's chin so he was looking at her. "This girl loves you with everything she's got to put out there. You have no idea how much you crushed her, and now she's all alone, thinking you hate her. I know she didn't mean that, I know she feels nothing but love for you. You made a mistake, everyone does at some point. It'll be alright, it'll work out eventually. If you're in love with her, then you won't have a problem chasing after her, will you?" Harry shook his head. "That's what I thought. You're a sweet boy when you're not letting your horrible temper get the best of you. If you don't learn to control it, then I'm sorry to say this, but you're never going to be happy with her."
Harry knew the words his mother told him were true. His temper was something that took over his life for so many years, and he finally got his life back when he turned twenty, but with the recent flair ups, he knew his temper was trying to resurface. He couldn't let it happen again, he had hurt too many people too many times in the past all because of his built up anger and stress. He refused to let it happen again, especially to the girl he loved so fucking much.
"You're right, I know you're right." Harry admitted. "I'll fix everything, I promise. I won't become the way I was when I was a teenager, I promise." Harry held his mother's hand, meaning every word he said. It had felt so nice to let out all of his feelings by speaking about them. The fact that his mother understood and was supportive helped tremendously.
"You've said that before-"
"This time I mean it. I have too much to lose this time around."
"Okay, Harry. I believe you." Anne said after a moment of silence, standing up from the table. She patted Harry's head, pressing a loving kiss to his temple and telling him he deserved the best in the world. He knew he really didn't deserve shit, but that wasn't going to stop him from fighting for the best in the world.