Harry and I intended to sit up the whole night before the big return to the dream factory, but we must both have fallen asleep somewhere in the early hours. My head was resting on Harry's stomach and at some point Dave must have curled up on his chest, choosing to rest the heaviest and thus most suffocating part of his body directly on my face.
The low meowing grumble he makes when I shift him away wakes Harry, who sits up quickly and beams at me with his sleep mussed hair sticking up at different angles.
"Hallo Hendrix!" He smiles, "what do you want for breakfast? We could go out for something!"
I can't quite bring myself to remind him, but it doesn't take long for the realisation to hit him and the smile slips off his face.
"I didn't want today to come." He says after a long moment. "I thought that it could just go on forever and maybe if I wished hard enough, today wouldn't come at all."
I lace my hands with Harry's and look up into his face. It feels like my heart is breaking into a million tiny pieces.
"We won't go." I decide suddenly. "Bollocks to this, I'm not just going to march you to you death. We-"
At this the phone begins to ring, making us both jump. I scramble across the bed, tripping over sheets in my haste to grab it, wondering if it's some sort of last minute saviour.
"Hello?" I demand breathlessly.
"Hello? Hendrix?"
"Dad." I groan, wondering what crap he wants to heap on me now after not speaking to me for the past couple of months. Today of all days.
There's a long hesitation and I'm just about to rudely ask him what he wants when he speaks.
"So... How are you?"
"Fine." I say shortly. "Look, Dad, I'm busy-"
"Your Mum saw you in town with Charlie." He interjects.
"Me?!"
It takes a second to dawn on me but before I can speak, Dad's talking again.
"Your mum said you looked a bit different, and that Charlie grabbed you and pulled you into his car when he spotted her... I know we've had our differences Hendrix, but if you're stuck in some sort of abusive relationship, I can help."
I close my eyes tightly. I don't need this right now. Dad hasn't finished yet though...
"I know I told you to get rid of that other lad, but at least you seemed happy with him. Mind, that Dream Factory business was a mess. I said to your mum, god knows what they'll think of next with all this 'Dream Factory' and 'sex parties' and 'Spotify' stuff. What's the world bloody coming to? It wasn't like this when we were younger."
I vaguely wonder what Dad thinks Spotify is.
"If you must know, I'm still with Harry-"
"But what about Charlie? Your mum said that you two were snuggling up to each other in the car park and it wasn't until Charlie saw her walking over that he shoved you in the car. First sign of abuse that is love, cutting you off from your family."
"It wasn't me." I say through gritted teeth.
"You can tell me anything, Hendrix."
"Right, fine. Charlie's a massive creep and in order to keep him quiet, the Dream Factory offered him a girl and he chose to have one made who looks just like me, enough to fool my own mother apparently-"
"WHAT?"
"Yes, so you were wrong about him all along. Oh, and today I've got to take Harry back to the factory and they're going to kill him because the end of my trial is up and I can't afford to keep him-"
"I-"
"So, you'll have to excuse me, I don't have much time with him and I've got all the time in the world to argue with you after." A wet sob breaks up my sentence. "I'm sorry Dad, I'll call you tonight."
I replace the phone receiver and it's barely hit the the cradle when it starts to ring again. Still wiping at my eyes, I pick it up.
"Hello-"
"Good morning! This is a pre-recorded message from the Dream Factory, where dreams come true! (trademark). Today is the end of a splendid 12 months for you, and we're sure you'll be enjoying looking back on the time you've enjoyed with your product. We will send a car to collect you, with two armed guards. Please do remember that all products are fitted with tracking devices, that means no silly games of hide and seek!
Have a simply wonderful day."
I drop the phone back in the cradle and turn back to Harry, who is hugging Dave tightly and clutching a piece of paper.
"What's that?" I ask quietly, trailing my fingertips up the bare skin of his arm. I can't believe that this is the last morning that I'll get to do this. It seems surreal.
"It's a list of everything I want to do before I leave-"
The doorbell begins to peel loudly and I want to scream that we can't even get a second alone on our last day together. Harry jumps out of bed though and begins to fight to pull his jeans on.
"I need to you to lie for me!" He says quickly, yanking his bright yellow Hufflepuff t-shirt over his head. "I need you to say that I'm going to Canada for a job. I don't want to tell them the truth but with the whole unable to tell lies thing, I just told them it was a leaving party!"
With this confusing statement, Harry rushes into the hallway. There's a scrabbling sound as he unlatches the door and almost at one, there's a nattering sound of shrill voices.
Harry's granny friends troop into the flat behind him and I really wish he'd told me they were coming,as I'd left my knickers drying on the radiator and the flat is an absolute tip. As they walk in, one of them eyes the bra that I threw across the room when I got home yesterday, and mutters in a very carrying whisper about slovenly people.
They are carrying an assortment of knitted goods and biscuits as leaving presents for Harry. So as not to offend them, he ends up wearing three wooly hats, 4 scarfs and jumper that would comfortably fit a 5 year old.
After making Harry's Canada announcement- which is greeted with much dabbing of eyes by the grannies- I'm put on tea making duty by a particularly bossy old lady called Doris. I would protest, but Harry looks so happy surrounded by his Grannies that I can't.
Unfortunately, his jumper is so tight that he can't actually bend his arm to raise a teacup to his lips, or raise a hand to push away the odd licked tissue that they rub on his cheek.
Memo to self, get Harry to wash off granny spit before kissing him again.
Luckily the old ladies seem to be pretty inflexible about meal times, so we only have to host them for an hour before they start talking about lunch.
As Harry waves them off, he turns to me with a smile and pulls the list from his pocket, putting a tick beside one his items with a pencil.
Another couple of items turn out to be a quick round on the bunny land game... Inspecting the charm bracelet he bought me months ago and has since filled with everything from actual silver charms to small plastic kinder egg toys... and a leafing through the illustrated Harry Potter books I bought him.
The only difference to normal is that he wants me to sit as close to him as possible as he does these things.
We scroll down his Facebook together, right down to the time 6 months ago when Harry left Facebook open on Louis' computer and Louis took the opportunity to post status updates on Harry's wall, such as;
I doth smell
And,
What stench from yonder window comes? Oh, tis me!
And,
I am a scurvy cur
Not quite your average Facebook take-over but Louis and Harry found them so hilarious that they could barely speak for laughing.
We look through the Facebook photos of Harry and the rest of the boys. Zayn is usually trying to look cool in the corner, but sometimes he can't help a little grin. Harry is always in the centre, grasping the other boys around the shoulders, even the mournful Robert.
"I've had a really good life, haven't I Hendrix?" Harry smiles, looking at pictures of a beach trip we all took. I can't answer through the tears I'm trying to hold in.
We leaf through a scrapbook of Harry's favourite cakes that he ever made. My favourite will always be the Hogwarts castle and grounds, Harry's was an impressive Hufflepuff badger.
We drink a horrific kale smoothie that makes Harry beam happily and me want to vomit.
Each time we complete one of these taks, he ticks something off the piece of paper.
Finally, it's approaching 2. We have just a couple of hours left here and desperation has set in. I can't stop myself.
"Harry-"
He pauses a video of me, him and a stoned Niall on a rowing boat.
"Yes?" He wipes at his eyes and turns to me with a brave smile.
"Please, Harry. Please take Grace's offer. For my sake. I'm begging you." I plead.
"I can't Hendrix." He says sadly. "I wish I could but I can't. I couldn't live knowing that I'd saved myself and let the others die. Why should I value my live above theirs? I couldn't live with myself."
"But I'll be all alone!" I say through tears.
"You won't." He says quietly. "When you love someone as much as I love you, it can never die. Not ever. Every time you do something I love, like read Harry Potter or watch Beauty and the Beast, I'll be right here doing it with you.
If you ever feel sad, I'll be next to you. Just because you can't see me, it doesn't mean I'm not there, I will be, always. I promise. Love is too strong to let something as silly as death stop it. Go and live the life that both of us deserved and I'll be there living it with you, I'll be with you every step of the way. I'm just going to sleep for a while, but I'll be waiting for you. Love doesn't die. Not ever, Hendrix. I don't know much, but I know that."
I'm crying so hard that I can't see.
Harry wraps his lean body around mine and holds me tight. I don't know how long passes before he speaks.
"Hendrix, I've just got one thing left on my list..."
"What is it?" I whisper unwilling to let go of him.
Harry doesn't answer, he just pulls the list from his pocket and even through my tears I can't help a smile.
"You got it." I say quietly, standing up and heading over to my wardrobe.
5 minutes later Harry starts playing the song...
Tale as old as time, true as it can be....
He places his hands on my hips and we sway around the tiny living room, me in the awful flammable Belle dress and Harry in the matching suit that looks annoyingly good. And the whole scenario is so cheesily Harry that I can't help a weak laugh through my tears.
The doorbell sounds before either of us are ready. We leap apart and my heart sinks in my chest. I feel sick. I'm not ready.
Harry opens the door and two burly men follow him into the tiny living room where I'm weeping in a Disney dress while the YouTube playlist has skipped on and is now playing Mulan's 'I'll make a man out of you."
One of the men raises his eyebrows and tells me that they'll wait in the hall.
Harry scoops Dave tightly into his arms and, with his cheek rubbing against the top of the cats head, he walks slowly around the the flat for the last time. He goes to every corner, ending in front of the hallway.
It's time to go, but Harry can't seem to put Dave down. The huge men have to come into the flat three more times before Harry finally knows it's time up. He kisses Dave repeatedly and hold him up to look in his face to tell him he loves him, before putting him down on the floor.
We haven't even changed out of the clothes, but I don't care. Harry clutches my hand tightly in his as we step into the hallway for the last time. I almost trip over a stack of Amazon parcels and Harry says quietly;
"Open them when I've gone. There's enough there for the next 6 weeks. Open one a day. They've got numbers on to tell you which order to do it in."
He turns to look at the little hallway one last time before stepping out. He can't bring himself to close the door, so one of the men leans over to snap it shut firmly.
Dave must know something isn't right. As we exit down the passageway, for the first time ever I can hear him crying and scratching at the door.
***
Dedicated to the gorgeous StylesClarityxx in part for the amazing picture she drew of Harry and Hendrix which I've put at the top of chapter. Go follow her and check out her works. She's amazing ♥️
I have a new phone (again, don't ask) it doesn't seem to like me, so forgive any typos 😿
We are so, so close to the end :(