"The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye."
- Jimi Hendrix
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Zoey's POV
I was literally on the porch already and about to run down the stairs to get to Freedom's Park as fast as possible, when I tripped over a pair of shoes that I had all forgotten about and fell down the stairs and landed on my knees.
A shrill scream escaped my lips and a hot, white pain shot through my body. A string of profanities followed, ending in Phoebe and Adrian, who had arrived a while ago, to rush to my side.
"Zoey! What happened?" My sister worriedly asked, helping me turn around to sit on my butt.
"I fucking fell," I muttered in disbelief, not quite understanding how someone could be that stupid.
My hands burned from the crash, but on further inspection, I saw that it was only a scrape on my palms.
"Okay, can you get up? I'll drive you to the hospital," Adrian spoke up, hunching down next to Phoebe.
"I'm fine," I spat, irritated and annoyed with myself.
Phoebe opened her mouth to speak but hesitated. Her gaze dropped to my knees, forcing me to follow the trail of her eyes.
Blood smeared all around both of them, a trail of red running down my left leg to my ankle. Dirt mixed into all of this, and with just one look, I could tell that we wouldn't be able to clean it ourselves.
"Shit," I cursed, finally understanding why the two of them were worried – or at least wanted to bring me to the hospital. "Guys, I can't."
"What do you mean, "you can't"?" Adrian questioned, raising his eyebrows. He stood up to his full height and outstretched his hands, helping me to stand up as well.
Pain burned through my legs, but I bit my lip and pushed the thoughts of it out of my mind. "Harry's waiting for me."
"No way. I'll call him and tell him to meet you later," Adrian replied inhumanly fast and held up a finger when he saw that I was about to protest.
I turned around to look at my sister in panic, hoping she would understand. "Phoebe, I need to know what's going on. Now."
"No, you need to get that cleaned up." She clasped my hands firmly in hers, trying to calm down the shaking of mine that I hadn't noticed until now.
Adrian walked back inside, not even giving me the opportunity to listen to the conversation. Minutes later, he walked outside again with his car keys in his hands. "Hop in, ladies."
I knew that fighting them would be pointless, Adrian would probably just carry me to the hospital. Besides, as far as I was concerned, he had already cancelled my planned meeting with Harry.
Again, I cursed myself for being so stupid and tripping over goddamned shoes that had always been on our porch.
Phoebe sat down behind the passenger's seat, allowing me to outstretch my legs. I winced a little as the stinging pain got more urgent, but tried to play it down nevertheless.
"What did Harry say?" I asked Adrian once he had started the car.
"He wanted to come to the hospital, but I told him you weren't in a life-threatening situation," he responded, rolling his eyes at Harry's concern. "And, before you'll ask, no, he didn't sound mad or angry at you, rather worried for a loved one."
That finally shut me down. If Adrian, one of Harry's closest friends could tell this through the phone, then it had to be true. Maybe Harry just wanted to apologize for his behavior the last few days.
However, I still texted Harry and apologized for my clumsiness. My heartbeat picked up when he replied only minutes later, promising to meet me at the park tomorrow at the same time.
Only seconds later, my phone vibrated in my hands once again. This time, it was a text from Harry explaining that he wanted to talk things over and make up for lost time. The little 'x' at the end lifted my mood, and out of nowhere, I was relaxed and leaned back in the seat, closing my eyes.
Until I remembered something else. "Hang on. What about mom and dad?"
"What about them?" Phoebe piped in from behind me.
"No worries, I left a little note on the kitchen table, but I think their plan won't touch down till after midnight," Adrian calmed me down.
I nodded once, then turned around to smile at him. "Thank you, Adrian."
"Everything for you, Zo." His right eye dropped into a little wink and he smirked, content with himself.
Phoebe mumbled something, that sounded a lot like "cocky asshole," under her breath and stared out of the window. I followed my sister's actions, watching the town pass by.
We reached the hospital only minutes later, being lucky to snatch a parking space near the entrance. The nurse at the reception waved us through to the emergency room, writing down my name and telling us that we might have to wait some time.
I told Phoebe and Adrian multiple times that they could just go home and I would catch a cab as soon as I was cleaned up, but they wouldn't hear any of it. I gave up soon, too tired to fight them any longer.
One hour turned into another, and before I knew it, the sun was already down. I had been texting with Harry the whole time, glad to see that things were back to how they used to be. We would talk about everything tomorrow, but otherwise had already made plans for the weekend.
"Zoey Clark?" A nurse called my name, after more than two hours of waiting.
I immediately jumped to my feet and rushed to her side, ignoring the pain that shot through my legs. The young nurse led me to a bed on the other side of the room and told me to sit down. I was expecting another wait, but was pleasantly surprised when a doctor walked up to me only minutes later.
"I'm Dr. Donavan," he said, shaking my head and then sterilizing them. He grabbed a pair of medical gloves and a few other things that I minded looking at, before hunching down over my legs.
I bit my lip, waiting for the jabbing pain to hit me. When it did, I was prepared.
The doctor worked concentrated, effective and fast. Only a few minutes later, another nurse came to wrap my legs in a thin bandage and the doctor waved goodbye, telling me to take it easy tomorrow.
I felt a bit weird running around without being able to fully bend my knees. Adrian tried not to laugh at me, but he failed miserably.
"Let's get you home," my sister said, offering her arm to me. I happily took it and intertwined our fingers.
The car ride home flew by faster due to the fact that I fell asleep halfway. Harry's text had stopped while the doctor was examining my legs, I guessed that he had fallen asleep, too.
Phoebe made sure I safely got to bed and tucked me under the covers. Minutes later, I was knocked out, not even waking up once my parents got home.
The first sign that they were home again was when I toddled into the kitchen but stumbled upon my dad's shoes in the living room on the way. This time, I luckily didn't fall, but I cursed nevertheless.
It wasn't even 8 am yet, but I was wide awake and more than ready for a new day. The "good morning gorgeous x" text Harry had sent earlier surely was the reason for it.
I barely felt my legs anymore and was even able to exchange the bandage on my own. The wound was clean and would surely heal soon, hopefully not leaving any kind of a scar behind.
In the middle of preparing some granola for myself, my mother walked into the kitchen in her blue bathrobe, her hand covering a yawn. She stared at me bleary eyes and mumbled a "good morning," not even asking what I had done to my legs.
"Good morning mother, how was your trip? Good? That's awesome to hear," I replied sarcastically, shooting her a grin afterwards to show that I was only kidding.
But that sadly ended up in a long summary of her vacation. Things only got worse when my father joined the club, but the climax was reached when my sister walked in a bit later and innocently asked them, too.
We had a nice breakfast together while our parents didn't stop talking at all.
Somewhere along the way, they started fighting over an insignificant detail. I took the chance to lean across the table. "Where's Adrian?" I whispered to Phoebe.
"At work," she replied before taking another bite of her toast.
"Right, I'm gonna start work soon, too," I smiled happily at her, more than excited.
That, somehow, caught my parents' attention. "Tell us everything," my father demanded.
There wasn't much to tell, really, so I ended the brief recap after a minute or two, finally excusing myself. I trotted back to my room and replied Harry, before deciding that I needed a new book to read.
"Phoebe?" I called from the hallway, hoping she would hear me.
"Yeah?" She called back, her voice sounding as if it were coming from the staircase.
"Do you wanna go to the library with me?" I asked, crossing my fingers.
"Nope," she replied, then the sound of her footsteps followed, indicating that she was going upstairs.
"You can take my car," my mum called from the living room, "if you go grocery shopping afterwards."
"Sure, make a list," I yelled, deciding that grocery shopping wouldn't be that bad if I had her car.
Exactly one hour and ten minutes later, it was nearing noon and I was ready for my trip into the city. I told my mom that I wouldn't be home for quite some time, knowing how easily I got lost in the library amid all those brilliant books.
"Take your time," she ensured me on my way out.
A little bit later, I walked into the library with a smile on my lips. I greeted the two ladies behind the counter and immediately walked upstairs after I had given back the books I had recently borrowed.
I easily found my way into my favorite section and – as already assumed – I got lost in the world of fantasy stories. The sight was nothing new: a pile of books all around me.
I had some kind of déjà-vu when a shadow fell over me. Looking up, I blinked once to let my eyes adjust to something that was not a book. "Louis?"
"Zoey, Zoey, do you ever leave the library?" He joked, sliding down the bookshelf next to me and handing me a cup of coffee.
Vanilla latte. "You're literally the best, Lou," I smiled gratefully at him.
"I know, I know," he replied, jokingly pushing his hair back. "What happened to your knees?"
I looked down at the bandages that didn't look as good as the ones the nurse made yesterday. "I fell."
As already expected, Louis made another joke. "From heaven?"
"Yeah, they kicked me out." I nudged him with my shoulder and sipped at my coffee, putting the book down on the floor while being careful not to close it.
"Can't blame them," he laughed. "How's Harry?"
I hesitated for a moment, his odd behavior still fresh in my mind. His text messages were less frequent right now, but he was busy at work.
"He's all right," I replied with a small smile.
The way Louis was looking at me told me that he was judging the way I was lying.
His words confirmed as much. "What happened?"
It wasn't probably the smartest idea to tell him, but I did anyway. He listened closely and smiled sympathetically every now and then. At the end, I caught my breath, then added, "but it's better now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." I didn't want to talk about it any longer, in fear of having him tell Harry something that I would prefer discussing with him myself. "Hey, how did Gemma take the whole thing with... ya know, us?"
Only when the question left my mouth did I realize that we had never really talked about it.
"We weren't together or dating at that time. Gemma and I have a long history." Louis' eyes had a far-away look.
"What happened between the two of you ... back then?" I had no idea how else to describe what I meant, I just hoped he would understand what I was talking about.
"We were in a relationship, etc., then had a fight, broke up and tried to stay away from each other. Well, I know that you already know, so that's why I'm telling you now. Gemma had a one night stand, got pregnant and run away."
I nodded, already having heard the last part from Gemma. "If the two of you found back together, then it's meant to be."
"Some people just can't live without each other, you know? We talked about everything. I think the key to a relationship is trust, and to talk about everything." Louis sounded older than he actually was.
I was silent for a moment, reassessing his words. From past experience, I knew he was right. It was also common sense, a key to life and not just relationships. "True."
"So, I gotta get going. I have no idea why I run to the library for Gemma all the time." Louis lifted up a book that I hadn't even noticed until now.
"Tell her I said hi. And thank you for the coffee." I opened my arms to give him a hug.
Louis engulfed me, his arms wrapping tightly around my shoulders. The hug only lasted for a few seconds, but it made me feel a bit better. "See you around, Z."
I turned my head and watched him walk away. After I couldn't see him anymore, I returned my focus on the book I put down next to me, but out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw someone duck behind a shelf.
Carefully squinting my eyes, I looked at the spot for a few seconds and tried to see through the small spaces between the books and the shelf, but there was nothing conspicuous.
"Weird," I mumbled to myself and kept reading the book a bit longer.
A few pages later, I decided to just borrow it. My butt was starting to hurt from sitting on the ground for so long.
With one last check of the pile of books, I decided to just borrow a few of them so I wouldn't have to come back to the library that soon again.
On my way out, I texted Harry and asked if we were still meeting up later. He texted back only minutes later and ensured me that we were, in fact, still going to meet.
Before I could stop myself, I had already dialed Lisa's number. After only a few rings, she picked up. "Zo?"
"I need you to stop me from driving to the prep school," I said, without as much as a greeting.
"What happened?" I detected a hint of worry in her voice.
"Nothing, why?" When she didn't answer, I pushed further. "Lisa? What should have happened?"
"Wait, what about your meeting yesterday?"
"That never happened, I ended up in the hospital," I explained.
"What? How come I only learn about this now?" Her voice was high-pitched and rushed.
"Relax, everything's fine." My feet carried me to the bus stop until I remembered that I had my mom's car. I turned around in the middle of the sidewalk, nearly causing an old man to run into me.
"When are you gonna see him?" Lisa asked. I heard the rustling of papers in the background and imagined her arranging her college stuff.
"After work today." I opened the car door and set down, not yet starting the car. "Did anything weird occur yesterday?"
"No, but Zoey?"
"Hm?" There was something in her voice that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasn't exactly fear, but something close.
"If you're going somewhere else after the park today, please text me, yeah?" Lisa requested.
"Okay," I agreed, although I couldn't understand her worry.
"If you don't text me after an hour, I'm going to get Phoebe and we'll come looking for you." Her tone left no space for an argument.
Texting her wouldn't hurt, so I didn't even think about protesting. "Sure. I gotta go now, see you around."
"Bye, Z. Take care."
I shook my head after I had ended the phone call. Instead of calming me down, it had just made me more anxious. Did Lisa know anything I didn't?
I had no time left to ponder over it. Instead, I started the car and drove to Target, trying to get all the groceries my mom needed.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in a similar blur. Nothing significant happened, I mostly just watched TV and stalked tumblr. Also, unsurprisingly fast, I finished one of the books I had borrowed in the library.
My mind flickered to Harry every so often. He hadn't texted me back after promising that we still would meet up, but I was making excuses for him. He surely had to be busy at work, kids always demanded a lot of attention.
Things got mildly more interesting when Adrian burst into my room around 4 pm. "Enough, sulky. You're gonna play FIFA with me now."
"Hell to the no," I answered, waving my hand at him.
He took a threatening step closer to my bed – not that I was impressed. "Are you afraid of losing?"
I might have fallen for his tricks a year ago, but by now I knew it was only his way of trying to get me to agree. Besides, I really lost most of the games. By the amount of FIFA he played, it wasn't a surprise, though. Even Mason had called him a freak once and Harry insisted that he could make his own World Cup with video games.
Adrian was crazy. "I'm just not interested in mind-dumbing games."
"Right, you can't lose any more brain cells or else you'd die," he joked.
I threw my pillow at him, but immediately regretted my action. Now my head was lying flat on the mattress and it was uncomfortable. With a sign, I sat up in my bed and leaned my back against the headboard.
"Play with Phoebe," I suggested, still keeping my eyes on the book, even though I had no idea what I was reading at the moment.
"I like to do other things with Phoebe."
That finally drew my eyes to him. "No details, please. That's disgusting."
"Not any more disgusting than those things you do with Harry." For his – and Harry's – well-being, I really hoped he was speaking hypothetically.
I clicked my tongue and grinned sheepishly at him. "Boy, if you knew what-"
Adrian held up both hands to stop me. "Oh God, don't. If I promise to leave you alone, will you please spare me any details about your, what I assume is a very spectacular, sex life?"
"Deal," I smiled happily and watched him walk out of the door. Right before he turned around the corner, he looked back and stuck his tongue out. "Immature child," I mumbled, but not loud enough for him to hear.
I had no idea how I did it, but at one point I looked at my watch to see that it was nearly time to get ready. Since I had no idea what we would do at all, I chose some casual clothes and threw them on, carefully making sure that everything matched.
My make-up was quickly done, the daily routine burned deeply into my mind that I could do it in the mornings while still being half-asleep.
I took some more time to carefully braid my hair, only to decide that it looked horrible in the end. After that, enough time was spent and I texted Lisa and Phoebe – even though my sister was upstairs – that I would walk to the park now.
I put on a cardigan but stuffed it into my purse as soon as I was outside. It was still pleasantly warm enough to enjoy the short walk to the park.
For once in my lifetime, I was early. Too early. In fact, I was so early that I sat down in the clearing where Harry and Gemma had their little reunion.
I wondered why out of all the places we could have gone Harry chose this one with the most horrible memories of my whole life. Even though everything had ended up in happiness, I couldn't forget to horrible minutes and hours where I had feared for both his and Gemma's life.
Nothing could make me ever forget the images of the seemingly lifeless bodies on the ground, and no matter how often Harry whispered sweet things into my ears, I knew the pang of the gun would always echo through my mind.
I tried very hard to focus on the happy times – how Harry had made love to me the first time after he was allowed to leave the hospital. It was love, not just simple sex. I had never experienced it like this before.
We had worked on our relationship, setting unclear things into stone. Officially a couple, I had felt like we could take on the world. I still felt like it.
There was nothing that could tear us apart, even our past fights seemed forgotten. We had managed to find a way to talk about it, not leaving words unspoken.
Whatever it was now, we could work our way through it. Harry would explain what was wrong and together we would find a way to solve the problem.
The strength within made me smile. I felt unstoppable and happy, even blessed.
Looking through the two big trees next to the path, I saw the reason for my happiness approach me.
Before I knew what I was doing, I had sprung to my feet and crossed the small distance between us, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him close to me. His hands immediately settled on my waist.
Being this close to him, I inhaled his familiar smell, instantly feeling at ease. There was something so breathtakingly beautiful about this moment, about our hug, that I wished it would never end.
But sadly, it did.
Pulling back, I smiled up at Harry and took in his appearance. He wore his casual outfit, skinny jeans and a black t-shirt. Sometimes I doubted he had any more clothes, but I wouldn't complain. In some way, it suited him.
My eyes lingered on the silver cross necklace around his neck. I barely stopped my fingers from reaching out to trace it. The wings of the swallows were visible, but otherwise only the tattoos on his arms were detectable.
I studied him further, neither of having broken the silence yet. When my eyes reached his, my smile widened at the beautiful green color I could never get enough of.
But when I took in the expression on his face, my smile fell. Without a word spoken, I felt the blood in my veins turn to ice and a shiver overcame me. This could mean nothing good.
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