The Photographer - h.s

Summer feeling

Vic

"Darling you are the only exception, you are the only exception...." the music was playing loudly as the two of us sang along and smiling, the light from the street lights and occasional stop lights shining on us like dull spotlights. We approached the stop light and we started singing the chorus again as it turned green. He began passing through when it hit us. The pick up truck slamming into the side and sending us rolling over. Once we were still our car was on its roof as the seatbelts held us to our seats, the sound of the truck's horn was stuck screaming. I turned my head and a sharp pain took place in my neck. His arms hung above his head as blood ran down his face from his mouth and small pieces of glass were shallow in his skin from the broken windows.

"Dad?" I forced out but he was still and silent.

My body shot up from my pillow and my breathing was hard and my body was sticky from sweat, a slight pain started to creep in as the headache began to take its rightful place. I looked around the dark room and then looked to my phone and tapped the screen awake to see that it was 2:36am. I put my face into my hands and let my body fall back onto the bed with a defeated sigh as my head began to throb.

I reached beside me for my phone and opened it, the dim light making me wince. I scrolled through my contacts and clicked one before waiting for the FaceTime call to be answered. It rang for a while before he picked up, he was in bed laying on his stomach with his curly hair disheveled and pushed out of his face.

"Well well well, if it isn't Victoria Townes calling me at.....2:41am." He said, his tone was raspy and tired, I felt kind of bad for waking him up, but I just felt like... I felt like I needed someone right now. I feel very absent and hollow.

"Hey." I said as my phone stared at the ceiling of my dark room. His eyebrows furrowed and he rolled over and sat up properly in bed Kerri g the swallows tattooed on his chest make an appearance on my screen.

"How's your head?" He asked softly and I squeezed my eyes shut and sighed. It's was a splitting, intense pain now. One that I couldn't ignore anymore.

"It's...bad." I told him honestly. It was a mild nightmare tonight, it used to be so bad I would experience sleep paralysis, that was after it first happened. They never got that bad again after the first few months after his death, I guess I should just be grateful it's not so debilitating anymore.

"Okay... I'm coming over." He said as he started to get out of his bed and walk around his bedroom looking for a sweatshirt.

"No no no. No Harry, it's fine, don't come over. Don't even worry-"

"Ah, too late. I found my sweatshirt and I already have my crocs on." He said and flipped the camera to show me his yellow crocs on his feet and his keys in his hand. He flipped the camera back to him as he stood in his kitchen now by his front door. He gave me a big smile and a thumbs up "see you 30!" He said and hung up, the screen went dark and my room went back to being pitch black and silent. I feel guilty for having him get out of bed and come here, I called him because I just wanted to hear his voice and just feel not so alone this early in the morning, I didn't want for him to have to wake up and feel like he had to come over, I feel so bad.

I waited in my bed until I could hear the sound of my door unlocking, and in this moment I could not be happier that he knows where I stash my spare. I heard him close the door quietly and I heard his soft foot steps coming down the hall. He tapped softly on the door and I sat up, he stood in the door with a bag in his hand and waved to me before walking over and taking a seat beside me and placing the bag in front of him. He pulled out some baby carrots, 3 different flavored seltzer waters, and a red Gatorade. I looked at very...interesting group of items he brought and I looked at him and gave him a confused look.

"So, I didn't know how exactly I could help, but I looked it up online and this stuff is supposed to help headaches? Looking at it now I realize that the guy at the CVS I stopped at may have been judgmental." He said and my heart felt so full. He literally stopped at some 24hour CVS for all of this just to try and help a little.

"Harry... this is...-"

"Weird?" He interrupted and I shook my head quickly.

"Incredible. Thank you." I told him and he smiled and put the stuff back in the bag and placed it on the floor beside my bed table.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" It was a loaded question, it was hard to think too hard about anything before the pain interrupts my thought process. I looked to him and offered a soft smile and nodded. "Lay down." He said and I laid back onto the pillow and looked at him as he stood up. I patted the empty space beside me and I looked at me and smiled and nodded subtly and walked around the bed and laid beside me. I rolled onto my side and put an arm over his torso, he snaked his arm under my head and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"You comfy?" He asked and I smirked and nodded. He bent his arm that was under me and started gently combing his fingers through my hair. "What're the dreams usually about?" He asked lowly and I paused. I don't want to tell him too much to the point where he thinks I'm just overreacting or being dramatic.

"Uh.... it's the accident... with my dad." I said quietly and he pulled me tighter to him and I wrapped my leg around his.

"Tell me about it."

"Um... so we were singing in the car to our favorite song and we Uh... we're just driving through the intersection when he just, he came out of no where. Our car rolled over onto the roof and... both the guy in the truck and my dad died." I told him and we sat in silence for a moment, it was a comforting silence, it felt full. It didnt feel lonely. I loved the way we felt, and despite how open I feel right now it just makes room for the overwhelming feeling I feel surrounded by Harry, like that warm summer feeling you get in your stomach.

It was everything.