Irreplaceable [h.s]

Chapter 16

Leah POV

The door swings open, his tall frame completely exposed. I then look up, his light green eyes catching my gaze, making my breath hitch in my throat and every muscle in my body tenses up. I then notice how his short hair falls over his face ever so slightly. His hair is now short. I've never seen his hair short before. I then look back at his eyes, multiple emotions filling them but one that stands out more than anything is distraught.

He doesn't look the same.

Not only physically but even looking into his eyes, the eyes I remember being filled with so much light, are now dull and have this sense of darkness behind it. He was once shiny, just like a new mirror but now he's shattered. He looks lost and confused. Maybe that's because I'm here or maybe he's looked this way for awhile. He didn't look that way when we were together. He looked happy and content.

He doesn't even have a sense of that anymore.

I feel my heart sink into the deep pits of my stomach as I look at him, gazing into the eyes I remember getting lost in countless times before. I feel myself start falling into them but not how I used to. It felt good before. Now looking at him, it only causes me pain. Seeing this man I barely recognize feels like a stab to the chest.

Everything about him is so familiar yet so foreign at the same time. A part of me looks at him and sees bits and pieces of the man I fell in love with. I look at his lips and remember how soft they were. I see his tattoos covering his arm and remember all the times I spent admiring them. And if I briefly look at his eyes, those green eyes I fell so hard for, I see it all again. It's like nothing has changed.

But the more the seconds go by as I stand here, the longer I spend gazing into his eyes, the more I see how everything behind them has changed. It's dull and cold and distant. He seems more distant than ever before. He seems completely disconnected and I never thought he'd look at me that way. I'd be lying if I said it isn't killing me more and more as I look at him.

"Harry." I breathe, feeling my chest tightening as my gaze stays locked with his. I can't even believe I'm standing in front of him right now. I came here to talk to him though so that's what I need to do no matter how hard I know it'll be.

I see him furrow his eyebrows ever so slightly as he stares at me, his lips parted in shock. I see his chest drop and rise quickly before he swallows hard, keeping on hand on the door. "Leah." he chokes out. I see him shift his stance before he clears his throat. "What are you doing here?" he questions me quietly.

"I came here to talk." I answer him nonchalantly, using every bit of willpower in me to hold myself together. The last thing I want to do is fall apart in front of him.

"I called you-"

"I know." I interrupt him. I then get a quick flashback to that night, remembering how him calling me made me feel. I guess he did want to genuinely talk and that's why he called but I ended up hanging up on him. It must suck someone leaving before you get a chance to say what you want to say.