Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

thirty.

"It hurts. I just want it to stop." Harry had pressed his face deep into his pillow to muffle his sobs and yelps of fear.

He had since rolled over so he was laying on his stomach, accommodating my hug better. My arms were wrapped firmly around him and my cheek was pressed to the space between his shoulder blades.

"I know, just breathe." I tightened my grip around him to remind him he wasn't alone. He needed a distraction, something to pull his attention away from the storm.

"I'm absolutely terrified of the ocean, I'm a bit iffy with pools and rivers but I can't even dip my toes in the water. I love being at the beach, sitting in the warm sand and feeling the ocean breeze but once I touch the water, my body shuts down." My throat tightened at the memories and my stomach churned at the realisation I had just admitted one of my biggest fears to him.

"I used to love the ocean though. I used to go there all the time with my family and challenge my Pa to see who could swim the furthest. I was a good swimmer too, not anymore though." My voice trailed off towards the end and I closed my eyes to regain some composure.

"Keep talking, please." Harry pleaded. At least this was working I suppose, his breathing was still patchy but slowly growing stronger.

"One time, my Pa and I decided to race out again. We'd done it every day that summer so it was nothing new. The weather wasn't excellent that day but it was still warm enough to swim, so we did. The waves were huge, and they just kept rolling in and slamming down on us, but I was determined to beat Pa out." I took a shaky breath and Harry reached one hand out from under his pillow to hold my hand that was around his waist.

"The last thing I remember was this huge wave forming just out from where I was swimming. I had beaten my Pa, he always let me win, but I was way ahead of him when I saw the wave forming.
I tried to get back in towards shore but I ended up right where the waves were breaking. This huge wave just pushed me under and I remember rolling around under the water trying to find up and every time I would get close to air, another wave would push me back under.
Then my memory gets hazy because I woke up on the beach with this huge group of people around me, lifeguards doing CPR and then it gets hazy again."

His body had nearly stopped all his harsh convulsions but I could still hear him sniffling, trying to stop crying.

"They said I was dead for about 47 second, which doesn't seem like a lot but like, there was a period where I was dead on a beach. Sure 47 seconds isn't a tremendously large span of time, but it was just enough to fear the ocean forever." My rambling came to a stop once the story was over and I internally smacked myself across the face over and over again for telling him any of it.

I stayed in my position with my arms around him while he continued to calm his tears until his breathing evened out and he had fallen asleep. I looked at the clock on his bedside table and it read 3:51am.

Another yawn passed my lips and I slowly tried to pry my arms off Harry's finally peaceful body. His grip on my hand tightened unconsciously, meaning the only way to get out of his room was to wake him up and I didn't want that at all.

So I laid there and laid there as my eyelids got heavier and heavier and the yawns continued to tumble from me. Maybe if I just rested my eyes for a bit, I would feel better.

"Jo, wake up." A single finger was repetitively being poked into the back of my neck, it was quite annoying actually.

Who the fuck wakes someone up by jabbing their finger into their neck? I squinted into the bright lights of the room, where the fuck was I? Then the warm presence below me caught my attention. Oh fuck.