The Christmas Concert | h.s.

Chapter 14

Harry's POV

Yes, it was cowardly to avoid my phone and the messages I'm sure were cumulating. I mindlessly watched a lot of TV and stayed fairly secluded until Taylor showed up at the door. At first, I ignored the knocking, but after it kept up for about five minutes, I decided to answer it.

I was aware that I looked, and probably smelled, terrible. Getting out of bed for long periods of time had not been at the top of my list of things I want to do, so besides ordering food and occasionally using the bathroom, I really hadn't moved much.

The look Taylor gave me was extremely harsh and made me feel worse than I already did. When she finally spoke, I didn't feel my better, "Oh my God, Harry, what the hell are you doing?"

"Not having a good time, that's for sure. Where have you been?"

"I've been at my apartment here, which you would've known if you would've bothered to read my texts."

"It's not just your texts I've been avoiding."

"Well pull yourself together, I found this place we can stay in the Caribbean and I'm sure it'll cheer you right up."

"I don't know..."

She sat down on the bed next to me and brushed some of my hair off my forehead, "You should take a shower and eat something, it'll definitely help."

I shrugged and stood before walking to the bathroom. The shower did help and brushing my teeth made me feel much cleaner. I still felt like a terrible person, and I still wanted to disappear, but I could at least fool myself that I could function like normal.

When I left the bathroom in fresh clothes, ruffling my hair with a towel to dry it, my heart dropped. Taylor was holding Harli's headband over the garbage can. She froze when she saw me staring, "Sorry, but this is not your color."

"I like it."

She dropped it in the garbage and I scrambled across the room to dig it out. I'm sure she thought I was pathetic as I grabbed it back, but at this point, my dignity was in shambles anyway. Taylor had started packing my bags, and I sighed, suddenly wanting to crawl back into bed.

"What is wrong with you these days?"

"I don't know, I just feel off, but I'll be okay, just having some bad days. Don't worry, I'll be up and about in a few days."

The look she gave me was disbelieving, but I did my best to smile and reassure her. She slowly continued packing, "If you say so."

Harli's POV

Having Jess around again was amazing, and we picked up exactly where we left off. She was there for work, so some days she actually had to do stuff, but on days she didn't, we just relaxed. I usually met with Scooter the days she wasn't at my house so that I was also productive.

I hadn't heard from Harry which worried me, but I hadn't heard from any of the other boys either, so I assumed something wasn't terribly wrong. I debated texting him anyway as a sign of peace, I didn't want him thinking I never wanted to speak to him again or anything.

Jess and I didn't really talk about him. We spent one day at the beach, we visited the hospital on another day, we went shopping a few times, and ate at multiple restaurants I hadn't got the chance to try. Mom came to visit a few times and cooked for us.

Percy scored us hockey tickets to see the Kings play the Blackhawks, so Jess, my two brothers and I were going to eat and catch the game. Jess didn't really care much for sports, but her dad was a massive Sharks fan, so she grew up with hockey. Jacob was convinced when he was younger that he'd end up in the NHL, but settled for mediocracy after realizing how much work that would be.