Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

fifty six.

Clem's eyes darted rapidly between Will, Ella and I. Her face was pale as she pieced together the severity of the situation, this was not good. I knew something bad was going to happen today.

My eyes zeroed in on Clem, the fear in her eyes was holding my attention hostage. I couldn't even hear his voice anymore, all I could hear was my heartbeat and a high pitched ringing in my ears.

I ran.

I couldn't even feel my feet hitting the ground, or the wind belting against me. All I felt was terror. My body was numb, but my mind was on overtime.

Of all the people in the world, the person Ella decides to be with is Will.

Ella.

Oh god, she had no idea. She had absolutely no idea who he was or what he was capable of. She was in danger and she didn't even know it.

I couldn't be the one to tell her, she would never believe me. But she had to know, she may be a horrible person to me but no one deserves to suffer at his hands like I did.

Suddenly, my mind was focused on Ella and her safety rather than the fact my abuser that I was hiding from is standing in the living room. He has been exposed to Ella, to Clem and Adrian, to Michael and to Harry.

Harry.

He probably doesn't recall what Will's face looked like. Sure he remembered the time I had brought someone to the staff Christmas party, but surely his face wasn't etched into Harry's memory.

Harry was so kind he was probably shaking his hand and introducing himself, getting closer to him every second that I continued to run. Oblivious to the fact that this is the guy that is stopping me from progressing any further with him.

Clem looked so fucking scared.

His words were pointed. He knew someone had to have helped me get in and out of his house and that they probably helped with the car as well.

I kept running.

My chest felt tight at the exertion, the anxiety didn't help. I couldn't feel anything from the waist down, I just kept running.

That's all I seemed to be doing now. Running. Running from Will, running from Harry's affection, running from being myself. I spent my days running now, I just wanted to sit down.

Voices cut through my thoughts. There were two of them. I could hear them, but I couldn't force my body to turn. Their voices were clear as day and I was begging them to say something and get my body to stop moving.

"Jo! Jo, stop!"

It was Clem. Her voice was shaken, she was crying I could tell. She was trying to hold herself together for me but she was also allowed to be terrified. He had infiltrated her friendship group and this must have been reopening wounds from her past with Patrick as well.

"Jo. Stop running, baby! You're okay!"

He sounded scared. I had only heard him use this tone when there was a storm and he felt totally vulnerable. This must be a horrible situation for him; his friends and sister were now in trouble because of a stray he picked up off the street.

I stopped running.

**Play Je Te Laisserai Des Mots by Patrick Watson**

My chest ached, my throat was scratchy, my eyes felt dry and the sand made my legs itch. I focused my eyes on the sky. I loved the sky.

There were voices around me. I must have been at the beach because the sound of kids squealing and water splashing echoed around me tauntingly. These people were having a great day and had no idea the pain those around them were feeling.

"He can't be here. I can't let him hurt you guys. Ella will get hurt. He can't be here. I should leave. You will be safe. My chest hurts. I'll go with him. He can't be here." My brain couldn't form a coherent sentence. The connection between my mouth and my brain has been severed and was hanging on by a thread.

"Jo. You're not going anywhere ok?" Clem was reassuring, but the sinking in my stomach continued regardless.

"Shhh, baby. Um, fuck. Breathe Josephine," my head snapped in his direction, I felt the lump form in my throat, "the only thing you can control is the air that comes into your lungs, so just focus on that? Okay? You are safe."

Tears fell from my eyes. My fear of crying in front of others seemed to disappear as soon as he said those words. I needed to hear them, I missed my Pa, I want Harry to be safe.

I nodded vigorously and squeezed my eyes shut. The tears were hot as they built behind my eyelids, they burnt the skin as they rolled down my cheeks.

"Ok, take some deep breaths for me."

Following his instruction, I took a long shallow breath. The tightness in my chest stopped me from taking a deep breath.

"A few more."

I met his demands and slowly I felt my heart rate decrease. He had no idea how simple he made calming myself down feel. Usually it was a task that took me a long time and it tended to involve something getting broken. But this time it was the simple spoken words of a boy I trusted with my whole being.

"Now I want you to slowly take a few steps forward. Come up to me and I'll check out your feet, alright?" His tone was gentle and timid. He was afraid because I was afraid.

The sand stuck to my feet and I was left with a sense of confusion. I glanced down at them and noticed the blood surrounding them, but it was watered down.

"Why are my feet wet?" Was the only question I could bring myself to ask.

"You were in the water, baby."

"I was in the water?" Panic started to settle into my voice. How had I not noticed I was in the water?

A strangled cry left my lips as I pretty much collapsed into their hold. The two of them caught me as I fell at their feet. The pain in my own finally started to set in and it hit like a freight train.

I could feel every inch of pain and nothing all at the same time. The amount of pain I was feeling almost made it numb but there was no ignoring that pain.

The pair worked to sit me on the sand and started talking to each other about my injury. The ringing in my ears returned and I continued to sob.

Harry looked over at me at the sound. Cautiously, he took a step towards me. His eyes were a safety net and I was zeroed in on them. They were the only thing I looked at as he stepped towards me, I didn't dare look anywhere else.

He finally ended up sitting beside me on the sand, my ankles came to rest on his bent knees to keep them elevated. Clem worked to examine them through her own tears.

I just kept looking at Harry.

The pain of things being removed from my feet made my whole body spasm in pain but my eyes stayed locked on him.

"There is so much glass in your feet. You'll be ok but the spots will bleed for a while. When we get somewhere with a first aid kit, I'll bandage them alright? It's nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be." Clem spoke more to herself, she knew I wasn't focusing on her but she wanted me to hear everything anyway.

"You stepped on a broken bottle, Jo. Didn't even flinch, you just kept running. I was so worried about you." Harry whispered, wrapping his arms around me tightly and bringing me into his chest.

What were we even going to do now? I couldn't go back to the beach house but now that he no doubt knew where I was staying, could I even go back to Harry's?

He didn't see me, but he knew I was there. People like him always know the lay of the land and there was no chance Ella hadn't shown him pictures of us all prior to him joining us.

I felt sick.

I was in pain.

I want the pain to stop.