Red thread of love

People fall in love in mysterious ways

The first thing Harry did when he was out of the mental facility was surprise his friends. Well, technically speaking the first thing he really did was have lunch with his mother and his sister. Anne and Gemma had picked him up when he was discharged and with a smile that could light up the whole room his mother enveloped Harry in a bear hug. She had tears running down her cheeks, but this time they were happy tears.

"I'm so proud of you, darling," she murmured in Harry's ear.

"I'm proud of myself too, mom," Harry answered with a smile. His sister was looking at the interaction with a wobbly smile and just mouthed a silent 'I love you' that he reciprocated.

They went to the closest coffee shop to have something to eat and to celebrate that he was finally free in more ways than one. They talked about what had happened in all the months he was gone, his mother assured him that his flat was cleaned and waiting for him to go back to his life. They had all taken turns to maintain it. Gemma gushed about her new boyfriend, Ashton. She met him at work, they hit it off immediately, but apparently what had sealed the deal for her was his support when everything went down with Harry. When he was at the hospital and she had to take a few days off he immediately called her and travelled all the way to London just to bring her food and a change of clothes that were really from his sister but that was the best he could get that fast. His sister had said offhandedly that she was starving because hospital food was always shit and that she had left the house in such a rush that she hadn't even been able to change. That was all it took for the lad to take the three hours train to London. He stayed for a few hours and went back home, with enough food to last at least a week and a promise that if she needed anything at all he could be back the next day after work. Gemma explained with stars in her eyes that she was the one who invited him on a date after she was back to London. Harry was happy for her and couldn't help but joke that 'it was a pleasure to play cupid for you dear sister'. Both Gemma and Anne slapped him around the head. They all ended up laughing and having a good time.

When they were back to his flat, Harry noticed that someone had removed all the framed pictures of Luke and him. It was a reality check, this was no longer their flat. Harry had two options: either he arranged it back to make it his or he moved out to a different place. He figured he would give it a thought since his mother took the time and effort to pay the rent. The three of them sat in the living room in silence for a couple of minutes, his family probably gauging his reaction.

"I am going to pay the rent for a little longer, baby. I know you need time to find a job, and that it won't be easy to pay all the rent by yourself," Anne said, breaking the silence.

"Thank you mom, that is really nice of you. I might find something smaller though. It will probably be better for my economy," Harry said honestly. "And even though Luke and I didn't leave here for too long we picked this flat together," he added looking around him with a sad smile. "I need something that feels mine," Harry whispered.

"I figured you would like to move out," Gemma shrugged. "We just decided to leave it up to you, Haz," she assured, holding his hand tight.

"Well I won't do it immediately, I will find a job first and go from there," Harry explained. No more rushed decisions, he had learned his lesson.

"Whenever you like, baby," His mother said sweetly.

"I know you have a long trip to go back home. But before you go I wanted to ask you a favour, mom," Harry asked with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Does this have anything to do with you asking me not to tell your friend you were discharged today? Anne asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yup," Harry said giddy.