"lives for the memory, a woman who's just in his head."
The full story of two online friends, separated by 3336.684 miles.
As they meet in an unexpected turn of events, the worst of inconveniences and timing never on their side, one simple miscommu...
I stand there emotionless at the bottom of the steps, my cheeks sticky from the overwhelming amount of tears shed. My jaw is aching from having it clenched for so long, and I kick away the broken glass with my bare feet, unfazed at the pain that suddenly pricks at the side of my foot as blood started to trail.
I sit down carefully, aware that Elio was watching me at my side and that Niall, Sarah, and Louis were staring at me.
There was still a police officer present, at least from what I knew, red and blue lights glistening from outside. I don't utter a word. What more is there to say?
I feel like I haven't fully been able to process how there was a man who broke into my home while armed, and even went as far as to trash everything I owned. I look around silently, eyes observing the remains of my living room, picture frames shattered and I easily spot the hole in which one of the intruder's bullets went through.
"Daisy?" I break from my thoughts, looking back up to meet eyes with Niall and I feel my lower lip start to wobble.
"Daisy, can you hear me?" He asks and I nod slowly, feeling a stray tear falling down my face.
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Nothing can describe the overwhelming emotions I was feeling, and I didn't want to seem like a coward in front of everyone but I was absolutely terrified. All I wanted was to shut my eyes so tight that I'd open them and I'd be laying in bed, the sun leaking through the curtains as I suffer from a horrendous hangover.
And I still only wanted Harry in this very moment.
It scared me to think that I had no idea when I would be able to speak to him, or how he didn't even know what was happening. Probably blissfully unaware of the events of tonight, lying asleep in bed as the sun rises, wondering what his day would be like before it even began.
How badly I wished that he was right here, right now. Holding me close to him, holding me so tight that I could barely breathe.
"Daisy, your foot is bleeding. We gotta get you out of here and the police need to speak to you." He says, grabbing my arm and pulling me up. I fall into his arms, clutching him tightly as I begin to sob once more.
"Daisy, it's okay. It's gonna be okay," I feel Elio's soft touch against my shoulder as I pull away from Niall.
"How are you feeling? Are you hurt?" I croak at him, his eye-bags now prominent with the amount of time that has passed and he shrugs.
I step around cautiously not to step on any more broken furniture or glass, grabbing a pair of slippers and putting them on before approaching the officer present.
"Miss Kensington?" They ask and I nod.
"That's me," I say.
"You need to come down to the station with us," They say, making me gulp. I turn back to my friends anxiously and they nod, signalling that they would be there with me too.
"We need to ask you a couple questions, as well as need you to contact the legal owners of this house." They say, making my brows furrow. My parents. I wonder if word traveled fast enough around there.
Did they know that their home was broken into? That the man breaking in had a gun? That their daughter could've gotten hurt tonight? Died?
"Were you the only one present at the events of tonight's incident?" The officer asks, I shake my head no.
"I was with her," Elio speaks up, the officer nods. "My name is Elio Kennedy," he introduces himself the officer and he nods at him.
"We'll have a bunch of officers looking over your home, looking for evidence as well to trace back to the person who broke in. But I do understand if you want to take your time before going into the station? We aren't sure how long this is going to take," They say and I nod.
"We actually—-" I say, then stop. Debating on whether or not this was relevant enough to mention to them. "We have school tomorrow, so hopefully this won't take too long?" I ask.
"School?" The officer questions, "Shit, you're a teenager... All four of you are teenagers. We'll try to make this as quick as possible." They say.
#####
The station was cold, eerie almost as it hits midnight and the area starts to clear. I sit awkwardly in the enclosed room, fidgeting with my fingers as I wait patiently for another officer to tend to me.
"Hi," The door opens and I'm faced with another officer, middle-aged and blonde. Welcoming almost, and she takes a seat in front of me.
"Hi Daisy, I'm officer Morgan. Can you tell me what happened tonight?" She asks.
"Well..." I swallow thickly, and suddenly I feel like the walls were about to collapse on me. My eyes flicker up to the harsh fluorescent lighting and then back down to her.
"It's okay, take your time." She says, making me nod.
"Well... I just got home with Elio, I mean, the guy—-" I stumble over my words. "The guy I was with, he's Elio. I just got back with him. He's the tall one? Brown hair, green eyes, extremely pale." I ramble on and she smiles.
"It's alright Daisy, we spoke to him for a second earlier. He was very sweet, told us everything in his perspective. We want to hear from you now," She says.
"Sorry," I mumble, staring down at my lap as I try to regroup my thoughts.
"I got back with him, and we were getting ready... We we're getting changed, getting ready for bed." I say, and the officer nods at me.
"And then... and then we heard a loud crash. Followed by a few things getting knocked over. Elio— he went down to check what had happened, he took an umbrella which now seems silly to mention but I wasn't exactly prepared for a break-in," I joke, and the officer lets out a brief chuckle.
"Elio's quite the strong one," Officer Morgan says, "We took the guy in and locked him up, found a couple of bruising on his torso, we suspected it was from someone trying to impale him, I guess I'll have to tell them it's from an umbrella." She laughs, lightening the situation up.
"What happened next, Daisy?" She asks me and I swallow.
"I wasn't there with him, he made me stay upstairs in my room and I called 911. It was terrifying— I didn't, I didn't know what to do. Then I heard the gun and..." My words get choked up and the officer nods, signalling me that it was alright.
Suddenly, the door swings open and we both bring our attention to another officer standing at the threshold, badge dangling from their neck.
"Miss Kensington?" He asks me and I nod, "You have a phone call, someone named Jay? It's your—"
"That's my mother," I finish his sentence and he nods. Officer Morgan leads me out of the room, escorting me down the hall and I fidget my fingers, nervous and yet relieved to finally be able to speak to my mom.
I grab the phone, toying with the chord dangling off of its end and I finally let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.
"Mom?" I croak, my voice is shaky.
"Daisy? Oh God, I knew something like this was bound to happen."
