Your Darkness is My Weakness [Lirry]

Chapter 22: Explaining How it All Began

Chapter 22: Explaining How it All Began

"Excuse me?" Gemma asks in confusion.

"I know it's weird – "

"Harry, what the hell happens in London?! Why didn't you tell me sooner that you had a stalker?"

"You promised not to freak out," Harry argues desperately.

"That was before you were gonna tell me you have a freaking stalker!" Gemma nearly yells into the phone. "Harry, you need to pack up right now and move back in with Mum and Robin. You can even move in with me if you want – I don't care! Just as long you get out of there."

Harry groans and says, "Gem, just stop and listen to me. Please."

"What? So you can tell me what else is going on there that you haven't told me or Mum about? You should've told us about this earlier."

"It's a long story, but Liam – "

"He's your stalker, Harry. You need to get away from him."

"No!" he snaps back suddenly. "I don't need you or anyone else telling me to get away from him! I don't need you telling me to move on from him either! It's already too late, anyway!"

"Harry – "

"He already left me, Gemma! He left, and he doesn't want me anymore."

Gemma sighs, then says more calmly, "Oh, Harry. You fell for him, didn't you? You fell for your stalker?"

"That's not all he was."

"Then explain all of it to me. Start from the beginning. When did he start... stalking you?"

"I guess since the first day I moved in – Wait. Maybe even before that," Harry replies, sitting up in his bed. "Yeah. He probably started all of this before I even met him, 'cause he had all those pictures around his house of me even when I was younger. Then he probably put those hidden cameras all over my house before I moved in – "

"Oh my god. He did all of that? And you still fell for him?"

"Well, yeah. I guess you could say he 'broke me down'. He 'got under my skin' or whatever the expression is. Either way, I think – I'm in love with him, Gemma."

When he doesn't get a response, he groans and lies back down on his bed. Gemma is in shock, trying to process everything Harry just told her, although she knows that's not everything. She knows there's a lot more that Harry has been through because of this Liam. And she's not okay with that as his older sister. Her brother deserves better. But she'll try to accommodate Harry's feelings for him.

"Um... Have you told him that?"

"No. He left before I even realized how I feel about him. He thought it would make me happier."

"And you're not?"

"How can I be? I mean, I just realized I'm in love with my stalker, but he left before I could tell him. And I don't even really know where he is. All I know is that he's somewhere in Italy, but what are the chances that I'll find him in that country? It'll take forever."

"But you're sure about how you feel about him?" she asks again, sort of hoping he'd change his answer so it will be easier to deal with.

Silence falls between them then, making Gemma anxious that this only confirms how Harry really feels about Liam. That he really does love him, and that he's heartbroken he was too late to realize it. Or maybe not, she thinks.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'...?"

"Gemma, I know you have a hard time believing it, but I really do love him."