Here We Stand [H.S]

144.

Saying goodbye to Ryan was probably one of the hardest things I had ever had to do... and yet here I was, in Harry's Range Rover, officially stripped away from my twin and on my way to Cheshire, outside Greater Manchester for the weekend for Des and Jo's wedding.

To make matters even more worse, I couldn't cry because I had self tanned the night before and I had slept in my over-caked self tanning lotion to get an even better result.

If I so much as got a little bit wet (by tears or rain) then there was a pretty good chance I'd be attending Des & Jo's wedding as a highly unattractive, streaky mess.

Not a good look.

I needed to be slightly tanned because I was so bloody pale anyway and with wearing a mid blue dress, I needed the tan to set me off nicely- especially with my dark hair.

So my plan was, once Harry and I arrived at Peckforton Castle in Cheshire (which was actually technically outside of Manchester, like I said, not generally in Manchester like I previously believed) I was going to lock myself in the bathroom and have the longest shower of my life to wash the excess tan off.

And yet here I was, sat in Harry's car on the front seat, knees up to my chest fiddling with my brand new Pandora bracelet that Ryan gave me before he left, chewing on my lip and trying my hardest not to cry.

Harry was quiet too, slyly taking glances at me every couple of minutes to make sure that I was okay.

He had tried his absolute best bless him, to make sure I was happy and okay, but the truth was I was absolutely gutted having to wave off and say goodbye to my brother after a blissful couple of weeks together.

Of course I understood he had his adoptive parents and younger brother to go home too, he probably had his job and his own friends to see too, but a part of me was still broken that he had left me.

In a space of a few hours, I was back to square one again when I first lost Gran- alone, confused and wondering why I was the one who constantly had the weight of the world on my shoulders.

I wasn't exactly sure if I was coping well with my sudden separation from my brother, but I knew I had to tackle this before it started affecting me and my mind.

I flinched lightly, feeling Harry's hand creep onto my lap, giving me a sensual squeeze as he continued to drive us to the wedding venue for the weekend.

I heard him mumble an apology for lightly frightening me, but I mentioned that it was fine and that I was okay.

Harry of course, knew I was lying.

"He'll be back soon, Iz." He said to me softly, using the control on his steering wheel to turn the music down.

We were listening to Green Day, as he knew nothing else would make me feel better than having my favourite band playing.

"I know you're hurting right now Izzy, but he'll be back, baby... or we could go and see him when we get to LA after the wedding, darling?" He offered, his fingers now linking around mine on my lap; "Don't be sad, Izzy. I don't like it when you're sad, baby."

I smiled weakly, fighting with all my might to try and not cry.

Streaky mess, nobody wants a streaky mess at a wedding.

"I know," I said quietly, forcing my throat to behave itself before it broke through my barrier and I ended up a streaky, sobbing mess; "I guess I just underestimated how much it would hurt being separated from him, y'know?"

"I know." Harry nodded courtly, "But you know he'll always be with you and you'll always be with him. Thousands of miles apart doesn't change the fact that blood is thicker than water, I'm living proof of that, Iz."