Rupture // h.s au

31. "I'm in love with you."

Harry

I watched as her eyes warily followed their ruthless doings, before she curled into a ball, bringing her knees to her chest, shaking her head weakly to herself, with her eyes screwed shut in agony. She seemed to have retrieved back into her void shell, seeking unattainable protection, or maybe, release. I allowed my eyes to linger upon her sudden vulnerability, taking in her tragic beauty, revealing signs of too-soon-aging. Her skin looked a bit paler now, a bit older as well, quickly losing the natural glow to it. Her figure seemed smaller, weaker even. Her entire demeanor seemed to lose its spark, becoming faded, decayed, almost soulless. I laid a hand onto her shoulder, forgetting about the people dying around us, the fear and panic, the burning houses, it could all go to hell, if she wasn't okay.

" Autumn," I didn't know what it was, but her body ceased to tremble under my touch, as she released a single long breath.

" They're here for you, aren't they?" She weakly nodded, bringing her eyes to my own.

" I have to go with them, Harry. They'll kill everyone here, and I- I don't want that to be on you." She stood, taking her gun in hand, all the edge and power returning to her. I was losing her, when I never had her to begin with. There was so much that was still untold between us both, and I couldn't let her slip away, without granting her what she had always earned. I quickly rose to my feet, grabbing her arm and pulling her behind a tree, roughly imprisoning her between my figure and the tree trunk.

" Harry, wha-"

" I'm in love with you. You drive me fucking nuts, but it feels as if I hadn't been alive, until I kissed you that very first time. I know it's wrong, and I know you are incapable of love, but I'm in love with you. And I'll be damned if you walked out there without knowing that." My chest was heaving with the overwhelming confession, my eyes determined to properly deliver the sincerity behind my words. A shaky breath went past her lips, as she leaned in, resting her forehead tiredly against my own.

" You stupid, son of a bitch. I told you not to do this, I told you it will never work. I'm a timebomb, Harry, and I'll explode and take it all with me, but for the life of me...... I'm in love with you too." My eyes widened in disbelief, this wasn't what I had expected at all.

" I want you to know, that even though I don't fancy staying in this shit world, I'd stay with you. I'm a very unhappy person, but the closest I had ever come to happiness, was with you. And if he uses his shit against me, and I somehow forget all of this, I will remember you, somewhere between the darkness of my soul and the void in my heart, at the very back of my dark mind, knitted into my fucked up thoughts, in the fibers of every broken piece of me, I'll hold a memory of you, Harry. And if I go out there and never come back, I hope I never see you again, because chances are, I'm going to hell, and you are to come nowhere near there, you hear me? You're... so good, Harry, and I'm not much of a believer but I pray that someday you'll be in a place worthy of you, with someone anywhere near your purity and kindness of heart."

And in the middle of it all, she had planted a desperate kiss onto my lips, silently walking away. I wanted to pull her back, hold her in my arms till she had become a solid part of me. I wanted to kiss her, till her lips melted into my own and there was no tearing us apart. I wanted to love her, the way she deserved to be loved, the way she should have been loved all those years ago.

My eyes followed her confident steps towards the large group of men, but then her steps became more frantic, careless and irrational, and that was when I saw one of the bureaucrats, holding Raine with a knife to her throat. I ran out of my hiding spot, keeping up with Autumn's quickened racing.

" Stop, let her go!" She screamed, just as a single shot boomed through the air. Once I made it through the growing crowd, I found her on the ground, holding Zayn in her arms, as his face scrunched in pain.

" I'm okay, let the girl go, and stop this shit!" Autumn demanded, eyeing Zayn warily, before firmly meeting her father's gaze. I stared down at Zayn, who gave me a weak nod, as if to confirm that the injury wasn't major.

" Griffin." I hissed, standing as a barrier between the small army of bureaucrats and Autumn.

" Styles. How nice to finally meet you." Her father's eyes were emotionless, cold, a scar framing his left eye, as he challengingly stared at me. Shortly after, Autumn was standing beside me, her shoulder almost brushing against my own.

" Father, I'm unharmed, lets take our men and go."

" This isn't how it works, doll, you know that."

" We are not to start a war against the Chaotics." Autumn demanded, carrying herself firmly, powerfully.

" Don't challenge me, Autumn." Her father took a step towards her, in an attempt to threaten her.

" Don't make me, father." The last word was loaded with loathing, hatred, that I was surprised Griffin could stand through it. He then reached out, quickly snatching her gun, before shooting her.

" No!" One of the men, who highly resembled Autumn, rushed towards us, taking the gun from Griffin's hand, before rushing to Autumn's side. I fell beside her, eyeing her worriedly, involuntarily taking her into my arms. The shot had gone through her left shoulder, but there was no exit wound, probably due to the proximity of the shooting.

" The bullet is still in there. It's close to the heart, Autumn, we need to get it out." She winced, squeezing her eyes shut momentarily, before forcing her lips to curve into a pained grin, through her shallow breaths.

" Don't show weakness. We can't let him know how bad it is." She willed herself to stand back up, with the aid of myself and the other man.

" Pathetic, really. You, fuckhead, release the girl, or I swear to all that's holy," She didn't need to finish her threat before the soldier had let Raine go. She ran into me, as I hid her behind me, turning my gaze back to Griffin.

" Are you certain you want to do this here, father?" Autumn challenged, but I could see her composure fading, the pain beginning to strain her. I squeezed the arm that still leaned against me, receiving a side glance from her.

" Liam," She leaned into the man on her side, who was now identified as her brother, " tell the men to return to camp, and leave all they've taken. No further harm is to be done to this camp or any of the people, understood?" Liam nodded at her, walking past her father to deliver the orders.

" Zayn was shot in the leg, it didn't cut any main arteries, but you need to take him to Rick, so that he doesn't bleed out, or get his wound infected." Autumn whispered, her eyes remaining on the obliging crowd.

" Autumn-"

" Tell Raine I'm sorry, and take care of her for me. I taught Louis how to braid her hair, it makes her happy, so tell him to do that for her."

" Fine, but Autumn-"

" And thank your mum for me, tell her that if I had a mother like her, I probably wouldn't have ended up this fucked up." Her lips curved into a sad smile, as I let out a sigh of surrender. She then tilted her head towards me.

" Goodbye, Harry, try not to change, wouldn't want you to end up like me." With that, and a single nod, she walked away, her brother rushing to her side for support, while her father dissolved into the crowd.

And just like that, Autumn Griffin was gone.

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A/N: HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS ACTUALLY DID IT !!!! THIS STORY NOW HAS 10K READS AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY BUT THANK YOU SO SO MUCH

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