Rupture // h.s au

35. "I'll tell you a story."

Harry

Her fingers ran through my hair, her other hand running up and down the length of my arm, pulling me further into her embrace, as she kissed the top of my head almost apologetically. My consistent sobs had subsided, leaving me with a blocked throat, and a fading stamina.

" I told you this would happen, if you keep bottling it all inside. You're so stubborn, sometimes, I don't even know what to do with you." I buried my head further into her chest, soothed by the sound of her heart beating, the warmth she willingly offered, contrasting with the persistent cold that had settled itself down in my soul.

" Do you think I did the wrong thing, when I let her leave?"

" Yes, Harry, I really think you did."

" But I was trying to protect us, mum. If I didn't let her go, they would have killed us all. I- I thought I was doing the right thing."

" No, baby, she was under your protection as well. She was defenseless, terrified, and still recovering from an infection. She was shot, and you still allowed her to sacrifice herself for the rest of us. More importantly, she was in love, and you easily let her go."

" How could she be in love, mum? She was supposed to kill me. I was supposed to be the enemy."

" I'm sure she asks herself that every day."

" I'm supposed to focus on this. On keeping my people safe. On getting supplies and training soldiers. This wasn't supposed to happen."

" Since when does the world function the way it's supposed to?"

" There's only so many times someone can break, mum, before they can't anymore. And this... my world fell apart once, and I'm barely keeping my shit together, I couldn't afford having it fall again."

" How is it doing now, Harry?" I weakly lifted my head up, watching as her lips curved into a knowing smile, her eyes glowing with something I couldn't quite name. With a sigh, I rested my head back onto her chest, closing my eyes and enjoying the momentarily bliss, before there was a knock on her door. With the little strength I could master, I lifted myself off her bed, shaking my head at her attempts to open the door so that I wouldn't have to.

The door opened, and a familiar figure collapsed into my arms. My eyes lifted from the trembling figure, to fall upon a petrified face, that I related to Liam; Autumn's brother.

Wait, that meant... Autumn.

She coughed into my arms, her legs laying limply behind her, her arms barely holding on to me, her hair a perfect, bloody, mess, as it hid her face away from me. Autumn was laying in my arms. She was here. The realization dawning on me, almost brought the tears back into my eyes. I swiftly turned her in my arms, carrying her bridal style, as she groaned in pain.

" Careful with the left side, the bullet is still in there." Liam's voice reminded me of his presence, as I laid her down on my mother's bed.

" What the fuck, how is the bullet still in there? It's been a week." Liam who had been following us, turned to sit on the other side of his sister, releasing a long sigh.

" They've been holding her captive since we left. Torturing, beating, all of this shit. I barely managed to get her out, and I didn't know where else to go." My weary eyes fell upon her, with her eyes squeezed shut, her features almost unrecognizable under the layers of blood and dirt.

" We need to get that bullet out, if it's fragmented, who knows the level of damage it's done." I acknowledged, stepping towards her, and taking her left arm, eyeing the infected entrance wound.