The Middle | Hemmings + Styles AU

36

Sometime between running out of Harry's house on Saturday afternoon and then dodging Aunty Peg's calls on Saturday night, I came down with a vicious stomach bug.

It was times like this when I truly missed my parents. If they were here, my Mum would make me her famous chicken soup and my Dad would sit by my side, telling me all of his worst jokes. I could have asked Aunty Peg to come over and look after me but I didn't want to worry about infecting her as well.

Anyway, I was still glued to the couch on Sunday night, with a bucket by my side and an empty Gatorade bottle in my lap. Aside from a weak stomach and a slight fever, I was also fighting something else. Luke texted me this morning, asking how I was and I couldn't even bring myself to reply.

I felt so incredibly guilty for sleeping with Harry, which was crazy, right? For all I knew, Luke had been sleeping with other girls on the tour.

There was no cure for it, though. The guilt was there, hovering over me like a dark cloud. It was making me more miserable than this stomach bug to be honest. This was such a foreign feeling to me. I wasn't the girl who had drama like this in her life. I'd never really upset anyone I cared about, one of the perks about having few close people in your life I suppose.

And now somehow, I'd found two boys who I cared for so much, and as much as I knew I was on slippery slope down to disaster, I couldn't get off.

In addition to the Luke guilt, Harry had also messaged me this morning, saying that we needed to talk. I didn't reply to his text either. Maybe we did need to talk, but I wasn't sure what I wanted or needed to say.

The only thing I needed right now was another Gatorade and the new season of Catfish. There was something comforting about watching the problematic lives of others to distract myself from my own.

Maybe I was being dramatic. Olivia would congratulate me if she knew I'd slept with Harry. And then she'd probably tell me to do it again, or have sex with someone else, or to try out a threesome just for something different.

Maybe it was my stupid stomach bug that was making it all seem worse than it really was. Luke told me to go and have fun. And Harry, well, that was fun. Both times.

Please don't ignore me. I'm worried about you. It was Harry again. He certainly was a persistent human being.

Don't be worried. I'm a big girl, I replied. 

My phone beeped again: I'm parked in your driveway.

My eyes widened and I typed as quick as I could manage in my weak state: You can't come in. I don't want to see you.

There's a knock at the door. "Go away," I shouted, muting the tv. I couldn't believe he was actually here.

"You don't have to let me in," Harry called from outside. "I just wanted to apologise."

His voice sounded different. Muffled, from travelling through the door, but there was something else there. Guilt, I think. It took all of my energy to call out to him again. "Apologise?"

"For whatever I did to upset you. If I hurt you or - "

"What?" This time I spoke much quietly. Only Harry would be this annoying polite. Who else would come all the way here to apologise for something that they weren't even sure they did? "You didn't hurt me!" Once the words were out, I could see the front door handle turning. I started to panic, "Don't come in! I'm... I'm contaminated."

Harry opened the door entirely, poking his head inside. "Contaminated?" He gaze moved from me to the empty bucket beside me, concern taking over his pretty features. "You're sick?"

"Mildly," I lied, not wanting to admit to the man that I was unexplainably attracted to that I'd been vomiting for the past twelve hours. Also, I didn't want to sound weak. It was a flaw of mine. "Please leave. I don't want you to catch anything."

He walked inside anyway, shutting the door behind him. Typical, really. He perched delicately on the end of the other couch, "I promise not to come any closer, but you shouldn't be alone when you're sick."

"I don't mind."

"Have you tried to eat anything?"

"Um," I looked sheepishly at the boy who juices kale and goes to yoga on Saturday mornings. "Just some leftover cheese pizza and a chocolate chip cookie."

"Stella," Harry frowned, his eyes flickering to the empty Gatorade bottle. "I'm going to go and get you some soup and some more Gatorade. Then I'll leave if you want me too. Okay?"

"Okay," I sighed through a grateful smile. I'd wanted soup after all. It was nice of him to do that, even if it meant he had to see me all pale and clammy. "Thank you."

He'd not long left when my phone started ringing. "Hello?" I answered, knowing it wouldn't stop if I didn't. Or worse, Aunty Peg would show up at the house, likely running into Harry when she did and definitely saying something completely inappropriate to him.

"Well, it's about bloody time you picked up!" Aunty Peg's cross voice sounded through the phone. She rarely ever got cranky with me and I instantly felt bad for making her worry. "Are you okay? I was just about wondering if I should send out a search party."

"If you were so worried, you could have just came over," I pointed out matter-of-factly.

"I did! Last night. I knocked and knocked until I figured you weren't home."

Oh. "Sorry, I must have been sleeping. I've got a stomach bug or something."

"Oh, pet. Let me come over and bring you some soup and crackers."

"Crackers?"

"To sooth the stomach. I'll be right over. You sit tight, okay?"

"No, you really don't have to do that - " My protests were useless. 

She'd already hung up.