Concupiscence | HS | currently on hold

XXII. Sound of silence

'Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping and the vision that was planted in my brain still remains within the sound of silence.'
Sound of silence - Simon & Garfunkel

"Nina, I told you to stay downstairs."

Claire's disturbance of the sound of silence echoed around the three victims of fate's cruel game. After blinking her eyes two more times, Nina suddenly snapped out of her forlorn daze. She turned her head towards her mum, her eyes not believing the situation she found herself in. And here she taught she had seen it all when it came down to love.

This was a whole new level on the spectrum of heartbreak.

Her mother looked at her with a pleading look, silently begging her to leave this instance. Nina nodded, finally understanding why her mother had been so forceful. She let go of the doorknob of her bedroom and started walking towards the staircase without so much as a word or a glance at both her mother or Harry. Nina heard footsteps stomping behind her as soon as she ran down the stairs.

"Fuck." Someone exclaimed. "Nina." The familiar smoothness of Harry's voice didn't make her stop, instead she accelerated. All she wanted to do, was what her mother had told her to do only five minutes prior. She wanted to get the hell out of this house.

"Nina, please stop, I know this looks bad, but I can explain." Harry begged while racing down the staircase in pursuit of Nina.

He kept a strong hold on the corners of the towel which was still wrapped around his hips. He struggled to get down the stairs safely, the length of the fluffy fabric slipping in front of his feet. He felt Claire's presence hot on his heels, yet he couldn't care less. All he cared about was trying to talk some sense into Nina. At first he had no idea what the fuck she was doing on that landing. Yet the more he saw her shocked face, the more he feared the worst. It was only when Claire asked her to go downstairs, that the whole picture had finally made sense.

It was a horrifying picture he had gotten himself photographed in.

So many thoughts were racing through Nina's mind, so many question and so much utter disgust. Harry and her mum? How had it happened? When had it happened? Was her mother the woman he had been talking about back at the café yesterday? The image of Harry and her own mother made her sick to her stomach.

She focused on her breathing and tried to find her jacket in the dining room once she was down the stairs. She looked around and saw it hanging on the back of one of the wooden chairs. Her head was spinning, yet her body and actions were submerged by an eerie calmness. She heard Harry's begging. However, she didn't want him to explain. What was there to explain? They had slept together, end off.

"Give me a chance, Nina, please." Harry begged when he figured her intention was to leave the house. He saw how Nina abruptly turned to suddenly face him fully.

"Give you another chance?" Nina almost mocked his words in disbelief, too shocked to process whatever he was trying to say. "That's bonkers."

"Oh, come on, Nina, please." Harry tried again, yet was soon disturbed by Claire's voice.

"Hold on a minute. You two know each other?" Claire stated the obvious making both students roll their eyes.

"We do." Nina said, her eyes for once never leaving Harry's while she conveyed her message. "Not so sure if I still want to know him, though."

"That's ridiculous, Nina, you know that."

Harry was swirling into a pit of desperation. Seeing Nina distancing herself from him again hurt so much more than he had anticipated. He had never wanted for this to happen, for Nina to get hurt out of all people. He was supposed to end things with Claire and be done with it.