Redemption [h.s]

thirteen

Harry opened the door and looked at me confusedly.

"I came here to brighten your day" I said jokingly, trying to cover up the tremor hidden in my voice at the remembrance of our last encounter.

He smiled a little. "Thanks." He got out of his house and closed the door behind himself.

Understanding his silent request, I motioned to my flat. "Let's just go at mine."

We got inside and we sat on the couch.

"Want something to drink?" I asked him.

"No, thanks. I still feel like shit. I guess I really did drink a little too much."

I tensed instinctively. "Yeah, you did some weird stuff" I said, wondering what he would've replied. Would he have apologised? Or would he have explained? There was no going back from that point.

Or maybe there was.

He looked at me enigmatically, before replying. "Did I?"

I broke the eye contact, looking at the wall for a second. He didn't remember. "Nothing too bad, don't worry" I brushed it off, with a pinch of sadness in my voice.

He nodded and yawned, but tried to cover his mouth with his hand so that I wouldn't notice.

"You look tired, you should go to sleep" I told him.

"I can't. I have to go somewhere later today."

I checked the time. It was 11pm. "In the middle of the night?" I asked.

"I have to."

"I guess so" I replied. "Want to do something?"

"Not really... It's just not a good day."

I nodded, as if I could understand where he was coming from.

"I have to go now. I guess I'll see you" he said after a while, standing up.

"Take care of yourself" I told him, as he rushed out of my house.

I fetched my phone from somewhere between the cushions of my couch and decided to call Niall, since I was starting to get worried about the way he had left me earlier. He still hadn't called back. The phone rang for a few, but then went to voicemail.

I lay on my bed, turning to my nightstand and putting the phone there, next to a little picture I had long forgotten about. I took it in my hands. It represented a younger me, with a boy. I smiled slightly at it. I had left my younger brother at home with my parents when I had moved to London. He was the cheery and very - very - sarcastic kind. When we were younger we would always argue about anything. He used to love making me mad every day and then going to cry to my mother to have her tell me to be kinder to him. Sometimes my house just felt so lonely and empty without him, or the sound of my mom screaming at him to take off his shoes not to get the floor dirty. I missed that feeling, that was just so familiar, of home. It had been fine while Niall lived with me, but since he'd left it felt kind of lonely. Maybe I should've gotten a pet. A dog, maybe? No, I had no time to take it out or such. But it would've made Liam happy.
I still remembered the day I met Liam. I was working at the restaurant, and I was having an awful day after having argued with Niall. He had just happened to stand up and walk in my way as I was bringing a couple their drinks, too fast for me to realise, and I had crushed right into him, spilling wine over the both of us. I'd been so scared he would've complained to my boss, but he had just smiled and told me: "It happens." I had been left so stunned by his words. "I'm Liam" he had then said, offering me his hand to shake. He'd decided to take me out to make up for the mess we'd made, and I had decided to bring Niall along to make up with him. The rest was history.