Absolution ➺ H.S. AU

Chapter 8 ➺ Paisley

"Harry?" His name left my lips, as my eyes widened, suprised to find him standing outside my hosptial room at two in the morning.

He stood in front of my door, his stance less confident than I had ever seen. His hair was flopped over his forehead, disheveled as if he had had a rough night. His eyes met mine, and there was something different about them.

There was something heartbreaking about the way he looked. I don't know why I was feeling sorry, or sympathetic, for the boy in front of me after all that he put me through. But, something about the sad look on his face had me interested.

"Hi." He quietly murmured from the doorway. He made no move to walk into the room, but just stood there. I walked back to the bed, feeling light-headed at my sudden movements to get to the door.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not sure whether I was dreaming or not, because I hadn't actually believed he would ever come back to see me.

"I, uh, you said to come back." He said, stumbling through the door and taking a seat in one of the chairs beside my bed.

"I didn't mean in the middle of the night." I said statically.

"Yeah, sorry. I-I'll just leave." He stood to get up, but I grasped his wrist, forcing him to sit back down. I could feel his pulse quicken under my fingers at just the little contact we made.

"Don't leave." I said. He didn't say anything, but just sat back down. He looked me straight in the eyes, making me notice for the first time the redness that surrounded the ususal bright green iris. "Harry..." I said curiously, trying to take in more of his behavior. "A-are you drunk?"

His eyes widened a bit, and guilt rushed over his face, confirming what I thought I already knew. Anger immediately rushed over me as Harry cowered back under my harsh gaze, knowing I already knew the answer to my question.

"Did you drive here?" I tried to stay calm for his sake, because drunk Harry was a lot more pathetic and childlike than sober Harry. He slowly nodded his head, not able to bring his gaze to mine. I just took a deep breath, trying to take in everything that was happening.

Here he was, after I told him to come back when he truly meant it and he was sitting in my quaint hospital room at two in the morning, drunk. The irony of the situation overwhelmed me. It was the accident, but flipped. He had the power then, the power to hurt and damage, but now it was me. I had the power now, the power to not listen to a word he said, but to let him live with maybe just the tinsy bit of guilt he deserved.

"Why are you here, then?" I asked, getting more angry as I thought about what he had done. "Why now, would you come back? Did you think it was okay to come back here while you're drunk, the very same condition that got us into this mess?" I spurred, getting it all off my chest.

"I honestly don't know why I'm here." Harry said, his voice still quiet, too quiet.

"Well you sure as hell better figure it out now." I said angrily. Harry opened his mouth as if to say something, but then shut it. "Well?" I asked. I'm not putting up with this.

"I don't know. I just, I was at a party and I just felt like I should come here. Your words from last time have been replaying in my mind. I can't seem to stop thinking about you. All I can see when I close my eyes is your mangled body laying in the street, and as much as I don't want to  feel sorry for what I did, I do. I feel bad." Harry said out loud, his voice somewhat surprised as if he didn't plan to say everything he did and that he had only maybe realized the truth in the words as they came out.

I tilted my head back in sympathethy. As angry as I wanted to be at him, he was in too fragile of a state right now, and as much as I didn't want to believe he was actually sorry or that this whole experience actually changed him, I had always heard that kids and drunk people speak the most truth.