painkillers. - H.S ✔

tv

Two days until the wedding
Harry's POV

I searched through my colorful closet for just one outfit that I could wear to this wedding. Don't get me wrong, I had so many perfect options, but nothing stood out to me well enough. I'd been to a few weddings, friends, my mother's. But I'd never been to a wedding with a date. I wanted to look my best for Mara. I knew I could never match her inner and outer beauty, but I could try.

I decided I'd just check back later. Maybe I'd come up with an outfit out of the blue.

I hummed the lyrics to some song I'd heard on the radio by Taylor Swift, her songs were kind of catchy.

My fridge was pretty bland, with some ketchup and mustard and a left-over salad which was quickly spoiling. And some other random foods that couldn't make anything particularly tasty.

Maybe I'd order takeout, but pizza was the only option considering this town was as small as a shopping mall. I didn't want to go over to Mara's because I didn't want to see that jackass Trent's face. I closed the fridge door and fell onto the couch. I still had a lot of unpacking to do, Mara had just slowed me down. But I didn't really mind. She was a good kind of distraction.

I turned the TV on and flipped through some random channels. I never really watched TV, I was usually singing, writing songs or reading. Sometimes I liked to watch the news. See the current happenings, it gave me something to talk about with the old neighbors downstairs.

I decided on the news channel for the Carolina's. I didn't really know why I'd moved down here. I wanted someplace in Charlotte, but I felt that somewhere smaller and way more different than London would be better. Not only did I want to travel and visit even the smallest of towns in the States, but I wanted to write songs and I wanted to gather inspiration from people and the atmosphere. Once I'd locked eyes with Mara, I knew I'd be staying longer than I'd expected to.

Shit. I just couldn't keep her off my mind for a minute, could I?

Just as I switched the station, the commercials rolled. I sat back and watched as people with Southern accents blabbered on about car dealerships and new grocery stores in Charlotte. My attention was grabbed immediately when I heard his voice. His voice.

My eyes snapped to the man onscreen, his blonde hair was slicked back and his eyes, cold, deep and dark. My hands balled into fists. Trent worked at a car repair place, of course. I should have expected scum like him to be working there.

This wasn't like me at all. He just brought out the worst in me.

"Come down to Dick's Motorcycle and Car Repair Shop, on Park Drive!" His voice sickened me. He was so cheery on camera, and he was when I'd met him. But I wasn't an idiot, I could tell that he was fake, I could see through his act. I always thought of the best in people, but this man was hurting a woman. I knew it.

I shut off the TV in anger. I wanted to barge right into his apartment and set him straight. But it would upset Mara. And I was too scared of losing her. After all, she'd invited me as her date to her sister's wedding.

To calm myself down, I walked into my room and pulled a small book out which contained lyrics to my songs. I'd written a few, I was satisfied with them as a whole, but especially the lyrics. Turns out this small town really brought out the best inspiration. I flipped through the pages of scribbled lyrics and messy writing, looking for one particular song. I was going to sing it at the wedding, for Mara.

I smiled to myself thinking about her. No one had ever made me feel like this before. She was really special. But she was hurt, and she was in pain and I didn't want to hurt or she'd run away.

I hummed the tune while I wrote out the final few lyric:

Woman!

-

American hotline for domestic abuse:1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Website link for more information and numbers:
http://www.thehotline.org

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