Roots - h.s

7.

                    I can feel her heart,
          it's heavy as an old freight train.
      Trying to find a room for the weight,
               of the whole words pain.

STERLING'S POV:

    It's been almost a week of this game of tag between Harry and I... I go outside, pretend to work on the treehouse so I can feel some sense of accomplishment, and it's like clockwork. He comes out, smiling the same cheesy grin, waving to me, and as soon as he does I pack myself up, and I go inside. I don't... I don't want friends. I don't want distractions. I want.. I want my brother back. I want to build the treehouse we all promised to build together, and I want to make sure I do it before I have to go back to hell in the fall. I want to feel some sense of fulfillment... I don't want that, I need that. So I won't put up with anymore of this-

    I hear a noise, and instantly I look over to Harry's backyard. I expect to see him walking towards me with a coffee mug in hand. Or maybe to see him standing on the porch looking for some type of approval to come down and talk to me, but I don't see either of those things. I see an open window, and a curly haired boy crawling out of it, moving to sit on the roof. He's not alone though, he's got a guitar by his side... He plays guitar?

    I sit quietly in my treehouse, and stay hidden behind branches and loose leaves as I look at him from afar. He hasn't even turned to check if I'm here, sitting in my perch as usual. Where he sits on the roof faces my backyard so I assumed he'd at least check to see if I was here... but he doesn't. He sits with a guitar on his lap, his legs criss crossed. His large hand wraps around the neck of the instrument, and the other hand finds the strings. He seems to be completely enveloped in his own little world as he plugs his headphones in, and obviously turns music on to drown out the other sounds..

    I sigh, and slowly move from my perch, deciding to get down, and go inside for the day, knowing he's in his own world now, but that could soon turn into a conversation in the near future, and I plan to avoid that at all costs. I walk swiftly, keeping my eyes on him as I do, seeing him as he closes his eyes, playing the guitar, but not listening to his own playing as he has his headphones in... How does that even make sense? I go inside, and shut the door behind me, but as I turn around I run straight into my dad's chest. His arms crossed in front of him as he stares down at me.

    "Why are you standing here being weird?" I ask, shaking myself off.

    "Why are you coming inside early again?" He asks, and I scoff.

    "Weren't you the one getting mad at me for going out there in the first place? Maybe I'm tired of treehouse building.. Maybe I want to... Watch.. My bedroom.. wall or... or something, I don't know?" I defend, and he shakes his head.

    "Is Harry outside again?" He asks, and I furrow my brows.

    "Agai- Have you been watching me, you freak?" I ask defensively, knowing he's being a parent but hating it when he does so.

    "I've been looking out back after you come inside to see if there's any progress on the treehouse, but everytime you come in I see a disappointed boy on the other side of the fence, turning away like a sad puppy dog." He tells me, and I roll my eyes.

    "He's got plenty of friends dad. It's nothing personal to him, I just-"

    "You're scared." He speaks up, cutting me off as he does.

    "I'm.. I'm not. What would I even be scared of?" I ask.

    "You're scared because when everything happened with Lee your friends didn't show up. They didn't show up because they know how you are, but with him he doesn't know. He has no idea how you are, or what you like and don't like.. You're scared because you know he's worth your time, but you don't want to give it to him. You're scared because he's the first person in seven months that's trying to talk to you because they want to and not because they're trying to find out what happened to you." He raises his eyebrows, and sees my face as I look up to him. I sigh, and throw my head back.