HALF A HEART
Chapter 34
One Week Later…
Harry’s POV
“C’mon love.” Gemma was saying to me as she helped me into my house. It felt like I hadn’t been there in a week, like I’d gone to bed and woken up in the hospital the next day and then stayed there for a week.
My mom and stepdad were following close behind us to make sure I didn’t topple backwards or something. My leg was still fragile according to the doctor I suppose but it felt perfectly fine.
“Gemma, I can walk on my own.” I said a little frustrated by her clinginess.
“I just don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself love.” She said soothingly and I released the tension I hadn’t realized I was holding in my shoulders.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be it’s okay. Do you want to go up to your room?”
“Yes please.” I said.
After Gemma closed the door to my room behind her, leaving me alone in the space I knew all too well, I began to just think…
I thought about my life… What I remembered and all of the things that I had been told that I couldn’t recall. There was one name that lingered in my mind… Annie… Who IS this girl that I’ve heard so much about…
I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling as I retold myself the story that Louis had told me. He finished it the day after he started but there was one thing he wouldn’t tell me. The last thing he told me was how she went back to the States for Holiday Break and when she came back… But he said that it wasn’t his job to tell me what came after that…. How can it not be? Louis is my best friend…
I rolled over on my side and stared at the contents on my nightstand. I saw my clock, my phone charger, a pack of gum. All of these things seemed normal, but there was one item that I didn’t really recognize and made my eyebrows knit into a frown.
I sat up from where I lay and grabbed the unfamiliar painting off the nightstand. It was a painting of a fall setting in an orange, red, and yellow glow with leaves falling from the trees. A path winded into the horizon but the two people that occupied it mesmerized me. One I recognized instantly to be myself and the girl standing next to me… Was that Annie?
Annie’s POV
I hadn’t been home for a long time. With Harry awake now, there was no reason for me to continue speaking to different schools. I had spoken to over 50 in the past few weeks anyway so I’m sure they can take matter into their own hands… I have something a little more important to focus on… OH YEAH! Getting my boyfriend to remember who I am…
I put the remote on the couch beside me when I heard a knock on the door. I got up lazily and cursed under my breath at how shitty I looked. They can get over it…
I swung the door open and my heart immediately stopped and I know my cheeks flushed and my eyes grew wide…
“H—Harry? You’re back from the hospital?” He just nodded and I tried desperately to see if he knew who I was yet but his darting eyes and fidgeting fingers told me otherwise. He was incredibly nervous to be standing in front of me right now…
He cleared his throat and his voice cracked from nervousness when he spoke. “What is this?” He gestured to something in his hand and I took it from him so that I could look at it properly. I felt the corner of my mouth rise slightly and tears flood my eyes at the same time as I gazed down at the picture I had painted Harry so many months ago. I remember every stroke, every blended color, and every feeling I had tried to put into it.
“I painted this for you.” I said still looking at the picture.
“Is it us?” He sounded like a lost puppy and my heart ached for him. I looked up to see his beautiful emerald eyes searching my face for an answer. I simply nodded and he let out a long breath. “Annie, I’m so confused…”
“Come in Harry.” I said and he looked at me urgently.
“Oh I can’t do that. I don’t even know you.”
I felt a figurative dagger plunge through my heart. “It’ll be okay Haz.” I said as soothingly as I could.
He nodded as his eyes grew wide again. He stepped into my house and began to look at every object in my house as he walked, looking scared out of his mind like I was leading him to his death. My mom walked around the wall with a magazine in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.
She looked up at us and did a double take. “Harry!”
He flinched and started fidgeting with his fingers again. Clearly he doesn’t remember my mom if he doesn’t even remember me, and my mom knows perfectly well that Harry doesn’t know who I am. I gave her a stern look trying to get her to shut up and she did. She continued to walk into the kitchen.
“C’mon Harry.” I said glumly, embarrassed by my mother’s ridiculous actions.
He followed me hesitantly up my stairs to my room and when he realized that I was in fact taking him to my room he started freaking out… He is literally a puppy in an unknown territory and my heart just hurts for him…
“Annie…”
“I wasn’t going to take you to my room before, but my mom will eavesdrop if we stay downstairs.” He nodded slowly and walked into my room.
I walked in behind him and he had stopped in the middle of the room and was looking around. His eyes caught sight of a piece of purple clothing folded perfectly on my bed and my hand went instantly to my face to hide it. Oh my gosh this is so embarrassing… It shouldn’t be but it is…
“Is this mine?” He picked up his Jack Wills sweater and held it up to show me.
I nodded slowly. “You gave it to me when I came over to your house without a coat on,” I smiled remembering the memory, “You didn’t want me to get cold.” I looked at him and was snapped out of my trance by his look of confusion. “Uh sorry. You can take it back if you want.” I said wishing that I could keep the purple cotton sweater forever.
He just nodded slowly putting it back on the bed before he sat down. After a few moments he rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands. “Annie, I’m so confused…”
I walked quickly over to my bed and sat next to him. It took every ounce of my effort not to hug him or rub his back, comb my fingers through his hair, or anything that would comfort him. I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” I said softly.
He looked at me with a piercing emerald stare as he began to talk again. “I feel like my life is a lie. Like everything that I know is wrong. I’ll have instances where something will just pop into my head about the past few months but as soon as I’ve said them they’re gone again and I’ll have no clue where they came from. Like I knew the response to when Lou told me I beat of Nick and you were mad at me,” He said quickly and I felt myself flinch as he retold an event from our past though I knew he didn’t actually remember it happening. “And I saw your painting this morning knowing somehow that it was you and I but not knowing how I knew that. And then without thinking I just walked over here and knocked on your door. Annie, I have no fucking clue how I know where you LIVE.”
“Harry, you know where I live because you’ve been here a hundred times. You knew that it was a painting of us because that’s exactly what I told you when I gave it to you.”
“But I don’t remember any of that happening! And this sweater!” He picked up the purple cotton, “I don’t remember it ever leaving my closet!”
“Harry, I don’t know what to tell you—“
He cut me off, “I feel like I know you,” He looked at me again and my heart stopped, “I feel like I can tell you anything and you won’t judge me but I also feel like I’m talking to a complete stranger.”
“I—“
“I shouldn’t have come here,” He said urgently, “I’m so sorry Annie I should go.”
“But!” I yelled but he was already closing the door behind him. I let the tears role down my cheeks.
So close… So close…
He’s coming back… Slowly but surely he’s coming back to me…
I glanced down at the bed where he was just sitting and my eyes grew wide with relief when I saw his Jack Wills sweater still laying there in a crumpled mess. I scooped it up quickly and hugged it to me as I laid back on my bed. There was still the slightest trace of his scent that still lingered on the purple strands and I let my tears fall harder when I remember everything that Harry and I went through be it good or bad.
Harry…
How will I get you to remember me…
Harry’s POV
“C’mon love.” Gemma was saying to me as she helped me into my house. It felt like I hadn’t been there in a week, like I’d gone to bed and woken up in the hospital the next day and then stayed there for a week.
My mom and stepdad were following close behind us to make sure I didn’t topple backwards or something. My leg was still fragile according to the doctor I suppose but it felt perfectly fine.
“Gemma, I can walk on my own.” I said a little frustrated by her clinginess.
“I just don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself love.” She said soothingly and I released the tension I hadn’t realized I was holding in my shoulders.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be it’s okay. Do you want to go up to your room?”
“Yes please.” I said.
After Gemma closed the door to my room behind her, leaving me alone in the space I knew all too well, I began to just think…
I thought about my life… What I remembered and all of the things that I had been told that I couldn’t recall. There was one name that lingered in my mind… Annie… Who IS this girl that I’ve heard so much about…
I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling as I retold myself the story that Louis had told me. He finished it the day after he started but there was one thing he wouldn’t tell me. The last thing he told me was how she went back to the States for Holiday Break and when she came back… But he said that it wasn’t his job to tell me what came after that…. How can it not be? Louis is my best friend…
I rolled over on my side and stared at the contents on my nightstand. I saw my clock, my phone charger, a pack of gum. All of these things seemed normal, but there was one item that I didn’t really recognize and made my eyebrows knit into a frown.
I sat up from where I lay and grabbed the unfamiliar painting off the nightstand. It was a painting of a fall setting in an orange, red, and yellow glow with leaves falling from the trees. A path winded into the horizon but the two people that occupied it mesmerized me. One I recognized instantly to be myself and the girl standing next to me… Was that Annie?
Annie’s POV
I hadn’t been home for a long time. With Harry awake now, there was no reason for me to continue speaking to different schools. I had spoken to over 50 in the past few weeks anyway so I’m sure they can take matter into their own hands… I have something a little more important to focus on… OH YEAH! Getting my boyfriend to remember who I am…
I put the remote on the couch beside me when I heard a knock on the door. I got up lazily and cursed under my breath at how shitty I looked. They can get over it…
I swung the door open and my heart immediately stopped and I know my cheeks flushed and my eyes grew wide…
“H—Harry? You’re back from the hospital?” He just nodded and I tried desperately to see if he knew who I was yet but his darting eyes and fidgeting fingers told me otherwise. He was incredibly nervous to be standing in front of me right now…
He cleared his throat and his voice cracked from nervousness when he spoke. “What is this?” He gestured to something in his hand and I took it from him so that I could look at it properly. I felt the corner of my mouth rise slightly and tears flood my eyes at the same time as I gazed down at the picture I had painted Harry so many months ago. I remember every stroke, every blended color, and every feeling I had tried to put into it.
“I painted this for you.” I said still looking at the picture.
“Is it us?” He sounded like a lost puppy and my heart ached for him. I looked up to see his beautiful emerald eyes searching my face for an answer. I simply nodded and he let out a long breath. “Annie, I’m so confused…”
“Come in Harry.” I said and he looked at me urgently.
“Oh I can’t do that. I don’t even know you.”
I felt a figurative dagger plunge through my heart. “It’ll be okay Haz.” I said as soothingly as I could.
He nodded as his eyes grew wide again. He stepped into my house and began to look at every object in my house as he walked, looking scared out of his mind like I was leading him to his death. My mom walked around the wall with a magazine in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.
She looked up at us and did a double take. “Harry!”
He flinched and started fidgeting with his fingers again. Clearly he doesn’t remember my mom if he doesn’t even remember me, and my mom knows perfectly well that Harry doesn’t know who I am. I gave her a stern look trying to get her to shut up and she did. She continued to walk into the kitchen.
“C’mon Harry.” I said glumly, embarrassed by my mother’s ridiculous actions.
He followed me hesitantly up my stairs to my room and when he realized that I was in fact taking him to my room he started freaking out… He is literally a puppy in an unknown territory and my heart just hurts for him…
“Annie…”
“I wasn’t going to take you to my room before, but my mom will eavesdrop if we stay downstairs.” He nodded slowly and walked into my room.
I walked in behind him and he had stopped in the middle of the room and was looking around. His eyes caught sight of a piece of purple clothing folded perfectly on my bed and my hand went instantly to my face to hide it. Oh my gosh this is so embarrassing… It shouldn’t be but it is…
“Is this mine?” He picked up his Jack Wills sweater and held it up to show me.
I nodded slowly. “You gave it to me when I came over to your house without a coat on,” I smiled remembering the memory, “You didn’t want me to get cold.” I looked at him and was snapped out of my trance by his look of confusion. “Uh sorry. You can take it back if you want.” I said wishing that I could keep the purple cotton sweater forever.
He just nodded slowly putting it back on the bed before he sat down. After a few moments he rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his hands. “Annie, I’m so confused…”
I walked quickly over to my bed and sat next to him. It took every ounce of my effort not to hug him or rub his back, comb my fingers through his hair, or anything that would comfort him. I don’t want him to feel uncomfortable.
“Tell me what’s wrong.” I said softly.
He looked at me with a piercing emerald stare as he began to talk again. “I feel like my life is a lie. Like everything that I know is wrong. I’ll have instances where something will just pop into my head about the past few months but as soon as I’ve said them they’re gone again and I’ll have no clue where they came from. Like I knew the response to when Lou told me I beat of Nick and you were mad at me,” He said quickly and I felt myself flinch as he retold an event from our past though I knew he didn’t actually remember it happening. “And I saw your painting this morning knowing somehow that it was you and I but not knowing how I knew that. And then without thinking I just walked over here and knocked on your door. Annie, I have no fucking clue how I know where you LIVE.”
“Harry, you know where I live because you’ve been here a hundred times. You knew that it was a painting of us because that’s exactly what I told you when I gave it to you.”
“But I don’t remember any of that happening! And this sweater!” He picked up the purple cotton, “I don’t remember it ever leaving my closet!”
“Harry, I don’t know what to tell you—“
He cut me off, “I feel like I know you,” He looked at me again and my heart stopped, “I feel like I can tell you anything and you won’t judge me but I also feel like I’m talking to a complete stranger.”
“I—“
“I shouldn’t have come here,” He said urgently, “I’m so sorry Annie I should go.”
“But!” I yelled but he was already closing the door behind him. I let the tears role down my cheeks.
So close… So close…
He’s coming back… Slowly but surely he’s coming back to me…
I glanced down at the bed where he was just sitting and my eyes grew wide with relief when I saw his Jack Wills sweater still laying there in a crumpled mess. I scooped it up quickly and hugged it to me as I laid back on my bed. There was still the slightest trace of his scent that still lingered on the purple strands and I let my tears fall harder when I remember everything that Harry and I went through be it good or bad.
Harry…
How will I get you to remember me…
Notes
Hey guys!! I love youuuu!!! I woke up super freaking early this morning so I decided to write another chapter(:
***COMMENT RATE AND SUBSCRIBE***
Questions:
Is Harry remembering Annie?
What will Annie do to make sure he remembers her?
Inspirational Quote: "If we could only have this life for one more day. If we could only turn back time." <3 That song never gets old(:
LOVE YOU GUYSSS
~JoseyWhite
Chapter 22 is my fav chapter!!
11/9/16