Harry followed the bloody footsteps through the snow, his entire body shivering and his eyes wild. He gulped as he turned around a tree, seeing a crumbled, bloody body laying there on the cold ground. The only thing he noticed was the white blond of her hair, smeared with blood, and he ran to her, collapsing to his knees next to her body.

A soft noise escaped from his lips, something like a squeak or a whimper.

“Lux..” He reached out to touch her, and that's when he saw it. Blood all over his hands. Warm, sticky, red blood, and he used those hands to turn her body over to see her face.

There was a hole where her heart should be, and a glistening tear on her cheek.

Harry felt his stomach churn as his eyes widened at the sight of her, and before he could stumble away in shock, her eyes opened and looked straight at him, her lips forming a single question.
“What have you done to me?”

“NO!” He bolted upright in bed, feeling his chest heave up and down, up and down. He blinked at his surroundings, finding himself in his bed in the X Factor house, Louis fast asleep in the bed next to his.

“Fuck.” He mumbled, running his hands through his messy hair and looking over at
the time.

6:04AM. It was time for him to get up anyways.

It's the morning of the live show, and Harry came up with a plan the night before to prevent Lux from hiding out in her bathroom all morning again, which he suspects she'll try.

He rolled out of bed in his sweatpants, not bothering to put any other clothes on, just brush
ing his teeth quickly before heading to Lux and Sara's room. Without knocking he creeped the door open, seeing the room dark and only lit by the soft sunlight as it rose in the sky. He entered quietly, moving toward Lux's bed, navigating around the shoes and clothes on the floor.

He pulled back the corner of the covers, sliding his body under them and into the free side of her bed, turning to face her sleeping body. She was breathing steady, her lips parted slightly, her hand by her cheek, her hair in her face. He reached over and brushed it back behind her ear, smiling softly at the sight of her face.

His most recent nightmare was still haunting him, so much so that he felt the urge to press his hand against Lux's chest to make sure her heart was still beneath her breast, beating hard and strong.

So he did.

His hand reached under the blankets, first touching her left shoulder, his breath beginning to get more rapid as he slid it over the soft material of the t-shirt she had on, moving down to her left breast.

Her eyes opened slowly, her breath catching in her throat when she saw Harry in front of her, his hand pressed against her chest and his eyes closed lightly. He looked like.. like he was feeling her heartbeat.

“Hi.” She whispered, watching his eyes flutter open, widening a little bit when he saw her awake.

“Hi.” He murmured back, not removing his hand. “I was just feeling your heartbeat.”

“Oh,” Lux nodded, as if this were a normal thing, “everything feeling okay down there?”

“Yes.” He sighed in what sounded like relief, “Yes. It's strong.”

“Harry..” She murmured slowly, “You're kind of freaking me out.”

He snatched his hand back, “Right. Sorry.”

“Um,” She giggled nervously, “Why are you in my bed?”

He thought about telling her the truth, but she was so relaxed and sleepy that he didn't want to remind her that the live show was tonight and make her freak out.
So he told part of the truth.
“I had a nightmare..” Harry whispered, moving a little closer to her. “I've been having nightmares.”

“For how long?” She asked immediately, concern crossing her face.

“Oh, I dunno. A couple of weeks.” He shrugged, “They're.. they're bloody..”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked slowly, turning onto her stomach but tilting her head towards his face so she can still look at him. She reached her hand out when he didn't reply, touching his cheek with shaking fingers. He closed his eyes and leaned into her gentle touch.
“I keep having dreams about me ripping your heart out... literally.” He said, ashamed of himself. Lux's fingers stayed against his cheek, surprising him. He thought she'd snatch her hand back instantly and get freaked out, but when he looked at her, she looked calm.

“Do you think it means something?” She began to stroke along his cheekbone.

“I think it means I'm going to rip your heart out. Not in the literal sense, but you know..”

Lux nodded, understanding what he was trying to say. “So don't.”

He blinked, surprised by her once again. “Um.. what?”

“Don't rip my heart out.” She whispered, “Don't hurt me.”

“I've been.. trying..” He struggled with the words he was trying to say. “I don't.. I don't want to..”

“I know you don't.” She nodded, moving closer to him, until she was right next to him, close enough that he could feel her breath on his face and she could smell his sweat.

“Who hurt you?” She asked, her voice a cracked whisper in the dark.

Harry was startled by the question, but part of him has been waiting for it for a very long time. He knows he can't just be cold and distant without someone wondering why.

“I..” He paused, “I don't.. I don't want to talk about it, Lux.”

She tilted her head slightly, but nodded anyways, not surprised by this.

“You're not the kind of guy that lets people in easily, huh?” She whispered, staring at the curls that fell over his forehead, wanting to touch them so badly.

“I used to be.” He whispered back, “I used to trust everyone until they gave me a reason not to. Now I can't trust anyone.. especially people I've just met...”

“So is that why you get so angry whenever I talk to...any of your friends?” She smirked, “I thought it was jealousy, but I guess its just you not trusting me with your friends, huh?”

Harry looked down at her lips as she spoke, then back into her eyes. “No.. no, it's jealousy...”

Her eyebrows shot up, her lips parting slowly as she thought about what to say to him.

He beat her to it. “I can't stand the thought of you being touched by anyone else, or being kissed by anyone else, or laughing at anyone else's jokes... I.. I can't fathom the thought of sharing you. I know its wrong, but ever since... well, ever since we met really, and you became my contestant, I felt like.. you were mine.” He paused, shaking his head. “But it's not just that. It felt like I was yours, too.”

“It.. “ Her voice cracked, “It did?”

“In a way... yes.” He sighed, closing his eyes, “But I'm in no place to be anyone's anything..”
“Yeah, I noticed.” She frowned, “The way you pull me in and then push me away...yeah, I got the vibe that you don't want to be anything with me.”

“It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't. I'm not... good enough. I can't be good for you. I've been trying, and it's not working. As disgusting as it is, I'm more comfortable when we're arguing than I am when we're like this.” Turning away, onto his back, he sighed heavily.

Lux was quiet for a long time, thoughts running through her mind at a rapid pace. She tried to calm herself, but felt it was impossible after hearing the things Harry had to say to her. She also knew that she had a few options:

1. Argue with him that he is good enough;

2. Kiss him;

3. Push back her own feelings and make him comfortable.

So she bit down the sick feeling in her stomach, sucked in a deep breath, and turned to look at him.

“So why are you even in my room? I never asked you to come here, and frankly, I don't want you here. Can you, like, leave?” She said quietly, feeling her entire body go cold as she spoke the exact opposite of what she wanted to speak. But... he was comfortable when they fought, so it didn't matter what she wanted to say or do. Harry matters, his feelings and his happiness... that's what matters to her.

He looked over at her with wide eyes, shocked at what she just said, but then the wheels in his head turned, everything clicked and he realized what she was doing for him.

“Don't wanna be here anyways.” He said, climbing out of the warmth that he only felt around Lux, feeling his entire body go cold just as hers did.

His heart began to feel even more frozen.

“You were right, you know..” She started, regretting this even as she said it, but continuing anyways, wanting to see if he would breakdown or not. “You aren't good enough.”

He stopped at the door, his hand on the doorknob, unable to believe that she just said that. His heart fell into his stomach, his hand tightening around the knob until his knuckles turned white. He slowly turned around to face her, his eyes darkening as she stared into them.

Her eyes were blank, cold, dead. She looked as if she just lost something, or someone, very precious to her, and in a way she did. She gave him up, just like he wanted her to, just like he knew she would. He just didn't expect it to hurt this much.

Harry opened the door, speaking to her one last time before disappearing from her sight.

“Congratulations, Lux. Now you're just as cold and broken as I am.”

Notes

So still just two (comments,votes, or subscribes), I'm not tired and I'm on my desktop which is so much easier to update on. I really wanna get to 20 chapters tonight but no promises. Anyways, do you guys think i should include gifs or nahh? What do you think will happen next?