"Harry?"
He didn't say anything. He just wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my hair. He held me so tight I couldn't move. For some reason, I thought of my ice cream, sitting on the coffee table in my living room, melting.
I kinda felt squished.
"Harry," I managed to say with the small amount of air I had left. "Let. Go!"
He shook his head and held me tighter - if that was even possible, which apparently, it was.
"Harry! Can't! Breathe!"
His shoulders slumped and he reluctantly let go of me. I noticed my hair was kinda wet. I reached behind him and closed the door, making sure that it was locked before following Harry into the living room and sitting back on the couch. Picking up my bowl of half-melted ice cream, I pressed play on the remote and leaned back in my seat.
And, of course, I had paused it right before Alan asked Harry about me.

"During the break, when you were in the toilets, these lads told us about a girl you constantly talk about. Who is she?" Alan said.
"I'm going to get you back, mates," Harry said.
"So? Who is she then?"
"She's my best friend."
The audience "awwww'd" in the background.
"Why haven't we got any pictures then? Alan asked, leaning forward.
"She disappeared while I was on X-Factor," Harry answered, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Why?" Harry said from the chair. I looked over at him and saw that he was looking at me now. "Why did you leave?"
I stared at my slippers, not willing to answer.

"I thought I saw her today, but it wasn't her," Harry said. "It was just a girl that looked a lot like her."

Harry looked at me expectantly with tears in his eyes, but I didn't answer.
I couldn't.
I didn't know what to say.

"I miss her a lot."

"Do you even have the slightest clue what you put me through, Angel?" he said angrily, standing up. He held his forefinger and thumb close together. "I searched for you every night. Cried myself to sleep. Every goddamned night, Angel!"
"I'm sorry," I said quietly. He didn't hear me.
"Where the hell were you? Where have you been the past two and a half years?!" he shouted, pacing back and forth with his hands behind his head.
"Hiding from you!" I shouted, standing up and slamming my ice cream bowl on the table. I knew I didn't look very menacing, considering I was in my pajamas, but I was furious. "I didn't want my best friend to forget me! I couldn't handle that, Harry! Do you have any idea how hard it was to make that decision? To leave?!"
He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
"No! You don't! I left my whole life behind, Harry!" I was crying now, silent, angry tears sliding down my cheeks and dripping off my chin. "I left my friends, my family, my home so you wouldn't hurt me! I left the fucking country! I live alone in a big, empty house on a different continent because of you! And now you're here shouted at me for what I did to you?! What about that is right, Harry?! I couldn't bear the thought of being forgotten so I did what I thought was best for us both. I left. So you could live your dream and I wouldn't keep you from it. I left you!"
I was in a rage. I strode over to where Harry was standing and pounded on his chest with my fists, sobbing.
"You don't know what I went through, and you don't care. You're living your dream, Harry! I couldn't keep you from that! You don't know how much I want to be able to do that, Harry. To be able to do what I love? That would be the best thing ever. But I can't. I had to let you, because I couldn't. And I still can't," I shouted, getting quieter as I spoke.
I covered my face with my hands and sunk to the floor, sobbing, completely robbed of any and all energy. I felt strong arms wrap around me, and I leaned against Harry's chest.
"I'm tired, Harry," I said. It had a double meaning, and Harry knew it, too.
"I know, Angel. Me too," he said, then picked me up and carried me up the stairs and into my bedroom, gently placing me on my bed and pulling the comforter over my shoulders. "I'll always care, Angel," he said, then started to leave, but I reachead out and grabbed his hand.
"Stay with me, Harry," I said, my eyes pleading.
He laid down beside me, defeated and wrapped his arms around my waist, enveloping me in his warmth.

(DON'T SKIM THIS: IT HAS MORE THAN JUST LYRICS!)

"Said I’d never leave her cause her hands fit like my t-shirt,
Tongue-tied over three words, cursed.
Running over thoughts that make my feet hurt,
Body's intertwined with her lips,"

* he sang quietly, knowing it would put me to sleep as it always had.

"Now she’s feeling so low since she went solo
Hole in the middle of my heart like a polo
And it’s no joke to me
So can we do it all over again?

"If you’re pretending from the start like this,
With a tight grip, then my kiss
Can mend your broken heart
I might miss everything you said to me

"And I can lend you broken parts
That might fit like this
And I will give you all my heart
So we can start it all over again

"Can we take the same road two days in the same clothes?
And I know just what she’ll say if I can make all this pain go
Can we stop this for a minute?
You know, I can tell that your heart isn’t in it or with it."

* At this point, I was getting pretty drowsy, and I started drifting, but he kept singing.

"Tell me with your mind, body and spirit
I can make your tears fall down like the showers that are British
Whether we’re together or apart
We can both remove the masks and admit we regret it from the start

"If you’re pretending from the start like this,
With a tight grip, then my kiss
Can mend your broken heart
I might miss everything you said to me

"And I can lend you broken parts
That might fit like this
And I will give you all my heart
So we can start it all over again

"You’ll never know how to make it on your own
And you’ll never show weakness for letting go
I guess you’re still hurt if this seed's sown
But do you really want to be alone?

"If you’re pretending from the start like this,
With a tight grip, then my kiss
Can mend your broken heart
I might miss everything you said to me

"And I can lend you broken parts
That might fit like this
And I will give you all my hear
So we can start it all over again."

* I refused to fall asleep. I wanted to hear the end of the song, even though I had heard it a thousand times before. Just never like this.

"If you’re pretending from the start like this,
With a tight grip, then my kiss
Can mend your broken heart
I might miss everything you said to me

"And I can lend you broken parts
That might fit like this
And I will give you all my heart
So we can start it all over again."

**************************************************************************************************************************
"Always," he said, probably thinking I was asleep. He got up and kissed my forehead, then I drifted off to sleep.

Notes

Confused by Harry's final word?

I'm not. :)



It's rather easy. Re-read the bedroom scene entirely before continuing reading the notes if you were confused by it.




Okay, so for those of you who are confused by Harry's last word, it is pertaining to when Evangeline said "Stay with me."
Give yourself 20 cool points if you figured that out BEFORE I mentioned it here.
Give yourself 10 cool points if you were confused by it. Just 'cuz you guys are awesome, too. :) :) :)


And for my future reference that you don't need to know about (nor will I tell you):
* Over Again
* Back for You


BTW: Give yourself 20 cool points if you caught the Catching Fire (Hunger Games trilogy: book 2) reference.