Come Here and Save Me.

Part 10



Harry:



When I had walked into the record store after departing from Louis at the random little book store I hadn’t anticipated running into Chlo. The was actually the last thing I had wanted to do. I wasn’t ready to see her again, not after I walked out of her flat while she was blindly drunk. Again. It seemed every time I spoke to her, saw her even she was wasted. Watching her in the record shop it was like I was seeing her for the first time. Her eyes were clear, not fogged over from the alcohol. Her complexion was whiter, not as flushed and pink as it was when she was intoxicated. She looked less wobbly, less lost in herself. 



While she was ringing me up I couldn’t help but make a unwelcome comment about her alcoholism. I anticipated her making her comment towards me about not starting. What I hadn’t expected was her slipping her keys into the bag which housed the Pink Floyd cd I’d just purchased.



I also didn’t expect that I would actually go to her apartment, and actually wait for her. But I did, I couldn’t resist. The allure of her kept me coming back, the questions she aroused inside of me had me returning to her once more. I am nothing more than a moth to her flame. 



The walk to her flat didn’t take long but my mind was quick at work figuring out what I would say to her, how I would interact with her. When I’d reached her front door I slipped my hand into the bag and retrieved her keys, selecting the purple one. I slipped it into the lock and the memory of the first night I met her came back to me, causing my lips to turn down into a frown. 



As I walked into her flat I could hear the echoes of my footfalls. I’d been inside of the flat twice before, but never alone. It seemed so bare, so cold without her warmth here. As I examined the flat again I couldn’t help but notice how apparent it was that girls lived here. The walls were decorated with picture frames, and a few larger frames that held movie posters. The kitchen was organized and clean, flowers were on the coffee table. Upon closer inspection of the kitchen I found several bottles of wine, and an occasional beer in the fridge. 


Was all of this alcohol for Chloe?
Or did she have help from her flat mate?



Did she realize she has a problem?



Would she be willing to quit?



I had collected all of the bottles of wine and placed them on the counter next to the sink. There were seven unopened, along with three half empty for a total of ten. I was reaching for a picture frame from the counter when I heard the door open. I quickly withdrew my hand and watched Chloe set her purse down on the small round table near the front door.



”Hello.”


”Hello Harry.” Chloe mumbled kicking her shoes off in the corner near the door. 



“We really need to talk about all of this.” I muttered motioning towards the bottles of wine on the counter.

“You’ve got a problem, babe” I was trying my hardest to be sweet, to be coy about all of it. I knew if I were to be rude she would break down and force me to leave. I’d dealt with alcoholics before, knew them all too well.



“No I haven’t Harry, I’m fine.” Chloe’s jaw got tighter I could tell she was already getting upset.



”I’ve seen you three different times, and all three of those occasions you’ve been wasted. Shitfaced as a matter of fact. When I first met you, you were so gone you could barely walk. I had to carry you home. Is that how you want to spend your life Chloe? In a alcohol induced daze, just floating through your life?;
”

“You don’t understand!” Her cheeks were getting flushed. Anger I presume. 



“No! You don’t understand Chloe. You’re killing yourself Chloe, don’t you see it?!”



”I’m not!”

“You are! You’re drinking yourself into death, is that what you fucking want!” I took a deep breath, calming myself. I wasn’t going to continue yelling at her.

“You’re 18, that’s far too young to be doing this. You’ve got everything going for you, Chloe. You’re drop dead gorgeous, you’re smart from what I can tell by the books on your shelves. You’ve got your entire life ahead of you, but you’re wasting it, Chloe! You don’t see it, you can’t! You’re too blind because of the alcohol you so continually drown yourself in. Can’t you realize that you don’t need it?”

Chloe balled her hands into fists at her sides. “YOU DON’T KNOW ME HAROLD!” She screamed the veins in her neck were pumping blood rapidly. “You sit here and judge me, tell me I’m throwing my life away. But news flash Harry! You don’t know me. YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!” She raised a hand and shakily wiped an angry tear away.



“I understand more than you do. You don’t need this shit Chloe. You’re just a scared little girl hiding in her alcohol. You’re too fucking stupid to pull your head out of your ass and sober the fuck up.”



”Shut up.” She snarled at me.



”No. Not until you admit it. Admit that you’re just hiding, that you’re scared, that you need help.”

“I said shut up!” Her voice was a growl now low in her throat. 



“And I refuse to shut up until you admit it, Chloe. Let me help you goddamn it. I can do whatever you need me to do to help you.”



“I don’t want your help.”

“But you need it.”



“No.”



”Yes. Chloe you do.” I grabbed a bottle from the counter and took the cork out tossing it in the bin. I tipped the bottle and drained it into the sink. 



“Stop it.” She shrieked and took the bottle from my hand. I grabbed her wrist.


”Then get help. Let me help. Stop killing yourself with alcohol.”



“Don’t touch me.” She shrieked removing her wrist from my grip.

“Get out!” She screamed.



”NO!”



”NOW!”



“NO! Not until you agree to get help Chloe. You don’t understand, I care about you. And I don’t want to watch you kill yourself with booze.”

“FUCKING LEAVE HARRY!” She was screaming louder now anger clouding her other emotions.



“She said leave.” 

Both of our attention snapped to Samantha standing with her arms crossed underneath her chest. 



“Sammie!” Chloe sobbed tears streaming down her cheeks. Chloe rushed to Samantha and threw her arms around the brunette nuzzling her face into her shoulder.



”Harold you’ve got twenty seconds to leave before I call the officials on you. Get the fuck out of our apartment. You’ve done enough damage.” Samantha’s voice was strong, protective, motherly.



“Fine.” I snarled at her before dropping a folded piece of paper on the counter. “I’ll go.”

As I left the apartment I could hear Chloes’ voice sobbing out ‘He’s right’.