Harry

“And I wanted to trust you. But how can I?”
“I was happy Harry.”
“I’ve moved on with my life and maybe it’s time you did too.”

Thalia’s words floated through my brain like the annoying song they played on the radio that seemed impossible get out of your head.
She had been happier when I wasn’t in her life. How? How could she be happy when I was so miserable? This past year without her had been absolute torture and I had spiraled down dangerously far. Thalia's ability to find the positive in every situation, though annoying at times, had kept me sane. She had kept me grounded.
But there was one major difference between us that I hadn't counted on. The way we show affection. Thalia had been right when she called me out last year on that horrible night. She showed her love differently and I'm still not entirely sure how she does it yet.
When I'm with Thalia I open myself up until I'm completely vulnerable to her. But maybe that was the difference. Thalia's instinctive nature of conceal don't feel forces her to hide her emotions for fear of rejection. She won't lay herself on the line or expose herself to that vulnerability. It would go against everything she stands for, everything she is.
But she had loved me hadn't she? Thalia is careful with her words and she had said those three more then a handful of times on a number of occasions. She had loved me, once.

I’ve moved on with my life and maybe it’s time you did too.

I let out a yell in frustration. Why did everything I touch, everything I love, seem to slowly wither and die at my fingertips?
I had successfully avoided going inside the house for the rest of the day by following every trail I came upon in the extensive garden. However it seemed every twist and turn always brought me back to the same spot - staring up at that beautiful mansion I was beginning to loathe.
But it was growing dark and I needed to get back. With a deep breath I started slowly up the front walk, dreading going inside and running into Thalia. I wondered if she had told Marco yet. He would probably kick us out despite us being his sisters guests. But I immediately knew that wouldn't be the case. Thalia wouldn't tell anyone. She would lock it away in chest of secrets, never letting it see the light of day again.
I had made it to the stairs now. My legs felt like lead as I walked. Why the hell was I feeling this way? Why couldn't I just get over her?
"HARRY!"
My head snapped up and I was immediately met with Tilly. She was frantic, her eyes wide as she ran her hands through her disheveled hair.
"Y-you're not with her?" She asked, her voice weak.
"With who?" I frowned.
Her lip began to quiver, "Thalia! No one's seen her since morning!"
My blood ran cold and I attempted to process what she had said. W-what do you mean?”
“She’s missing!” Tilly cried, tears slipping from her eyes.
I immediately pulled Tilly into a hug, letting the words sink in. "Come on Till. Don't worry, she's around here somewhere."
At twelve years old Tilly was still small for her age, making it easy for me to pick her up and carry her inside to the awaiting chaos. The moment I had stepped through the door I was met with similar questions. Thalia’s family were standing around the vestibule, bags packed and looking anxious, as they waited for Thalia to be found before setting off back home to England.
“Harry!” Thalia’s mother, Irene, breathed. “Have you seen her? We’ve been waiting for nearly and hour…our flight leaves soon we-“
“I’m sure she’s around here somewhere,” I reassured her.
“I just…she knew we were leaving today. I can’t image what would have caused her to run off and disappear like this…”
I gulped, instinctively clutching Tilly tighter as guilt washed over me. “H-have you searched all through the house?”
“Yes,” she said helplessly. “Marco and the boys just did a run through but-”
“Don’t worry Irene,” Senior Conti cut in, his voice unusually hushed. “She is probably off in the garden painting behind a bush. We will find her. Do you want to stay the night? We can arrange a later flight?”
Irene stole a glance at the ten children who stood anxiously behind her, waiting with bated breath for her decision. Irene looked utterly and completely lost as to what to do. They had always been tight on money, and I bet anything that Irene was due back at work tomorrow morning. She also couldn’t keep the kids out of summer school and sports for much longer. On the other hand, it seemed she was having an impossible time rationalizing the decision to leave behind her missing daughter.
“Can you send the kids back with El, Kenz and Maeve?” I offered.
“Miss Irene can’t miss another days work,” Elaine shook her head as she zipped up one of the younger kids backpacks. “But I can stay and-“
“Elaine honey, you have classes you can’t afford to miss either,” Irene reminded her. “And Kenzie has dance…”
“Look, you all go before you miss your flight,” I said, ignoring their looks of horror and adding, "We’ll find Thalia. She can’t have wandered that far. We’ll have her give you a call when we get her back safe yeah?”
“I don’t know Harry-“
“It’ll be fine,” I assured her. “I managed to find her in Italy didn’t I? And I wasn’t even trying then!”
Irene broke into a small smile before she could stop herself. “Oh Harry…I just.”
“We’ll find her.”
Irene gave me a small smile before pulling me into a hug and kissing my cheek. “You’ll keep me updated? Every fifteen minutes or I’ll turn right back around, I swear I will.”
“I promise," I replied firmly.
"Haz." I looked down to see Maeve staring at me, tears of worry brimming her eyes. "You'll find her yeah? You have to. This is so unlike her I just-"
"She's going to be fine. We'll find her and she'll be fine." I said, trying to convince both her and myself of that.
"I'm sorry Harry," Maeve added, this time more quietly. We had moved off to the side as Irene began leading the children out to the car. Maeve looked at them before turning back to me, her gaze solemn. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault."
“What? Don't be redicu-"
"I made her swear not to tell you," she whispered. I froze as she added shakily, “You two broke up because of me. I was so ashamed and I-I didn't want to give you any reason to think even worse of us!-“
“Mae…”
She ran a shaking hand through her disheveled hair as she bit her lip and added, “If you two wouldn’t have broken up none of this would have happened! You would be together and everyone would be happy and-"
“Hey. Hey now, none of this. I won’t have it." I pulled Maeve into a tight hug, made awkward by the fact that I still had Tilly perched on my hip. "It's not your fault Mae. Thalia and I broke up because we were idiots and didn't talk to each other. She wouldn't have told me anyway."
"She was going to," Mae sniffed, dampening my shirt with her tears. "She was going to tell you that night but I wouldn't let her."
I pulled Maeve closer even closer and rubbed her back gently as Tilly patted her head. Over the course of mine and Thalia's relationship Maeve had become like a younger sister to me, in many ways reminding me of Gemma. Maeve had been fearless, outspoken, and a little insane at times when I had known her. But looking at her now, I understood why Thalia had become a bundle of nerves and worry after the incident. To see this side of Maeve, someone who had once been so full of life, was terrifying.
"Mae. It's going to be alright. I promise.” I whispered. “We’ll have her call you when we find her. Deal?”
Maeve nodded wiping her nose with her sleeve before giving both Tilly and I a kiss on the cheek. After one last look, she followed the rest of the siblings out to the van while I turned to face the chaos that reigned inside the villa.
"Harry!" Cried Louis, running over once he spotted me. “Thalia's-“
“Missing. I know,” I cut in hurriedly. “When did you realize? How long have you been looking?”
“We realized like two hours ago when her family asked if we had seen her.”
“Dis is a fuckin' mess,” Niall added unhelpfully as he stared around in bewilderment.
“We just checked the villa,” Louis replied.
"Have you checked the gardens yet?" I asked.
“Why did ya see her der?” Niall frowned.
Marco appeared in the foyer as well. He looked beside himself with worry, but when he saw me his face hardened. I cleared my throat and said, “I saw her this morning when she was running on one of the trails. Has anyone seen her since?”
“Makes sense. She left for a run this morning and none of her paint supplies have been touched since yesterday.”
“Why didn’t ya check outside first seenin’ as she told ya she was goin fer a run?” Niall cried. “Haven’t ya wondered where da hell she’s been all day?”
“Niall that’s not helping,” Liam hissed. But I was with Niall. How the hell had Marco gone a full day without realizing he hadn’t see Thalia once? My hatred for him grew tenfold in that moment.
"We'll search the grounds," Marco said, ignoring Niall’s comment as he threw Louis a flashlight. “It’s a cold night. We need to find her before she freezes to death."
Tilly's grip tightened on me and I shot Marco a glare for scaring her even more. With a sigh, I set Tilly down gently and took her hands in mine.
“Tilly, it's going to be fine. I promise."
"Are you going to bring her back?” she whispered.
"Yes. Can you go help the cook make some soup for when we get back?" I asked. “Thalia will be very cold and we’ll need to warm her up.”
Tilly nodded and gave me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek I before setting off on her mission. I watched her go, praying I would be able to live up to my promises.
We decided to break into pairs and search the grounds on foot, if we couldn’t find her within the hour Marco planned on getting the town involved. The whole situation seemed unreal, as if this were something from a suspense movie rather than real life. I felt someone bump my shoulder gently and turned to see Liam.
"Tell me you know where she is,” he said as he fell into step behind me.
"I might have an idea," I replied. We headed out the door and I immediately set off towards the right with Liam close behind. From a distance I could here the others calling her name into the falling darkness.As fate would have it, tonight was predicted to be unusually cold for this time of year. That, paired with the constant wind blowing from the sea, guaranteed a harsh nip in the air.
If no one has seen Thalia since her morning run, she could be anywhere on the grounds. And worse, what if she wasn’t hiding? What if she had been hurt? What if she had fallen off the edge of the cliff? She could be lying somewhere bleeding to death and no one would’ve known! And it was my fault…all my fault.
I tried not to panic as we set ourselves on a course aimed at the deepest part of the garden. The place where Thalia and I had argued, the place where she had run from.
Liam must have sensed something was up for he finally broke the silence, sighing deeply before stating, "You told her didn't you."
"Yeah," I answered with a hoarse voice. I cleared my throat and added. “I came out to the gardens this morning and she was out running. I told her about Marco cheating, about how I had made a mistake…how I still loved her.”
“Jesus Harry,” Liam said, letting out a low whistle.
"I told her and she ran away...just like she always does."
"I mean can you blame her though?" Liam replied. I shot him a menacing glare. “I mean, that’s a lot to take in and frankly...you’re giving the poor girl whiplash Haz."
"I didn't mean for all of this to happen!" I cried a little louder then I meant to.
"I know you didn't." Liam replied softly. “But you have to understand if she needs some time to take that all in.”
When I didn’t respond Liam continued, “She started over. She put as much space between the two of you as she could and she fell head over heels for another bloke-“
“This is not helping,” I growled.
“Look, I talked to Maeve and Kenzie about it,” He stated flatly. I shot him another glare in response to which he simply shrugged. “Thalia’s proud. We all know that. So it’s going to take her a while to accept the fact that she chose a bloke who’s even worse than you mate.”
“Thanks.”
“I just mean that she needs time to realize she’s wrong,” Liam mumbled awkwardly. “And that you’re actually the right person for her. Just…hang in there mate.”
He patted my shoulder in a rough, brotherly sort of way as we continued on.
We rounded the corner of a hedge and as we neared the clearing I quickened my pace. My heart was pounding like a drum. It was beating so loud it was deafening to me. What if we couldn't find her? What if something had happened this morning after she ran from me?
"I should have followed her," I muttered, more to myself than anything.
"No you shouldn't have. Then you would both be lost,” Liam replied curtly. "It’s gonna be okay mate. We're gonna find her.”
"The clearing's just up here," I said. Liam and I were full out running now. I jumped over the fallen tree trunk and there we were. I stopped, panting as I spun around. The spot was deserted, just as it had been when I arrived that morning.
"THALIA!” I screamed into the darkness, half expecting her to come running around the corner as she had before.
We paused and waited for any sort of response. But nothing came.
"Do you remember which way she went?" Liam whispered, his voice booming in comparison to the silence that surrounded us.
I spun around, wracking my brain trying to remember where I was standing nearly twelve hours ago. I was just about to give up when I spotted the large tree she had fallen against her her attempt to run from me.
“There. She ran that way!"
"Are you sure?"
“Yes!” I cried angrily as I set off down the new path. “THALIA? THALIA!"
"THALIA WHERE ARE YOU?” Chimed Liam, swinging the flashlight around so the beam fell on the surrounding bushes. We began walking slowly in the direction Thalia had disappeared. The path here was much smaller forcing us to walk in single file rather than side by side.
“THALIA!” I called again. The hope that she had been near the clearing was slowly waning, replaced by a set of anxious claws that seemed to grip at my stomach.
My phone buzzed and in my hurry to unlock it I nearly dropped it in the earth below.

From Mae: anything yet?
To Mae: Checking the gardens now. H.

My fingers were shaking so badly I could hardly type. I imaged Thalia’s family sitting around Maeve at the airport, waiting anxiously for my response and then falling into a deep dismay at my uncomforting words. Pushing the thought out of my head, I turned the flashlight in my phone on, aiding Liam in illuminating the path.
"THALIA!”
Silence.
“THALIA! ANSWER US BABE!”
A twig snapped to the left causing both Liam and I to pause and throw light over the spot. After staying as still as statues for a minute we continued forward.
“THAL!”
“THALIA!”
The wind howled causing the branches to creak over head and I instinctively pulled my jacket closer to my body.
“THALIA!”
Silence.
I was in full on panic mode now. What if we couldn't find her?

No. No we had to. I don't think I could live with myself knowing I caused the disappearance, or even possible death, of Thalia Kalfis.

Notes

MUAH HA HA. I am evil. And you are all going to hate me. And I'm sorry. Kinda...but I figured it was time to get this show on the road!

SO. Will Harry be able to find Thalia? Will she forgive him if he does? Will he forgive himself if he doesn't? Let me know your thoughts on this chapter!

P.S. my formatting went back to being a brat :/
P.P.S. My computer is on 2% so sorry if there are any spelling errors I blame the deadline!

P.P.P.S. THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME! I know I haven't been the most consistent updater but I'm trying really hard to be better!! I love, love, LOVE seeing all your comments. They brighten my day and inspire me to continue this story. So please keep commenting!!

K BYE.