Harry drops his cell phone to the floor. His hands are shaking, and he uses one to cover the sobs coming out of his mouth. The other one pulls at the roots of his hair. Those words that came from his mouth are a sin to him. He had promised himself to never speak about Leanna again. It’s too hard for him to speak of. One of the boys, maybe two, starts pounding on the bathroom door, but Harry can’t hear much through the ringing in his ears.

“Harry!” Darren screams through the phone. “Harry, pick up your phone!”

The sobs keep on coming, and the ringing doesn’t stop. Harry pulls his knees to his chest and covers his ears with his hands. Flashes of memories cross his mind; from the first time they met to all of the “I love you’s”. She was his world, and now his world is gone. Gone. The realization hadn’t hit him until now. Two and half years of denial, two months spent thinking he was okay for not thinking about her, and two seconds of pause before the realization his him like a ton of bricks.

A picture of her appears in his mind, lying cold on the hospital bed. Harry remembers that moment more than anything now. Normally it’s just a blur of tears, but it feels like just yesterday now. He closes his eyes and lets the memory play like a sad tune in his head.

“Can I see her?” he asks softly. The doctor looks unsurely at Leanna’s parents beside him. Her mother looks at Harry through tears. When she sees the lost love and brokenness in his eyes, she nods at the doctor and puts her face in her husband’s chest. The doctor steps aside and nods solemnly at Harry before allowing him to go into the room.

Harry enters the room slowly. Each of his footsteps echoes in the stone silence of the room. There are no heart monitors or IVs, just the flickering of a faulty ceiling loud. Before he knows it, he’s at the foot of the bed. For a second, he thinks he hears her heartbeat, but it is only his own beating steadily in his chest.

His fingers reach for the top of the white sheet, peeling the fabric back slowly so he can anticipate what he’s about to see. He sees her face. He wasn’t ready. Pale and lifeless, the body of his love, his world, lays there. Cold. His fingertips trace her hairline where a scar, clear of any blood that may have been there, leaves its mark.

“I love you,” he whispers. He leans in to place a small kiss on her blue lips, hoping that it gives her warmth where she is now.

The boys outside the restroom continue to call and plea for Harry to come out. They heard a thud from when Harry dropped his phone, and then the sobs that caused them all to start panicking and banging on the bathroom door.

The tour bus slowly starts to roll to a stop, and Liam is the first to look out the window and see that they have reached their destination: Cheshire, Harry’s family’s home to be more specific. Liam calls everyone over to the part of the bus he’s in, and despite not wanting to leave Harry alone in the bathroom, they know that none of them will be getting him out anytime soon.

“We need to get Gemma,” Zayn tells them. Liam and Niall are quick to agree, ready to run out.

Louis stops them. “No,” he says firmly. “We need Anne.”

~

“Harry!” Darren shouts again. Only the sound of distant sobs can be heard on Harry’s end of the line. Darren may be farther away from the literal scene, but she is still closer to him than anyone there. His sobs are heart wrenching. Darren almost wants to cry for him, but she just pushes back her hair in frustration and continues to yell. “Harry, please pick up the phone!”

Jack walks into Darren’s room having heard her pleas. He mouths to her, “What’s wrong?”

Darren puts her hand over the bottom half of the phone. “I have no idea. I- I just wanted to know what happened to Leanna, so he told me but then he started sobbing. I’m pretty sure he dropped his phone as well.”

Jack widens his eyes. “You asked him about Leanna?” Darren nods. “Dare, that’s his ex-girlfriend – his dead ex-girlfriend! No one knows what happened to her.”

“What do you mean ‘no one knows’? He just told me!” Darren shouts.

“He- he told you?” Jack stutters. Darren nods her head more sarcastically this time. “Darren, no one else in the world knows what happened to Leanna Casey. All anyone knows is that she died. No one knows exactly when or how, but it left Harry Styles, teen heartthrob, in pieces.” Darren just sits there, silent. She now holds information that is only available to probably a few select people while the rest of the world has no clue. Oh, how people would kill to know the dirt on what happened to Leanna Casey. How is that Harry entrusted such information to her of all people? Just goes to show how strong this friendship is, regardless of how long ago it started.

When Darren gets out of her short trance of questions about secrets and trust and a billion other things rushing through her thoughts, she notices that Jack has left. The sobbing hasn’t gone away. Darren lifts the phone back to her ear and tries to listen for other voices. She continues to call Harry’s name, but she doesn’t know how much longer she can keep up with him.

~

The doctor’s words playing in Harry’s mind on repeat. ‘There was nothing we could do. Miss Casey is no longer with us. I’m so sorry.’ The words pound in his brain, putting an unwanted pressure on his skull. “No!” he screams through his sobs. It is the first word that he has said since he told Darren the unfortunate truth. “No…” he cries.

Harry opens his eyes and stares at his reflection through the mirror in front of him. His eyes are bloodshot, and tear streaks, new and semi old, adorn his face. While wiping the tears away, more fall. Rather than heavy sobs, he now sniffles here and there.

“Harry…” a distant voice calls to him. He listens for it. “Harry…” Harry looks down at the noise, his cell phone. He slides his legs back to the floor, and he bends over to pick the phone up with his shaking fingers. He brings the phone to his ear, catching his breath. Darren goes silent on the other hand. Hearing him breathing closely into the phone calms her a little, but she’s still on edge, not wanting to mess with his emotions in their fragile state.

Knock, knock-knock.

“Harry?”

“Mum?” Harry whispers under his breath. Only Darren hears that word, and her eyes go wide as it is said. When, Harry starts to panic silently, Darren can tell.

“Harry, you can do this. I can’t be there with you right now, but your mum is. Don’t be scared; be happy. If you don’t face her now, you’ll regret it. Trust me,” her voice cracks a little, almost tearing up, “I know.”

“Harry, please open the door,” Anne pleas, knocking again. Somewhere in the event, Harry had accidentally turned on speakerphone and still hasn’t turned it off. She had just heard every single word Darren just told her son.

Harry takes in Darren’s words. It is clear that Darren is referring to her dad, and Harry can only try to remember how much sadness she felt during that time. She didn’t show it so much, but he could see in her facial expression the remorse and regret. So can he do this? He takes in a deep breath. He can do this.

“Okay.” He breathes out.

“I believe in you, Harry,” Darren tells him before she ends the phone call.

Harry hits the power button on his phone and slides the cell into his back pocket. Before he faces the woman waiting outside for him, he puts his elbows on his knees, folds his hands together, and rests his chin on top of them. He turns his head to face the door that is the only separation between him and his mother. He doesn’t know what to expect, but with Darren’s last words, he knows he has nothing to be afraid of.

He stands from his seat on the toilet lid, and wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans one last time. Using his fingers, he wipes away the tears that stopped falling at the end of his phone call with Darren, and slowly, he reaches out his hand, and he slides the bathroom door open. Surely enough, the woman standing in front of him is his mum. Other than the tear streaks that are nowhere near as terrible as Harry’s and her hair color, she is still the same person he remembered and always will remember.

“Harold?” she asks. Cries that are a mix of joy and sorrow leave her lips as she throws her arms around her son. Harry’s mouth is ajar as she cries into his already tear-stained shirt, but he doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms back around her like instinct. He buries his head in her hair and starts to cry with her, unable to keep the tears from falling.

“I’m so sorry, mum,” he whispers into her hair. “So, so sorry…”

~

‘Fly me home.
Take me away from this unknown;
Back to where it started,
Where all the memories are carded.
Fly me home.’

As the boys close off their final show in Holmes Chapel with Fly Me Home, the park audience erupts in cheers. The boys gather in the middle of the stage and wave to the audience, patting each other on the back for another show well done. Harry is especially to the side of the stage in the back, and good amount of his hometown that came out supporting him and his band mates, he almost can’t be happier.

He brings his microphone closer to his mouth and begins his thank you to his hometown, just as the other boys had in their respective hometowns. “Thank you all so much for coming out here today and supporting us! It’s really nice to have come ‘back to where it started’ and I really just appreciate every single one of you for showing your love and support for me and this band. Have a good night everybody!”

The band makes their way off stage in skips and jumps, the adrenaline from performing pulsing through their hearts and bodies. Anne is instantly at Harry’s side, hugging and congratulating him and asking where in the world her baby boy went. Harry just laughs and hugs her tighter. He’s been doing that a lot since after his breakdown Monday. Even though the hugs won’t make up for two and half or so years, just to have her in his arms and one of his main supports again is enough for him, for the both of them.

Gemma and Robin congratulate Harry for his performance next after they manage to get Anne off of him. Liam, Louis, Niall, and Zayn watch from a few feet away. The boys make small talk about how excited they are for Harry and his family being back on good terms.

While the Harry and his family are preoccupied, still catching up on the time missed together, rushed footsteps and heavy breaths seem to get closer. Louis peeks his head around the corner of the stage where a girl is running towards them with a poster in front of her face that says, ‘Don’t Overthink it!’ with a bunch of stars, rather than hearts, surrounding it. Behind her, security guards are blocking off an even bigger group of fans – screaming – from getting closer.

When she gets to where Louis is, Louis pulls her arms to stop her. The poster is still over her face, so no one else can see the girl but Louis who hides behind the poster with her. He smiles when he sees her.

“Didn’t think you’d make it,” he chuckles.

She leans her back against the wall, panting from all of the running, and shakes her head. “I was definitely coming, but at the point your security told me to start running this way, I though I was a goner.” Louis laughs loudly and looks out from behind the poster and gives the other boys a weird signal. “Where is he?”

Louis shrugs. “About ten feet away from our position. You ready?” She nods.

Harry looks up at Louis as he approaches them. The girl with the sign blocking her face from him stands next to him. “Hey, Lou. Who-”

“Surprise!” she shouts, pulling the poster down and revealing herself.

“Darren? What are you doing here?” Harry asks as he pulls her into a hug. Anne’s eyes light up as he does so, but no one seems to notice.

She laughs in his embrace. “Um… surprising you? Louis and the rest of the guys called me up on your phone while you were in Doncaster. They said something about a surprise and I said, ‘eh,’ but here I am.”

A throat clearing behind them makes them pull apart. Harry glances back at his family, feeling kind of stupid. “Right, um, mum, Gemma, Robin, this Darren. She is my absolute bestest friend in the entire world.”

Darren almost blushes at Harry’s words and smiles awkwardly. She didn’t exactly plan for meeting the best friend’s family. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you all,” she says, shaking Robin and Gemma’s hands. They both smile back warmly, and she feels a bit more relaxed. Anne, however, declines her handshake and pulls her in for a hug. Darren tenses shortly, but hugs back.

“Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for my son, for bringing him back to me, to all of us,” Anne whispers to Darren, pulling back from the hug.

Harry steps toward the two of them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. He smiles at Darren, possibly one of his brightest smiles. Darren awkwardly smiles back at him, laughing at the face he’s making. “You know, because you crashed my gig, I’m going to have to show around the whole town now.”

“But we leave tomorrow!” Darren shouts at him, laughing at how bizarre it sounds.

Harry shrugs. “We’ll just have to start now, then.” He takes her hand and pulls her away. “Bye mum! We’ll be home late!”

“Not too late, Harold!” Anne shouts as the two run off. She laughs at them as they leave. A smile remains on her face when they are gone, thinking to herself, ‘It’s crazy to see how they don’t see what they have right in front of them.’

Notes

Why doesn't anyone else know about the murder?
Who knew Harry and his mom would be fine?
Who hates that Harren doesn't see what the rest of the world sees which is clearly more than this stupid friendship idea that they have in set in stone?
When are they getting together?!

Haha, I got a little carried away with my questions. If you're looking for that little piece of song in the chapter, you won't find it. I made it up - just that piece anyway. There's no tune for it either, so feel free to imagine it how you wish. My new story is coming out in 3 days! Be sure to check it out when I post the update on Saturday which is also when I'll post a new chapter on here. I give more details in my latest chapter on Fanfiction 101 if you want to read a little about it.

Please leave me feedback in the comments and vote if you haven't already. Comments really make my day, and it is seriously unimaginable how close this story is to 100 votes, so thank you to anyone reading! It really means a lot to me :)

~A