Harry Styles

Me: Meg?

Me: Meg, please answer me

Me: I know I messed up with leaving you at the party, but you haven't been at school for four days. I'm getting really worried 😰😢😥

Me: I'm assuming that you're more mad than I thought, so I guess I'll wait until you respond. I hope you'll do that. I miss you and I'm so so sorry for the damage that I've caused. I hope you can forgive me.

I sigh quietly as I put my phone away. It's been four days since Meg had stopped showing up to school and five days since that disastrous party. The first day she didn't show up, I assumed that it was because she was so embarrassed and ashamed. The next day I was surprised because I figured that she would have shown up even if she didn't want to. By Wednesday, I began to text Meg, asking her what's wrong.

There's been no response.

Today is Thursday and I am beside myself with worry. Francis didn't show up to school until Wednesday and even then, he basically avoided everyone, especially me and seemed to be off in his own little world. Videos and pictures of what happened have been circulating around the school and had even reached administration. They're currently looking into the situation and I can only hope that they end up expelling Emilia, and maybe get her arrested for assault.

Today is the day that I'm going to confront Francis and ask him what's going on. I can only hope that he's going to talk to me. My worry is growing with each passing second and I can only hope that she's okay. Maybe my fears are completely irrational. Even though she thinks that I didn't notice, I had taken note of how she had seemed to collapse against my side when we were taking pictures. Though she managed to hide it well, I knew that something was really wrong at the time.

"Harry, are you paying attention?" Lia asks as she sits on the edge of the stage. "Is something the matter?" she asks with a slight frown.

"Yes ma'am," I say, nodding as I smile at her.

"Come talk to me after class," she says before turning away. I let out a quiet sigh at this but I know I actually will go talk to her. Even though she's just my drama teacher, she's also one of those few teachers that actually care about her pupils. It helps that we feel more close to her because she allows us to use her name as well.

The rest of the class goes by fairly quickly, by only because we're doing a lot of improv activities. When the bell rings, I hang back and wait for Lia to come over and talk. She has to talk to some of the other students about their journals but is soon walking over to me. Her eyebrows are furrowed in concern and I take a deep breath.

"So I really like this girl," I begin as I run my fingers through my hair. "And I may have messed up, but the situation wasn't necessarily my fault. I just happened to invite her to the event and..." I can tell from the look that Lia is giving me that she knows exactly who I'm talking about. It's all anyone talked about on Monday and a school wide email had been sent out. It didn't single out what happened to Meg, but it talked about a party and someone getting bullied.

"And she's not been showing up to classes and had been avoiding your texts?" Lia guesses. I nod slowly. "You like this girl, right?"

"Yes, I like her so much," I say desperately. "And I want to know what's wrong but I can't figure out how to get ahold of her."

"Does she have any friends that you can talk to?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure if he'll want to talk to me because the girl and him tell each other everything. I think he's mad at me," I say sheepishly.

"I think you should go talk to him," Lia suggests. "Maybe if you explained yourself, then he might understand."

"You're right," I say, nodding. "Thank you, Lia," I add. She smiles in response and as I begin to turn away, she grabs my arm, preventing me from moving very far. She looks very serious now.

"Margaret is a sweet girl," she begins slowly. "Francis cares about her deeply. Whatever may have happened to make him unhappy with you needs to be fixed really soon because that boy is super protective of her. I'm sure he's already warned you against breaking her heart."

"Yeah, he has," I say somewhat sheepishly.

"Then that means he thinks you're good for her. He's only ever done that when he sees potential," she replies.

"If you don't mind me asking," I begin hesitantly. "How do you know so much about Meg and Francis?"

"I'm Meg's godmother, actually," she replies with a small smile. "She tells me a lot about her school life, and had even mentioned you a few times. I hope you can fix what happened soon because...well, she's going to need you now more than ever," she adds with just a hint of sadness. My eyebrows immediately furrow at this but I don't press her as I turn to leave.

Even though I have history next, I'm definitely skipping it so I can talk to Francis. I know he has a free period and always goes to the cafeteria. Sure enough, I see that he's sitting by the vending machines, watching something on his computer. He's slouching in his chair and his eyes flicker over to me and I see anger. I immediately feel uneasy, but I force myself to walk up to him.

"Can we talk please?" I ask as Francis reluctantly takes out one of his earbuds.

"Why?" he snaps. I take a moment to think of an answer, and during that time, I notice how tired he looks.

"Because I'm worried about Meg," I say. "She said that she'd call me after what happened at the party, but she never did. I decided to give her some space and didn't try contacting her until Wednesday. She hasn't replied to any of my calls and texts and I don't know what to do." Francis narrows his eyes at me, almost like he doesn't believe what I'm saying. He lets out a loud sigh before taking out the other earbud and pushing his chair back.

"So that's why you haven't gone to visit her," he says as he runs his fingers through his hair. "And here I thought that it was because you didn't care," he continues, laughing bitterly.

"Wait what?" I ask as my heart begins to beat wildly at his words. "Francis, what's going on?"

"She promised me that she'd call you," he continues, not paying attention to me. "That fucking idiot. She's trying to protect you from the pain and she promised me that she wouldn't-I swear to god, Meg," he says, getting angrier with each passing second.

"What happened?" I ask frantically.

"On Sunday the results from her blood tests came back," he begins with a deep breath. "It's a routine thing that happens ever once in awhile to make sure her leukemia doesn't come back."

"N-no," I say, my eyes widening as I realise where this is going.

"Turns out there was a tumour in her thigh that she chose not to tell anyone about. On Monday she went to the hospital to get it removed and she's started treatment today. That's why she hasn't come to school," Francis explains. "She's probably not going to come back for awhile, and it's anyone's guess as to whether she'll survive it this time."

"B-but..."

"She nearly died the last time, even after her leg was removed," Francis sighs.

"Which hospital is she at?" I ask immediately. "Please, you've got to tell--"

"Sacred Heart," he says. "She's probably going to try and push you away when you go see her, but don't let her do it. She likes you so much but is trying to spare you the pain of losing her."

"Thank you Francis," I say before rushing out of the school.

🌼 🌼 🌼 🌼

"Dudley was eating his fourth slice of pie. Aunt Petunia was sipping coffee with her little finger sticking out. Harry really wanted to disappear into his bedroom, but he met Uncle Vernon's angry little eyes and knew he would have to sit it out."

I can hear Meg's voice as I walk through the hallway of the hospital. When I round the corner, I see that she's sitting in a wheel chair with a tube attached to her arm. There are several IV bags and a small machine near by. She's holding a book in her hand and there are young boys and girls sitting around her. They're all looking at her in awe and my heart warms at the sight. I smile when I see that she's reading The Prisoner of Azkaban to her young audience. I lean against the wall and listen to her voice as she continues reading aloud. There's a moment where as she's turning the page, she looks up. Our eyes meet and her mouth parts.

"Meg, what's wrong?" one of the kids ask.

"Nothing, Trevor," she replies with a smile. Her gaze stays on me for a few more moments before clearing her throat before continuing to read the book. She finishes a few minutes later and the kids immediately begin to clap. The nurses who were watching the scene are smiling wide before going to help the kids up. I take the opportunity to go over to Meg.

"Hey," I say softly. Before she can reply, a little boy walks over to her with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Miss Meg?" he says shyly as he suddenly hides the paper behind his back.

"Yes, Philip?" Meg says with a loving smile. She leans forward, careful not to pull out the tubes in her arm.

"I drew you a photo," he replies, just as shyly as before. He slowly holds up the piece of paper and I can't help but grin. There's a sloppy drawing of what I assume is supposed to be Meg. The only reason I think this is because the sick figure has curly hair.

"It's beautiful," Meg says kindly as she takes the drawing from Philip. "I'll definitely hang this up on my wall. I love it," she adds before wrapping her arms around his small body.

"You really like it?"

"Of course I do," she replies as she kisses the top of his head. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I've got to talk to my friend," she adds, referring to me. Philip turns his head towards me and frowns.

"Is he your boyfriend?" he asks.

"No, but he's a very special friend of mine," Meg answers, making my face grow warm. Philip continues to frown before walking away and holding the hand of the nurse that was waiting for him.

"I think he has a little crush on you," I chuckle.

"You're probably right," she laughs. "Would you mind pushing the machine and IV for me? We can go talk in my hospital room," she adds more seriously.

"Yes of course," I say as I immediately do what she asks. I see her wince several times as we go back to her room and she lets out a groan as she climbs into bed. It's then that I notice that her leg is heavily bandaged and I know that's where the tumour had been. "Look, Meg..."

"I'm sorry," she says with a sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't call you when I said that I would. You must have been worried that you did something wrong but you really didn't."

"You don't need to apologise," I say almost immediately. I pull one of the chairs in the room up to her bed and sit.

"You're only saying that because of the condition that I'm in, Harry," she says with a bitter smile. "I left you hanging when you were obviously worried and that's not okay. I should have called and there's no excuse for that."

"Why didn't you?" I ask, not bothering to deny it because she's right.

"So much happened after the party. The diagnosis, the surgery, the chemo..." she answers as her eyes begin to water. "And I didn't want you to see me. Pretty soon, I'm going to lose a lot of weight; I'll look like a skeleton. I'll also most likely lose all of my hair, and when I say all of it, I mean it," she adds.

"I don't c--"

"I don't know what's going to happen this time around. I don't know if I'll survive. I barely did the last time and I hate this. I hate that I have to go through the chemo and radiation therapy again. I don't want to be tired or nauseated all the time. I'm so scared Harry and I don't want you to see me like this. I don't want you to be around me because I don't want you to watch me slowly die," she continues as tears begin to roll down her cheeks. "I like you so much, Harry and that's terrifying because it feels like history is repeating itself."

"Meg--"

"I can't allow you to be dragged down with me. If I die--" I can't take it anymore and I move forward and press my lips to hers. She stiffens at this and my heart is beating wildly as I try and get her to kiss me back. I slowly dart my tongue out and lightly skim it against her bottom lip and I'm relieved when she finally reacts. Her mouth slowly parts and begins to move her lips against mine.

"I don't care if you're going to lose your hair, look like a skeleton or anything else," I murmur as I pull away. "You're still going to be the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I want to be by your side the whole time and I'm going to be whether you like it or not. You are someone I've cared about for awhile and I hate that it's taken me so long to realise that. Even if we have limited time together, I want to spend however much we have together. I want you to be happy during all of this. You can't let yourself be miserable just because you don't want me to hurt. It'll hurt me if you don't let me be by your side."

"But..."

"Margaret, please," I say desperately. "I just want to be with you. Whether that's as a friend or something more, I don't care. I just don't want to be kept away from you."

"Something more?" Meg asks, her eyes widening.

"I know it's too soon for anything, but...I just like you so much and..."

"I don't know, Harry," she mumbles.

"No pressure, baby," I say, the pet name slipping out before I can stop myself. Meg smiles shyly at me and her eyes go to my lips again. I know immediately what she wants and I happily lean down and kiss her again. Her hands goes to cup my cheeks before they slowly move up to my hair.

"Miss Margaret-oh I'm interrupting something," a flustered voice says. I immediately pull away and turn to see that there's an elderly nurse standing in the doorway. She looks embarrassed and adjusts her thick framed glasses before taking a deep breath.

"My apologies, ma'am," I say, equally as embarrassed as her.

"Lydia, this is Harry," Meg says.

"The boy you've been talking about nonstop?" she asks, smiling once she's recovered. "He's a handsome one, Margaret." She then goes on to say that she needs to check up on Meg and make sure everything is good. She's nearly done with the chemo treatment for today. After she leaves, I'm being pulled back down and Meg is kissing me. I smile against her lips feeling both amused and happy that she's so eager. I waited nearly four years to do this and it's better than I could have ever imagined.

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a/n: I found this old Snapchat that my roommate took of me freshmen year of college and it still cracks me up.