Keep Me Together

Tears were still flowing freely from her eyes when Harry pushed the door open. Elia sighed with relief and Paul rushed and lifted Elenia out of his hands, cradling her against his chest.
“Thank you, Harry,” Paul said to his nephew.
“Seth?” Elia asked him with a sorrow filled expression.
“He left,” Harry said and let his shoulder drop. He was exhausted.

Elia noticed. “Go home and sleep, Harry.” She said and gave him a hug. “Thank you.”
“Sure, anytime,” he was already out the door and covered a yawn.

Paul sat on the couch with a shaking Elenia in his arms; Angelo draped a blanket over her.
“She’s frozen,” Angelo noticed after brushing his hand over her forehead.
“She’ll need a bath,” Paul said and glanced at Elia.
“Just carry her upstairs and I’ll help her.”
Elenia’s silence scared them all.

Paul carried her upstairs and left her in the bathroom with her mother. Elenia got undressed as Elia filled the bathtub. She descended into the warm water slowly and rested her head against the edge.

Elia used the shower head to wash the ice out of her hair and to warm her cold cheeks. Elenia could feel her muscles slowly loosen up, but she was still broken on the inside.

Elenia was handed a pair of pajamas which she put on in a daze and her mother tucked her in under the covers on her bed and lay down beside her.
“Please talk to me, bambi,” Elia said softly and brushed her fingers through Elenia’s damp hair.
“He left,” She whispered.

“But why did he leave?”
Elenia hid her face in Elia’s hair. “I had sex with Austin and then I told Seth. I tell Seth everything.”
“Oh, Leni,” Elia whispered lowly and held her daughter tighter.
“I only had sex with Austin because I needed to know if it would hurt so badly even if I did it with someone I liked. But now I only feel like a slut. That’s probably good, because everyone else thinks so too,” Elenia ranted.

“How thinks you’re a slut?” her mother wondered.
Elenia sighed. She had tried really hard to hide it from her parents. “Everyone at school hates me and avoids me like the plague. They think I cheated on Derek with Kenny. Derek refused to listen to me when I told him, and Miri only thought I faked the bruises so Derek would believe me.”

“I had no idea, bambi. Do you want me and dad to talk to the principal and the students about what really happened?”
Elenia shook her head furiously. “It’s too late for that. I only have six months left of school anyway.”
“But you shouldn’t feel like this. Do you want to talk to someone? A counselor at school or we could ask your Uncle Darin about scheduling an appointment with a psychologist.”

Elenia shook her head again. “I talked to Seth. Everything worked when he was near me. And when Austin came and talked to me, it feels like I can connect with him, and he likes me. I know it’s not right to take advantage of that, but I like him as well, and maybe I can fall in love with him one day.”

Elia knew her daughter would never fall in love with anyone but Seth.
“Mama, do you think Seth will ever come back?”
Elia smiled. “Yes he will. He just need to sort his head out and calm down.”

~~~

Elenia was sick for two days with a horrible cold. Austin came over every day after school. He saw how depressed she looked and didn’t buy her explanation that she only was depressed because she was sick. It looked like a piece of her had died. He had been worried he scared her away with taking their relationship to the next level, but Elenia lied and told him she didn’t regret anything.

Austin lay next to Elenia in her bed with his strong arms wrapped around her.
Elenia was half asleep when she noticed a change. “You’re skin is burning up…” she mumbled. “Maybe I have infected you.”
“Nah, I feel fine,” Austin lied to her; all his joints were aching, but he didn’t want to worry her. “My skin probably just feels warmer to you because you’re freezing.”

Elenia coughed. “I think I may be well enough to go to school tomorrow.”
“That’s great. It’s lonely there without you.”
She didn’t reply and Austin heard silent sleeping sounds escape her parted lips.

He got out of the bed and kissed her forehead before he walked down the staircase. He greeted her parent’s goodbye before he walked out into the silent evening. He pressed his palms on the sides of his head when the headache he’d been bearing all day worsened.

Austin’s mother was asleep when he got home and we walked without a noise into his bedroom and collapsed in pain on top of the covers fully dressed.

~~~

Elenia felt remarkable better than the days before when she woke. She got dressed for school and walked into the kitchen greeted by her mother with a kiss on the head and a smile from her younger brother; their bickering was down at an minimum for the time.

“You look much better today, Leni,” Elia smiled at her and put a sandwich on the table in front of her.
“Yeah, you don’t look so green anymore,” Robbie said to her teasingly.
Elenia leaned over the table and ruffled his hair so it looked like a birds nest.

Elenia still missed Seth, but she felt like she needed to go to school to show Austin she wasn’t’ taking him for granted.

Elenia waited impatiently for the three first periods to pass. But she was startled when she found her lunch table empty. She sat at the table without eating her lunch until the bell rang. When he still hadn’t showed up she decided to ditch the rest of the day and went over till his house.

She knocked on the door but no one opened. She pushed the unlocked door open and walked straight into Austin in the hallway. He was only in his boxers and he looked worn out and tired.

Elenia wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Austin flinched and pushed away. Elenia stared at her palms; it felt like she’d put them on a hot stove.

“Are you sick?” she asked him.
He stared at her wide eyes and his voice was just a thin whimper. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, Leni. My whole body hurts so badly. It feels like I’m burning up.”
“Then get to bed!” she ordered and tried to push him towards his room.

Austin shook his head. “I can’t lay still I’m too restless.”
Elenia’s lips were quivering as she realized something. “I can’ be here. I can’t be the weaker part. I’m not strong enough to take care of others; I’m not even strong enough to take care of myself.”

“Leni?” he said in confusion. “What are you babbling about?”
“I- I’m sorry, Austin. I can’t help it.”
“Are you-” his voice broke. “Are you dumping me?”
Elenia shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ll get my uncle to come over and check you, but I can’t stay. I need to find him,” she mumbled the last part and back out the door.

She heard him shout her name hoarsely as she shut the door and ran down the road to the cliffs. She fell to her knees and was panting heavily as she dug her phone out of her jacket pocket and texted Harry. She told him he needed to go with his father over till Austin because he was really sick.

The snow was soaking her legs and she knew she should stay inside because she wasn’t completely mended from her cold but she didn’t really give a damn. Elenia felt her heart break as she realized something was horribly wrong with her. Something about her made everyone she loved leave her.

Miri.

Derek.

Seth.

Olivia.

Her hands trembled as she let out a wail of sorrow.

Olivia.

She missed her more than she could bear.

Olivia.

Her heart longed for her other half constantly.

Olivia.

She longed for the day where her life would end and she could be reunited with the gray eyed princess.

Elenia stayed in the cliff for an hour and cried her heart out before she headed home. She climbed up her three and put her PJ’s on before she crawled under the soft covers on her bed and fell asleep.

She didn’t see the text she had received from Harry, bearing only two words.

’Bad news…’