It's been two days since I've last spoken to Poppy.

Two days of non stop work, stress, and thoughts about the small child with bright blue eyes and the biggest attitude ever known to mankind.

Though I can't stop thinking of her, for some weird reason, I drown myself in work and business, and continue to live life. Money doesn't make itself.

She's called over 15 times, and has texted me over one hundred times. She gave up yesterday. I haven't heard anything from her in an entire day and it worries me, I wonder if she's okay. I know I should man up and be the bigger person, because I am the adult here, I guess I just needed a few days to digest everything. I mean I am a twenty-two year old babysitting a teenager. 

I begin to feel awful because her parents relied on me to watch her and take care of her. But I've been doing the opposite. I've been ignoring her and most certainly not checking up on her.

So I sigh, grabbing my phone and texting just the girl who had been running through my mind for the past two days.

To: Poppy Winsley
6:15 PM
Sorry I've been ignoring you. I wanna talk. I'm on my way over right now.

And with that, I'm jumping in my car and starting up the engine before making my way to her house.

I hum to myself on the way there, and in ten minutes max I'm pulling in her driveway with a heart wildly beating in my chest and sweaty palms. For some reason, I have this awful feeling in my chest that something isn't right.

Nonetheless, I get out of the car and make my way to her house, noticing there are no lights on. Furrowing my eyebrows, I ring the doorbell and knock several times. There's no response.

Worry overtakes my body and I ring the doorbell once more. No response. I suddenly get out my phone and call her. Why isn't she answering the door?

She doesn't answer the phone.

Suddenly, I remember I have a spare key that her father had given me in my glovebox department. I run over to my car and quickly unlock it before furiously searching for the key. I find it under several pieces of paper, and I run back to the house before unlocking the door with shaky hands.

The lights to the home turn on, but Poppy is nowhere to be seen. There are no sounds at all. I walk up the staircase, into Poppy's room, but she's not in her unmade bed.

I run a hand through my hair, trying to call her once again. Still no answer. She's probably just out with her friends or something.

But she doesn't have any friends.

Groaning, I run back down the stairs and check everywhere, from all the bathrooms to the outdoor and indoor pool. She's nowhere to be found.

"God dammit, Poppy," I mutter, my heartbeat so loud I can hear it in my eardrums.

She's too young to drive by herself, and her Jeep is in the shop until tomorrow. Where the fuck could she have gone?

I want to pull my hair out, I lost her. I lost the little brat. Her parents would be furious if they found out what's happened.

I need to find her.

I jump back into my car, and place my forehead on the steering wheel. Where could she possibly be?

With my head still down, my phone rings. I immediately jump up, and grab my phone in record time. She's calling.

"Poppy?" I answer, but she doesn't say anything. All I can hear are the sound of small, almost inaudible cries. My heart tugs at the sound. Is that.. Poppy?

"Harry, can you pick me up?" A small voice cries. I immediately start up my car. "Poppy? Poppy where are you?"

Poppy just sniffles. "I'm at some party, I'm scared and I don't want to be here. Please I'm sorry about what-"

"Go outside, tell me the address, and I'll be there soon, don't worry baby I'm on my way."

Poppy sniffles again. "O-okay." I hear shuffling in the background. "Uhh, 823 Spring Street I th-think."

"Okay," I say, knowing exactly where she's at. I was a teenager once too. The frat neighborhood, of course. She's at a fucking frat party. "Come outside and wait for me, I'll be there soon."

"I'm sorry, Harry," she says, her words kind of slurred. She better not be fucking drunk I swear. "It's okay Poppy, we'll talk about it when I get there."

After about five minutes, I'm at the party and I can already see several cars and people stumbling out of the brick house. It's a large house, but not nearly as large as Poppy's.

I call Poppy again, but before it even rings. A small body runs to my car and immediately opens the passenger door, jumping right in. 

"Hey, you alright?"

I look over at her, even though she doesn't look at me. From what I can see, she's wearing black, furry crop top and a high waisted skirt that looks similar to her school skirt.

Her hair is a tad messy, and her eyes look dazed. "I feel weird," she tells me.

"Poppy, look at me."

She turns to face me, and I can tell she's taken some kind of drug. Her eyes are glazed over, a bit glossy, and her lips look bitten and red. She just stares right into my eyes.

She doesn't seem drunk, she's not acting weird, and hardly slurring. She must have taken something. God dammit. 

"Oh, Poppy," I say quietly, swiping a thumb across her cheek. She leans into my touch and closes her eyes. "Don't worry, I'm here, you're safe."

"I think the pill is kicking in," she giggles, throwing her head back. I continue to drive, but glance at her quickly. Pill?  Why would she purposely take a pill?

"Poppy, what pill, why'd you take a pill?" I want to shout. But I don't.

"I had a headache, Jack said it would make me feel better," she says, and then laughs again. She smiles at me, her eyes glassy. Who the hell is Jack?  My blood begins to boil. I could kill this Jack.

"Jesus," I mutter. "Poppy, he didn't give you Advil that's for damn sure. What color was the pill?"

"I dunno," she sings, "But I feel great." I just shake my head and continue to drive to her house. In a couple of minutes, we're there. 

"Come on," I say, opening my door and walking out. I expect her to follow me, but once I look back, she's still in the car giggling. "Dear lord."

I sigh before walking to her side of the car, and opening the door. I grab her small body, just decide to carry her with her legs wrapped around my torso and her head slumped on my shoulder. Her arms are around my neck and I feel her breath slow down as I carry her to the door.

With my arms effortlessly carrying her, I walk up the stairs carefully and open the door with my foot gently, careful not to wake her up. I then softly lay her down on her bed and watch her snuggle up to a pillow. She looks so angelic. So peaceful and innocent.

I smile down at her sleeping body, and before I can leave, she stops me in my tracks. "Harry," she whispers, her eyes fluttering open. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." I just nod, walking back over to her and gently pushing a piece of hair out of her face. "I know."

"Why did you ignore me?" She asks, her voice soft. A feeling in my chest tightens. "I don't know, Poppy. I guess I was.. hurt."

Her eyes look sad. "I'm sor-" "it's alright Poppy, get some rest," I say, weakly smiling at her and pulling the covers up more on her body. She nods and closes her eyes, drifting back to sleep again.

I watch her for a few seconds, admiring her soft features and thinking about what the hell just happened. What happened tonight? What have I gotten myself into?

Questions flood my brain as I stare at the sleeping girl, but all I really can think of is what's going on right now.

I look down at my feet, and deeply inhale before walking out of her door, giving her one last glance.

--

Wow. Intense. Ahahah. How did you feel about that chapter? I ofc had to make them make up ☺️ Parry forever !!!
lmao is that a good ship name! IDK. #Parry

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that chapter bc it took a LOT of time and effort. I love inline comments and they really motivate me to write more and update more frequently. Please tell me what you think :-)

Questions

thoughts on poppy?

thoughts on Harry?

any suggestions?

what do you wanna see in upcoming chapters?

thoughts overall?

kisses,

M