"If I had to pick anyone in the world to be with me when things got bad - I'd pick you!" - Allie

PART THIRTY SIX
↳ the aftermath

THE MOMENT THAT PENELOPE WOKE ON THE DAY that followed thanksgiving, she immediately knew it was going to be a long and hard day. In fact, she was certain that every day from now on would feel more heavy than the last. All of the separate story paths were slowly beginning to collide as each came to a conclusion. Allie had decided to begin the search for the source of the poisoning with everyone who had cooked at home first.

Grizz, Harry and the rest of her friends in the guard spent the morning interrogating everyone who brought food to share to the thanksgiving feast. Even though Harry knew the truth, he couldn't let on that he knew this. If people found out that Elle had poisoned the pie and in turn that Penelope knew about it, there's no telling what the community would do to the girls.  Harry would do just about anything to protect Penelope.

Penelope had pretended to still be asleep when Harry's alarm went off in the morning. She had concentrated on keeping her breathing slow and controlled as Harry leaned over to brush a soft kiss against her forehead. She hadn't made a sound as his quiet footsteps had retreated from the room and as the door closed quietly behind him, she was alone again.

Penelope had spent most of her life being alone, she was good at it. From a very young age she had learned that the only person she could ever truly depend on was herself. Things were different now though. Back then, she'd only had herself that she needed to take care of, these days she had friends who depended on her.

And it was becoming too heavy of a burden for her to carry alone.

Hours after Harry had left, Penelope finally manages to drag her body out of bed and trudges into her boyfriends bathroom. She splashes cold water onto her face and stares into her reflection for a few minutes too long.

When she looks in the mirror she sees dark circles under her eyes and knotted hair that is in desperate need of a brush. The ghost of the girl she used to be stares back at her with nothing but emptiness in her tired eyes. For just a split second her sadness turns to anger and she punches the cabinet in front of her.

She doesn't hit it hard enough for the mirror to shatter but the cabinet rattles against the wall and the door slides open menacingly. The contents of the bathroom cabinet has Penelope immediately enthralled. An orange pill bottle has a sticker on it with Harry's mothers name and on closer inspection the label reads, 'Xanax'.

Before she can think better of it, the red haired girl slips two of the tablets into her hand and swallows them dry. The sick feeling of regret has only just begun to seep into the bottom of her stomach when there is a knock on the bathroom door.

She jumps so high that she nearly spills the rest of the pills on the floor, but she manages to catch herself and quickly screws the lid back on. She shoves the bottle back into the cabinet and slams the door closed.

Penelope takes a deep breath and then finally speaks, addressing the unknown person on the other side of the door, "Yes?".

"Nell? It's me. Have you got a second to talk?" Grizz's voice echoes through the wooden door. It sounds as though he is holding back tears.

Penelope opens the door immediately, subtly wiping a stray tear from the corner of her eye before she faces her best friend. His face is red and puffy as if he's been crying and Nell frowns as she sees this.

Words seem meaningless for just a moment as she reaches out for him and pulls him into a tight hug. He gratefully leans into her embrace, placing his head on her shoulder and letting out a long sigh.

Nell lets him sniffle a few more times and dampen the shoulder of her shirt before she pulls away and looks him right in the eyes, "What's going on, Grizz?"

He doesn't answer right away so Nell takes this opportunity to lead him back into Harry's room and sit him down on the bed. She keeps on arm wrapped tightly around his middle as she continues, "Is it Sam?"

Grizz let's out a long sigh before he answers softly, "Yeah. I just can't get over the fact that he lied to me about Becca. We were spending so much time together and he never thought to mention that he's about to become a dad? You know? Who does that?"

Penelope nods, staring at her feet for a long moment. She's contemplating how much of the truth she should share with Grizz. In the end, she reminds herself that he's her best friend and she can't lie to him.

"He's not the father, Grizz."

Grizz's head snaps towards his friend, mouth ajar in shock, "What are you talking about?"

Nell meets his gaze warily, "I don't know who the father of Becca's baby is but it's not Sam. He was just trying to be a good friend to her. He agreed to do this with her long before he had a relationship with you."

Grizz turns away, gazing at the wall in front of them with a far off look in his eyes.

Penelope grips her friend tighter, "He's a good guy Grizz, and an even better friend to Becca. Please don't hold this against him. He cares about you so much, but he also doesn't want his best friend to raise a baby all by herself."

"I see," is all he can manage in response. He pulls himself out of Nell's embrace and rises to his feet steadily.

"I need some time to think. I'll catch up with you later, Nell."

Penelope watches as he makes his way to the door and then hesitates, looking back at his best friend, "But thank you. For telling me."

She manages a small smile in his direction as he leaves. 

The Xanax is beginning to make Nell feel lightheaded and relaxed as her phone dings with a group message from Allie.

Oh Great and Powerful Leader: hey everyone. town meeting in 30mins to discuss the events of last night. see you all there.


⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

The Church is filled to the brim when Penelope finally arrives. Most of the seats are full, so she shuts the doors as quietly as possible behind her and takes up a position against the back wall. The proceedings have already begun, Allie is speaking to Gwen about the poisoned pie. 

Nell is desperately trying not to attract attention, but it's not long until Harry spots her. He was already searching the crowd for her face, her tardiness obvious only to him. He sits up the front on the stairs beside Allie, his fellow guards on either side of her.

She can feel his eyes on her face as she pretends to be engrossed in the conversation. She crosses her arms and stares at their self-elected leader, hoping Harry will soon give up trying to catch her attention.

Allie continues her speech, "From now on, no food cooked at home is allowed in any of the common areas. The safest place to eat is the cafeteria. We're just trying to keep people from getting hurt, without changing the way we live too much." 

As she pauses, the teenagers begin to mutter amongst themselves, some in agreement and others in disagreement. Though they all have one thing in common, they are scared. Scared to eat, scared to walk the streets at night, scared of each other. 

None of them could ever know that it was simply a frightened girl trying to be free of an abusive boy that had mistakenly poisoned them. With Penelope as an accomplice.

Allie's voice brings Penelope out of her thoughts, "There's one more thing."

"It's been five months since my sister died. I know I've added so many rules. And I know I'm adding more right now and I've asked you to do so much. I just think that the person asking you to do all these things, asking you to grow our own food soon, should be given authority by you."

Of course, the girl had almost forgotten. Grizz and the others would be preparing for their second voyage into the woods soon. With the election from hell right around the corner. What was Penelope supposed to do? 

Allie continues, "I think that we should elect a mayor and four council members, that way it's an odd number in case of any ties, and I'm running for mayor."

Allie is already doomed to fail as a candidate, so supporting her seemed to be the wrong choice. Harry was no longer Campbell's little puppet, so he was out. And Penelope would never even consider supporting Lexie's claim. Who was supposed to lead them?'

"Anyone else who wants to run, just sign up. There'll be an election in three weeks."

Three weeks. That wasn't much time. Penelope needed to start making a plan but the drugs were making her feel numb. She needed to sit down.

Before everyone could begin to crowd the exits, she made her escape. Nell made it all of ten steps around the side of the church before she was cornered. Campbell smirked down at her and gripped her shoulder, pushing her against the wall and holding her prisoner with his body before she could even think to escape, "What's up, Nell?"

Penelope took a deep breath in through her nose, desperately trying to fight the lightness in her head and bring herself back to the present, "Let go of me Campbell."

The smile drops from his face instantly, revealing his true self in an instant, "You're not going anywhere until we have a little chat."

"I have nothing to say to you." 

"That might be so, but I have some things to say to you," he moves his arm from her shoulder until it's covering her throat with just enough pressure to feel uncomfortable, but not painful.

"You've been messing with mine and Elle's relationship, putting ideas into her head and I don't like that. You see, she's like me. We're meant for each other. And nobody, especially not you is going to come between us."

Penelope draws up all of the strength she can muster from her tired body and spits in his face, "She is nothing like you, you fucking psychopath."

Campbell uses his free hand to wipe the spit of his face and presses his other hand harder on her throat, "Nobody else can see it, but I know you're hiding something. And I'm gonna find out what it is. In the meantime, you're gonna stay the fuck away from Elle."

Penelope whimpers in pain as he presses against her windpipe. Campbell uses her silence to examine her more closely, he slowly recognises the glazed look in her eyes and blurts out with a laugh, "Fucking hell, you're high."

The pair are interrupted before Nell can deny the accusation. 

"Hey man, get the fuck off her!" 

Harry launches himself at Campbell, effectively removing his girlfriend from the psychopaths grasp. Nell gasps and reaches for her aching throat as Harry puts himself between her and Campbell. 

Campbell steps back with a knowing smile, raising his arms in the air in surrender, "I was just leaving anyway, bro."

"If you ever put your hands on her again, I'll fucking kill you," Harry seethes. Penelope's eyes widen, she hadn't seen this side of him in a long time.

"Get the fuck out of here."

Campbell snorts but turns on his heel and saunters lazily away from the couple. As soon as he's out of site, Harry spins immediately to face his girlfriend.

"What the hell was that about, Nell?" 

He notices her still clutching her neck and his hard gaze softens, "Are you okay? Can I see?"

Penelope can't meet his eyes. He tries to pry her hands away to get a better look but she brushes him off, "It was nothing Harry, he was just being an asshole. I need to go lie down."

She's already moving out of his reach as he replies, "Nothing? That didn't look like nothing. Nell, wait. Talk to me."

He tries to grip her hand as she walks away but she won't let him, "I'm fine, Harry. I'll talk to you later."

Harry watches her leave, feeling defeated. He had heard the end of their confrontation. Campbell had accused Penelope of being high. He was praying with everything in him that the boy was wrong, but something deep inside of him already knew the truth.

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omg hi. first off im REALLY sorry its been so long. i have absolutely no excuse, life just got in the way.

i've been going back to read some of the new comments on the older chapters and its so funny to me that everyone keeps commenting about penelope 'shifting' because when i started this back in 2019 shifting realities wasnt a trend yet lols. anyways nell isnt shifting but that is a fun theory!

fun announcement too!! i have been doing some brainstorming and i have a basic outline for season two. obviously MY story will never be canon but due to netflix abandoning us, i want to keep this story alive.  so i'll be writing my own season 2!!!

im open to hearing all of your theories too, it will help me develop the story even more <3

more overprotective and angry Harry coming up cause i think we've all had enough of softboi Harry ;)