Broken 2 // h.s.

f i v e

f i v e.

We began to walk back to the car after the silent film ended. Every now and then, I cringed at the sore, sharp feeling on my ankle with every step I took; the pain from the tattoo. The walk was almost silent, almost. Harry couldn't take it any longer, the awkwardness, the silence... I could tell by the way he tugged at the curls on his head.

"I don't want this night to end yet." he finally speaks.

"I know another place we could go...if you'd like."

He grins. "Show the way."

"We can walk, come." I nod in the opposite direction where we were walking and he follows.

"So you and Travis are kind of serious, huh?"

"It's only been about five months." I try to sound as if it's no big deal. "We've been friends for a lot longer."

He kicks a rock out of his walk way, maybe to distract himself. Then he asks, "Do you love him?"

"In some kind of way." I answer honestly.

"Do you love him the way you loved me?"

I look at him briefly, we lock eyes and I am unable to breathe for a moment. "I wouldn't say I'm in love with him. I care for him, yes, but-" I don't answer him directly. How could I? "Look," I point up to the red brick building.

"Do you live here?"

"No." I shake my head and he follows me up the steps and through the front door. "Come on." I start jogging up the staircases, one after the other, laughing as Harry tries to keep up with my speed.

"Lana!" he collapses on a stair and I stop in my movements just to double over and laugh. I decide to go back for him and snatch his hand, pulling him along with me as I start sprinting again. "Why didn't you ever try out for the track team? Shit," he heaves.

Once we reached the top floor, I went on the tip of my toes to grab the key from the hinge of the door to apartment, 14F.

We walk in and I smile, looking all around the room where paintings and drawings hang. The entire room is almost enveloped in darkness, but outside the window, the city lights grant us some light. Outside the window is a perfect view of the Empire State Building.

"Did we just break into this apartment?"

"No." I answer. "Well, yes. Tyler's friend used to live here and at the last minute, he had to move out so he did and he left this apartment open for someone to rent. He didn't have anywhere to fit his paintings so he left them all here."

Harry walks over to the window and I follow. I say, "I want to live somewhere like this one day."

He's looking at me. His gaze is practically burning through me. For a moment, in this dark room, with the beautiful view right in front of us, I feel that feeling again. Nostalgia. I try to suppress it, but it seems impossible.

"Lana," he whispers.

"Yeah?"

"The desire to kiss you right now is consuming me."

Nostalgia again. Those words I have heard before, three years ago, when we laid together in the prairie with the stars above us.

I look at him. "Things are different now."

"I know."

"Then you know why you can't do that."

He frowns then closes his eyes, almost looking pained and I try my best to pretend I didn't notice.