harlow is a motherfucking monster (monsterrmash) wrote in immune_ic, @ 2012-05-25 21:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | # 2012 [05] may |
WHO: John, Adelaide and Harlow
WHAT: A reunion
WHERE: D Block, Sing Sing
WHEN: May 25, 2019
RATING: Medium
STATUS: In progress
The midnight journey to Sing Sing had been intensely emotional for Harlow, and he was already feeling worn out and raw from it. When Adelaide first told him about the man who had come to Sing Sing, Harlow was positive that it was John. It was too uncanny to be mere coincidence-- he'd never known anyone else whose legs had a knack for giving out on him, and the fact that he'd been asking about the paintings... But on the way there, he wavered. How could it be true? Harlow searched for him, and all he saw of his friends were their insides. He hadn't been sure which entrails were whose, and he hadn't wanted to know. Seeing John gutted, knowing for sure that it was his body that was torn open to feed the walking dead was more than Harlow could ever handle seeing. But one thing was for sure-- no one he had come across had been alive, and his shouts for his friend had gone unanswered. How could it be him, locked up in that cell?
Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part, the fantasy that the boy who had meant so much to him wasn't lost forever. He'd ached so long over it, maybe this was all a delusion brought on by the years of pain. He nearly picked up his phone a hundred times and texted Adelaide, demanding that she describe the man her brother had found, demanding a photo or something to prove to himself once and for all whether or not the prisoner was John. But he didn't want to know. Either way, the answer would be devastating.
It wasn't that he wouldn't be happy to see John alive. It was just that he was afraid to. What if he could never trust him again? What if too much had changed? What if he had no interest in Harlow anymore? During their time together, Harlow had always felt like there was a connection between them that bound them, that drew them together no matter how viciously they fought it and each other. He would jokingly sing an old pop song from the 60's, crooning it in John's ear, "Chains, my baby's got me locked up in chains..." In the car, Harlow repeatedly brushed his thumb over the tattoo he had pricked into his wrist of a few links of chain, with the words to the song etched out in script along the curve of it. I can't break away from these chains, can't run around because I'm not free. But what if it had all been broken for good? Could he really face John as a stranger again and survive it with his dignity intact?
When Harlow reached Sing Sing, he parted with Mort and found Adelaide. The stress he felt was clear on him, because he didn't greet her with his usual playful cheer. He didn't say much, but part of the way he held on to her wrist, which said enough. When they reached the D Block, however, adrenaline overtook him. He stormed quickly down the hall, his heart pounding hard, his hands shaking faintly. It could have been rage just as soon as anything else, and anyone observing would have thought it was. Because when Harlow reached the occupied cell, he didn't smile, didn't burst into tears, didn't fall to his knees at the sight of the boy he had thought he'd never see again. He grabbed the bars in his tightly clenched fists and kicked the metal near his feet with all the strength he could muster, making the door of the cell clatter loudly in the dark hall.