Chapter Text
Chapter One
He was wrong. That was what crossed his mind the second he locked eyes with Allie before she got taken away by the Guard. He thought he agreed to participate in Campbell’s lets-overthrow-Allie-plan because it had potential but he realized that he actually did it so he could numb the pain a little bit longer.
The pain he has been trying to numb for the past few months with his drug addiction. Just to forget the weird, twisted, uncertain reality he was in now. But after seeing her being taken away he could feel to his core that he made the wrong decision.
How could he do this to her? The girl that involuntarily kept everything running for the past few months because her sister met her fateful end way too early. Yet despite the unwanted power, she surprisingly thrived in the leadership position. Sure she had some flaws, but she grew into it, made things function and made New Ham almost feel as any other normal town (if that town was in a weird parallel universe without any adult supervision).
Then there was the night where they teamed up for a game of Fugitive. He remembered the genuine fun they had. And the (other) kind of fun they had after that at his house. How he could actually envision the world where they were friends, and maybe more, back then already. All these memories came flashing back to him and suddenly he knew what he had to do. He had to get her out.
*
After asking around he discovered that Allie and Will were being held in separate rooms in the school. He went there and found her being held in one of the smaller classrooms. Noted, this means less escape routes for Allie. He dismissed the football players standing guard in front of the classroom to run some errands and assured them that he could handle Allie in case she tried to run away. They didn’t ask any questions. They wouldn’t dare. He is mayor now after all, what he says goes.
After hours of silence Allie heard voices followed by someone opening the door. She looked up from the spot she was sitting on the floor in the middle of the classroom to see the last person she was expecting to see.
“What are you doing here?” She stood up and crossed her arms.
“Nice to see you too Allie. A pleasure as always.” he said sarcastically.
“I figured you would be busy playing mayor by now. Enjoying the power that psychopath gave you.” She leaned against the windowsill.
“Things are moving slowly so I decided to check if you’re alright. Did they hurt you?”
“What do you care?” She could feel the tears sting in her eyes as she met his eyes with an intense look. She didn’t expect this from the boy she got to know the night of the game of Fugitive or the boy whom she so desperately wanted to help when he was depressed and couldn’t get out of bed. She cared for him more than she’d like to admit but she doesn’t want to think of another person betraying her right now.
“More than you know.” He slowly walked forward until he was standing in front of her.
“Why? After going behind my back like that? You know, I expected this from Lexie, that girl’s always been crazy. But I thought you were different, despite not agreeing with all my ideals.”
She scoffed.
“Funny, before this I was actually thinking that there was a chance to work this out. Maybe be co-mayors. Find a way to meet halfway when we’re in a disagreement.”
“I made a mistake.” He started.
“Truth is, I have a drug problem. Campbell’s my supplier.” He couldn’t look her in the eye as he told her the real story.
“He promised to keep supplying me if I helped him overthrow you. But it was obviously wrong to trust him, I know that now.” He was looking into her eyes now, the genuine remorse he was feeling becoming visible to her.
“That’s why I’m here. I want to make things right.”
They just stood there for a few moments, looking at each other in silence.
“Well, you don’t hear Harry Bingham admit that he’s wrong very often so that‘s definitely a good start.” She had a small smile on her face. He let out a sigh of relief and gave her a smile back.
“But what are you planning to do? I can barely get the Guard’s attention in here. How do you expect to get me out there and get people to trust me again?”
“Things will undoubtedly be unstable these upcoming weeks because of the switch in power. People have no idea what they’re doing. They’ll need someone who has experience with all these changes and there are not many who have that. I’ll convince them to include you in some way. But we must act fast. They’re not going to be inexperienced for long.”
She could hear that he thought this plan through. She nodded, indicating that she saw this plan going somewhere.
“You can try to talk to Gordie, Grizz and the others. I’m sure they want to help in any way they can. Just be careful.. and thank you.”
Harry nodded and walked towards the door when he remembered to do one more thing.
“Allie?” He turned around again.
She looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to speak again.
In this moment he saw how naturally beautiful she was. Her hair messy from being transported back and forth by the Guard and wearing a simple, grey sweater and some jeans. She looked tired and like she has a lot on her mind, but that didn’t hide the fact that she was prettiest girl he’s ever seen.
He walked up to her and put his arms around her tiny frame.
“I’m sorry. For everything.” He said as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
Allie didn’t realize how exhausted she was of everything until she felt his arms around her. She took a deep breath and relaxed in his embrace. Slowly she wrapped her arms around him and put her hands on his back. She didn’t say anything but hoped he could feel that she appreciated his apology by the way she responded to his hug.
“I’ll see you soon.” He said before walking out the door with new energy and a new mission.