(A/N: This was inspired by the fan fic "Stop" by YourEyes1012. You should read it—it's really good.)
Use May Be Fatal
After the fifth night in a row of rescuing Natalie from some random club, Henry begins to wonder if it's worth it. Even when she's not on drugs, she barely acknowledges him, and she obviously doesn't have any intention of not going to clubs anymore. So why should he keep trying?
After the sixth night, Henry decides all of this is pointless. It's time to do something different.
"Look, Natalie, we need to talk," Henry says as they sit at Natalie's kitchen table, trying to study.
"Okay. About what?" Natalie looks fairly disinterested, already preparing herself for another lecture.
"I…" he swallows, tries to force the words out. "I think it's time for us to break up." There. He's said it. So why doesn't he feel any better?
Natalie is so surprised that she lets her mouth fall open. "W-what?" she stutters. "B-but why?"
"Because you don't pay attention when I ask you to stop doing drugs, and this rescuing-you-from-clubs-at-three-in-the-morning thing is getting old. And at school, you barely even talk to me. I mean, I practically had to invite myself over here so I could do this. This relationship isn't fair, Natalie."
Natalie stands up and slams a hand on the table. "I am under stress! Have you seen how messed up my family is? So I haven't had time to talk to you! I'm trying to figure out what's going on in my life right now! Don't you think I have a right to do this?"
Slowly, sadly, Henry shakes his head. "No, you don't. There are plenty of other things you could do to relieve stress. You could try…yoga or something." He has to hold back a laugh at the image of Natalie doing yoga. "I would have been happy to help you, but now…it's just too late."
"You know what? Just leave." Natalie points towards the door. "I never want to see you again."
Henry doesn't have a response, so he just does what Natalie asked him to. When the door is shut behind him, he whispers, "I'm sorry, Natalie."
That night, Natalie knows she needs the drugs and clubs even more than usual. She takes far too many pills, as many as she would usually take over the course of three days.
She doesn't even make it out of her room, much less to any clubs.
Natalie lies down on her bed and feels horrible. She tries to reach for her phone to call Henry, tell him she's sorry, that he was right and that she loves him.
She never makes it.