It had finally come, that time of the year where she ultimately felt the most depressed, she didn't want to go out; there was no drive to fight and get rid of her frustrations, all she truly wanted to do was curl into a pile of blankets and pillows, feel sorry for herself and flips through her photos to try and remember the good times. By the end of this night annually, she would end up drunk on the floor with puffy red eyes and a sore throat. So it was no surprise that most of the texts from both Tifa and Yuffie were mostly ignored, after about three hours she finally shot a text back saying that she was feeling sick and didn't desire to talk.

They had left her alone, which is what she wanted...so why did the very pit of her gut feel as if something had begun to constrict around it?

Swallowing a lump in her throat with a bottle of beer, Harmony allowed her own self pity to eat her from the inside out, well she tried. The sound of her phone vibrating caused the red head to pull herself from the musings and glance to who had texted her. The result of this was having her heart skip a beat, Vincent V. seem to stare right back at her. Carefully reaching over, she wondered what in the world had caused him to text her, normally such circumstances of their relationship were cause for friendly conversation or a call for help. It was more than likely the former, as Harmony had called on him twice for help, he had never done so before.

Flipping open the phone, she forced her eyes to clear of tears as she read the message, having to do so twice because of blinking. A small curse was sent to Tifa and Yuffie, mainly the barmaid, as the message glared at her from the bright screen.

'I heard you were sick, are you alright?'

Pink dusted her cheeks, a slack jaw tightening to the point of teeth grinding; she hated lying, it nearly killed her to do so to Tifa and Yuffie...then again, she was sick...mentally at least. That qualified as her not truly lying, right?

A quick reply was sent back, the phone set back aside as she turned to her pictures, the happy faces of dead friends a painful reminder of what she had to do. The message?

'I'm fine, just a sore throat and a headache.'

She still wasn't lying, in a sense, but the sound of her phone vibrating once more allowed her to know that he either bought it, or was calling her out on her bullshit. Somehow, Vince always knew when she was lying, was she that bad at it? On the other hand, she wasn't really lying, so he wouldn't be able to pick up on it so easily. Flipping the phone back open, blue hues clouded with salty liquid yet again.

'Where are you?'

Why did he want to know so badly? She just wanted to be...no, she just wouldn't answer. Shutting the phone and setting it aside, the pictures were once again paid mind to; it hadn't been very long before her phone was once again vibrating with a noisy ringtone. Her heart sunk into her stomach, 'Please Vince...just stop...I'm enough pain as it is..' Subconsciously, she reached out and flipped open the phone, staring at it until she actually realized her minds' own call for help. Vincent remained quiet until she lifted the phone to her ear and spoke into the reciever.

"H..Hello?"

"You didn't answer me..where are you?"

The cool notes of his voice made the heart filled stomach twist painfully, he would be able to tell if she was lying much easier now. "I already said it was just a sore throat and headache Vince..no need to get all wo-"

"Harmony."

A warmth exploded in her chest, something she could never truly explain, but him saying her name always made her want to smile, even in this amount of pain she was currently in. "I..."

"I can see your light is still on from down here."

The matter of fact tone allowed brows to come together, she was in nearly pitch black with only one light on, no where near the window. Holding her thumb over the reciever so he wouldn't be able to hear, the light was clicked off. His immediate answer nearly startling the poor girl.

"You just switched it off."

His next words seemed a bit amused, "Thank you for letting me know."

"Vince, I said I'm fine!" Her croaked voice proved that wrong, but it was to late, he had already hung up. Nearly stone faced, she lowered her head and hung up as well, it seems Vince would be a bit bull headed on this, but why now of all times? She just wanted to be...

Knock knock.

Switching the light back on, she swiped the tears off her face and eyes, got up with the beer in hand while attempting not to stagger to badly toward the door. Why was she doing this? She could just tell him to go away, leave her alone..but that would only make him more determined in the end, wouldn't it? Pulling the lock free, she cleared her throat before opening the door, and in all his crimson and leather glory stood one Vincent Valentine. All words she might've come up with in a slightly intoxicated mind were but for naught, as he gave a small tilt to his head while staring down at her with those blood red hues. The only word to leave her lips came out in a whisper, full of pain and sorrow that caused his features to momentarily contort into distress, it quickly disappeared before she could fully grasp the image in her mind.

"Why?"

Yes, why would he try to comfort a girl who was obviously hurting? For what reason was undeniable, for it changed the course of ShinRa's reign drastically, and the way the Public saw them, for better or worse mattered little. She was beginning to get depressed over the course of a month, even one who was emotionally stunted like him could see it. Tifa had begun to worry, and eventually went to seek out the reason why, Yuffie helped out; and from what they gathered and told him, he could finally understand why he could relate to her so much. She...wasn't much different in her history, comparing the two of them.

But that still didn't explain why he was here at her door, the Inn at Kalm no less; perhaps she chose this location because it was far enough away from Midgar for her to not actively try and seek it out, but close enough to torture herself with. Staring down at a tearful red head, he couldn't help but not answer, he might've known subconsciously, but it would likely take the other four within his cranium to make it obvious. And eventually, the aged hound did do so.

'You seek out to give her comfort when no one was able to do so for you."

Taking a step forward, the girl was wrapped into his arms, causing a gasp to escape Harmony. She hadn't expected the solitary, almost lone wolfish Vincent to give her a hug, and for several moments began to worry for his mental health. But...it felt so nice to be hugged again..

How long had it been since the last time? Oh right...her Mother gave her a hug about five months ago. Before that, she gave her final hug to Zeke before getting on the train. Depression once again bubbled into her chest, a sob rising as she was guided back, the door closed and her legs picked up from the floor. He carried her to the bed, sat down and allowed her to curl up against him, her face nuzzled into his neck as she clutched his shirt. Her legs rested on either side of him, so she was technically straddling the man, which under any other circumstances would've caused her face to darken to the color of her violent red hair. He didn't seem to mind, one arm strung across her back while the other played with her hair gently.

She sobbed and cried for at the very least an hour and a half, it was when she grew quiet that he finally answered her, despite the young woman having fallen asleep.

"Because you need someone with you right now."