Paradise (Harry Styles Fanfic)

Chapter 18

Charlotte's POV

I sat at one of the booth's at the diner, staring at the bridge a block away. I watched as the train quickly made its way underneath. My eyes slowly drifted to the wheels of the train. I wanted to feel what it's like to be crushed by the train. I needed to know how it felt. I can't stay here any longer. I looked up at the clock on the diner. It was 9:07pm. The train must have passed underneath at 9 o'clock sharp. I knew what I had to do. A tear slowly slid down my face, but I completely ignored it. 

"Charlotte? What are you doing here? I thought your shift started in the morni-" Ashley cut off. "Hey, what's wrong?"

I quickly wiped away my tears and said, "Nothing... I just miss my mom." That wasn't a complete lie. But it wasn't the whole truth.

Ashley slid on the booth next to me and held me as I cried on her shoulder. She doesn't realize that I'll be gone in 24 hours.

Harry's POV

"Harry, look over here!" I felt a tug on my hand. I rolled my eyes and followed Sydney to the next window that was full of strange manequins with different clothes on. I heard her gasp, "Look at that top! Isn't it just the cutest??"

"Let's just keep walking, people are recognizing us," I said in a low tone, tugging on her hand to pull her away from the window. She intertwined our fingers as the men with cameras surrounded us. 

"Let's go," I muttered and pulled her into an alleyway. My mind jumped to the time when Charlotte... I stopped myself from finishing the thought. Now wasn't the time. We snaked through different alleyways as I heard Sydney's breath hitch.

"Harry, where are we?" She asked, sounding scared.

I wrapped my arm around her as I said, "Don't worry, babe, everything will be okay." I anxiously ran my hand through my hair, not really knowing where I was, but I wasn't going to tell Sydney that.

We continued walking down the sidewalk. This part of the city wasn't as pretty as where we just were, but I didn't care. I finally had a little bit of privacy. 

I looked at our surroundings and my eyes landed on a nice little coffee shop. I looked up and saw extra floors above the coffee shop that looked kind of like apartments. I continued walking down the street, still hand in hand with Sydney.

"Harry, can we go eat some sushi? I'm tired and I'm hungry..." Sydney whined. "My feet hurt.."

I ignored her and continued to walk in silence for the next block. I heard the sound of a train horn in the distance. We continued walking until we came across a small diner. 

"Hey, babe you want to get some coffee and some pie from..." I glaced at the sign. "'Richie's Old Fashioned DIner'?" I looked at her.

"But Harry, I already told you I wanted sushi!" Sydney whined. 

I rolled my eyes and looked in the window. My breath hitched. I saw a girl with blonde hair talking to  a very familiar looking brunette. 

"Charlotte," I whispered. I kept looking at the back of her head. I shook my head. It can't be her. It couldn't be her. She lives in LA, not Chicago. There's no way. My mind flashed back to when Liam said he saw her. Maybe she is here...

I felt a tug on my arm, and I looked at Sydney.

"You coming?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah." I said. I took one last glance to see if I could see the girl I thought was Charlotte, but she was gone. 

"You okay?" Sydney asked, stepping closer and looking me in the eyes. Sydney's eyes were blue. They were pretty, but nothing compared to Charlotte's. I placed a soft kiss on her lips, hoping to get my mind off of Charlotee.