Escape Route (Decode Sequel)

Chapter Thirty Six - Love Only Leaves You Lonely

Lennon..

Harry took a step back, his right arm was pressed up against my torso like a shield. I clung onto his muscles like a life saver. Even he looked taken back by his mums unparalleled anger. I had been seconds away from death and I don’t think I ever felt this scared. I racked my brains trying to comprehend why she wanted my head on a silver platter.

“Mum calm down, what’s going on?” Harry held an arm in front of him, stopping her from approaching any closer. Her arms slung down to her sides, her pointed finger disappeared into the dark street. I sucked in a deep breath. 

“I need to speak to Lennon.” Her voice was a lot calmer now but I didn’t exactly feel like skipping down the street arm in arm with her just yet. “Maybe not here though.”

“What’s happened?” Harry quizzed, a voice full of intense curiosity.

“Nothing,” she sighed, deflating a little. “We just need to talk.”

“Not here,” Harry responded boldly. 

“You’re welcome to come for tea.” She replied enthusiastically. I narrowed my eyes slightly to make sure this calm interaction was taking place right after she screamed at me in the middle of the street.

“I think we’ve already eaten enough to keep us going for a month or two.”

“Tea then?” She asked hopefully. Harry turned and looked at me, I couldn’t read the expression his eyes showed so I shrugged my shoulders a little. I didn't fancy upsetting Anne any more, and I was pretty curious to what she wanted to talk about. “Tea it is.” She concluded when Harry faced her again, he nodded and laced his fingers tightly with mine. 

“We didn’t drive.” 

“It’s only twenty minutes on the tube,” she responded without missing a beat.

Harry and I sat on one side of the tube carriage as Anne sat opposite us, a whimsical smile plastered on her face. I tried to avoid looking anywhere but her line of vision. I studied the already familiar tube map positioned above her head. I was so used to travelling alone the central line from when I worked at the bakery I almost missed the familiar sound of the voice over announcing ‘White Chapel’, almost not quite fully though. My arm muscles were starting to decrease in size, that was one of the only good things about being a baker, I had arms of steel without a gym membership.

Once we climbed off the tube, Harry’s fingers slipped back in between mine. No one really talked on the short walk back to Anne’s house, nothing more than a murmur about an odd flurry of snowflakes. Snow was fun when you had nowhere to go. 

His thumb brushed along my index finger back and forth as I gripped his hand tightly. I focused mainly on the damp pavement beneath our feet. I was still bewildered and terrified by Harry’s mum. She didn’t seem angry anymore but she could easily be hiding it under a smile until we get into the closed walls of her house.

We all shuffled into the house, bumping into each other until someone flicked a light switch. I slid off my toasty boots, scarf and coat and followed the pair into the kitchen. Anne wasted no time in flicking the kettle on. She leant her back against the kitchen counter as she crossed her arms over her chest. Harry and I stood opposite, I stopped myself rocking back and forth on my heels from the nerves sizzling inside my veins. 

“Harry could you give us a couple minutes alone please?” Thought she proposed it as a questioned, the way she said it, it was more like a demand. Harry looked cautiously at me, eyes weary of his mothers behaviour. I smiled gently and nodded at him, I could handle an angry mum right?