Complicity [h.s]

09

hair reveal!

Harry Styles

Staring in the mirror, I can't help but forget who I am after seven seconds. It's as if my mind starts to trick itself into a dream, fogging my sense of differentiation to my own face. Has it really been that long that I haven't looked at myself like this?

Clean-shaven, shorter hair.

I'm starting to get reminders of the past, Av. Looking at myself like this reminds me of when I was with you on tour. Maybe that's why I didn't shave or cut my hair these past five months, I didn't want to be the same person I was back then.

And now I see it.

It's not that Mei did a bad job. If anything, she did a great job. Especially since she's not a trained hairdresser. She doesn't even have an idea of what I could look like with anything but long hair. She just went in for it and now I look like this.

It's basically like my old hair, just parted differently and a little shorter in some spots. I'm not sure really, it just seems a bit different. I shaved my face myself, I nearly forgot how to do it. I nicked a small spot around my jaw, it bled like mad. Seeing my bare face again, I realize I forgot about the faded scar on my cheek. It's nearly white now, barely visible. Right across my cheekbone is a thin scar from a beating back in Daytona. After the stitches, it left a very subtle scar on my cheek.

I run my hair back, trying to get comfortable with the way I want it to sit on my head. I play with it for a while, letting the hair graze through my fingers in all different ways. This will take some getting used to.

I turn away from the bathroom mirror and open the door to the empty living room. I'm supposed to go meet Louis and Liam across the street at the laundromat. Niall went god knows where, probably a different bar considering Dez's is closed on Sunday night.

Stepping out into the living room, my eyes check the time.

11:46 pm.

I toss my grey hood up and swipe my pack of cigarettes off the coffee table in passing. Heading up the staircase, I have to take my time given my leg slows me down. The pain has been such a negative addition to the past two days. I've barely gotten any sleep because of it. I'm tired and rundown but thoughts of seeing Aven again are getting me through it.

Up the long flight, I unlock the door and push through into the dark inventory room. I walk through past the shelves and enter the clean restaurant kitchen, taking a left out the side door. I walk out to hear light rain pattering the cement. I turn my head down deep into the alley and see our hidden car parked. I guess Niall didn't take it anywhere.

I walk out towards the street, shoving my hands in my hoodie pocket. It's quiet tonight, especially when Dez closes her bar. It's pretty discrete, to begin with, but there are usually people hanging around the street. Not tonight.