sunny. {HS au}

Chapter Two - The Night Cafe

TW- THIS CHAPTER DEALS WITH EATING DISORDERS SO PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN DESCRESSION. I WILL WRITE A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER AT THE END FOR ANYONE WHO DOESN'T WANT TO READ ABOUT THESE THEMES. THIS CHAPTER IS PREDOMINANTLY FOR CONTEXT/TO UNDERSTAND FLORENCE'S CHARACTER A LITTLE FURTHER, BUT I PROMISE THEY'LL BE MORE HARRY IN CHAPTER THREE!

            "Florence babe." Emma waved a steaming cup of coffee under her sleeping friend's nose causing her to stir slightly from her slumber. 

"Morning." Florence croaked as she stretched and opened her eyes to reveal Emma sat on the end of her bed, still in her pyjamas with her hair in a tattered, lopsided bun which slightly resembled a pancake. The sun leaked into the room through a small crack in the curtains, casting a glow to the side of her face as she held out the mug again. "For you my dear." 

Florence's room was filled with books, clothes and other assorted trinkets. Her windowsill housed several succulent plants, the spider plant was completely overgrown and hung down over the frame of her bed, impatiently waiting to be pruned or repotted. She'd thrifted a cane headboard at a flea market and precariously balanced it between the bed and the wall to create the look of a frame that was well out of her budget. 

"Come in." Florence peeled back her duvet to allow her friend to crawl in next to her. "I want to hear all about it." Florence opened the conversation, knowing that although the musician in question had left a sour taste in her mouth, she didn't want to let on that he had visited her workplace. She knew it would probably land her in trouble and her managers were desperate for Harry to return, knowing how positive it would look for the business. 

Florence had avoided their table for the rest of the night, genuinely upset to have discovered that someone she admired so much had such a nasty arrogance to them. Alex, however, was so pleased to have someone of his calibre attend Genevieve's, so Florence kept the hostility to herself, hoping that she would get over the disappointment as quickly as possible. 

"Yeah, well you didn't serve the guy."  Was all Florence responded with when Alex had excitedly recounted the evening. They hadn't discussed the matter in depth as they were all considerably tired by the time their shift finished and just wanted to cash up and get home. 

"So, it was genuinely the best concert I've ever been to - tell me if you don't want to hear it though, don't want to upset you because you couldn't go." Emma turned to her friend with a sympathetic expression. Florence loved Emma to bits, they'd only known each other a year but somehow understood each other implicitly. They held an unwavering patience with one another and respected each other in a way that resembled a platonic soulmate. 

"No, no hon, I want to hear about it, so I can live vicariously through you! Show me your photos too!" Florence mustered up as much enthusiasm as she could, pushing her bitter thoughts to the back of her mind as she sipped her coffee.

"Well, his outfit..." Emma put her first in her mouth as though she was biting on it and squinted dramatically. "He was wearing a sparkly tracksuit-type-thing, and the jacket was open.... Flo, I saw his nipples, in the flesh." Florence chuckled at her friend's excitement.

The photos and videos on Emma's phone affirmed how beautiful this man was - in fact he was even more breathtaking in person. But his personality really added an ugly edge that tainted Florence's opinion of him completely. His ethereal beauty was depreciated by his behaviour and that angered her even more. Nevertheless, her eyes were glued to her friend's phone screen in appreciation of the man on her screen; his skin almost glowing under the stage lights with contrasting shadows chiselling his torso.

The pair stayed in bed for a couple of hours, Florence listened to Emma regaling stories from the night before as she drained her coffee cup. Then they absent-mindedly scrolled on their phones, cuddled up under Florence's yellowish, floral bedsheet. They often spent mornings like this, just keeping each other company in a comfortable silence.