The Draw (A Bastille fanfic)

1. Run

I sat at the bar, ordering shots and racking up a bill that I knew I couldn’t afford to pay. It would be fine though; I would go to the bathroom and make a run for it before they would get suspicious. It was something that I did often, so I was a bit of a pro.

That’s one of the only things that I’m good at; running. I run from people when they get too close. I ran from my family. I used to run at school too, I was always good at it in my school years. I was the athletic one, which made me part of the popular group. I was never particularly academic, that was more my brother. But being in the popular group at school doesn’t last. No one was a true friend good enough to stick around after school had finished. That’s why I couldn’t wait to change my life around and move out of London and to a different city.

Well I tried. I got a place at university in Bristol and I decided to completely reinvent myself. I was no longer the sporty girl who looked after herself, I was quickly absorbed by the uni lifestyle and Bristol drug scene. It was fine for the first few months, everyone was excitable and doing the same thing, but then it died down and everyone began focusing on their studies, leaving me behind to enjoy myself.

I managed to scrape by with a pass for my first year and I knew that I had to work harder to pass uni all together but I just didn’t have the motivation.  I was involved with people who dragged me down too. I got a drug dealer boyfriend who supplied me with all of the dodgy substances that I could dream of, and I would spend most days as high as a kite. My so called ‘friends’ soon moved on though, leaving me behind yet again.

So here I was, sat here thinking about how I had managed to fuck my life up already and I was only 21. At least I still had uni and Alex, my boyfriend, the drug dealer. After my 4th round of drinks I decided it was time to call it a night and stumble off back home. I smiled politely to the barman, telling him that I was just going to the bathroom. Little did he know that I would be gone within seconds.

Ah, there was a window in this bathroom; this was going to be easy. I peered out of the window to see how far my fall would be. Perfect; not far at all, we were on a ground floor. I threw my bag out first and then jumped out into the alleyway. I dusted myself off and picked my bag up and then ran through back streets towards Alex’s flat.

I put my key in the door and stumbled inside. The other flatmates were all in the kitchen but I couldn’t see Alex anywhere.

“Oi Taylor, what are you doing here?” One of the boys asked as I entered the room.

“What do you mean Elliott? I live here?” I said in a questioning tone.

“Didn’t Alex tell you? He’s gone.”

“Gone?” I questioned, unsure of what Elliott was talking about.

“Yeah.. Gone, left, skipped town, moved out, however you want to word it.”

“Oh..” I stuttered. What the fuck? How could he just leave and not tell me. Did he get in trouble? Did he think I knew? No, he couldn’t have thought I knew.

“He didn’t tell you, did he?” The boys all roared with laughter when they realised the situation I had been left in.

“Uh no. I’m just going to go in his bedroom and call him.”

“Na, you can’t do that. It’s Harry’s room now.” Elliott then pointed to the guy in the room who I realised that I didn’t even recognise.

“Right.. What the fuck am I meant to do then?”

“I don’t know.” They shrugged. “Your stuffs in the hall. Oh and can we have our key back?”

I was beyond confused. I was angry, upset, unsure of what to do, but also still slightly tipsy. I reached into my bag to get out the key that I had just used. I threw it on the table that they were sat around and stormed into the hallway, finding my belongings in a black bin bag. I dragged the bag along and out of the flat into the cold evening air. Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to do now?

I got my phone out of my bag and found Alex’s number and called it quickly. No response, what a surprise. Surely he couldn’t have actually left town? I scrolled down my phone, trying to find the number of someone who I could call. No one. I literally had no one. No one in Bristol, at least.

For a few hours I walked around town, thinking of what I should do. I was tired and cold and still confused, I had got nowhere. I eyed up a shop doorway. Surely my life hasn’t got this bad that this is going to be my bedroom for the night? I looked around, knowing that I had no other options.