Dealing With Absence » h. styles au

49ᵀᴴ CHAPTER

She tries, though.

Even having no such idea of how to deal with a situation like this.

Today the kitchen smells of cookies and there’s a reasonable streak of sunlight cutting through the windows, bathing half the room in a warm aura that isn’t all that much warm, but looks like it after all. Afternoon is on its last hours already, that streak of clarity shifting smoothly through the ground, when in less than an hour only, it’ll be completely gone.

Elisha has grown used to staring at those smooth changes and appreciating the way the world doesn’t seem to stop despite her inner stativity. It was maybe too presumptuous of her to expect nature would mirror her moods, anyway.

“It’s tonight, actually,” Zayn comments, sipping on a beer that’s been there for far too long, now. Everything about him seems to be slow and calculated.

“Tonight already?” Leesh tries to sound as enthused as possible, though she’s pretty sure Zayn’s picked up on her lack of interest about anything within their primary conversations. He still nods. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready, then?”

He laughs quietly. “What d’you think I’m doing here?”

Leesh only manages to arch one eyebrow. “This is your way of preparing for a big event? Having a pint at a cheap café instead of pondering between the most expensive clothes? You’re weird.”

This time he forces a smile out of Elisha’s lips when he laughs again, agreeing. “I can’t let myself be all bribed before an exposition; that completely fucks me over, even more. Gives me that sensation of “fuck, this is actually happening and it’s freaking huge” y’know? I’d rather pretend it’s nothing much.”

Leesha snorts. “You are much, Zayn. You’ve got tickets sold out to expose your art, and not just here, but in all countries you’re stopping by. That’s just ridiculous, alright?”

The smile she receives in return of those words is nervous, though she spots pride and happiness behind it. “One step at a time, I’d rather. I’m really not thinking outside of London right now.” He sighs, sips his beer again as he plays with the coaster. “How do you even know about other countries anyway?”

That previous, subtle smile suddenly leaves Leesh’s features. “Harry had mentioned it before,” her voice creaks at the mention of his name, and it is pathetic, she knows, but there’s a lump on her throat and it just feels like air is being punched out of her, simply at the recognition of everything.

“I’ve got ours reserved already.” He states with a mouthful of chips and fingers greasy against the strings. His coordination nears zero, the chords all wrong and sounds all over the place, but he seems to be having fun, and Elisha can’t say she’s feeling much different.

He’s got his hair up in a bun she doesn’t remember being that full before, but then again, she’s lost track of his hair growth speed since long ago, completely and utterly distracted by other  things.

“Ours?” she asks in return, going through music sheets all over the floor as she tries to find that one song Harry said he loved, and she’s pretty sure it was one of those she’d first learned to play. It’d been her favourite through pretty much the entirety of her teenage hood, and now it’s lost.

“You’re going with me, right?” he ceases strumming to look concernedly at Leesh, those eyes just filled with confusion and a slight plea, silently begging.

She snorts out a laugh when she peeks up and meets his look. “It’s your best mate, Harry, not mine. Maybe he doesn’t even want me there. He could be saving the ticket for someone more important.”