⋆ THE BOTTOM - MITCHELL ⋆
"You've heard it all, I've whispered to my mother next to you
I hate the Hudson River, I'm loyal to you
I'll eat the scuba divers if they eat me
But they'll take me before I get the chance to swallow them whole"
DEVLIN'S PAST POV
15/JUNE/2020
"Happy Skate Daaaay!" Louis shouts out with his phone in the air to capture all of us in the video for his Snapchat story. He had on his blue helmet and other stuff to protect himself with while everyone else just looked normal for today. "Gotta get my speaker." He jogs back to the house.
Yesterday, we spent the whole day at the Foster's place while the rain was coming to pour down into our small town and Louis has been hoping that the rain will eventually stop because of Skate Day, his little holiday he made up since day one of being a Foster. Skate Day is a day where you'll bring everyone you know out of the house just to skate for a whole day. If you don't have shakes, a scooter, or a bike, then do something about it.
When he told me about it, I was already ready for the day. I have an old pair of skates from home and I usually ride a bike so I knew that today would be the perfect time to put them on. Louis has five skateboards and has three on them hanging on his wall so he was able to give Niall and Vicky a skateboard since they didn't have anything except the fact that Niall has a surfboard on the ceiling in his room. Niall also said that Zayn has rollerblades since Harry didn't have anything Skate Day related and he then said he didn't want to participate on this special day. I asked him why and he only said that he didn't want to get hurt or anything 'cause he thinks he's so clumsy... so I told him he could use my bike if he knows how.
He doesn't and he is clumsy.
"Just balance." I grin, slowly stepping away from him as he starts pushing the pedals and it looks like he is having a hard time like the other two tries. "I hate this..." he murmured and I could see him pout feet away from me. "Well hey we're making fun out of all of this today so bring that smile back," I spoke back, slowly following him from behind just to stay close in case he'd fall or anything.
"You're doing great..." I raised my voice as I continued watching him, making his way down the empty street until he began to lose balance from going too fast to the point where he didn't know what to do to slow down. "Oh shit-" I immediately start running after him with the others still behind. "Harry slow down!" I shout, continuing to run down the street or through dirt and concrete.
"I told you he needs training wheels!" Niall shouts far behind me and I roll my eyes, finally catching up right before Harry suddenly falls over. "Oh my god-" I crash down to my knees by Harry who is on the ground, "Are you okay?!" I questioned, almost panicking if he wasn't okay.
His were then touching his face as he was blowing out a deep pant and I stared right at him with worry. Then he smiles, "Yeah, I'm alright and that was fun." He laughed under his breath with such a unique accent that made me smile back, placing my hand over my forehead with a light coat of sweat.
"You scared me a little," I admit.
"Over a bike?" he arched a brow.
"Uh... yeah..." I nodded.
"Don't worry about me, I'm alright."
I shake my head, "You scratched your elbow." I pointed out before he stood back up on his feet as I did as well. "And you scratched your knees." He responds.
"I was worr-"
"He's good?" Niall caught up to him and me while everyone else was just in the house down the street behind us three. "Yeah," I nodded as I turned my head back to Harry. "Wanna go again or..."
"Uh- yeah sure." He dusted off his pants, taking off his grey buttoned-up shirt with peaches around them in design, leaving himself in a white shirt. I turn to Niall, "Watch him. I'm going to grab some snacks and water in the house so we all can get going to La Push while the sun is up for a while." I step past him, now jogging my way back to the property of the two-story house where the fosters live together and soon might just be called Addison's house and not the Foster's.
I stepped into the house, hearing Girl Next Door by Copperpot from Louis' room while making my way to the kitchen on the left, and grabbed my extra backpack off the dinner table. I was dancing to the nostalgic music a little before I looked over at one of the dogs in the kitchen. Hector was just sitting in the kitchen by his bowl with his big eyes and I gave him a side frown, leaving the bag on the countertop near the sink and a bowl of fruits. "No one fed you, huh?" I ask him, now starting to search for the large bag of dog food for him and Henry. Henry must be in the living room but Addison isn't home right now to where he'd usually chill with her.
"Henry?" I called out dragging the bag of dog food across the kitchen to the dog bowls by the wall and he never showed up. Harry said both Henery and Hector usually come after being called by name so I pretty much think this is off. I open the bag and start scooping the foot with the glass mug that's been left in the bag to fill up the bowls. I turn my eyes to Hector, watching him lie down on the floor rather than sitting. "Where's your twin?" I pout, standing back up after leaving a good amount of food in their bowls.
I then ditched about getting snacks and water and then rushed over to the backyard door where the pool area was. I just need to know where he is before I handle other things today. I'm sure he wouldn't just run off or anything like that. I unlocked the gate and stepped out shutting it behind me as I scanned my eyes over at the field of fresh wet grass from the water sprinklers. "Henry?" I raised my voice out loud again, walking away from the house towards the woods. Before I entered the woods, I picked up a tennis ball that must be his and I looked ahead. The woods are something I should stay away from either if it's daytime or nighttime that'll seem too dark for a girl to walk into all alone, but I have to check if Henry ran off.
I carefully stepped past twigs, rocks, and other things I should look out for as I started walking through the woods of all the green things of nature. I continue walking through the woods for a few more minutes, not even sure if I'm lost while calling out for Henry with the tennis ball in my hand of cheap golden rings that'll turn brown soon. I suddenly stepped out of the woods, finding myself in a large meadow with tall trees circling it perfectly and a view of the mountains far ahead of me. It was bright, almost seemed like this meadow had been untouched.
Then there's Henry nearby playing with a football he probably found in the backyard. "There you are." I smiled over at him and his head turned to me with his tongue out. I jog over to him, tossing the tennis ball to him so he can catch it with his mouth in the air. "You can't run off into the middle of nowhere. Your food is waiting for you with your twin." I softly touched the fur on top of his head, smiling down at him until I snapped my head to the right after hearing a snap of a twig behind me.
"Oh shit I'm sorry!" Harry showed up by the trees, not stepping into the bright fresh green grass just yet. "I was looking for you and... I wasn't expecting you to find my secret place."
"Secret place?"
He cleared his throat, "Yeah,"
"Oh, I'm sorry about invading your secret place," I murmur, "Henry here ran off." I pointed to him and Harry was too busy admiring the meadow so I laughed to myself, letting Henry run over to him. "This place is pretty... I can tell why it's a secret location."
"Uh... well, it's secret to me because I find it as a place of peace. The world isn't always beautiful, there's less of that every year as the years go by. This planet will always be dying from us humans, Devlin." He stepped onto the grass after signaling Henry to go back to the house without getting lost again or maybe he has been knowing where to go by heart. "I'm a photographer, so I'd come here sometimes on bad days either if the sky is clear or days that are always gloomy here in Forks. I'd write songs here too when I feel sucked into the meaning if you know what I mean. Don't worry, you didn't invade."
"Then... this could be our secret if it's worth keeping." I picked up the football with dog bite marks on it off the ground, "I still invaded it... like human beings creating factories and other things, slowly hurting the good things that have been on the planet before we stepped onto this planet thinking we claim it. You must really care about the good things, H."
He nodded while stepping past me, "I do." He sang, walking towards the center of the meadow. "My mother told me all the good things. I had to learn all those good things... she said it's important for me to go out and find peace with something outside of being stuck in small buildings and do something alone when I have time. She'd tell me to search for caterpillars and when I find them, I keep them in jars until they come out of their cocoon and fly around this town whenever they wish to... I mean if they have feelings or anything like that."
"Have she collected them?" I ask, following him from behind. "No, she only wanted me to." He responds.
"Is there a main reason why she wanted you to always do good things?"
"Yeah... um- I didn't have a good start of being a normal kid years ago so it affected my behavior years ago. But on the inside, I hate being the nicest and most innocent person with an untold story of my darkest days." He stopped in the middle of the meadow and I remained behind him, almost standing in the center like he is. "And you're not alone on that." I spoke back, "You already know my story I guess."
"Mines already had ended. The only story I have is the one untold... it hurts speaking on it." He admitted.
"Since you lost your mother and sister?" I questioned and he only lowered his eyes instead of speaking back. "Hey... just because you lost the ones you loved most, doesn't mean that the story of your life ended just like that. There's more to come starting now... that story will still be proceeding for a very long time."
He smiles a bit, "You're right..." he mutters. "But there's nothing else in the world that could bring me the comfort I wanted... not in a greedy way."
I gave him a side frown, "Then sing a song that sticks to you." I blurted out, making his bright sage eyes flick up to me. "What do you mean?" He asks me.
"Well, my grandma once told me about a lullaby my mom wrote for me before something happened to her while she was pregnant. She said she was a happy woman becoming a great mother and days later... she lost herself and didn't care one bit about being her unborn child. She also said my mom ripped out the song from her notebook and threw it out of her window and Grandma found it in the garden. She folded it, kept it in her jewelry box for a long time, and then got a little hit damaged from the house fire." I explained to him, "She tried singing it to me when I was little so that I could memorize it better than she did I guess. She wasn't able to speak fully so I had to keep trying to sing it the right way because I didn't want to change the way it should sound and she knew from when my mom sang it while writing it within ten minutes in her bedroom."
"What is it about or... what is it called?" He suddenly sat down on the grass with his knees up and then I started to wonder if the others were looking for us cause all of us would've been down far in the road for Skate Day by now. I look down at him, "It's called The Meadow." I answer, now sitting down cross-legged in front of him. "And it's about the meadow of course but it's also about the cruel the world really is and the only hope that's left you can think of in mind, is peace and freedom."
"I like that sound of that."
"Me too..." I trailed off, playing with the grass beside me. "I do wonder why she wrote it through. Something definitely happened to her and made her write that song for me and also how she just... quit on it."
"How does it go?" He asks, keeping his eyes on me as the eye contact starts making my palms sweat for some reason. I part my lips, beginning to feel a little unsure if I can sing a song right in front of him. I haven't been singing as much like I used to around my grandma. "I think one of us needs a guitar first," I respond with that instead of singing.
"You can't sing without an instrument?"
"No, it's ju-"
He chuckled, "You're a shy one aren't you?" He grinned at me and I nodded anyway just to be honest with him. "I guess I am, it's just something I haven't done in a long time as I told you at the start," I told him and he also nodded, remembering us two talking to each other in his car on the second day of summer. "But, when I sing it to you eventually, you're gonna have to keep it as our secret just like this meadow. Just to be even."
He smugs just a little, "Sounds even." He agrees.
"So... is it a deal?"
"Deal." He stood up on his head, reaching his hand down to me so he could help me up. My eyes gave attention to his hand, waiting for me to touch his. He's wearing a vintage watch with some bracelets he probably made himself, and a golden heart ring, and I also know that he has a cross tattoo inches away from his thumb. With no hesitation, I take his hand, letting me get back up on my white Converse. His hand is so soft that's all I can think about right now.
But I was also thinking about wanting to stay right here in this meadow...
A little bit longer...
Maybe forever.
Sadly it wasn't the perfect time to ask for something like that from someone. It's not the perfect time one hundred percent. I see the meadow as a place for perfect happy endings, but everything isn't perfect especially maybe in my life it'll never be perfect. Never have the perfect family, friends, or even a boyfriend or girlfriend. Just someone to love and experience that feeling in the right way is what I want. Not everyone can get what they truly desire they say.
A great ending isn't always a happy ending.
Is it too early to think of something ridiculous like that? I'm sure that won't happen... I always have that feeling.
I let go of his hand as soon as I stood up straight, tightening the ponytail I had all day that night leaving my head hurting later on. "Let's say I'm that caterpillar on your shoulder as a little reminder and you're the missing lyric to my lullaby... in a cool way," I told him as the both of us walked back to the house and made sure none of the others were looking for us in a secret location. "I like the sound of that." He replies.
By the time we made it back to the house, Henry and Hector were eating their food, then I made sure I packed up water and snacks and made my way outside of the house. Niall decided to let Harry try the bike again and he officially didn't fall over after five tries. When that was over, we all started heading out way into the main part of town while Jealous by Eyedress was playing from Louis' wireless speaker in his backpack. Both Niall and Louis planned on having all of us go to a thrift store to search for cool stuff. Harry was a little behind on catching up with everyone so I stayed by him in my skates. Then everyone split up and me and Harry were the ones who went inside the thrift store while the others went somewhere else.
"Good afternoon." A woman at the front waved over at Harry and me as we both stepped inside. "Good afternoon!" Harry spoke back to the woman while I only waved back to her with a smile. "I'm gonna find dog bowls in here for the puppies." Harry leads me across the shop, passing shelves of multiple items well organized. "Find whatever you want in here." He also told me before I went down another aisle.
I went back to playing my music with ny earbuds in as I made my way over to some glass decor, toys, paintings, and other old records people decided to give away in case someone else would wanna have them. Snow globes caught my eye which made me remember my mom's snow globe I still have with me. Then I spotted a glass strawberry magnet on the shelf of other magnets. I smiled to myself a bit, picking up the magnet to have a closer look, and didn't the price of the sticker on it. This is perfect for my collection. "I'm not afraid to see the bottom, 'cause I will, and I will..." I sang along to the music but not out loud to where someone could hear me.
While I made my way to the front in kg skates, I suddenly ran into a guy without even looking. I dropped my magnet and I quickly reached down to it as the guy was trying to do the same. My eyes snapped to the familiar leather material of his leather jacket and I was hoping I didn't run into Marcus.
But no...
It was Tom Greener.
My eyes went wide, maybe now going to panic since I ran into a Greener 'cause I'll never know if he'll call other Greeners to come after me from what I did to Marcus or maybe just Marcus having to catch me to either kill me or become like him. "I-I'm sorry." I quickly picked up the magnet and stood up straight to turn away and head over to the lady at the front so I could buy this magnet. Maybe I should buy the dog bowls when Harry finds them.
"Devlin Heart?" Tom suddenly taps my shoulder and I turn around to face him with my shaking hands. I clear my throat, "Yeah... Tom Greener, right? You knew my mom." I asked.
"Yes, I knew her very well. I should be feeling lucky to stand close to her daughter right now." He smugs to himself at the thought and I think my throat is tightening now. "Oh um... I guess you should feel that way." I try to laugh it off a bit just to move on but this guy is obsessive and would never move to another subject. He smiles, "As long as I'm alive, I'll always feel lucky. Can't wait to see you be like your mom." He told me.
He'd call her a whore.
"Mm..." I fake smile, "And it's nice to see the soon-to-be bald bastard who thinks he knew my mom so well." I snap, turning away to head over to the woman who was too busy looking through a magazine.
"Ready to buy?"
"Yes." I nodded, hanging her the magnet so she could scan it. "That'll be one ninety-nine." She said to me and I dug through my bag for my wallet.
Oh, I forgot it at Vicky's place. Great.
"Here." Tom handed me a five-dollar bill and I turned my eyes to him. "I don't want your money. I was gonna change my mind about getting the magnet." I turned him down but instead of taking it as an answer, he grabbed my wrist, shoving the dollar into my hand. "Give it to the woman." He ordered and I felt like I was slapping him across the face at this point but I wouldn't wanna do that in front of this sweet woman. So I gave it to the woman so she could give me my change back and then handed me the magnet after doing so. "Thank you," I told her and she didn't say a word back which made me upset.
I lower my eyes, tossing the magnet in my bag, and move past Tom so I can find Harry somewhere in the shop. "Buying more stuff?" He asks me from behind and I shake my head, "No, I'm meeting up with someone." I respond.
"Your new boyfriend?"
My brows furrow, "Oh my god- no!" I raised my voice with an annoyed tone. "Why not have another guy who will treat you the same way Marcus did?" He tapped my shoulder again, making me quickly whirl around and look at him in the eyes. "Fuck off, Tom!" I yell, "Go back to your rabbits and leave me alone 'cause nothing about my life should concern you!"
"Oh well, it does concern all of us." He gave me a soft gaze with a calm voice, "Besides... you'll never know how long you have left to have fun with those Fosters. Will you fall in love the way your mom should've or will it be a big mistake? We can't imagine how devastated your friends will be when they find out that you disappeared in the woods with those singing birds in the trees and never will be heard of ever again as the only Devlin Isabella Heart who was once in this town and will be all alone." He said to me before he turned around to leave the shop as I only stood there in the same spot, balling up my fists tightly and almost digging my nails into my palms.
I shut my eyes as my lips began to quiver until I heard light footsteps on the carpet floor behind me. "I found three bowls so maybe that'll be enough." I heard Harry's accent and I turned around to face him with tears in my eyes. His smile fades, "Oh no, what happened?" He looks down at me a bit and I shake my head.
"Hey, you can tell me anything. I don't want you to keep things from me, it'll make the situation worse."
"I just do-"
"Do you trust me?"
I look up at him to that important question which might be hard for me to answer. I slowly nodded, feeling myself shake at the same time, "Y-Yeah... I do." I nearly mumbled to him and he smiled a bit with those bright sage eyes looking right at me. "Then tell me what happened... why are you crying?"
"Tom Greener showed up," I began to explain to him, "He'd say disgusting things about my mom since he thinks he knows her so well since their days in high school. He became a Greener to be close to my mom even though she was going to marry my dad at the same time. He's a jealous guy and thinks he's lucky that he knows that I'm around now. He'd compare his obsession with my mom to me."
"What did he say to you?" He asked.
"I guess he just knows I'll die in the woods alone while you and the others will have no idea where I disappeared from..." I mutter as two drops of tears roll down my cheeks. The colors on Harry washed away and I knew he felt scared all of a sudden by that idea. "You're not gonna die...as long as you are with me and the others I promise you that you'll be alright." He told me and I immediately wrapped my arms around him.
"Don't give me a promise you can't keep."
He also wrapped his arms around me and his body felt a little tense. I wasn't sure if he doesn't like hugs or not or maybe he's not used to them. I'm hugging him because I feel thankful that he's there and will do everything he can to be there for me like the others.
I'm beginning to feel safe with someone somehow.
I might already know that answer.
"Trust me... I keep my promises in a lock." He spoke back, unwrapping his arms as I did the same before I'd wiped away my tears and tried to breathe through my nostrils even though they might be stopped up a little which would make me sniff more. "You're the most heartwarming person in this town, did you know that?"
He shakes his head, "No, I didn't know that but now I probably do." He chuckled while we both made our way to the front so he could buy the bowls. "Did you find anything nice?" He then asks me while giving the items to the woman so she can scan them.
"A magnet."
"That's the best item you can find?"
"Mhm... I like strawberries."
He takes out his wallet, "I haven't eaten Strawberries in a long time." He handed the woman his money to pay for the items. "Really?" I raise my brows, a little surprised to hear that from him. He nods while taking the bag and change. "Yeah, I'm almost forgetting what they taste like. Doesn't all strawberries taste different?"
"Depends on whatever strawberry-flavored thing you're eating." I shrugged while we both left the shop. "So what are your plans for the remaining days of June?" I ask him while I let him hand me his bag so I can leave it in my tote bag since the basket on my sky blue painted bike is broken.
"I was thinking of a party near the end of the month."
"Oh god, not those again..." I murmur, being a little sarcastic and I hear him laugh out loud while getting the bike so we both can find the others or go to our next stop. "I know but aside from that, me and Niall will make up our minds on what states we're traveling to."
"You think Zade will be here before we leave town?"
"Zayn?"
"Oh! Yeah- sorry." I laughed a bit at his correction.
"Hm... we'll see." He looked around the area if he spotted the others yet. You might say that we could've at least called or texted them to find out where they are, but ever since that bad thunderstorm, it seems like everyone has somehow lost connection from a power outage as if there was a hurricane. I don't think hurricanes would come all the way up north but down south where Florida is. "I think Vicky is picking up burgers from over there." I pointed over at a little burger place so we both went across the street to meet up with her.
By the time we made it over there, Vicky was skipping her way to the door in her flip-flops and with the bags of food in her hands. She pushed the door open, now outside with me and Harry, "I just talked to a cute guy in there." She squealed at me and Harry raised his brows probably not wanting to really listen to an all-girls conversation if he thinks so. "Oh? What's his name?" I smirk at her, being interested in what's going on.
"Drew, a dark curly-haired cutie."
"I thought you're not into guys." Harry crossed his arms with a murmur and she crossed her arms as well, "I never said that..." She rolls her eyes.
"Whatever you say."
"Anyway!" She grins, "He said he's a drummer and a part of a band. I guess it's time for me to be the next groupie in town."
"What band?" Harry asks her and she turns her eyes to him while rolling her eyes. "Um, I don't know, why not find that out on your own?" She gave him a pout, wanting to leave him miserable without an answer. Maybe he and the others would have a big fit about hearing other bands in this town who might be against them. I shake my head to myself, "Let's just make our way to the location Niall wants to take us to." I pick up her skateboard for her so she can walk with the bags.
Later on, we found the others and we started making our way away from town. Niall said he was thinking about going to La Push but that would be too far so instead, we all stopped by at a cabin. The walk through the forest to make it there wasn't long than I thought it would be and Niall was telling me how he found the cabin and decided that the cabin was abandoned so he and the others would chill in there whenever they wanted.
By the time everyone went inside, I opened the windows for light, Louis was finding another playlist to play better music for and Niall was setting up the board games while Harry left the food on the coffee table since there wasn't a dinner table in here. The cabin is only one story with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an attic. I spotted a lot of dust, and broken wood on the walls that left us a bit more of the light from the sun and there was a can of bug spray by the fireplace.
"Have you guys thought about fixing up this place?" I asked the guys while putting on my Converse since my feet were beginning to hurt in my skates. "Maybe not," Louis answers from down the hallway where the bedrooms are.
"Why not?"
"Well, don't you think all of us will be out of town after this summer?"
"Right..."
"More and more people are leaving this town too so it's what is it these days." Liam tossed some fries in his mouth before sitting down on the couch while I was sitting on the other couch across from him. "Why are people leaving?" I turn my head to Harry at this strange news I didn't know of even though I've been living in this town since I was born.
"A lot of power outages every time a storm comes. Some people I knew also said that this town is getting poorer day by day and some big families wanted to move out of here and move somewhere better. Some parents are even concerned about their teenagers out here too after those stories of those disappearing teens as well, Devlin. For me, I have to leave down somewhere after the summer for our band and try to make things possible."
"What if it doesn't work out?"
"You think this band has no luck on making it to the top? This is our dream." Louis came back with a blanket to toss onto the coffee table.
"N-No I never said that I'm just asking..."
"You got dreams, Devlin?" Harry asks me.
"Yes, why?"
"What's your dream?"
"Someday using my voice but that doesn't matter-"
"Same thing for all of us." He cuts me off. "It's important to catch dreams and do give up on them unless it's necessary. Us Fosters, believe in that."
♡
Marcus and now TOM... um-
-A