A/N: So this chapter turned out better in terms of where I want this story to go, but my writing isn't at it's best. Especially towards the end.
Dedicated to InfiniteWrongs for those comments she left me on chapter 4!
Song is Cigarette Daydreams by Cage The Elephant. Give it a listen!
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“And you can afford all those concert tickets because ..?”
“Didn’t you see my aunt’s flat? I come from a well off family. They all work at the family law firm.” she explained
We were sat against a brick wall. Muffled music blasted through the walls of a nearby club, piercing the otherwise silent atmosphere. The structures surrounding us were victim to various acts of graffiti. We weren't in the bright, touristy, seaside precinct anymore. We'd gone to the nightlife area of Brighton; a place I didn't even know existed. It had nothing on places like London or Manchester. There were only about three bars, a club, and an alley way. But nevertheless, it existed.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I was on edge. Our great escape hadn't yet begun. I thought that we were merely stopping here for a little rest before we made our getaway. My heartbeat quickened at the realisation that at any minute, Eleanora could stand up, clasp my hand and pull me out of town, on to somewhere distant where no-one knew our names. And that would be it.
She wasn't giving me any indication that we were leaving anytime soon. I wondered if she'd forgotten her earlier proposition. Or maybe she'd looked up 'runaway' in the dictionary and found the wrong meaning. Because if there was anything we were doing right now, it didn't involve running away in the slightest.
"I was planning on studying law at university. Well, before all the stuff with the band really took off." I explained. Throughout the ten minutes we’d been sat here, we’d been gradually exchanging facts about ourselves in attempts to get to know each other. Although with Eleanora, her little remarks were never anything personal. She seemed to cling to talking about her family, friends and hometown, rather than herself. The only thing I’d managed out of her was that her favourite colour was duck egg blue.
"Really?" she asked. Her head was thrown back against the brick surface; her forest green eyes discovering their way up to the starry sky.
"Yeah." I answered. I too, was doing the same.
"I can't picture you as a lawyer." she remarked
I sat for a moment and tried to imagine myself in a court room, defending a client with all my energy. "Neither can I." I admitted, scrunching up my nose. The stage was where I belonged. I just hoped my career wouldn't flop.
We found ourselves enveloped in a silence. We watched the sky like it was our favourite movie, and we’d just reached the best part.
Two unidentifiable people entered the narrow alleyway we were nestled in. Their distant conversation interrupted our short lull, but the girl next to me didn’t appear fazed. She still viewed the azure sky with wide and glassy eyes. However, I tipped my head forward and knitted my brow, immediately losing the pleasure of relaxation I once possessed.
“Erm, didn’t you say we were going to run away?” I questioned, choosing not to mention the approaching figures. They didn’t seem threatening -- it was just a boy wearing a leather jacket with his arm snaked around a girl in a cocktail dress -- but Eleanora was so unpredictable, the sight of these two could impact her in a less than desirable way.
“Huh?” she asked, returning from her daze.
“Run away? Because if we are, I’m kind of having second thoughts about it. I mean, I really need to be at the show tomorrow. It’s probably the most important one of the tour. Who am I kidding? It definitely is. It’s the last one. I can’t let the boys down and--“
“You seem to be forgetting your promise.” she intervened. The two passerbys turned into a small street, granting us the luxury of privacy.
“What promise?”
“If I answer your questions, you’ll accompany me.”
“Look, that was a stupid deal--“
“I’ve given you your answers, now it’s your turn to pay up. If I’m not mistaken, five minutes ago you told me that you weren’t one to break promises.”
“Yeah, not usually. But right now I have a more important promise to fulfil. I’ve promised my band that I’d be at the show tonight.”
“So your band knows you’re here?”
“No-- I, yeah, um, they have no idea. It’s just sort of been a promise from the start, y’know? That we won’t abandon each other.”
“Aw.” she cooed with a playful smile, and in return I gently pushed her shoulder enough so that she lost balance.
“I don’t intend on sounding conceited, but they’d be awful without me. Oliver and Alex, have okay voices, but they’re not powerful enough to take the lead. And don’t make me start on Will’s voice. It makes you wish you were deaf. So I just can’t go through with this, alright?”
The grin dropped off her face. She stared at me with a blank expression for so long, I started to grow uneasy. Her eyes darted around various points on my face, as if she was studying a word search. “What’s the time, Harry?” she whispered
“I don’t know; I don’t have a watch on me. Um.” I looked around like I was expecting a clock to appear on one of the graffiti coated walls surrounding us.
“Just give me a time.” she demanded in a louder voice
“Uh, one o’clock.”
“Alright. Good. So if it’s one now, we’ll be back by three.” she said, standing up.
“When’s three?” I questioned, remaining on the concrete ground.
“I don’t know.” she shrugged as she brushed dirt off her dress.
But despite knowing that it could possibly turn out to be the worst move of my life, I pulled myself up and followed her out of the alleyway.
She continuously remained two paces ahead of me as we walked along a concrete path, passing under neon signs of shops which had closed for the day. I tried numerous times to align with her, but the lack of energy I experienced, due to all the performing, travelling and running I’d done in the short amount of time prevented me from reaching her.
I stuck my hands in my pockets, pursed my lips and squinted at various objects from across the street; pretending I was interested in them. I followed the tail of her dress closely and watched strands of her golden hair flutter in the breeze. We walked along the same street for what felt like an eternity, so when Eleanora finally did turn, it came as quite a surprise to me.
We found ourselves at the esplanade. Waves crashed against the shore in a noisy fashion. The boats rocked from side to side and sails began to shake as the wind picked up.
"The beach?" I asked with a trace of amusement in my voice "What are we going to do? Swim to France?"
She shot me a silencing look. "No." she said firmly, as if she hadn't yet been introduced to the concept of jokes. "We're going to sit on the sand."
"Sit- Sit on the sand?" I asked in so much disbelief. My eyes were wide and my feet were ready to spin around and navigate their way back to the tour van "Wow. Okay. Real adventurous. We're totally going to experience something different tonight. Something that has nothing to do with Brighton at all. So why don't we sit on the fucking beach. That's a good idea, isn't it?" I exclaimed with my arms flying everywhere "I mean, it's not like people flock here in large numbers to go to the beach here, is it? It's not like the town is famous for its pier."
"Shhh." she whispered, cupping a hand over my mouth. I continued my rant, but it was muffled by her skin, and there was no way she could possibly know what I was saying, so I quit. "That's better."
I glared at her, and then used a hand to stop hers from obstructing my speech. It was a challenge, as she was trying with all her might to keep me quiet, but I eventually got there. "I'm going home." I announced
"Do you want to see something?" she asked, utterly ignoring my last comment
"Honestly? No." I said matter of factly before turning on my heels, burying my hands in my pockets and muttering curse words under my breath
"You're being a dick, you know." she called after me
I tried to keep moving forward, but I couldn't resist "And you're absolutely mental. You’ve officially taken the title of ‘strangest person I’ve ever met’" I declared, before continuing my journey to the black van.
"Sometimes the best people are strange." she murmured in a soft voice. Her words almost sounded sad, like she’d repeated them over and over. They caused me to come to a halt and bite my lip.
“This is insane.” I whispered to myself with closed eyes, before poking my head around my shoulder. Her feet were planted in the coarse sand. Her hair continues to blow in the wind as she picked at the gold necklace which rested on her chest. “What was it you wanted to show me?” I inquired
Her head perked up and our gazes turned mutual. Her eyebrows were raised as she watched me in denial, as if she refused to believe that I’d actually somewhat changed my mind. “It’s a secret.” she said quickly
“Well show me, then.” I demanded, sticking my hands out as if it was the obvious solution.
“Hmm.” she thought for a moment, holding a finger to the corner of her mouth “I’m not sure if your worthy of seeing it anymore. You’ll need to redeem yourself.”
“And what do you suggest that I do to earn your trust back?”
“You’re going to have to make a fool out of yourself.”
“What? No-“
“Scream nonsense at the top of your lungs. Go on, I dare you.”
“Uh,” I started, not sure what to yell. I wasn’t the best at improvisation. “I have smelly feet!” I called loud enough for only Eleanora to hear
“Harry, we all know that’s the truth. Something ridiculous, please.”
“I own a ferret called Rodney! And I like to take him for walks in the park! And I feed him chicken wings, because that’s his favourite food, and--“ it still wasn’t loud enough to satisfy her
“Now tell the whole town that after a few drinks you once made out with your ferret Rodney.” she commanded
I gave her a look, but she didn’t budge. I would have to do it. I sucked in a breath. “I ONCE GOT DRUNK AND MADE OUT WITH MY PET FERRET CALLED RODNEY!” I screamed
When I looked back she was toppling over herself with laughter. She was gasping for air as she fell to the sand on her knees. The sight of her in absolute glee caused for me to giggle as well. But our laughter was silenced when a window from a nearby house was suddenly filled with light.
“Shit.” Eleanora said calmly, now regaining herself a little. She wrapped her fingers around my wrist and yanked me to the right. She ran off in that direction; me following gangly behind. She stopped us at a lone log. We both ducked behind it as a presumably retired man in a bathrobe stepped out of the aforementioned house. “I EAT HORSESHIT FOR BREAKFAST!” she yelled at the same volume that I’d reached before.
“Fuck, Eleanora, be quiet, will ya?” I whispered as the man’s eyes travelled to the source of the sound. But she didn’t appear fazed at this by any means; she was chuckling uncontrollably. The man shook his head, as if to non-verbally say ‘kids these days’ before returning to his house, evidently too tired to deal with us.
Once he was well and truly gone, I asked “Secret place?”
“Oh, yeah. Secret place.” she exclaimed, shooting up and brushing the sand off her legs.
I tagged behind her as we made our way along the beach. Eventually the sand gradually faded and we reached a hilly area. We trekked our way over the bumps, growing more exhausted with each step.
“Wait up!” I called, but she’d already stopped at the destination. She was perched on the tallest hill; her hair still flying everywhere.
“This is it.” she announced one’s I’d joined her. I followed her line of vision and saw the entirety of Brighton; all sleepy, with the occasional light emitting from a building. It was beautiful. It was a postcard photograph. “This is where I run away to.”
“You mean--“
“Yeah. We were never going to smuggle ourselves into another country or something.”
“Well, that’s not what I thought. I don’t know. I thought you were implying that we’d catch a bus to Bath or London or Birmingham or drive away in my van or something. Not just come ... here.”
“To run away is to get away from a certain place in hope of finding somewhere better. You don’t have to cross the seas to find it. Sometimes it can be at your doorstep.”
And so we sat on the sandy grass and talked. And talked. And talked. Until there was nothing to say, and nothing to laugh about. We talked about England and the band and her family and science and the best type of cheese and politics and school and friends and more and more things which I’ve forgotten.
“It’s three.” I announced, and we made our way back to the dust flat.
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A/N: im so sorry for the bad writing okay.
but questions. alright. What do you think about Harry in this story? Do you like him or not? (he's actually supposed to be a little OOC. Not fully, but a little. You may not see it now but it'll shine through later). And who's your favourite in One Direction??
I'd love to know your answers, so tell me in the comments below!
until next time ...