Harry
The night was interesting, with how the stars shone as if they knew something I didn't.
And it was silent, but it was the kind silence that we both enjoyed. Yet, at the same time it was killing me, because all I could think about was that she just kinda maybe indirectly said she wanted to be with me and that she doesn't even like him.
It was a wrong thing to think about, I admit, and it felt wrong to like the idea of it. But at times like this, when her fingers were laced through mine as she walked right beside me and the streetlamps were shining onto the contours of her face, it all just felt so right.
"We should stop by there." I said, gesturing to a small convenience store; noticeably bright amongst the empty night.
"Okay."
So we did just that, with Ashley walking slightly ahead of me, (partially because she was just simply a fast walker, and partially because I just wanted her within my sight).
The place was dismal, and I'm not particularly picky, yet it seemed almost unsanitary. But the most important thing was that it was open, and I guess, that that'll do for now.
There was a little bell signifying our entrance, the kind of thing you would expect from a small store like this, and the store clerk after hearing the chime, looked up at us with this undetermined disappointment in his eyes. Her looked long at Ashley as she walked in with her stiff stature, but quickly put his head down as he saw me following. All the while, she was wandering aimlessly throughout the store, trying to seem casual, but unable to mask the fact that everything about her looked hopelessly confused.
"Harry..."
"Yeah?"
"What are we doing here?"
Her voice was nothing short of a whisper, and I thought it was funny; cute, even.
"What kind of sandwiches do you like?" I asked her, laughing while doing so.
"What kind of question is that?"
I just shrugged lightly, truly puzzled within how to answer her question in any other way.
"Oh, ok," she laughed vaguely and smiled as if my answer was a valid form in which to answer a question."In that case, I really don't know. I haven't had a sandwich in forever."
"Okay."
Stop being so awkward, godamnit.
My sneakers trudged along the floors that looked as if they were meant to be white, but weren't. I watched as she did the same, with her left hand tucked into mine, tiny feet stuffed into shoes far too large and aligned with the uneven off-white tiles.
In front us was a refrigerator choked full of various sandwiches and other pre-packaged food. So I grabbed, I don't know, but I know I grabbed lot of them, at least one of each kind. I then did the same to many other types of snacks, foods, and beverages, until it was all just one random amount of convience store edible goods.
"What are you doing?" Ashley asked lowly.
"Why are you whispering?"
To that, she whispered yet again, "I don't know," with a smile loosely streched across her face.
The cashier looked at me like I was insane as I set all of the items onto the counter, and I laughed at the simple irony of it all, right then and there, which probably made me seem like even more of a maniac. His lingering gaze quickly faultered, however, as he went straight back to scanning our items, only to give me a look moments later. That look. You know. Where he stared at Ashley for a moment, and then at me, and then at out joined hands, and probably wondered how I managed to hold hands with a girl as hold-hand-worthy as it gets. And I couldn't blame him, because I was wondering the exact same thing.
"£42.58," he said like a recorded message, spitting out information he only knew because it was given to him. "Would you like a bag?"
"Nah, it's okay." I replied, while dropping several crumpled pounds and old pence onto the grimy counters. "Keep the change." (And, I have to admit it felt awfully generous to say this, even as the change itself was precisely a whopping two pence.)
I slipped my backpack off my shoulders and began to carelessly shove the items into it, until Ashley insisted that "you have to put the solid items at the top, or else the squishy ones will get squished" and that I, apparently, knew nothing of the proper way in which to pack.
So there we were, I, kneeled on dirty tiling, repacking various items into a worn-out backpack, and she, monitoring and reporting to me of whether she deemed my packing skills correct.
"What is this for anyways?" She asked and watched patiently as I repacked the contents for the third time.
"Wait, do juice boxes go on the top or bottom?"
"Top."
"Thanks."
I then, showed the backpack to her and she nodded and smiled slightly in satisfaction.
Ashley then, with small fingers just barely peeking through the sleeves of my own shirt, helped me up and laced her fingers through mine. I then smiled at our hands, and then at her.
"God, you're such a dork."
I just smiled wider.
Together, we stepped out of the store as another bell rung, sounding a bit too cheerful about us leaving. The air seemed colder, to me at least, but it was kind of nice in that sense, just because it made me feel as awake as the city was.
"Wait so what is this for?"
She spoke up, her words releasing in puffs of chilled breath.
"What?"
"The backpack."
"Oh yeah." I sighed, wondering how I even forgot to answer her question initially. "Ok, well, remember how I just told you about the Ruptiphrene thing?"
"Yeah."
"Oh yeah, sorry, okay.. but now that we know that, you probably shouldn't be eating any meals they feed to you at the institution."
"Ohhhhhh."
"Yeah, and this way, I don't have to stress about whether you like Coke or Pepsi, I could just buy you both, because I guess that that's not really a priority on your list of things to remember after being locked in a box for two years." I smiled as if I was proud of myself, and I was. "But I bought you Coke anyways, it's better, trust me."
"You literally just contradicted yourself."
"But Coke is better. Significantly. You're welcome."
"But what if I like-"
"No."
She sighed dramatically as we continued to aimlessly walk, and it was kind of nice, I admit, because walking with her was more than just walking.
We talked about small things, like how she used to work in a book store, and this one time she had a drawing if her's displayed in a local gallery, and she seemed very excited to tell me about it. It was a bit strange, however, to imagine the life she had before me. It seemed so normal, or at least what she described it to be, for a girl who was anything but that.
And as it turns out, she claimed to be 24, a whole 4 years older than me. That was just pain weird, but I'd be lying if I didn't find it even slightly alluring.
I learned a lot of things also through what she didn't say, like how her crooked smile always started from the left side of her charming face, or how she always raked her fingers though her hair that wasn't quite black nor was it brown, and perhaps that might've told me more about her than what she did herself.
Now, it was two in the morning, and all I could think about was how nice her hands were, rummaging though my hair, and how her lips felt as if they were made for mine.
We found ourselves on a small, stone, park bench, that was comfy enough, but admittedly comfier with her on my lap.
"Your phone," she giggled, pulling away, her lips pink and kiss-drunk.
"What?"
"Your phone," she laughed again, "it's ringing."
Oh.
Almost too quickly, I withdrew the device from my pocket, and denied the call; tossing it onto the empty seat beside me.
"They can wait."
Ashley smirked lightly, pausing to cusp the sides of my face before continuing. But she literally whined into my mouth when the phone rang again.
It seemed evident, right then and there, that whoever was calling just couldn't wait at all, because my phone rang about four more times before I picked it up, and even then I was considering silencing it.
"Hold on," I said to her.
Yet, at that specific moment I really wasn't thinking of who could be calling at this time of night (or day, rather), or even bother to check the caller I.D. as I brought the device up to my ear in a quick act of immense frustration. I thought that perhaps it was a stranger, guided by an incorrect number, and as soon as I answered, stating just that, it would be over with, and we could continue.
But I only realized how wrong I was, until it was too late.
"Um, uh-oh," I really couldn't help but gasp, because Ashley's lips has begun to trail down my neck, and well.. let's just say that was a bit unexpected. "Hello?"
"Hello, Harry." A familiarized, deep voice adresssed.
Swiftly, in due to disbelief, my hands lowered the phone to check who was calling (but unfortunately hit Ashley right it the face while doing so).
"Ow."
"Sorry!"
The device was brought back up to my ear, before I said with the most utter surprise, "Matthew?"
My words immediately caused Ashley's actions to cease, and she gasped, quite loudly at that, staring right at me; eyes wide.
"Harry, I heard that. Who are you with at three in the morning? Because I'm home, and convinced that you're not here."
"I, uh, I'm at a friend's h-"
"You know what, never mind." He sighed through the speaker, his voice sounding tired and pained. "I'm tired of this Harry, I don't mean to offend you in any way, and excuse me if I am, but I really am tired of this."
The atmosphere suddenly shifted at that. It was undoubtedly tense now, so tense it was nearly tangible.
"What?"
He paused. "Harry, I'm tired of pretending that I don't know what you're doing, and of you acting like you believe me."
To say his words were terrifying was to say the absolute least, and to say that fear was just an emotion, was a petty lie.
"Wait.. What?" I spoke slowly, still trying the process his words entirely.
"I mean, did you really think I wouldn't see you? I gave you, like, three hours, and its been four, I trust you, I really do. I wouldn't have let you leave the unit with her at all if I didn't trust you." He spoke as if he couldn't stop, his sentences jumbled and mixed and whimsical nonsense."You're getting yourself involved in something bigger than you, and I don't want to see you get hurt. Please," he said, practically begging, "please bring her back."
"Hold on, bigger than me? Are you trying to belittle me? I understand perfectly, Matthew, and I'll have you know that this is illegal, and something I can easily turn you in for."
I was, of course, referencing to how he had been supervising an institution that drugged a patient. And this, of course, would be perfectly fine, if it wasn't for the fact that it counteracted everything a mental hospital was supposed to be doing, and if Ruptiphrene were actually legal at all.
My tone of voice was strong and unwavering, and I have to say that I was incredibly astonished. I think Ashley was too, and that was comforting in itself.
Matthew inhaled sharply, almost seeming like it hurt. "I'm afraid you care about your mother far too much to do that; and that girl of yours, far too little."
It all became silent. It seemed as if everything was awaiting a response, even me, and the wind became dull, like it wouldn't want to interrupt. I didn't respond. I didn't know how to.
So he continued, his voice very obviously strenuous, and dripping with a sharp diction. "It's your decision, Harry, although I doubt Anne would take her husband going to prison lightly."
The bench felt rough through the denim of my jeans, and my mind was at war within itself; caving in on my skull and feeling like a vortex desperate to swallow me whole.
"I'd like her back at the institution in twenty minutes," he said through the speaker, like he had a knife wretched somewhere inside of him. "And I'm sorry you had to get involved in this, but I just don't want you to get hurt."
The line then went dead at that, his final words a lasting echo.
"What happened?" She asked timidly.
My eyes found their way to hers, washed over by some kind of emotion I really couldn't be sure of.
"I... I'm not so sure myself."
Nodding, she silently slipped off lap as I stood up and slung my arm around the feeble support of her shoulder bones, the concrete seat alone and unoccupied once again.
Her petite hands crept their way around my waist in this slow, somewhat soothing, but also taunting motion, and they looked pale, even more so in the bleaching moonlight.
"I'm sorry." I whispered to her, half-hoping she didn't hear me. "But I'm taking you back."
And she nodded grimly, but looking as if she understood, which was far more than I could say for myself.
(A/N: hoLY CRAP IT'S BEEN A WHILE WOW I MISSED YOU GUYS.
AND IF YOU'RE READING THIS: I LOVE YOU.
but did I tell you guys that like I was biking home from school and I somehow got a flat tire so I was walking my bike right and I was like "holy crap this is just like madness" buT THEN THIS BIG BLACK CAR PULLS OVER AND PARKS RIGHT NEXT TO ME AND I STARTED NOT-SO-CASUALLY FAST WALKING LIKE HELLA.
but reALLY it was terrifying.
[oh by the way £42.58 = $68.36]
AYE DEDICATION GOES TO MY BAE MARIE AND LIKE HER RANT BOOK IS THE BEST ONE ON HERE IM NOT GONNA LIE OK.
Please don't forget to vote and comment, it really makes my day you guys :) )