When I shot my dry eyes open abruptly, I noticed three distinct things that all felt very unfamiliar to me.
The sky was mural of orange, pink, and blue.
My head was on Harry's warm chest.
And I was being sprayed with water.
I gasped in startle, shooting my body up off his chest I was laying into. I couldn't even see straight to know where I was and what the hell was going on, all I could hear was the sounds of light water hitting us from all different directions.
He launched up too, heavy bags under his eyes while we sat up next to each other in the same level of intensity. With the feeling of grass poking beneath us, I quickly understood we fell asleep on the football field.
And now the morning sprinklers were spraying us from all different direction.
We both looked at each other in tired startle, and when I looked down I realized our hands were still intertwined from last night. Did we hold hands all night?
No time to think about that.
"We fell asleep!" I jump up to my feet from the cold water spraying us in every direction, he does as well. My eyes were burning and glossy from my deep sleep that was interrupted so torturously. We were both completely soaked already.
He grabs his pack of cigarettes off the wet grass and grasps my hand to make a run for it.
"Go!" He shouts over the sounds of the sprinklers surrounding the football field.
I put my free arm over my forehead and ran with him towards the closest exit. I was barely awake, I didn't even know what time it was. We were suppose to be on the bus by five thirty, did we miss it? The sky was still rising like it was very early.
Running blindly through the misting sprinklers, Harry pulls me to the closest set of stairs that were gonna lead us up to a part of the fence. But the second we got to the second concrete step, there was a bellowing shout.
"There they are!" A mans voice came from somewhere, making us both freeze and look up from the bottom of the seating area.
At the top of the flight of cement steps was two police officers and a janitor pointing at us.
"I found them there this morning!" The janitor shouts from the tall fight of stairs.
Game over.
I look at Harry who was drenched, strands of wet hair fanned down in his eyes. He looked up at the police and gave a cocky smile with teeth, making my eyes go wide.
"Don't move!" The police shouted.
They start running down the steps towards us, my heart beginning race. We were gonna be arrested for sure now. I couldn't even begin to process what this meant for the show tonight. Were we gonna make it to Florida if we get arrested for trespassing?
"Now we run." Harry mumbles unexpectedly, yanking my hand backwards so we started running across the field again.
"What!" I shouted in shock. He kept his tight grip in my hand, our fingers intertwined as he sprinted while pulling me along with him.
"Harry!" I objected but was running with him anyway. This was not the best idea, running from the police was gonna make it worse if we get caught.
He looks over his shoulder at me and smiles over the water, a deviant playful smile like he got a thrill out of this. The water started hitting us all over again as we sprinted through the rapid sprinklers again.
"Sorry babe I don't feel like getting arrested today!" He shouts over the sprinklers while we ran across the field together.
I turned my head back and saw the police chasing us not too far behind, my eyes widening in panic. Harry and I raced through the water that soaked us from head to toe, getting to the other end of the field to another exit.
We get to a different set of stairs that led to another way out of here. I had no idea if this was the side we came through last night or not, my mind was all jumbled. He pulled me up the cement steps, between the arena seating. I don't bother looking behind me because it would just freak myself out more knowing how close the cops were. I've never run from the police before, but I know this was far from Harry's first time.
"You're insane!" I shout as we run up the steps.
He laughs like this was all a game to him, getting to the top. Knowing I had to climb a fence made me nervous, I'm not as fast at doing it as he is. Being panicked liked this to escape will definitely make me stumble when I have to climb.
But when we got to the top of the stairs, I realized the front steel gate was now unlocked and wide open. I felt a small sense of relief in this adrenaline soaked moment.
"Get back here!" I heard the police from very close behind us, probably no more then ten steps away.
Harry and I kept our pace that was hard to stay up with. My lungs couldn't take much more running. The only thing getting me through it without an inhaler was the fear of adrenaline pumping in my blood. We bolted through the open gate, running down the steps to where the motorcycle was parked.
They were close on our trail, I could hear their heavy steps not far behind. My heart was racing so hard I could feel it in my feet, I couldn't even process how crazy this all was.
We got to the bottom of the brick stairs while I heard them running down close behind.
Harry races up to the motorcycle and hops on in a flash, but in the intensity of the moment he quickly lifts me up on it as well, but on his lap and facing him.
"Hold on." He demands before I had time to question it, my back facing the handlebars while I straddle his front.
I wrap my arms around him and bring my chin to his shoulder so he could see over mine. I was completely wrapped around him, backwards on the motorcycle. In a blink he fired up the engine and we were reversing out of the parking spot. Before I knew it the vehicle was rotated around and we were revving off.
I watched the police officers in our trail chase us a bit as Harry speeds off through the empty parking lot, eventually they give up knowing they couldn't outrun his speed on foot.
"Give them the finger for me." He says in laughter.
"No!" I shake my head into his shoulder.
Harry turned onto the road as our soaking wet clothes were wrapped around each other. My racing chest was pressed to his. My legs dangle over the side of the bike behind him while my arms were snaked under his and wrapped tightly around his back. Our luck we'd get pulled over for driving in this position, because it definitely wasn't the law.
I kept my chin tucked over his shoulder so he could see the road clearly over my shoulder. We were both drenched from the sprinklers, my eyes were still heavy from my sleep. I couldn't believe we fell asleep on the field last night. The last thing I remembered was grabbing his hand while staring at the stars.
And when I woke up, I was cuddled into him but we were still holding hands.
My mind was hazy from what happened last night, but I was getting glimpses. I was nervous at what time it was. By the colour of the sky and the sprinklers, I knew it was morning. But was it before five thirty?
If it was after that than we definitely will have to travel on our own again. I don't know how far Daytona Beach was from Charlotte either.
My heart was still racing, even knowing we lost the cops. I couldn't believe we just did that, it was crazy but also such a rush. That was obviously not his first time competing against authorities, I honestly thought we'd be arrested.
We drove off down the early morning street, since I was facing backwards I just took in the street we drove past. I kept my arms wrapped firmly around him, trying to ignore the fact I couldn't even see a collision ahead if we happened to get into one.
I shut my eyes and nuzzled into him harder for much needed warmth. We were both soaking wet, making the winds extra cold against us. My lips pressing into his arch without me kissing it, my arms squeezing him tighter. I was wrapped around him like a monkey, hoping to god I didn't fly off somehow.
Part of me was nervous that any moment I'd see a siren lit cop car speeding around the corner behind us. But I think we got rid of them, I was just paranoid.
My wet hair blew out ahead of me, gathered to the one side of my head so it wasn't blowing in his face. I could've believe we fell asleep on a football field, I couldn't believe last night happened in general. It felt like a twilight zone, trespassing to smoke in a football field to where we passed out.
Did we pass out because of the pot?
I felt the motorcycle turn left at an intersection, making me pinch my eyes shut and grip him harder because we were tilting. Once we were driving straight again, I loosened my arms a bit and opened my eyes.
There was a car behind us, a middle age woman with a tight updo and a grey pantsuit staring me right in the eyes. She seemed a bit shocked, I mean I would be too if I was making eye contact with someone backwards on a motorcycle, wrapped around the driver.
I gave a little awkward smile before Harry turned again so we weren't driving in the same direction as her anymore.
The sound of multiple heavy bus engines came very heard, and before I knew it I saw the front of the hotel that was lined up with running tour buses. Slight relief washed over me because seeing the parked busses meant it was before five thirty.
Before I knew it, Harry made a sharp right and we were driving down the tunnel to the underground garage of the hotel. The sound of the motorcycle transmission echoes the minute we got underground. He drifted through the lot until pulling into the spot the bike was last night.
Finally he put it into park, making the engine rattle go silent. I loosened my grip the minute we were in still, relieved we made it back in one piece. I basically was blind during this who ride, not being able to see what was in front of us.
I unclamped my arms around him and pulled back, sitting on his lap and coming face to face with him. The second I met his green eyes, I shook my head but couldn't help but laugh.
"You're crazy."
"I think a thank you is in order." He states, his under eyes puffy from sleep.
"You're dreaming." I chuckle and shake my head again.
He smiles and drops his head, sliding his hand behind him to pull out his phone.
"We've got twenty three minutes to get on the bus." He checks the time as he stayed sat on the motorcycle with me on him.
"I have to get changed." I look down at my soaking clothes.
"Me too." He agrees and nods, knowing we both were soaked.
I look at the bags under his eyes, realizing I've never looked at him this long in the morning to notice them. His eyes were puffy like everyone's in the morning, but it looked different on him.
He stared at me as I stared at his swollen under eyes, my hand softly raising up and placing on his cold cheek. He froze as I did the action, silence drowning between us. My thumb gently grazed under his eye, feeling the soft skin. Strangely, the subtleness of sleepy bags under his eyes made him look so innocent.
"What are you..." He murmurs because I was examining.
"Your morning eyes." I grin softly.
His reaction was to rub them with the back of his fingers, my hand going back down to my lap.
"Stop." He murmurs in what almost sounded like embarrassment. "They're swollen I know."
I laugh under my breath and pull his hands away from his eyes so I could see again, finding it funny how defensive he was about something we all have.
"Relax, they're cute." I shake my head and gently touch them again as he let me. He stayed still as I very lightly grazed my thumb back and forth on delicate skin under his eye.
"They like... water and stuff in my sleep so they're swollen in the morning." He murmurs in uncertainty as I pulled my hand back.
I noticed how the corners of his eyelids were wet and the eyes themselves were glossy. It's almost funny to think a notorious man like Harry gets glossy eyes in his sleep, he looked a lot more innocent when he's tired.
I liked it.
I realized I was still touching them, so in realization I quickly put my hands back down to my lap and intertwined them together. I guess it was a little strange I was just silently touching the bags under his eyes.
"I should go get my stuff together." I change the subject considering this was getting weird for us.
He clears his throat and nods in agreement. I get off his lap on the bike, standing back up to my feet. He gets up after me, standing tall and making sure he has everything in his pockets.
I needed to get out of these wet clothes, I was desperate from dry fabric. He had it worse, at least I wasn't in jeans.
We walked silently up to the elevator to where he clicks the button and waits. It wasn't long until it opened for us and we stepped in. All I had to do was quickly get myself changed and ready while packing up the last few things around my hotel room.
We rode the elevator all the way up to the fortieth floor, silent. It wasn't an awkward silence though, for once it was comfortable.
We stood next to each other, rather then across from each other. My eyes stayed on the steel elevator doors, my body frigid underneath my wet clothes. I brought my ice cold hands up to my stomach and crack my fingers, each one.
I've always had an addiction to cracking every joint in my body that I could, but my hands were my main focus. I guess it's not really an addiction, it's just a habit I never broke.
I cracked each finger in two different ways, the cracks being extra intense because my hands were so cold. I did my knuckles, ends of fingers, pulled them sideways, squeezed the thumbs in a fist, pushed the sockets of the thumbs, bent my wrists forward, pried the fingers back, any way I could to release tension in my hands.
I heard him snicker next to me, making me turn my head to him on my twelfth crack and freeze.
"What?" I ask.
"You gonna snap your neck next or what?" He turns his head down to look at me with an amused head shake.
"It's a habit." I murmur while putting my hands down.
"You're gonna give yourself arthritis." He states, making me arch my brow. It felt like a weird input for him considering the amount of damage he's done to his body from alcohol and drugs.
"Are you a doctor now?" I fire back.
He chuckles, looking back ahead of him at the elevator doors.
"Just saying." He holds that cocky smile as the elevator chimes.
The doors open and we both step out at the same time. His hotel room was at the opposite end of the hall then mine, so this was where we needed to part ways.
He started walking down the hall in the other direction I was going in, the two of us going our separate ways silently. I look down at my feet while walking, sticking my hands in my wet sweater pocket.
But before he got too far, I froze and turned around to look at his back walking down the long hallway.
"Harry—" I spoke up.
He froze and turned around from a somewhat far distance, his eyes connecting to mine with the length of the hallway between us.
"Thanks..." I murmur under my breath. "I actually had a good time last night."
I don't know what opted me to tell him that, but I tend to speak before thinking nowadays. Yesterday was a crazy day full of too many emotions. We had a big fight, a fight that made me hate him. But for once he apologized for what he did, and it was sincere. Then bringing me to a football field seemed like an attempt to make me feel better, and I appreciated that.
Even with the distance between us I could catch the small smirk on his face, his head dipping down to look at his wet shoes. He scratched the side of his nose before turning around.
He turns back around, leaving me with just the visual of his smirk. I watched him as he walked the short distance left to his room, speaking one last time before opening the door to disappear.
"Don't miss your bus angel."
//