Not A Temporary Love | Finley & Harlyn #1

Chapter 7

Finley

"You look like hell," I tell Max when he finally gets to the train station. He stares at me through bloodshot eyes and yawns.

"Remind me why we decided to go to London today?" he asks as we get in line to buy tickets.

"Well, we planned it before you got your hangover," I say. He grunts.

We pay for our tickets and join the crowd of people on the platform, waiting for our train to St. Pancras.

"St. Pancras, Max," I say. "The St. Pancras. Harry Potter and the flying car St. Pancras."

"I know. I know," he interrupts, putting up a hand. "And I promise that once I get a little more sleep on the train and some food, I'll freak out with you. Just...stop squealing."

"I'm a man. I don't squeal," I protest.

"Well, it sounded like squealing," he groans, rubbing his temple.

"See," I say. "This is why I don't drink."

"Oh, shut up."

We spend the train ride in silence, Max dozing with his head on his arms on the table between us. I watch the English countryside and tiny stations scroll past while I start writing my second blog post. Not a whole lot has happened since I posted my first one on Tuesday night, but I can at least talk about the first week social last night, hanging out and making plans with Elly and Harlyn. And I can try to describe how much I already love it here.

Halfway through a paragraph, a text pops down from Harlyn himself. We texted for almost half an hour last night before I crashed. I apologized for leaving him hanging when I woke up this morning. It doesn't surprise me that he's getting back to me almost three hours later.

Harlyn:
No don't worry. It really was late. Or...early actually.

Me:
Yeah. And we're on our way to London this morning. Wanted to get some sleep in.

I almost add "after I knew you were home safe," but I don't. I don't need him knowing I stayed up past when I would have gone to bed last night to make sure he didn't call me to help with Elly. It was stupid. I wouldn't have been of any help.

Harlyn:
That's right. Hope you have fun.

We're pulling into what I assume is St. Pancras, so I text back a quick thanks before shaking Max awake. We both exit the train, slowly taking it in. I feel like I'm in an airport hangar, staring at the curved metal beams that soar over our heads and the red brick wall that rises to our left. Max spots a few food places past the platforms, and we stop at a cafe so he can buy some croissants and a bottle of water.

We pickup Oyster cards for the underground and find our way to the front of the station, gawking like idiots at the famous exterior where the flying car scene from Harry Potter was filmed. I take a picture, trying not to look too touristy but definitely failing.

We don't have much of a plan today. Well, that's not entirely true. I always have to have a bit of a plan, for my sanity. We know there's no way we'll cover all of London in a day. I couldn't cover London in a lifetime. And we know we're going to see some of the touristy things on our field trips. So, we decided to just be in London today, take it in. We find the Underground station, and I'm immediately obsessed. There's not much public transportation in rural Illinois, none in Lacon. I've ridden the L train in Chicago, but this is different.

We're spit out by the Tower of London, and we wander around it, taking in the people, the old stone walls, and the moat. Max pouts about wanting a castle and a moat, looking much better after having eaten and hydrated. We walk across Tower Bridge next, and Max lists as many movies as he can that have Tower Bridge in them. I'm sure there are hundreds. As we walk along the Thames, I glimpse bits of iconic buildings and landmarks. St. Pauls' Cathedral. Globe Theater. The London Eye. We've been walking for two hours when we finally hit the massive Ferris wheel - can you even call it a Ferris wheel? - and we're starving. So, we find a cafe after gawking at Big Ben for far too long.