Eleanora [Harry Styles AU]

[8] Highway

A/N: This is unedited, just like all my chapters, so feel free to point out any mistakes.

Dedicated to perksofbeingaweirdo because she comments on every chapter and I love her Louis story, 'Complusive'.

Song is Suck It And See by Arctic Monkeys 

Hope you enjoy!

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❝You're rarer than a can of dandelion and burdock. And those other girls are just postmix lemonade❞

My eyes began to peel open, but due to a sudden blinding light, squeezed shut again. My clothes felt tight, and on my few patches of exposed skin, I felt overwhelmingly cold. My hands slowly found my bare forearms and started to rub some heat in; my teeth breaking out into a slight chatter. More cautious this time, I lifted up my eyelids and blinked to adjust to the light.

            I grumbled, the vibration of my vocal cords travelling to the scratchy fabric beneath me, and thought about how much I wasn’t in the mood to be on the road again. “Will.” I croaked, stretching a hand out to the left while maintaining full focus on the white ceiling above me. “I don’t want to go to London today.” I mumbled, retreating my hand and hiding it under my pillow before readjusting my position and drifting my eyes closed, determined to sleep a few hours longer.

            “You don’t have to.” a voice said. My eyes suddenly weren’t sleepy and lifeless; they were wide.

            I was too shocked to move; like when you wake up from a particularly frightening nightmare and you’re too scared to scream, move, or do something as little as drifting your eyes to the side to check that the sinister figure in your dream isn’t standing by your closet, waiting for you.

            Studying the ceiling in more detail, it clicked for me that the miniature chandelier positioned in the centre wasn’t in the hotel room the last time I was there. And then it clicked that I wasn’t in the hotel room at all.

            Memories of the previous night resurfaced in one giant flood. I recalled driving to Brighton in the dead of night, expectantly yet startlingly finding her siting on the bed amongst an unfixable mess, shouting obscene things at the sleepy town with my feet planted in the sand and lying with her at the peak of a hill, losing track of time completely as we conversed on a range of endless topics.

            I was in Brighton. I should’ve been in Eastbourne. And in mere minutes, my supposed location would change to London.

            “Shit.” I cursed, abruptly springing to life. My arms flailed around in an attempt to rid the woolly blanket which obstructed most of my view. I used my feet to push it to the end of the couch I was lying on, and then panned over the area.

            Since I’d arrived at night, I hadn’t gotten a proper inspection of the place. Looking at the space now, I saw that while some areas showed evidence of life, others remained untouched, almost as if they belonged in a ghost town. While the living area and bathroom were filled with books, rubbish and other bits and pieces, the bedrooms and kitchen remained lifeless. Layers of dust coated the furniture, and everything about them seemed still. 

            My eyes landed on Eleanora. She was sat on a creased sofa on the other side of the room, in the process of ripping open a cardboard box full of crackers. She tore the package apart, opened up the plastic and picked up the top cracker, crunching on it at an irritable volume. “Want one?” she asked, holding the narrow box out at me and shaking it a little, as if it would somehow convince me to take one.