dalliance // ls au

chapter one

His hooded eyelids were slowly falling, struggling to stay open as Harry took another hurried swig from the flask he had clasped between his trembling fingers. It was a Thursday night and he found himself chasing down his favorite escape route for the second time that week. As a young boy, he could never picture his life as what it has turned out to be. He always told himself, that he could be in a more unfortunate situation than he is now, but he found it hard to believe any of that when this is happening more often than it's not.

"Fuck", he muttered, crouching down lower onto the tree he was leaning against. Reaching his arm out onto the crumbling old bark to hold himself up, he bit his lip and looked up into the silent night sky as he blinked away his welled-up tears.

Things weren't always this way. He and Eric used to get along just fine when they first got together. Over the years, he has become more aggressive and impatient with Harry, and it just got even worse when his father, Robin, passed away about a year ago. Eric couldn't handle comforting people with things he himself felt uncomfortable with - he would just get annoyed and push it out of his way, so he wouldn't have to deal with it. But Harry needed someone to be there for him during his time of grieving, not someone who would yell at him and call him names for being weak and vulnerable. Zayn used to be the one he would run to when he needed anything, but Zayn hasn't been around in over two years. He was still 600 miles away stationed at a naval base in France. He has been Harry's best friend since high school, and without the emotional support in his life, he felt hopeless.

There were still good times, though, he thought to himself. When he was in a better mood, Eric would shower him with affection and gentle touches. He would comb Harry's hair and kiss his dimpled cheeks and confide in his love for the boy. They would go out for walks and go out for drives in Harry's antique car that he adored with everything in him. He loved these moments with his boyfriend. Along the four years they have been together, Harry always cherished the good moments over the bad. He has always been the kind of person to see the better side of people - he knew everyone was a wonderful person deep down inside.

It was getting late, and Eric was probably wondering where Harry ran off to after their altercation. They lived down the street from Maple Valley Park in Wilmslow. It wasn't a very big city and there weren't many places to turn to at this hour of the night. Harry has always felt an exertion of amenity toward the place. Since no one ever really went there, it was the place where he would escape from all of his troubles if he needed to.

Tossing his head back, he let the last of cold, bitter liquid pour down his throat. The alcohol always numbed his thoughts and the pain inflicted on him earlier in the day. He recalls the last time he drank like this was about three months ago when he and his boyfriend got into an argument after Eric had put a huge scratch into his poor 1979 Datsun 280zx. Harry trusted him enough to take his car to his work that day, and Eric was careless as to where he parked it. Long story short, Eric ended up nicking the whole left size of his car against one of the poles in the parking lot. When he got home, he blamed Harry for having such a wide vehicle with too many blind spots and left him with a pulsating gash in his lip.

He figured he should start heading back to their apartment now, he had work in the morning after all. On the week days, he worked as a librarian at Millicent Library in downtown Wilmslow. He didn't mind it, it let him get out of the house and he always met some really nice people who loved to tell their stories of wisdom and gaiety.

As he pushed himself up off the tree with one hand, he used his other to place his flask back into the pocket of his puffy jacket. He shivered as the night's cold air hit him with a vengeance - it was now mid-November and it got quite cold here where he lived. Slowly, he began taking long, wobbly strides back to their house, hoping Eric was sleeping by now. He didn't know how much more he could take tonight.

After about ten minutes of walking, Harry approached the cul-de-sac he and Eric lived in. They lived in a small neighborhood consisting of multiple brick adorned condos. For the most part, it was a quiet area and no one bothered anybody else. That's what Harry always loved about it - his dream was to move far away in the middle of nowhere in a tiny house and start a family of his own. Eric, of course, was completely against any of that. He wanted to stay in this small town forever. Lost in his thoughts, Harry didn't even realize he had already reached the house they have shared for the past four years. It never actually seemed to have been that long to him. With a sigh, he looked up at their front door and slowly opened it, praying that Eric wasn't still awake.

word count: 941

AN: I haven't written in years so if it is a little bit all over the place, I apologize! Hoping to get better with time and practice. Let me know your thoughts on chapter one. (: