Symphonies of You

0311.

THE ETERNAL SCENE.

Saturday, 13 May 2017

After the whole incident with Rebecca, it seemed nothing would ever be the same. Once Teresa and Tiana were told what had happened, they both started freaking out. They weren't mad Jackie hadn't told them, they were incredibly frustrated they hadn't picked up on anything sooner and Tiana started blaming herself for ever having consider Rebecca to be their housemate in the first place. Jackie told them both not to be hard on themselves, they didn't know, and she didn't make it easier by never telling them. This was none of their fault, she didn't want them to blame themselves for anything.

The lads found out through Harry, who didn't come with Sai and Wade back to Paris. By this point, Jackie didn't mind Harry telling them she was bisexual. Everyone else knew, it wasn't a secret, and she was good friends with both Sai and Wade so Harry telling them didn't bother her in the slightest. The boys all seemed to have the same reactions as Tiana and Teresa, though they understood everything a little better now. Finn realised that the time Harry had come to stay with him in March had all been because of Rebecca, and he was suddenly incredibly happy he had stayed for as long as he had. Everyone was so supportive; Jackie couldn't imagine better mates.

Jackie went for another interview with the police where she was informed of all the evidence they had to get Rebecca behind bars. They told her they interviewed Rebecca as well, though they could not tell her anything that had been discussed and so on, which Jackie was fine with. She did not want to know what Rebecca had said, if she had confessed to anything or told them she was innocent of all of it – which would have been stupid considering everything Jackie was holding against her to prove that point completely wrong. The police told her they would contact her with a court date and once that was settled, they'd have another meeting to discuss that. Jackie was glad to finally be getting rid of Rebecca once and for all.

She got Personal Attack Alarms from the police, as well as a promise to be available at all time should she feel threatened or in danger. That was enough for Jackie, knowing all her mates and the police had her back at all times.

Rebecca was forced to move out the following day. Jackie stayed with Harry in his hotel room, and spent the day with him while Rebecca got her stuff out of the house. Once her parents got a whiff of what was happening, they got her out of London and back home to Hawkley, which was good because the landlord then proceeded to throw her out of the house.

The whole day, Harry kept her mind off everything. Before she woke up, he went out and bought her something comfortable to wear at the nearest Primark, not imagining that a nice gold dress smeared with blood was something she fancied wearing all day. He woke her with a light shake to the shoulder, not able to hold back his smile as he saw her eyes fluttering open. Carefully, he placed a carton of cut up mangos on her nightstand along with the new clothes.

"Get up," he told her. "We have things to do and people to grace."

"What's going on?" She asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Harry pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Eat your mangos and get dressed, we're spending the day outside."

She watched as he walked to the bathroom, probably to take a shower, but she knew he mostly wanted to leave her alone to get dressed by herself. Her eyes fell to the simple set of clothes had had bought her and the mangos he always got her from M&S. She smiled a little to herself.

Though they were basically locals now, they did all the touristy stuff they hadn't done before. The London Eye was incredible, and though neither of them was fans of heights, it was still incredible to see London from the view the Eye offered. She didn't notice Harry taking a few pictures of her, or see the small smiles tugging at his lips whenever he saw her smiling at the city they now considered a permanent home. Holding onto the railing lining the oval booth, their hands rested right next to one another, and it took everything in Jackie not to reach for his. Though it was equally as hard for Harry not to drape a protective arm around her shoulders, bring her close, and press a soft kiss to her temple. Even considering the night they had spent together, they kept at a safe distance from one another.

They walked by Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Temple District, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and most of the tourist spots in the city. It was good to just walk around. It was sunny, she had no essays or anything waiting for her back at the house, and she felt safe with Harry walking beside her. They talked about nothings that kept her mind busy and her mouth filled with almost constant laughter. She realised this was the reason she had considered Harry to be her best friend while they were still their little thing; they were invariably making each other laugh but could stop and have a deep meaningful conversation if they felt like it. There were no filters with him. She hadn't only lost her lover on that fateful day in November, she had also lost her bestest friend.

Once Tiana sent Jackie a text telling her Rebecca was out of the house, Harry walked her back there. She was greeted with hugs from both of her housemates, both apologising over and over again for something that wasn't their fault. Her room was clean, any trace of the night before was completely vanished, and Jackie couldn't have been happier about that. Glancing over at her dresser by the window, she was sad to remember her vase had shattered in the middle of all of this. Harry must have noticed as well but didn't make a comment as not to trigger anything.

He stayed the night again, making sure she was completely alright before he left for his last couple of weeks in Paris. Neither Teresa nor Tiana even thought about asking Jackie why Harry was still around, what was going on between the two of them. Think they knew by now that Harry calmed her down, made her feel safe and protected against everything going on in her world. As she was laying on her phone in her bed, a new set of her own pyjamas on, she heard Finn's voice downstairs. Harry, who had gone to make himself a cuppa, explained to his mate that Jackie didn't fancy talking to anyone right now, which Finn understood.