hometown glory - wroetoshaw [✓]

ONE

[tenth of october 2019]

APOLLO ATKINS WAS MAKING HER WAY HOME after a night out in east london with her nearest and dearest friends. it was actually her longest friend, leigh thorley's, 21st birthday. they got themselves dressed up, went for a meal and hit up some clubs, a regular friday night occurrence for the group. they had had their fun and went their separate ways home, apollo's being the furthest and the opposite way to all of her friends. so off she went, a bit of a walk and three tube stops before she had her 10 minute walk home.

before she got on the tube she felt a bit uneasy, but just put it down to the above average amount of alcohol she had consumed. she made sure to sit in a seat furthest away from the man already in the carriage that she didn't spot before getting on; hoping he would get off before she did but she had no luck. instead of sitting silently in the seat she heard him fidget and grunt to himself. then he tried moving a few seats up in her direction, which was very disturbing to apollo. 

she had big headphones over her ears but wasn't listening to any music and she could hear him trying to get her attention, she could feel his gaze on her. "hey beautiful." "can you hear me hot stuff?" "pretty tits" "the things i'd do to you" were among some of the horrifically demeaning things he was saying to her. so she continued to ignore it, thankful the next stop would be her last and she could hopefully be free. 

but as soon as she stepped off the tube he followed, and she could feel the stare on her back. then she had no doubts that she was being followed by the man.
she hoped there would be a crowd she could lose him in but due to the time of night, the escalators were empty and she was clearly visible. unsure what to do, her heart rate quickened as well as her pace as she desperately tried lose this man. sure it could've been a coincidence that he was getting off at the same stop as her; but after the comments he made she didn't want to take that risk. 

she was going through mental gymnastics, if she went straight home he would know where she lived but if she went somewhere else there was a higher chance of something happening further away from home; and she already ruled out the possibility of confronting him. she decided to take a few wrong turns and hoped she could find somebody approachable, maybe another group of girls who could sympathise with her position who she could blend in with for a while before making her own way home. she subtly wrote out a message and sent it to her group chat as well as shared her location to make her friends aware of her situation, apollo wasn't normally stupid so she blamed the alcohol and fear for not making her do that quicker. some of them were most certainly asleep by now - passing out as soon as they got in the door, but two of the girls vowed to stay up with her until they knew she was safe. 

the man hadn't attempted to close the space between them, but she knew she had gone in a big enough loop and down a too many random roads that if he wasn't following her, he would be gone by now. during the whole ordeal she had lost her sense of direction, and after spending hours in heels she was in pain; growing desperate to be away from whoever it was and out of the situation. 

it was as she began silently saying her prayers she saw the first person she had seen in a while - she discovered there aren't many people out at 2:30am - so she was unsure if she should be thankful or apprehensive of this person too. she decided she couldn't lead him on a wild-goose chase anymore and approached the unknown person, trying to capture their attention as their paths were about to cross with a small but audible "hey!" 

the boy looked up and he couldn't have been much older than apollo, he had a small amount of stubble, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. he looked very confused but stopped nonetheless. she moved in closer and tried to hide what she was saying, "theres been some guy following me for about 10 minutes now and i didn't want to go home or call the police incase he attacked me or something so can you pretend i know you for a bit?" 

his eyebrows furrowed and he looked at the man approaching behind her with a mildly angry but mostly disgusted expression on his face, "of course, i've really missed you!" he grinned and said loudly while pulling her into a hug, a hug which she had never been more thankful for, she voiced her gratitude into his neck while they hugged and let out a deep sigh.

he turned her around and they continued walking in the way she was going. "is he still behind us?" she questioned, hoping that her actions didn't escalate the situation. he looked just past her shoulder and saw that he was and in the time they stopped waking, he had got a bit closer. he nodded and picked up the pace, putting an arm around her waist. 

"what way is your house?" he questioned, hoping he could get her home safely, but she read the roadsigns and realised she probably walked a mile in the wrong direction. she sighed and told him where she lived and he also let out a little frustrated huff.
"well i can walk you to my place and if we've lost him by then i can walk you home, even if we haven't lost him you can come in for a bit and i'll drive you home?" 

judging by the look on her face he could tell she wasn't keen on the idea of going to his house, "i promise you i'm not a weirdo-" she cut him off with a valid question, 
"maybe you aren't but how many normal people are walking aimlessly around the streets at nearly 3am?" he didn't miss a beat before jokingly calling her a hypocrite which she realised she technically was. "but i was originally walking with a purpose, to get home, but i couldn't - also what way are you taking me?" she questioned when she realised he was taking some shortcuts and picking up speed.

"again - not in a creepy way - but my house until we don't see him anymore. it's kinda like a gated community so he shouldn't be able to get in and then should give up." he sent her a smile which she accepted and followed him in picking up pace to finally get off of her feet. 

AN- wow hi, so i've had this in the works for a pretty long while i'm ngl and it feels so strange to be publishing books again? it's been literal years but hey-ho. this is a bit different to my previous books from my time as an it/stranger things fan but if you like the sidemen then ur in for a treat with this one. i hope you enjoy :) xoxo