to be so lonely • hs

nine

"How'd you know I'd be here?" I asked, it was one of the many questions I had for him.

"I still receive emails from your job." He answered. I remembered he had signed up to their newsletter a few months after I was hired, simply because he liked when my work was featured every now and then.

"Odd." I couldn't help but laugh a little. "And you decided to show up?" I raised an eyebrow, suspicious that he was up to something.

"Of course." He tilted his head towards my picture, his hands behind his back as he took a few steps forward, passing me.

"You say that as if your appearance tonight should've been obvious." I followed after him skeptically, scoffing at his remark.

"Shouldn't it have?"

I caught up to him as he stopped in front of another image, a black and white one of a woman standing in front of a screen of noise.

"No, actually, I guess I expected to have a nice night. My mistake." I shook my head, glaring at him, still unsure what he was up to.

"I don't want to ruin your night."

"I don't see how this would really make it any better." I pointed out, then looked over as people began exiting the rooms. "Anyway, you should go." We both should, actually.

I kept my eyes on the exit, mainly to avoid looking into Harry's, as I knew some part of me would've been more willing to forgive him for coming back.

"Will you come with me?" He asked quietly, snapping my focus back towards him, I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What?"

"I don't want to go home." His voice was a bit more distraught, broken. Something was definitely different tonight. I stared at him, the paleness of his skin and the slight stubble, all too similar to the first night he appeared at my door. Except this time he wasn't drunk. Still, he was upset about something. And as much as I knew it would hurt tomorrow, I still cared for Harry quite a bit, and knew in the next few moments I'd be following him out the door.

My expression softened, and without another word I lifted my head towards the hall, guiding us out the exit. We stopped just outside the doors, a sigh escaping my lips as I looked out at the carpark.

"I assume you're driving?" I asked, turning to him. He gave a quick nod, leading the way to his vehicle, it's lights illuminating our path.

We silently got in his car and buckled ourselves in to the cream leather seats, my hands distracting themselves with my necklace as I sat, waiting for him to drive off.

"There's a coffee there if you'd like it." He spoke, just before starting the engine.

I looked down at the cup holder between us, where two coffees in takeaway cups were placed. I stared at him suspiciously as we took on the road, glancing back and forth between him and the coffee before finally grabbing the cup with an L written across the white lid in black ink.

"Thanks," I nodded, taking a sip of the still hot drink. It was exactly as I preferred, mostly dark, with a splash of creamer. Harry thought it was disgusting, which made me wonder what he would've done with it, had I not come along.

We drove for a few minutes, the city dark and empty, the breeze cold on my skin as the windows were lowered just a bit. He hadn't switched on any music, which was unusual, but I didn't read into it much.

"Where are we off to?" I asked, after another while had passed. It was 10:17pm now, and I wasn't exactly sure where in London we were.

"No clue." He answered.