Symphonies in E Minor

Chapter Twenty Nine: The Ballad

Piece played in this chapter: Ballad No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52 by Frédéric Chopin

(thank you for your patience. i always always appreciate it.)

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Aaliyah jerks awake when the carriage abruptly stops. Her head whips around to gather her surroundings, only to find the rest of her friends in the carriage still fast asleep. Harry's head rests on the window across from her, his arms crossed over his rumbled shirt. Faiz's head rests back along the seat, and Ruhina's head is on top of Aaliyah's shoulder.

She wakes Ruhina first with a gentle touch to her hair, tapping along her head until the woman hums a soft note and lifts her head. Her eyeliner is smeared against Aaliyah's shawl, but neither of them seem to care. Ruhina runs a hand along her face to spread the eyeliner even more. She pokes Faiz until he wakes. That's when Aaliyah learns Faiz is easily irritated when he's awoken because he squints and scowls at the light and mutters something that she can only assume is some kind of colorful swear in Urdu.

Then she wakes Harry with a touch to his ankle, wary of his injuries. The stubborn man doesn't wake immediately, so she has to tap on his good leg again.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Faiz finally says after Aaliyah has started gently whispering Harry's name to rouse him. Faiz leans over and takes a strand of Harry's hair, yanking on it.

Harry's eyes immediately open and he groans softly as he sits upright. "What?"

"Um," Aaliyah says, coughing in her shawl. "We're here."

Harry cranes his neck and looks out the window. "All right." He yawns and then rubs his eyes tiredly. The coachman is now by the carriage door, prying it open against the harsh wind. He holds the door open as Harry gently hobbles down onto the cobblestone, and goes to close it, but Harry stops him.

The wind blows Harry's dark hair around and into his eyes so he has to blink several times to see properly. His coat flaps in the air and Ruhina whines to close the door behind Aaliyah, but Harry pays her no mind, instead holding a hand out to Aaliyah.

"Come," he says.

Aaliyah nearly puts her hand in his, but she stops herself suddenly before she can give into the temptation. She holds her hand to her chest instead, wrapping her shawl around her tighter. "I canna, Harry. Not here."

Harry's face visibly falls and the corner of his mouth ticks down, but he nods and tucks his hand back into his pocket. He hesitates and then ducks his head in a shallow bow. He then looks at Faiz. "Ensure she returns home safely."

"I will," Faiz says, seemingly over his irritated initial mood.

Harry allows the coachman to shut the door behind him. There's some rustling, the carriage rocking gently as the coachman retrieves Harry's suitcases, dragging them into the foyer of the house where Roger is waiting. Aaliyah watches Harry shake hands with Roger and exchange words before he's off, disappearing into the house. Roger shuts the door behind him and Aaliyah sits back against the seat, trying her best not to pout about it.

Ruhina shifts so she's sitting in front of her. "Marry him," she advises. "Then you can do whatever you wish with him."

Aaliyah doesn't reply, embarrassed about her clear neediness towards Harry. She crosses her aching legs. "Whatever."

Faiz's eyes are already closed, head falling dramatically onto Ruhina's shoulder. She doesn't even look fazed by it, instead wordlessly draping her blanket over his torso, without even looking at him. Sometimes it's hard to look over at Ruhina and Faiz when they do intimate things like that, even if it's something so casual to the both of them. Which prompts Aaliyah to look out her window as the carriage lurches to a start again.