KEEP DRIVING - H.S

Chapter 14

October 30 2021, New York

⚠️TW: Mentions of ED's and implied self-harm. ⚠️

If you find these subjects trigerring or disturbing, PLEASE DO NOT READ. Prioritize your mental health and don't trigger yourself to relapse.

🚨Proceed with caution🚨

"ALLIAH, GET OVER HERE THIS INSTANT!" Harry yelled. They both ran towards each other, meeting in the middle and embracing each other fiercely, collapsing into a heap on the ground.

Alliah laughed. "Hey there, Dorothy. How ya doing?" She tucked her curls behind her ear. The wig was very hot, and after three hours, Alliah was more than ready to tear it out of her hair.

"I'm doing good, Bellatrix, you?" Harry responded, a large grin on his face. Alliah could see his dimples. Oh, god, she loved his dimples so much. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were coming!"

"That's what she said," Alliah said, and then explained, "And, I think not telling the supriseé is crucial to a good surprise."

Harry laughed, shaking his head, and a few baby hairs managed to fall loose from the bow clipped on the top of his head. Alliah reached out and curled one of the baby hairs around her finger, smoothing it back down.

"You look really pretty," Alliah whispered to Harry. Harry's lips curled upwards, pulling into a soft smile.  And then Alliah reached down and pulled the bright red tights, snapping it against his skin. "Nice tights."

"Ouch!" Harry exclaimed.

Alliah laughed, finally getting up and holding out her hands to help him. "C'mon, pretty boy, up you go."

"You're mean," Harry muttered, pouting.

His lips looked so nice and pink. How did he naturally have such pink lips? Alliah wondered.

They walked together towards their dressing room, his arm around her shoulder, her arm around his waist. Laughing and catching up on things they hadn't been able to say on the phone.

The two of them hadn't gone a single day without talking to each other. Time differences were tricky, but they'd managed to get it right most of the time. Sometimes before interviews, Alliah would call Harry, and he'd give her a pep talk and say some comforting words.

Other times, Harry would guess when she was meant to start interviews, and he would call her first, knowing she needed someone to reassure her everything would be fine.

Alliah got nervous at interviews. And when she got nervous, she overshared, which would result in devastating consequences if she ever did that on camera.

Then there were the long chains of text messages, constant and everflowing conversations. Talking about everything, from the food they ate for lunch to their biggest insecurities.

There were times when Harry would call Alliah at 2am or 3am, when his mind got too loud and he needed someone to talk him down from the metaphorical ledge. Harry never admitted out loud that he was in a bad place or that he was struggling when he called her. He always said it was just him wanting to hear her voice, and apologized profusely for waking her up.