In This World (Harry Styles)

1

****One more important chapter coming today!****

The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter...

Time | Pink Floyd

That had been the euphoria of last night. Of him coming all the way to Italy to save me, and then reclaiming me between the sheets that were supposed to detox me of him. I'd totally forgotten he was the reason I was here in the first place. The proposal seemed but a remote bad dream when I woke this morning in his arms. I sat now at the dining table, fiddling with his crazy little robot doodle, waiting for him to finish his shower and entertain me. He'd have to take off soon, though, as we were risking a lot. Not only did I risk getting kicked out of this highly exclusive facility which had a waiting list a mile long, but we also risked the world finding out about us if even one staff member discovered he'd spent the entire night in my room, and obviously in my bed. He'd barely missed being spotted this morning when they came in to deliver my breakfast and check my vitals.

Surprising myself, I shot to my feet, dragging the chair behind me, then stood atop it. Rather savagely, I ripped the clock from the wall, uncaring that there was a much simpler way to undock it without leaving damage. I then slammed it into the bin and returned to my seat at the table. My chest welled with triumph when silence reigned. Even the shower had stopped by now.

Great...now I couldn't stop staring at the bloody empty spot where the clock once hung. A strange flicker had caught my eye. Then an outright seep of black mist, spilling from behind the paint and tracking across the wall in a venous sprawl. I stood and slowly approached, mouth agape. The mist intensified, beginning to cloud the room. I reached out a hand and touched the veins overtaking the wall, and they were dripping with blood or ink or—

"Yooo, broh, youh good?" Z asked from behind.

I dropped my hand because the mist had vanished. The walls were as white and pristine as they'd always been. The only difference was the clock had gone. It was still in the bin.

"Hazza, Hazza?"

I spun to find him fresh out of the shower, standing beside the bed with a towel tucked around his slender waist.

"Uh, yeah, mate. All good. I just...thought I saw a bug or something."

"Gross. I ain't sleepin here tonight then. You've got roaches, mate."

At that I chuckled, then took a deep breath to gather myself. He fiddled about, finding which clothes of mine he could steal for the day.

"These clean?" he asked, holding up a pair of blue Calvin Kleins.

"Why don't you be a man and sniff 'em and find out?"

"Fuck off, broh. Hell, noh," grinned. Then, he couldn't resist. He sniffed them and pretended to pass out.

I laughed and admitted they were clean.

"Fanks. Got any socks?"

"M'running low tbh."

"Alright...maybe I can do without till I get back to me hotel? I dunno..."

"Being high is just easier, innit? It just is," I said.

"Yeah, well..."

"Mate, I just wanna be high so fucking badly right now. Now I get why you did it all the time."