Lavender Haze,

Chapter five | "Morning blues."

|Nick's POV|      10:50 am

The August sun burned holes into the back of my head. Although summer was coming to an end the burning heat remained. Normally I would've taken advantage of the good weather, however, I can't help my cynical thoughts from seeping through. There was so much going wrong in my life right now, how was I possibly meant to enjoy nice weather without the vehemently thoughts rushing back to me.

soon it'll be much colder as the days come to quicker ends. Not to mention I'll be starting University in two days. I've tried my best to avoid thinking about the course. It just stressed me out having to find a routine that works for me, normally Valerie would be my motivation to do things, then again, she was also my biggest distraction. I would drop anything I was doing if Valerie asked me to, and I did exactly that for far too long.

It's been two days since I've last seen Toby. I've been having trouble shaking off the weird feeling about the girl that saved me. I was hoping I didn't have to see her again; she probably had the impression I was on drugs or something. That's the last thing I'd like my reputation to be.

Walking along the streets of London felt surreal, although I haven't been living here for that long I still couldn't shake off the imposter syndrome I was feeling. Toby and Aubrey asked mw to come meet them for lunch at their aunt's café. I wasn't particularly keen to come out today, but the feeling of loneliness from staying inside all day wasn't my highest interest either.

I felt a buzz in my jeans pocket. 'Toby' name flashed brightly across my screen. I hesitated before promptly putting the phone to my right ear. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hey pal just checking to make sure you're not lost or anything?" Toby laughed, the sound of cutlery and light chartering could be heard in the background.

I scratched the back of my neck before sighing, "ha-ha yeah, I won't be too long, just walking a bit slow was all" I said truthly.

I continued to walk along the streets of London, paying no mind to the people walking along side me.

"Anyways I just wanted to say..." Toby rambled on about something, but I has no intention of listening. My mind was elsewhere as I focused in on the many buskers who were littered throughout the streets of London.

My mind couldn't help but wander back to my younger self who used to be in their position before I took a break from music.

A young-looking guy was playing an acoustic guitar. He looked around my age with fairly long hair and tanned skin. He was wearing shorts and a white tee; he looked like he'd been outside playing for days. I tipped him a fiver; I pulled the phone slightly away from my ear to slowly bop my head to his song. He smiled at me showing his white teeth. "Thanks man, appreciate that". I nodded back to him.

A few people stayed to watch, whilst others just went about their day without acknowledging the guy. That was what made this kind of gig difficult. Grabbing people's attention, standing out in a crowd of people that always seemed in a rush to get to places.

I stood for a few minutes, getting lost in the music. The guy was playing an Oasis song, wonderwall. I was reflecting on my past. It was an endless cycle of me obsessing over the fact I quit music to losing Valerie, I felt a bit pathetic. I felt like I had hit a brick wall, not being able to move on with my life like everyone else.

"Oi Nick? You there mate?" Toby's voice rang through my phone. I went red in the face feeling a bit embarrassed that I forgot I was on a call with him, "yeah I'm here, sorry about that mate."

"No worries, so you alright with coming along?"

I scrunched my eyebrows, "huh? Go where?" I heard Toby laugh on the other end, "to visit Pheobe you idiot, did you seriously not listen to a word I said?" he accused in light-hearted tone.

"Oh right, uh, I suppose, yeah."

I haven't seen Pheobe in a while, we used to write music and perform together. If I was to be honest, I was a bit shocked hearing phoebes name, I wonder if she'll even remember me?

"Anyways ill let you go, you better be quick though, the burger Aubrey ordered for you looks pretty tasty" he teased.

"You better leave my food you prick I'm starving ha-ha".

I swiftly hung up whilst putting my earphones on, to Have A Cigar by Pink Floyd began playing. I shoved my hands in my jacket's pocket before continuing down the street.

Suddenly a girl bolted past me, she was carrying so many bags. I felt a bit sorry for her, she seemed to clearly be struggling as she tried her best running up the hill as fast as she could. She looked like she was following her friend as they were both running with their hands full.

I stopped and watched them as their figure got further and further away.

I couldn't pinpoint it, but I felt a pang of déjà vu. I hadn't seen the second girls face, but her hair looked oddly familiar to me. It looked very pretty. She had medium length blonde hair. I wasn't as focused on her friend, just the girl that was following as best as she could.

I probably looked like a creep staring but I didn't care, I was so intrigued. "Where have I seen you?" was all that I could think.

I started to walk in her direction, she was running, but not very fast since she had her hands full with her bags. However, by the time I had gotten around the corner she was practically gone.

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"So, I said that Nick would be thrilled to come see you again, and you know what she said to that?" Aubrey beamed from the cosy booth we were sat at.

I had made it to the café shortly after being distracted by that mystery girl. I still could rack my brain on where I had seen her before, but the feeling was strong, and I was adamant on figuring out.

Toby sat beside me, intent on scoffing down his steak pie, it looked comical from my end, but I didn't comment on it. Aubrey on the other hand was sat in front of me with her macaroni sat neatly in front of her, as she passionately retold the conversation between herself and Pheobe.

"She was like "yes of course I want to catch up with him!" oh Nicky you should have seen her face, it was priceless!"

I couldn't help myself get embarrassed, there was no real conversation on stopping doing music together, it just ended without any acknowledgement from my end.

"Yeah, that sounds like Pheebs, she always reminded me of a chihuahua" Toby snickered.

Aubrey promptly threw a chip in his direction, smacking him right in the nose. I sufficed a laugh as Toby teasingly ate the chip. She just rolled her eyes before continuing, "you should be nicer to her, she helped you through tough times" she lectured before turning to me.

"And no need to stress about seeing her again Nick, she genuinely is thrilled to reconnect with you."

I looked up from my food, "how did you know I was worried?" I asked genuinely shocked she could read me so easily. "Because I know everything about you Nicky" she smirked.

"Anyways we should probably finish up here and start heading, there flat is a little far from here. Plus, I heard her flatmates are all moving in today, would be nice to meet them all whilst there all in the same area."

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|2393 words|

•this chapter was inspired by This Night Has Opened My Eyes by The Smiths

•Video is from YouTube -  https://youtube.com/watch v=iWcQqWW3QCI&feature=share9

•Picture is from Pinterest -  https://pin.it/3HrO2Ct

     ~ (I don't own any of the media represented via picture or video, all rights belong to their respectful owners.) Thank you for reading!