runaway||h.s. au

11:13 p.m.//one

      Still, after at least twenty minutes of running along with a pulsating heart, I could hear the loud echo of my feet making contact with the pavement beneath me. Where I was running to, I wasn't exactly sure of. I hadn't worked out all the details. The voices screaming back and forth in my head were not decreasing in volume, and I found myself wanting to continue to run until they ceased. Although, my body wasn't agreeing with my mind and for the first time in years, I regretted all those times I had faked a stomach cramp to bail out of gym class.

    At this point in time, the street signs told me I was in a neighborhood that was merely a ten minute drive from my not-so-humble abode. For as risky as that was, I was positive that nobody had acknowledged my presence, nor would there be anyone out searching for me. The sun had been devoured in darkness, allowing me to be led by the half crescent moon, along with the dim, orange light provided by street lamps. The houses surrounding me were all the same model, same size, same structure, aside from those who paid extra to have an extension built on. The colors varied from white, to brown, to even a washed-out blue. I was honestly surprised nobody got confused on who's house was who.

   Most of the houses were dim, considering the late hours in the night, and the fact that majority of the neighborhood would be awaking at half past six to get ready for school. My options were to find somewhere to stay for the night, or continue walking, despite my feet pleading for me to stop. Long story short, I carried on with the latter.

   The farther I walked, the larger the houses seemed to become, the more similar as well. Although, now there were a few red-brown ones as well, adding the smallest splash of color to the otherwise bland neighborhood. The sounds around me consisted of a slight breeze bristling leaves, along with the distant barking of a dog, but that ended abruptly. As for everything else, the houses seemed to be oddly quiet, almost eerily.

   About five minutes into walking, I had stopped checking street signs, but I could still tell that this neighborhood had a route to my school, my bus particularly. I also happened to know that this was the neighborhood of the wealthy, as if it wasn't a give-away by the size of the houses, along with their assets. Everything around seemed so peaceful compared to where I lived at, whether it was because I didn't know what was going on inside the houses, or because I chose to believe that each of the households contained a picture-perfect family, exactly like the one I wished for.

   My thoughts were broken in a matter of seconds, along with the silence that had devoured me, instead replaced by the echoing voice of a teenage boy, or deep-voice girl, somewhere from up in the air. About two slow twirls later, I located the voice a few feet away, coming from the second story window of one of the houses. My suspicions were confirmed; it was a male.

   All I could make out was the outline of him, where he remained a tall boy for a few seconds more, before hunching over and dipping his head out the window, which lessened his height by at least a foot. Without consenting me, my feet stumbled forward, carrying me from my spot on the sidewalk to the source of the voice. As I neared closer, more features were revealed. Curly brown hair, the color of a candy bar, sprouted from his scalp and covered a good majority of his head, until it ended with little snippets at the back of his neck. From where I was standing, his eyes looked to be green, or maybe blue, I couldn't quite tell. His torso was adorned by what looked to be a sweatshirt, one string dangling loosely in the other, while the other from his mouth.

   Once I had neared the gate that scaled the perimeter of his backyard, I stopped. It wasn't until then that I could put all these facial and structural characteristics together to form a single human being; none other than Harry Styles. There was certainly no surprise to learn that he occupied one of these houses. The black string had fallen from his lips as he spoke, but it was as if someone had turned him on mute, because I couldn't make out what he was saying. His lips seemed to be repeating the same word over and over, an amused smirk forming on his face when I failed to respond back.

   "Hello?" He called, now resorting to snapping his fingers in attempt to snag my attention. Suddenly, my senses came to, and I gave my head a small shake before our eyes locked again, this time I was fully aware. I straightened out my lacking posture, while clearing my throat, to let him know that I heard him so he could stop ridiculously waving his hand in the air, and making a fool out of himself. I didn't speak, considering he had called out to get my attention first. Simply, I awaited for him to repeat what he had first called out. "I asked, are you lost? Because you look lost. Also, I've never seen you around here before." He rambled out, voice quieting when he knew I got the point.

   I wasn't so sure that one could call it lost. I was fully aware of where I was running from, but I didn't have a destination in mind. How was I expected to explain to a stranger that I was fleeing my home in hopes of escaping my problems? The answer was simple; I couldn't. Yet, I was never given the chance to explain myself at all, for it seemed he couldn't keep his mouth shut for longer than a minute at most.

   "It's pretty late at night, what're you doing out here, anyway?" He quizzed, not even bothering to wait for an answer to the first question to grace his lips. I couldn't help but allow a small laugh to emit my lips, seeing as Harry had no idea the answer he was in for. I could start off with the fact that whether I was home or not, I'd be up late, due to the constant yelling. Or maybe, I could pleasure him with the tale of my friendships that seemed to be falling apart at the seams. All of them were delightful to tell, and by now, I was ready to spill to the next person with a beating heart and functioning ears, if even that. Though, at the last second, I decided to spare him of a story, and give the most simple answer to cross my mind in the moment.

   "Running."

   a.n. i think all of the chapters will be around 1,000 words, maybe more sometimes. i apologize in advance but i would really like to get the plot moving quickly, since i don't plan on having many parts to this story.

   happy father's day!

   thank you && happy reading!

-n