She Behind He

Bench

It was half past two and the bar had quieted down. The lights were dim and 'Tennessee Whiskey' mumbled out of the jukebox. Henry's friends had just left to go bar hopping downtown. They urged him to go but he didn't feel like it. Henry looked down at the 7th beer he had that evening. He peered into the bottle only a drop left for him to enjoy. He wasn't much of a drinker before but now he needed it more than ever. "The Bar's closing in fifteen." The bartender reminded him. Henry nodded throwing cash on the bar and stumbling off the wooden bar stool. He hadn't been this drunk when he sat down and he really hadn't meant for him to let himself go this much. Lilien would be disappointed. he thought. He stumbled out of the bar tripping over his own feet and made his way over to a bench where he could rest for a minute before he made the venture home. He leaned his head back looking up at the stars letting tears escape from his eyes. "Why." he drunkenly sputtered. "WHY." he was louder now. "Why couldn't it have been-" He hiccuped. "me?." He covered his face with his hands letting go of all of the feelings he had been bottling up. After he was exhausted. Taking a deep, Henry rolled over falling a sleep on the bench using his coat as a blanket.

A light piano melody woke Henry up from his sleep. 'Where the Mountain meets the Ocean' Lilien's favourite. Was he dreaming or was this real? Was Lilien at her piano playing again? Henry opened his eyes getting a harsh slap in the face by reality. She wasn't at her piano and he wasn't on the park bench anymore. He was lying in an unfamiliar bed, surrounded by unfamiliar pictures on the walls. He slowly lifted up the covers off of him and tiptoed out of bed. His head was pounding from the 7 beers he took down last night. He reached for the door quietly and cautiously walked down the hallway analyzing his surroundings. He got closer and closer to the source of the music and peaked his head around the corner.
The girl that he had the awkward encounter with hours before sat there playing the keys. He admired her from a far and began to tiptoe around, careful not to make a noise so that he could get away without being seen. The floorboard betrayed him drawing the attention from the piano and to him. "Oh hey, sorry did I disturb you?" The bathroom girl asked. "Oh not at all." He replied. She had no idea how much he wanted to hear that song again.  "I can only really practice during the mornings since I work nights." She explained. "Coffee?" She offered gesturing her hand to the fresh pot. "Yeah that would be great." He walked over to the coffee pot pouring himself a cup. "So um." He paused. "How did I get here?" he asked her taking a sip. "Well, I work at the bar and I was just finishing my shift and I saw this man. You." She said gesturing her hand towards him. "Sleeping and shivering on this bench. I didn't want you to freeze to death, it is the middle of March after all. You didn't have your wallet with you so I couldn't figure out where you lived, and I definitely wasn't getting a reply from you." She chuckled, Henry rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "So I figured bringing you here would be a better option than freezing on the street." She joked. Henry nodded in agreement setting his mug down. "Thank you, sorry you had to see that." "No biggy. When you work at a bar you see that everyday. I'm just used to it at this point." She began to walk over towards him. "I'm Annabel." She smiled lightly shaking his hand. "Henry." He replied "Well Henry, let me drive you home."