The Complexities of Mr Howell

Chapter 1 -Dan's p.o.v.

Phil and I just wanted to be free from the influences of the media and away from some of the more over-enthusiastic of our fans. My suggestion was to stay at my mother's, in the place I grew up. He willfully accepted.

It was just after ten o'clock and we were walking down the barren street, our extremities rosy with cold. For us to speak would be to ripple and break the desolate atmosphere of my home town, so we ambled in solitary quietude.

I squinted and peered into the distance. That's when I saw her again and my whole world came tumbling down...

I froze, my surroundings falling away. Could it be? Her? I tightly screwed my eyes shut and opened them again. Blinking rapidly, I refocused. It was her. Although taller, she hadn't changed one bit: messy brown  hair...the same black jeans and 'random hoodie because I couldn't be arsed to iron a shirt' look...black docs & Benie...the list went on. A recollection of the good times we had together flowed into my mind. The parties, the nights out, how much of an absolute laugh she was... No wonder I had once loved her.

She advanced further, provoking the memories I'd hidden the the darkest corners of my mind.
Images flashed past my eyes. Images of what happened to her. What I did... Shame crushed my chest, as I remembered what I had done. Can she forgive me?

She began to stop, still a good 5m away, her face contorted into a confused expression. I continued to gape with her staring back, looking to Phil, then to me, then back to Phil.

'Maybe she remembers' I thought, 'Maybe she could learn to love me again. Maybe she can forgive me.'