Beyond the Stars *Dark Louis Tomlinson*

Chapter 10

I sit on the bench in the little and only park in my hometown. I found out that today is the first day of December. It's still cold out but today is the first sunny day I've seen in a while. The little kids take advantage of the slight warmth the sun gives off by playing on the playground. I look down at my book, reading the pages.

Some of the kids look over at me and my ankle cast. They can't see my wrist brace underneath my pea coat. But the bruises on my face are still here. They've faded a lot. I am due to go back to London tonight. This is my last beautiful day here in Bristol. The sun has decided to shine for me today to give me a somewhat pleasurable last day back home. Charlie is driving me back around seven after dinner. All my stuff is packed. I'm not sure if I want to go back.

"You sneaky little bitch," a girl sneers.

I look up from my book. "Jessica?" I question, bookmarking my page and closing my book. 

"Duh," she says. "Adeline, I haven't heard from you in months. We've been best friends since middle school and I just now hear that you moved to London? We have some catching up to do."

She sits next to me. "It's nice to see you, too, Jessica," I say sarcastically. "How's your family been doing?"

"They're fine. You could ask me how I'm doing, you know."

I chuckle. "Alright. How are you, Jessie?" I ask with fake excitement.

"Ugh, I hate that nickname," she groans. "And I'm doing well. Obviously you have not. I see you're a little banged up. What did you manage to do to yourself?"

"Well, my ankle is broken. I had a concussion and some bruised ribs. My wrist is sprained and everything else on my body got pretty badly scraped up. I may or may not have fallen out of a twelve story building onto a fire escape that was five floors below me."

She gasps, her blue eyes suddenly wide. "Oh my god! How in the world did you fall out of a twelve story window?"

"Shit happens," I shrug. "I'm going back to London tonight, so we have to make this quick. I should be heading back to my house for dinner soon, anyway."

"But we just started to catch up!" she protests loudly. Classic Jessica. "Like, what the hell, I haven't talked to you in weeks! Then you just show up and you're all bent out of shape. How do you even fall out of a twelve story window?"

I sigh. "Do you want the truth or the sugarcoated version?"

"Hm," she ponders for a moment. "Both. But give me the sugarcoated bullshit first so I can prepare myself for the real shit."

"Alrighty then. The sugarcoated version is that I was at a party of some sorts at a friend's flat and I went to the bathroom. I got some fresh air by opening the window and leaning out a little too far, thus falling out and almost dying."

"Interesting. Now what's the truth?"

I bite my lip. "I tried to kill myself."

She stares at me wide-eyed. "Adeline," she gasps. "Wh-why would you do that? I thought being in London was helping you cope."

"It really is," I protest. "Just some other stuff went down there that I don't want to talk about. But after my little suicide attempt it's going to be a lot better once I get back." She gives me a wary look. I stand, shoving my book in my satchel slung over my shoulder. "If you'll excuse me, there's someone I need to talk to. It was nice talking to you, Jessica. See you around Christmas."

She stands and hugs me. "Goodbye Adeline," she says in my ear. "Take care of yourself, I beg of you. It's all going to be okay. He's always with you."