“Favorite memory?”
“Hmmm…” Harry stretched his arms above his head and cocked his head thoughtfully. “Maybe X Factor”, he finally admitted.
“Yeah?” Eilidh rolled her head to look at him. “How come?”
“It was just a lot simpler back then. Nothing on earth would make being famous or rich a bad thing. Now it’s still great, but there’s so much more to think about… its much more complicated”
Eilidh nodded, enjoying listening to him talk. They were hungover and tangled up in the bed sheets together, asking one another random questions. Both of them were ignoring Eilidh’s imminent departure the next morning for the UK.
“Anyway”, Harry lazily swiped at the air. “Same question”.
Eilidh answered readily. “Anything from when I was little. Probably for the same reasons that you gave”.
“Favourite person in the world?” Harry, asked.
Eilidh laughed and prodded him in the ribs. “Are you fishing, mister?!”
“No!” Harry laughingly protested. “Although it’s obviously me”, he teased.
“You aren’t far off”, Eilidh admitted. “But I wouldn’t be able to choose between my Mum, Dad and Alex”.
“What are your parents like?”, Alex asked curiously.
“Amazing”, Eilidh answered simply. “Funny, down to earth, hardworking…all the best qualities in people. Yours?”
“My mum is like that”, Harry admitted. “She’s like, amazing. So is my sister, Gemma. My dad….I dunno… I love him, and I know he loves me, but he wasn’t always there. It’s weird, but there are people that aren’t even my family that I’m closer to than my dad… and that’s a strange feeling”.
Eilidh nodded; aware she had touched a nerve. “How often do you see him?”
“Whenever we can, really”. Harry’s voice remained neutral but Eilidh noticed the skin around his eyes tightening. “I look forward to seeing him, but always feel a bit empty when he’s gone. Like, I wish we talked about more”.
“What do you talk about?”
“Business stuff”, Harry barked out a laugh. “He’s a pretty fly business man, so he knows his stuff when it comes to money, insurance, and stuff. He keeps me right. Which I appreciate”, Harry added, almost as an afterthought.
“It’s not really the same as asking how you are actually doing, though”.
“No”, Harry paused. “But I have my mum for that. And G”, he quickly rolled on his belly to tickle Eilidh under the ribs. “And now I have you”, he teased, watching her squeal and squirm away from him.
“Favourite tattoo?” Harry asked, grabbing her wrist to examine the markings there. She had so many more than he did, that he still hadn’t memorised them all by heart yet. He knew that she adored them, and was curious about what they meant to her.
“My most recent one”, Eilidh answered without thinking. “The dream catcher”. She twisted in bed to show Harry the large dream catcher that twisted down her hip.
“Why?”
“Cos I have bad dreams”. Eilidh’s voice became fainter when she spoke, and she stared up at the ceiling. Harry watched her with wary eyes. He had spent almost every night with her in Australia, and she had woken herself and him up by nightmares almost every night. He always managed to soothe and placate her, and most nights she wound up falling back asleep before him, leaving him holding her hot cheeks against his chest, wondering what it was that troubled her mind so much that it manifested in her dreams.
