Cut!

Take 17 - Another World - Part 2

A/N: Please comment as you read. I really do love to read them.

Everything happened too fast for me to register anything concrete. People, buildings, the scenery in general, all moved past me in a blur.

The second we’d been discovered, Harry took my hand and ran. I tried my best to keep up, but my short legs kept dragging behind. He steered me through a crowd of people, and into several alleyways. We hid behind trashcans and lost our now easy to recognize disguise.

Only the T-shirt stayed on in the hopes they wouldn’t think more of it. Besides, I was growing sort of attached to it. While I wouldn’t miss the fanny packs, I quite liked the t-shirt.

Sweat coated my skin, and the evening heat made my muscles feel heavy. Sep by step, we ran through Milan’s streets, and I hoped Harry had an idea where we were going because I didn’t recognize anything.

Despite the beautiful buildings, it occurred to me that Milan didn’t really have anything odd to locate off. For example, back in Portsmouth we didn’t use the street names to navigate. Instead, we had used made-up landmarks like ‘the worn-down house with green panels’ or ‘the smiling baker’. Everything was so simple back then. Not like here where it seemed that yellow brick house were a majority.

When we finally got away from the frantic crowd, we began to slow down. I was panting heavily, gasping for air. “God, I… need to… exercise… more,” I said as I tried to catch my breath. “This can’t… be healthy.”

Harry laughed as he stopped. Looking around, he said, “I think we escaped them.”

“How are you… not out of breath?” I asked. I leaned forward, trying to rest my tired body on my knees.

He shrugged. “I’ve been working out. This was barely what I ran each day between shows.”

I rolled my eyes without responding. Nothing could compete with that.

“Oh, look a little shop,” Harry said. “Come, I’ll buy you something to drink.”

“Thanks,” I said and followed him.

The elderly man at the beverage stall didn’t seem to recognize us. Either that or he just didn’t care. He handed us our lemonades with a toothless smile, and then went back to whatever he was doing before. We walked over to a bench and sat down beside each other.

I gulped the lemonade down, the chilly liquid helping my sore throat. I almost moaned in satisfaction when I finally took a moment to breathe.

“Wow,” Harry said.

“What’s wrong?” I looked at him; he was staring at me. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, no.” He chuckled. “I just realized how thirsty you were.”

“Oh…” I looked to my hands and began to fiddle with the label on my lemonade.

A comfortable silence spread between us, but I didn’t know how long it’d last. Without the buzz of the city, I had a feeling Harry would want to talk. And I knew it was selfish, but I just wasn’t ready to have that conversation yet.

Of course, it wasn’t fair to simply run around corners with him. But at the same time, I didn’t think I could tell him that I couldn’t be with him. Mostly because there was nothing I’d rather be right now. The worst part was that I couldn’t even give him a proper reason. I’d already thought up a few weak excuses, but I was pretty sure he’d see through any one of them.

“Cami?” he said.

I didn’t answer.

“I was thinking that maybe we could… you know… talk about what’s going on?” he asked.