Lifetime

Chapter 2

{Please read the attached image first :)}

Our safe place. It's the bank of the river. Nothing special, just a few trees, green grasses, birds and the flowing water. Nobody goes there usually, except for us. If we don't find each other anywhere else around, we know we'll find each other on the branch of the tree beside the river. Nevertheless, the area is creepy. And I didn't know why was he calling me there, now.

I walked to the river. "Harry? Where are you?" No answer.

"Harry you dumbfuck this is not funny."

Still no answer. A chilling wave ran through my body. *Was it not Harry then? Did someone steal his phone to call me here? Fuck! Wait. Did they hurt Harry?!* I was storming my brain when..

"Mac? Hey! Here. Oh shit! Wait! Wait!"

He ran towards me and covered my eyes from behind. "Walk."

"Wait.. what?! What are you doing Styles. Stop pushing me. I am not gonna go. Leav-"

"Okay then. Keep your eyes shut."

He picked me up and carried me. I was half screaming half laughing. Laughing? Also I was actually keeping my eyes shut because he asked me to. Wow!

"Jesus Christ Mac! You are proving that you are a Drama Queen! Stop! Okay there. Shut up now. Open you eyes." He dropped me on the ground. Wait that's not hard.

I blinked a little then looked around.

"Wow. Okay. What is this? Where did you get this rug from? Woah. Where did you get all these from?!" I wanted to shout but I whispered. It was amazing. He had two rugs laid on the grass, fairy lights on the trees. It was looking beautiful.

"You are wasting the charge of your car's battery for this?"

"Umm, I guess so. You like it?", he asked me pursing his lips.

"Nope. I love it Harry. It's beautiful."
His eyes lit up for a moment. He smiled. Maybe?

"Sit down now. What made you do this by the way? Like you are wasting your all time precious sleep time to do something like this? You want to bring a girl and test this on me first, eh?" I laughed. "Oh maybe Lara? She's all over you!" I laughed again.

Harry flopped down beside me. Hands behind his head as pillows.

"No. I don't even like Lara. She's clingy. I just can't be rude to her on her face. That's it." Why was his voice so distant?

"Aha! You are always rude to me Styles." I punched his stomach.

"I did this for you Mac."

Wow. He wasn't even looking at me.

"Um. Thanks. Why? I mean I am absolutely blown." He didn't even give a glance.

"What's up Harry? Talk to me. You did all this. You pulled me out of my house at 12:30 am and now you won't even tell me a thing. You sound so weird. Fuck it Harry. I am going." I was about to up stand up when he caught my hand "Mackenzie", he sighed.

He called me Mackenzie. I didn't know what was worse now, him calling me Mackenzie or him being so distant and weird.

"You remember the first time we came here? We were playing hide and seek. You were supposed to find me. I hid behind this tree. You thought I was lost, you were almost crying when I jumped on your back from behind this tree and we both fell down. You punched me so hard. We laughed. We sat beside the river till the sun went down and came here almost everyday since then. Remember all those stupid fights we had and both of us came here? Sat so far from each other not looking? And as the sun went down so did our anger. We have so many memories here. I have so many memories here, each one includes you. All my memories includes you Mac. We are graduating next week. I know you'll get good grades. You'll move out babe. You will leave, I don't how to process that. I don't. I'll miss you Mac. And I don't know how to miss you. I spend every moment of my last 14 years with you. I'll miss you so much."

I cried. I don't usually cry. The last time I really cried was then when I was afraid that Harry was lost and I was afraid of never getting him back. Today I cried because I felt every one of Harry's words in my bones and again, surprisingly I was crying because I realised I was about to lose him again. Someway yes. I remember him getting all panicked because he too was not habituated to me crying. I remember him holding me in his arms and hugging me close, so close. I realised that he smelt so pure. It was the only smell that made me feel home. I don't remember falling asleep in his arms.

I woke up in his arms that's when I realised I was out all night and I didn't even feel scared one moment. I looked at his face. So calm. So composed. So beautiful. I loved that face. I'll miss him so much. I looked at my phone. 5:30 am. I had to rush back. Mom wasn't up yet.

"Harry. Wake up. It's 5:30 am. We need to go back."

Is it wrong that I had a sudden urge to kiss his forehead? Maybe, maybe not.