Drowning

Two;

Humming softly to myself, I allowed my feet to skip along the pavement, fingers brushing against walls which wore a coat of vine leaves and dry, crispy flowers.

It was around midnight, give or take. I'd managed to slip out of the family event I had been attending, and found myself suddenly in a world of my own, as I often did.

I walked until I found a row of shops, just small ones, such as little convenient shops and cheap coffee places. I wasn't sure how I ended up here, so far from where I once was, but as I turned another corner, I saw something, or someone, who caught my eye.

From behind the corner of a brick wall, I peered; a tall man, broad, with shaggy brown curls was walking, almost angrily, towards one of the convenient shops I had mentioned.

Distracted, I began to walk further along the pave, counting each tile as I walked, still humming to myself. It was no song in particular, just a tune.

As I did so, with my eyes still glued to the ground below me, ensuring that I missed any cracks, I felt a big thud.

"Fucking watch it!" a man yells. Startled, I look up.

"Oh, sorry." I say, looking up at the tall man. It was the man I had just seen go inside of the store.

The man took a large swig of water, tipping his head back as he did so. He must have been taking pills, of some kind.

"Can I help you?" he asks in a low, gravelly voice. I took a step back from him.

"Your eye, it's black." I point out, studying his sharp features.

His jawline was tight and sat at an almost-perfect right angle. His eyes were hooded and angry-looking, and his lips were a deep shade of pink, with a cut going through the bottom lip.

"I know." he huffs, rolling his eyes. I shrug, turning away from the man.

As I began to walk away, I heard him call out.

"Oi!" he calls. I froze.

His footsteps were loud behind me as he approached me. I turned around, feeling fearful suddenly of what this man wanted with me. I had only been curious of his battered face and his large frame, I hadn't meant to bother him.

"What's a girl like you doing walking around these streets past midnight? Don't you know how dangerous that is?" he says, looking down at me with a look that felt much like one my father had been giving me all night; one of belittlement.

I shrugged, "I think it's as safe as you make it."

"Are you serious?" he says, his voice growing angrier. He had a northern accent, of some sort.

I shrugged again.

"I ditched my family. They were annoying me." I say.

"Where were they?" he asks, his anger turning into a voice of more, perhaps, concern.

"At an event. I've been walking for an hour, give or take." I say, looking at his chest, since that was closer to my eyes than his own.

"Well, as long as you're aware that it's not safe around here," he mumbles, sighing.

"I don't mind." I say, turning back around to begin walking away again.

I took a few steps, before I heard his catch up with my own again. I smiled softly to myself.

"Are you the reason that it's not safe?" I say, still looking at the ground as I spoke, never at him.

"No," he scoffs. "People like that are." he says, pointing to a couple of drunk men a few feet ahead.