The Greenhill Experiment

Chapter Four

Alyssa swallowed. Though she had flinched at the sudden touch and her first instinct was to pull away, the next few seconds allowed her to slow down, focusing on the feeling, choosing fight or flight and it was to her relief not a threatening touch at all, rather gentle, grounding, somehow contemplative of the situation, the darkness. It was enough to temporarily draw her away from the pain, instead lost in a moment, a stillness she hadn't expected.

"You alright?"

His voice was deep, came from close behind her, but there was no malice in it. She didn't feel afraid and that in itself was terrifying.

He let go of her wrist.

Alyssa quickly turned her head and he met her gaze without hesitation, eyes that were an icy blue, thick eyebrows raised. He was dressed in a dark t-shirt and leather jacket which pulled across his frame and he was certainly more man than boy, but there was a childish-like messiness to his hair, dark, falling around his face inelegantly, curling slightly at the ends. Everything fit the same dark colour scheme. Where Charlie was the epitome of light, he was the opposite.

He sucked in a breath, drawing attention to his cheekbones. "I asked you a question."

Alyssa raised her eyebrows back at him, focused on keeping herself upright. "And I was just getting round to answering."

He tilted his head. His eyes flicked across her face, scanning, trying to read, look for something, then the corners of his lips tilted upwards as if he'd found it. "So, I'm Austin," he declared, suddenly holding his hand out, the same hand that had been on her wrist moments before.

Alyssa was sure if she blinked that he'd disappear again and leave her in the middle of the pavement alone, talking to the air, but he refused to vanish. "Austin," she repeated back to him, blinking a couple more times for good measure.

"Yep."

He was alarmingly sobering, had pulled her out of the fog she'd been in and into him for a moment instead and she began to smile, felt it build in her cheeks, but then the headache crept back in and she winced, lifting her hand to her head.

"You alright?" he repeated. "Hey, you okay?"

Alyssa took a step away from Austin and his questions, further away from the house, unsure where she was going or what she wanted.

Austin dropped his hand and waited a moment before following her, keeping his distance, careful. "I didn't catch your name," he said.

Alyssa shook her head, focused on quickening her step, not so much to be away from him, just to move, keep herself distracted from what she felt. She heard him sigh behind her, louder than it should've been.

He continued to pace after her. "Look, I know how it looks," he boldly announced, hands held up to show his innocence even though she couldn't see. "I just saw you staggering in the road and wanted to check you were okay... you're on your own out here and-" He cut himself off to start a new sentence. "Just checking you're alright, tha's all."

His voice was nice. Her head throbbed and there was a streetlamp above them flickering in an irritating restless pattern. Against her better judgement, Alyssa stopped moving again, quite honestly too tired and too lost.

Austin's legs were much longer than hers and he was at her side in a matter of seconds. "What's your name?" he asked quietly.

She knew shouldn't have been able to trust him but there was a genuine comfort in his approach, a kindness in his face beneath the dark facade that had her swallowing the discomfort of the stranger, the empty street and she held out her own hand, an apology for before. "Alyssa. I'm Alyssa Dawson," he managed to whisper back.