Outside

44

"What... what are you doing here?" I asked, my finger tapping the door gently in anticipation, although I didn't know what I was expecting him to say.

"What happened to 'staying in touch' Lyla?" He asked, clearly annoyed by the promise I'd broken, "aren't you gonna let me in?"

"I... well..." I stuttered, trying to think of something to say to him, I was so bemused, why was he here? How did he even know where I lived?

"Lyla? Who's at the door love?" Rory joined me at the door, his brows furrowed when he saw the man standing before us, he had no idea who he was and I was kind of glad he didn't.

"I'm Larry... it's nice to meet you, man" Larry spoke, a strong hint of sarcasm lacing his tone as he fabricated a smile toward my boyfriend.

"Rory, nice to meet you too" he replied politely, completely oblivious to Larry's clear mockery.

I hated this situation more than words could describe, I didn't want my boyfriend to have to get mixed up in everything, I didn't want him to know everyone from my past, it was better for him to not know and I wanted it to stay that way but my plan to keep him in the dark was ruined the second he laid his eyes on Larry.

I didn't know why he was here, or how he knew my address, Vera didn't even know Larry so she couldn't have given it to him and Lois promised me she wouldn't tell anyone else where I was because I didn't want to see any of them ever again.

"Come on in, would you like a cup of tea?" Rory asked him.

"No thanks mate, Lyla and I were just gonna go on a little walk, we won't be long" Larry replied, a smug look on his face when he looked at me, I was stupid to agree but I was so puzzled as to why he was here, I wanted to know.

"Can I just ask... how do you know Lyla?" My boyfriend asked, he looked scared, as if Larry was anything more than just somebody I was friends with a long time ago.

"He's an old friend, don't worry about it" I whispered softly, kissing his cheek before he walked away into the kitchen.

"I'll wait out here if you'd like to get changed, I don't mind" Larry deadpanned with an indecipherable look on his face as he leaned his back against the wall.

I nodded and closed the door before scrambling to my bedroom to quickly change. In a rush, threw on some black jeans and an old band t-shirt, along with an oversized leather jacket some boots. My hair was shoved into a messy bun at the back of my head and because I'd been stood at the door for so long it had dried a little, so I was happy when it didn't turn out like a bird's nest.

I didn't bother putting makeup on, I hardly ever wore it these days, mostly because I didn't have time but also because I just simply couldn't be bothered putting it on. I quickly checked myself again in the mirror and headed downstairs, knowing that I'd probably taken longer than he expected me to when he told me he'd wait outside in the freezing cold.

I took a deep breath and opened the door, seeing he was still there and being slightly disappointed even thought I knew he was going to be. He looked up from his phone and smiled, standing straight instead of leaning against the wall.

We walked towards the pier, it was wintry but the rain had calmed down since I was last out, Larry didn't say anything the whole time we walked, which was concerning as he came with a reason and clearly wanted to talk to me and yet he hadn't said a word since we set off.

"Okay... can you just tell me what you want? Why are you here, Larry?" I asked, desperate to know.

"Just wanted to see how you are if I'm honest with you... it's been strange not seeing you for so long after seeing you almost everyday... it's been strange for everyone" he replied as we sat on a bench, not even caring that it was wet.