Royally Flawsome ♛

8♛

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It was a cold night and the street was filled with chatters and smiling faces illuminated by golden street lights. I tuck my hands into my jacket staring at Barry who hadn't said anything for a while, his head ducked low as he avoided staring into people's eyes. I wanted to ask him where he was taking me but I kept quiet and kept following the dark silhouette I was unsurprisingly not afraid of. I open my mouth, puffs of cold air escaping my lips and slowly drifting away into the night sky, disappearing from my view. Somehow it reminded me of home, being tucked into the embrace of my warm bed as my parents kissed their 24 year old baby goodnight.

It was less than a week since I left home but yet it felt like an eternity. I was too used to being pampered like a baby that I didn't know how to live alone as an adult.

"Hales..." his deep voice finally whispers, a whisper so silent I couldn't have caught it if it flew away with the wind.

"Barry." I purposely whisper back. He chuckles but his eyes were somewhere else.

"Lets go up the bridge, its less crowded," My eyes slowly drift towards the dark empty bridge, dead branches slithering up its old brick structure that was shrouded in darkness. It looked unused, the chipped paint revealing an ugly grey underneath.
I hug myself, the haunted structure before me giving me scary vibes, "It looks...I don't know abandoned and a gang hideout for... I don't know maybe Gummy serial killers!"

He places his large hand out for me to take and smiles, "Trust me," a smile and two words were enough to make me sanely place my hand on top of his. I was trusting this man that was hiding in a hoodie and avoiding peoples eyes, this man that wanted to be in a less crowded place. I knew he wasn't a menace or a serial killer or anything bad but he made me had a lot of questions in mind.

"Okay..." I whisper.

—-

"The thing doesn't look safe Barry!" I stare at the dangerous looking bridge, signs of collapsing emitting from it.

"Then lets not go," I snap my head towards him and glare at his side structure that was still staring at the bridge.

"Seriously! Oh Hales Trust me, this bridge is worth climbing on, Oh Hales just trust me and take my hand so we can gallop freely on a half collapsed bridge! This is your idea!" I mimic him in a squeaky voice my anger seeping into every word that spilled out of my lips. But instead of defending himself, he just stood there smiling at me like I was some two year old begging for chocolate, a tint of amusement sparkling in his blue orbs.

His moving hand catches my attention and my eyes snap towards it as it slowly drags down to the hem of his hoodie. I was unprepared for him easily flinging off his hoodie and throwing it to the ground. I yelp and quickly turn around. I was certainly not prepared to see any chest hair today or any day after moving from my parents house where Ive seen enough of my dads chest hair and I was definitely not going to see any chest hair anymore so I was going to continue looking at the uninteresting black river until he obliges to wear his damn shirt.

"Chill Princess! Im not gonna strip down," I could hear his low chuckle echoing in the darkness yet I refused to turn back around. The amount of chest hair I have seen have already traumatized me for a lifetime, I am not going to be traumatized anymore.

"Wear a shirt." The sentence came out more demanding than I intended but it was good that I sounded serious.
"I never took off my shirt! You do know people wear shirts under hoodies right?"
I flinch at that. That was embarrassing, really embarrassing now I can't even look at him without being embarrassed, maybe the river was interesting after all. "Nope! No I did not! Only weirdos do! Who the heaven wears a shirt under a hoodie!?" I slowly spin back around, trying to hide the embarrassment that was tattooed all over my face. My ashamed eyes slowly rising up to meet his amused one. For the first time since we encountered he stood in front of me with no hoodie dangling over his face but I could still not make anything out of him except of his sharp nose and the long hair that framed his face. The darkness around us had made us both unrecognizable and it made me frustrated to get a chance to see him without the hoodie but not quite see him still.