a.n. // the gif has no correlation to the chapter i just had to use it xoxo

**

1 Year Later

Carrington Hill

The adrenaline rushed through me and made my hands and knees shake as Alex and I stood on the dance floor, highly anticipating the announcement of the first three places. I kind of zoned out, the loud cheers became very faint and my heartbeat thumped in my ears. This wasn't my first competition back since everything happened yet I still felt extremely nervous.

"And in the first place... please welcome Alexander Greenwood and Carrington Hill to the stage!" the lady spoke into the microphone and I barely even realised my partner already dragged me half way across the dance floor. "Congratulations to the pair from England! This is another victory added to the list of their many firsts!"

Alex twirled me around at least five times as we bowed down in each direction and I tried my best not to get dizzy. The massive grin that homed on my face only ever seemed to be there anymore when I was on stage. Dancing made me happy and it felt great, the music through my ears and the moves in my feet were all I needed to be content in life.

Once we found it to be enough to flaunt ourselves, he offered his arm to me and I linked mine through it. He walked me over to the last person in the line and we began to congratulate them all quickly. I always felt really disrespectful when I didn't do that – I knew Alex did too – and so it was important for us to always shake hands with the finalists, no matter what position we got.

We walked behind everyone to get on the step that was labelled with a massive 1 and Alex helped me up as he held my hand and placed the other one on my waist. When I was up, he stepped up behind me and kept his hand on my waist.

"Fuck," he mumbled in my ear and I chuckled as I grabbed his hand to make sure he didn't fall off.

We were congratulated again as we received our medals, trophies and goodie bags then the usual national anthem of the winner – us, in this case – was played. Photos were taken too and then we could finally get off of the podium.

"I don't think the lady in red was happy about coming second," Alex bitched to me as they left the stage and he still sat on the top. I laughed and pushed him a little at his shoulder as I peeped inside the goodie bag.

"I love getting shirts!" I exclaimed as I spotted a navy coloured t-shirt, probably a size XL which was great for sleeping. Competitions often gave out shirts in goodie bags, most of the time with the logo of the organisation that threw it.

"Who cares about your shirt? That bitch would have burned me to ashes with her ugly blue eyes if she had the powers!"

"You need to get laid, pal," I shook my head. "Now, let's go. I can barely feel my feet after today. They are literally pulsating."

"Dammit, you are no fun, Carrington-marrington."

"I told you to quit calling me that," I groaned. "Can we get a burger or something?"

"Ugh, you want to go to that animal style place again?" he asked me with disgust in his voice. We were almost at the dressing rooms where our stuff were. "I swear that's all you want to eat."

"Yeah, well, we don't have them at home and the animal style chips-,"

"Fries."

"-are fucking peng so excuse me if I want to eat as much as I can before I can't."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked as we stopped outside the two doors. "You thinking of moving back home?"

"Eh," I shrugged. "That's a conversation for later."

"Over four by fours?" he smirked and I winked at him before I pushed the door open and disappeared behind it.

Alex was such a great support through everything. And my brother and father. When I decided to take a breather and leave home for a bit, LA came as a very impulsive decision. Then again, Lesley pretty much sat me on a plane and then dragged me off of it once we were on the other side of the world. It had taken me a long while until I could finally feel like I was stable enough to do anything. Everything that has happened, fucked with my head in ways that nothing has ever had. But with help from every possible angle, I was better.

Yeah, not during the nights when you wanted nothing more than to cuddle your dead child and its father. Who, by the way, blamed you for more than he should have. But yeah, you are better, right?

Oh, fuck off.

I was better.

And not even my mind could convince me otherwise. Because I had to move on. Nothing could be changed. Everything happened and no matter how fucking cheesy it sounded, it happened for a reason.

I thought about it a lot during the first few months I spent in LA. I blamed all that happened on the time. It wasn't our time. So, fate decided to not knock on our door but take it out with the screws and everything. Bit dramatic of it to do that to us but I mean maybe the last three years have been too good so something bad needed to happen.

At least, that was what I told myself and it managed to help me move past it.

"Alright, Hill. Let's get a move on, I'm bloody starving."

"Ugh, same," I commented as we got in the car. My brother's car. That I used because he was always with his girlfriend and she had a car so it was totally fine for me to flaunt my – his – Audi R8. "Speaking of getting laid – when is Chloe coming?"

"She's not," he sighed. "Work wouldn't let her go so she said we'll just see each other when I'm home."

"Ah, right," I nodded. Alex was only out here because we had competitions to attend. We barely had the chance to partake in them in America because of the massive distance, the money, the training, all of that. But with me living here for a while now, it allowed us to spare money on a lot of things, the accommodation and the transport being the two main focuses. Also, considering that the competitions were almost back to back, it made sense for us to attend them. So, really, Alex only came out for those and for a short holiday before he had to go back and keep up the London branch.

Wow, don't even get me start on that. It was a task and a half to sort everything out with Julie and I never want to do that ever again. She was angry at me for leaving at first as she had no idea what happened, then softened and became more understanding as I explained everything.

"Well... you'll have me on the way back home," I shrugged as I got in the car. Alex followed quickly, both of us put on our seatbelts and I started up the car. "That's going to be really weird. Going back home, I mean."

"Nothing has changed, you know," he said. "Everything's the same."

"Yeah, I assumed everything would be the same. It's just gonna feel weird to be in Manchester again."

"Oh. Did you manage to get a ticket straight to Manny?"

"I wish," I replied. "It's from LAX to Heathrow and then from there to Manny."

"How long is the wait?"

"Like two hours."

"Yeah, nevermind," he laughed. "I was gonna offer to stay and wait with you but there's no way I'm spending two hours at the airport for no reason."

"Rude!" I exclaimed and then laughed. "It's fine. I wasn't going to ask, anyway."

As planned, we went to get food and we decided to sit in. We looked really out of place with our hairs gelled back to perfection, tanned to the gods and me with massive lashes, extreme makeup and long ass nails. It always made me laugh because people stared like they never saw someone so dolled up. There were a couple of times when randomers asked us for photos as they thought we were some kind of famous celebrities and that was literally the funniest thing ever.

Speaking of which, just as I was about to bite into my burger that looked extra mouth-watering after a whole day of barely eating, I sensed someone stand by our table. Slowly, I glanced up at Alex and I placed down my burger as I straightened my back and turned my head to the side.

"Hello, I, um, I don't mean to interrupt, which I clearly am doing, but I just saw you and I rec- I thought I recognised you... are you Carrington?" the girl asked me with a shaky voice. She couldn't have been younger than me, maybe two-three years?

"Hey, yeah, I am," I smiled as I grabbed my drink shyly and took a sip. I still didn't do well with what some people call as 'fan interactions' because I just felt really out of place and put on the spot. I never knew why people approached me and it scared the living shit out of me.

"Oh, wow," she chuckled nervously. "You look stunning!"

"Thank you, love," I smiled at her. "So, um, how can I help you?"

"Oh," she looked pretty scared when I asked that and she licked her lips. "I was just wondering if I could take a picture with you?"

"Yeah, sure," I nodded as I got up from the chair. "Selfie or...?"

"Yes, please," she said kindly and I smiled as I placed my hand on her shoulder and bent down a little. She took a few of us, a couple of different poses before she asked for a hug. Although I didn't feel like I needed it, once it happened, I realised I did. "Thank you so much! And I'm so sorry for interrupting your dinner."

"Oh, don't worry about it," I told her as I placed my hands on my waist. "I'm happy to take a photo any time."

"You are so lovely and you've helped me through so much, which sounds so weird. But I've been following you for quite some time now on Instagram and I just relate to so many things you talk about, like your anxiety for one. So, thank you!"

"I'm happy to hear it's helping you, that's so cool," I said.

"Yeah... not many people feel comfortable sharing things like that so I'm really happy I found you—also, how come you are here?" she asked.

"We just came from a competition, actually," I glanced at Alex who waved at us with the burger in one of his hands.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I don't want to keep you from eating. I should go, anyway," she smiled. "I'm so glad I got to meet you! Have a wonderful rest of your day!"

"I'm so glad I got to meet you, too and you have an amazing day as well."

"Thank you so much, wow, this is the best day of my life," she chuckled. "Sorry again for interrupting."

"No worries, honey," I winked at her with a small smile on my face and waved back at her as she walked away. When I sat back down, Alex looked at me curiously and I raised my eyebrow in question. "What?"

"Nothing... just surprised she didn't ask questions."

"About?"

"About you know what—who."

"Oh... yeah. I don't know. I'm glad she didn't."

"You still haven't spoken to him, have you?" he asked.

"No," I said. "He didn't reach out, either."

"Are you gonna see him when you go home?"

"He lives in London and I'm not staying there so probably no."

"Don't mean to bother you with all these questions about him it's just... I don't know. Weird, I guess," he said in between bites. I nodded and scooped up some sauce with my chips before I ate it. "You are doing exceptionally good for someone who went through so much shit."

"Therapy and a good group of people around you does wonders for you," I smiled at him. "Plus, dancing has always been my main focus in life. Getting back into it over here, the change of scenery, it was actually quite therapeutic."

"As long as you don't change me for some other lad, I'm fine with you staying and teaching here," he joked.

"I don't think anyone else would be able to handle me," I admitted. I put Alex through some shit over the years, I was the annoying sister she didn't want but had no other choice than accepting his fate. He was pretty cool, we got along right from the start and the way we worked was natural. "And you don't have to worry about me staying here forever. I just needed to get over what happened and I knew I wouldn't have been able to if I stayed home."

"Do you think you'll be fine when you move back to England?" he asked. "Like you just kind of fucked off without thinking twice about it and it might be weird to come back, no?"

"I guess I know what you mean but I don't think so, no. I left at the right time, I feel like. If I stayed a day longer it probably would have messed with my head. I would have wanted to go home—or well, back to the house. And I know him, he most likely would have tried to make it up to me and get back with me right off the bat and although I knew it wouldn't have been right and emotionally and mentally, I wouldn't have been ready, I would have gone back to him. He is, ew... he's my weakness," I said. "I didn't like admitting that."

"That's good, though. That you know he's your weak spot and yet you were still able to leave him."

"I owed that to myself. After the shit he put me through with the whole pregnancy and all, I think it was only right if I left. But I also don't blame him because everyone grieves differently and that just so happened to affect him in a really negative way."

"No offence, but I think this made you become really mature. Like, this may not be how people say it but I feel like it did. Don't get me wrong, you were pretty mature for your age before everything but I just think this put certain things into perspective for you."

"I guess..."

"That wasn't meant to come off rude or anything."

"I know," I laughed. "God, when did you become so fucking shy around me? Thinking saying the wrong thing will make me go ballistic on you."

"Piss off, I'm not," he kicked me under the table. "Just know that it's a sensitive topic and all."

"Not really. You can ask whatever you want. I'm not gonna curl up in a ball and cry. Done that already."

"Right... well, still. I don't want to upset you."

"C'mon now, Greenwood. I won't give you that satisfaction."

"Dammit," he groaned and I smirked and shrugged before I took another bite of my burger.

Eventually, we finished up and then I drove us back home. My grandparents' house was quite big, for the sole purpose of us visiting them during summer. There were a few bedrooms that they never used and so it came in handy for my dad and brother when they first moved out for work.

The house was quiet when we got in. I went straight to my room for a shower to get all the hair products out of my hair and the three-hundred layers of makeup off of my face. Once I was out and dried up, I brushed my teeth and put some moisturizer on before I got in my PJ's. I towel-dried my hair and then got in bed. My feet pulsated as I laid in the middle of my bed and eventually, I just fell right into a deep sleep.

**

My flight home came around quicker than I wanted it to. Sure, I missed my mum and Harrison a little but I was so fine living in LA for the past year that I just felt out of my comfort zone when I thought of landing back in England.

After I said goodbye to Alex in London, I had the two hours wait I had to get through on my own. Thankfully, the spot I found was fairly empty and I found it easy to sleep until I had to get on my connecting flight. I texted my mum when I got on my next flight to let her know I was on my way and she said she will be waiting for me.

I hadn't seen her ever since I left. I didn't even go to her after I found out I lost the baby which was crazy. This was the longest I have gone without seeing her and I knew it was going to be fucking weird. I was overthinking it so much that by the time I landed at the Manchester Airport, I was just ready to see her and get it over and done with.

It took me a few minutes to find her. I was a bit overwhelmed with emotions when I finally found her and I walked right into my mum's arms. She hugged me tightly and she began to sway from side to side with me which made me laugh, all whilst my eyes welled up with tears.

"Gosh, I've missed you so much," she told me once she pushed me away from her arms and put her hands on my cheeks. Her eyes were filled with tears and she grinned at me before her lips pressed a loving kiss on my forehead. "Is it really so sunny in LA?"

"I guess," I chuckled. "Plus, fake tan."

"Right-right... how was the competition? Did your dad and brother go see you?" she asked. "C'mon, let's go whilst you tell me."

So, I did. All the way home, she let me chat her ear off and not once did she mention the reason why I left. I assumed dad and Lesley filled her in, they always had a way of knowing everything. I appreciated that because I knew I wouldn't have been able to talk to mum about it as I did with my therapist or my brother. Lesley had to tell dad what happened because I was too embarrassed to tell him myself. That was why I was glad my dad or perhaps my brother did it for me when it came to my mum.

As I entered the house, Leo ran right up to me and I hated to admit, but I didn't even think of how it was going to feel to see my dog again. The joy he brought me as I crouched down and held him in my arms was indescribable and suddenly, it seemed crazy how I went so long without him.

"Mum?!" I shouted.

"Yes?"

"Is Harrison gonna come home before the ceremony or are we just meeting him there?" I asked. "Also, dad told me to tell you to not tell Harrison that he is coming home with Lesley because they want it to be a surprise."

"No, we're meeting your brother there and I know, your father called me to tell me," she smiled. "Are you hungry or anything?"

"Sure. Are you making something?" I questioned with Leo in my arms.

"I was planning to, yes," she nodded.

"Alright, cool. I'll go for a shower, though. I feel gross."

"Of course, lovey. Go, do your thing," she smiled. "Oh, Carrie?"

"Yes?" I looked back after I let Leo go.

"I'm really happy to have you home and in one piece," she said before I was engulfed in another hug. Although, this one felt different along with the way she spoke those words. I knew she was more on about what happened with me.

"Yeah, it's nice to be home."

But was I really home or just at the house I grew up in?

**

a.n.

hey hello welcome we have 1 chapter and an epilogue to go FINALLY i can't believe i can finally put harrington to rest i feel like i dragged it out too long but hey ho at least it's getting an end

i guess that's all for now although i was thinking i would do one of those ask the characters thingies if anyone's interested in that idk let me know of sumfin 

don't forget to vote n comment n see u tomorrow for a ffc update hehehe xoxo