Carrington Hill           

Our relationship was... alright. We haven't been hanging out as much as we once were due to the fact that we both had pretty weird and definitely busy schedules. It has definitely put a mark on the time we were able to spend together which I had only realised when we had a chat about it on the way home from the hospital. That was weeks ago now, Harrison was back at university, preparing for his last assignments to be handed in and exams that he yet to take. The world championship was also creeping up on me and that stressed me out quite a bit as that was the main reason why I felt so distant from my boyfriend.

With a sigh through my lips, I grabbed my water bottle and chugged it. The bottle got completely wrecked as I emptied it from the drink, I rolled the cap back on it and threw it in the bin. It was now around three in the afternoon and I was a sweating mess. I had two classes this morning, both of them were private lessons after which I had a short lunch and since then all my time had been used to practise.

The championship was something really important for Alex and I as this only occured once every year. We have won it last year and in 2015 therefore we were tempted to take the golden medal and trophy home this year, again, as a way of making up for coming second in 2016.

"Alright, I think I'm done for today. Completely shattered," Alex said which brought me back to the reality. He sat on the floor, his legs wide open in a V with his back against the wall. He made the mistake of leaning against the mirror once and his sweaty back left marks on it so I made him clean it even though there was a cleaner for the place.

"Me too," I sighed. I undid the claps on my heels and took them off, the inside of my shoes dark from the sweat. The rubbery protector on the heels of my shoes was almost fully worn out so I made a mental note of having to change that as soon as possible. "I'm kind of shitting it this year, you know."

"How come?"

"So much had happened since the last championship. I'm really nervous to compete for some weird reason. I'm not entirely sure."

"Hmmm," he hummed in the middle of standing up. His hands grabbed the towel that sat around his neck and walked over to me lazily. "We'll be fine, you'll be fine. Always knew you were a stresshead and this isn't the first time you're worrying about something that... about something that we basically already bagged," he winked at me with a cheeky smile. "We've been practising extra hard lately and when Julie came up to check on us and we had our lesson with her, what did she say?"

"That we are fine and shouldn't overwork ourselves?"

"Exactly," he nodded. "Julie would tell us if we needed more practise, in other words, if we were shit, but she didn't," Alex said calmly and collectively. Out of the two of us, he had to be the one who always had it together and it was rare when he didn't. "That woman always had a soft spot for us, I even dare to say she loves us."

"I mean she definitely treats us a little more... delicate. But there are times when she literally is out for us until we sweat blood."

"True," he laughed. "But anyway. Point is, we are going to be fine. We have gone to more championships than the ones we've won, yes, but we always ended up on that podium. Give me one championship where we didn't end up on that damn thing," he challenged me. Obviously, I had no answer to this simply because we never ended up lower than third place. "Exactly. So, even if we won't win, which I am pretty certain that we will do, we'll still get a medal and a trophy."

"True," I let out a sigh as I looked up at my dance partner. I was so lucky to have him and to get along with him so well. My career would be nowhere without him. Well, what I mean is that I definitely wouldn't be here right now if he wasn't in my life. "Guess I needed that pick up talk."

"Gotchu, sis," he shot another wink at me as he collected his belongings. I did the same and then we both left the room. "I'll meet you by the seats," he told me as he disappeared into the male dressing rooms and I went in the female one.

Once I was in my sweats and slides, my bag on my shoulder and phone in my hand, I turned the lights off in the room and walked out. Alex, as always, was waiting for me by the seats, ready to roll. We bid each other goodbye in the car park, again, something we never missed. Even if one of us was in a hurry, the other would get their shit together as soon as possible just so we could get out together.

Ever since I have moved to London, I felt a bit out of place. Alex got used to the surroundings pretty quickly which was helpful because I could sort of lean on him when it was necessary. But to cut my ramble short, we basically agreed to always leave the dance studio alone, especially when we finish late and it's dark outside and stuff. I had seen way too many movies and heard of one too many stories of people getting attacked and stuff in the dark and the fact that I was in a city where I wasn't as comfortable as I was at home, just made me a bit cautious.

There weren't many people on the road home even though it was nearing five o'clock now. Alex and I chatted for a bit longer than we both intended to although it always happened. Somehow, in some twisted way, my car took me to a McDondald's. It probably sensed my empty stomach and heard it grumble several times. Once I got my order in – and Harry's, obviously – I rolled down to the window where I got the bag from. The smell of the food filled my car completely and it took everything in me not to open it up properly and eat it all right there and then.

Once I got home I was half expecting Harry to be lying on the couch with the telly on whilst he'd be lost in whatever his phone screen displayed. That was not the case, however. The whole penthouse was way too quiet for my liking both downstairs and upstairs. When I parked in the garage, I didn't even bother to see if all the cars were there so I assumed he was out. That actually left me quite surprised because we always text each other about where we are or will be, even without the other asking.

"Well, nevermind," I mumbled to myself after I came down from the second floor which was completely empty. I had no idea where he could've gone then again, his job was quite unpredictable. Whenever Caitlin called him, he had to go so I just left it at that.

My maccies was still warm when I opened it, the smell of my chicken selects instantly filled my nose and I swear that was the highlight of my day. The soft yet crispy chicken melted in my mouth that I dipped in the sweet chilli sauce beforehand. Another thing, McDondald's chips were the best chip. They were salty and soft and when they were piping hot... oh my lord.

The simple thought of food could easily make me nut.

Just as I took a sip of my coke through the white straw, I heard the dangling of keys outside the front door. Usually, I didn't hear it when he was coming in but because it was so quiet in the house, it was inevitable. My food was already gone by this point but Harry's was still wrapped up in the paper bag along with this drink.

"Welcome home, honey," I called out once he was inside. His steps were loud which gave his whereabouts away but other than that, I couldn't see him. The kitchen was a little hidden from the main entrance so he would've had to come in for me to be able to see him.

He left me hanging though. I never got a reply which I usually do when I make silly comments. He literally whizzed past the kitchen and up the stairs, his stomps loud from which I assumed he wasn't in a good mood. That made me let out a semi-sad sigh. If I am being honest, I was looking forward to seeing him today and spending the rest of the afternoon with him because he wasn't there in bed this morning when I had woken up.

I had taken the bag up with me even though I probably shouldn't have. I regretted it the moment I picked it up but my legs had already taken me to the stairs, right up them and into the bedroom. Not surprisingly, Harry wasn't there however the door to the en-suite bathroom was closed. I placed the bag on the bedside table that was Harry's then laid down in the bed with my phone in my hand. I had no energy whatsoever to do anything besides lay in bed so that is what I did.

Even when my boyfriend came out of the bathroom, his hair wet and body only covered up by a pair of grey boxers, I just continued to lay there and stare at the ceiling. Yes, I did want to spend time with him but no, I did not want to pick a fight with him. I knew that we definitely would have gotten into an argument just by the way he was behaving. He was distant and clearly signalled that he wished to be left alone. So that is what I did. While he was busy looking through his clothes in the walk in wardrobe, I slipped in the bathroom and decided to take a quick shower.

Once I was out and dressed in my pyjamas, he was no longer in the bedroom and neither was the McDonalds's bag. I assumed he went downstairs so after I hung my wet towel up, put my dressing gown on and slipped a pair of fluffy socks on my feet, I went downstairs. To my surprise, the TV was on, some kind of series played. I was still kind of afraid of saying anything to him in case it would tick him off so my feet had taken me to the fridge from which I had taken a can of coke out. Rose must have been grocery shopping because the fridge was full with everything neatly packed away.

Then, because I literally had no self-control in that moment, I walked over to where he was eating on the couch. He looked at me for a quick second, his features seemed to soften as the wrinkles on his forehead smoothened out as well as the little wrinkle between his eyebrows.

"I was gonna get you a milkshake but their machines didn't work," I decided to say as he picked up his drink. When Harry decided to eat out, he went all out. This meant that he ate as fatty as he possible could because he knew he'd have to be back on his clean diet soon after.

"It's fine," he mumbled. "Wasn't in the mood for a milkshake, anyway."

"That's good," I sighed. "I wouldn't have wanted it to go to waste. I only like to dip my chips into it."

He let out a little chuckle at my comment which was enough to bring back the memories of the first ever time he noticed me doing that. At the airport after my best friend's wedding, when I was kind of stuck with all the lads. It was fun, really fun, actually. I missed those times.

"Come here," he said while he placed his tray on the coffee table. I did as he asked me to, placed my can down next to his food and took a seat next to him. I pulled my legs up as he shuffled closer, one of his arms placed on the back of the couch. His eyes looked at my face for a while, as if he was examining something or maybe it was just his way of telling me to say something.

"Are you okay?" I questioned quietly as my index and middle fingers pinched the material of his shirt. I didn't even realise he put one on up until that moment. My eyes slowly trailed up to his before the stubble around his lips and chin snatched my attention.

"Yes but no," he replied which made me furrow my eyebrows. I rolled his shirt between my fingers until his hand took a hold of mine, easily slipping his ringless fingers between mine. "I don't know if I'm gonna make it."

"Wait, what?" I asked back, completely confused, with a little laugh at the end. What he had said was so vague and I literally had no idea what he meant at all. "Are you dying or something? Because you shouldn't be announcing that this easily."

"No," he shook his head with the softest smile I had seen that day. It was the first that I saw him smile that day, actually. "The championship. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to go."

Now, I know my heart cannot physically fall but I swear that it did when those words left his mouth. The championship was important for me and I truly wanted my family and people who are close to me there – if they could make it.

"Oh," I said as my heart fell. "That's... okay. Don't worry about it."

"Don't lie to me," he said.

"Well, do you want me to cry about it?" I asked back, a bit more firey than I probably should have.

"I probably should have told you that I will be there but I would only arrive late. I could make it, but maybe only for the results."

"Right," I nodded. That was better than nothing.

"Is that all?" he raised his eyebrows at me questioningly.

"I'm tired, Harry," I leaned into him, my head on his chest as my arms went around his middle. Soon enough, he cuddled me further into his chest and I closed my eyes. It felt nice to be close to him and hear his heartbeat, feel his warmth, have his arms around me. "I'll be happy if you can make it at all. Please don't worry too much about it, okay?"

"I just feel like shit," he said honestly. "I got out of my meeting with Caitlin and everyone at my management and I literally just stormed off. I don't even know where the day went because I was in a shit mood all day."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know," I sighed and licked my lips. "But you had a bad day. And for that, I'm sorry. You deserve nothing but the best and I'm just sad you didn't have a nice day."

"I love you, bebe," he murmured with a kiss to my freshly washed hair. "I really do. I'm so sorry I've been kind of off lately."

"I love you, too," I smiled to myself before I pulled back from the hug. His grin widened when I looked at him, his green eyes stared into my brown ones sweetly. I kissed his soft lips which caused his eyes to close for a quick second, then they opened up slowly as I pulled back. "I'm sorry, too. I really been living in the dance studio and barely gave you any time."

"That's fine, I'm not mad about it," he shrugged. "I mean how could I be mad at my champion, huh?" he smiled at me cheekily and I rolled my eyes, giggling. "Nah, but for real, I feel bad about this whole thing."

"About you coming to my championship?" he nodded, his teeth sunk into his bottom lip and looked away as his fingers laced with mine again. Our hands rested in my lap whilst his thumb gently caressed my knuckles. "Is that the only reason why you were pissed off?"

"Yeah," he answered eventually. He was hesitant, as if he didn't want to tell me at first but then he obviously had to come up with an answer.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, I'm sad. I wanted you to come with me and be there from the start but I understand you have commitments. It's your job. You've been sitting on your arse all this time, moaning about not having anything to do. Now it's here and I'm happy for you."

"Yes, but that means I won't get to be there with you. I want to be, though. I need to be there to support you."

"Don't take the job then," I joked. Well, sort of. I kind of wanted him to not do the job then again that would have been extremely selfish. "Look, you said you could make it for the results. I'm fine with that. At least you'll be there."

"I won't get to see you dance," he said sadly. He really did seem worried and sad about this whole situation and that made my heart race. Not necessarily in a good way. "You know I love seeing you dance."

"I guess that's something you have to deal with. I mean, the decision is yours," I said. "You can either come and see me dance but miss out on a job opportunity which might be a once in a life time thing or you can take the job and miss out on seeing me dance. Although, that is something you'll be able to do on more than one occasion. Championships are held annually, good job opportunities within your industry are rare. Take your pick, lover boy."

"You don't even know what job I got."

"I'm pretty sure it's a good one," I replied. "Caitlin is not a bad manager, I know for a fact that woman only gives you the best ones."

"I don't know," he sighed. He bit down on the inside of his cheek, his eyes looking all around the room.

"I say take the job then come see me when you can," I stated confidently. "We can't be at each other's things all the time and that is completely fine. There will be other times."

"I suppose," he pulled his lips to the side before he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

•••

hi decided i'd put this chapter up as i'm quite into writing again and i've literally written like 3 chapters after one another !

hope you've enjoyed this one and if so, lmk as always :)

lotta love, b