𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐄 - 𝐓𝐄𝐍

"𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭. 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬." - 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘯-𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘳𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴

WARNING: mentions of alcohol abuse (to be less vague, it's someone choosing to have a drink to drown out their problems. That's as far as it goes). If you struggle with these issues, read at your own discretion but please know that my DMs are always open.

The media was going mad at the fact that the police were yet to find whoever it was that was committing these ruthless acts. They demanded to know who it was that they needed to avoid in the streets because the police were looking at them as a suspect. At first, it was all speculation and demands but somehow, the media had picked up on the fact that it was Harry and Dele who were looking the guiltiest. like the murders, the media were ruthless.

Harry was struggling, as was Dele. The two of them struggled to go out in public without being bombarded by paparazzi. They were growing tired of the flashing lights of the cameras, the abusive and vile words coming from the reporter's mouths when they knew nothing about the situation. The constant speculation was unbearable.

Whenever Harry went to training, he would hear his teammates whispering about him and he was always last to be picked when they played small five aside games. One of his closest teammates and friends, Heung-Min Son had been distancing himself from the London boy and it hurt Harry. It hurt him a lot. The people that he worked with, played with and spent most of his time with didn't seem to know him as well as he thought they did. How could they think that he would do something like this?

Harry liked Cassandra, he always had. She was the first person he went to when he was struggling with a few niggles or he just needed to rant about frustrations within the team. She had always been there for him and he appreciated that. Harry had even met Cassandra's kids. He took to them so well and they loved him. Harry didn't know how anyone who knew him could see him as the villain but then again, he knew how good the media were at twisting things to suit their narrative.

At training, Harry and Dele both received weird looks from their teammates, none of them wanting to be associated with the two suspects. It wasn't great for the two friends. They were forced to pair up with each other for drills since nobody else wanted them and it was things like that that made them look as thick as thieves... or murder associates.

"Winks, Dele." The manager approached the two boys, speaking in a low tone as he wanted to have a word with the boys about what was happening in their personal lives and how that would affect the team.

"We need to discuss the game on Saturday." At this, Harry's heart dropped. He knew that it wouldn't be good news. Managers only ever said those words to a player when they were being dropped.

"In light of everything that's going on at the moment, we feel that it's best if you both don't play until all of this is over. It will be best for your mental health." The manager's words echoed in Harry's mind. They repeated over and over again

"This isn't for us. This is for the club's reputation!" Harry spat, his anger getting the better of him. He had been playing well as of late and so as far as he could tell, there was absolutely no way that he or Dele should be dropped completely from the squad. They were being treated as if they actually had something to do with the two murders when in actual fact, they had nothing to do with either of them. The evidence was completely circumstancial.

"We've had a few concerns raised by your teammates and they don't feel comfortable playing with you so until we can gain some more clarity on the situation, you're both out." The manager looked at them apologetically but Harry thought that it was complete and utter bullshit so he made those thoughts very clear,

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" With that said, Harry Winks walked away from the whole ordeal with Dele at his side.

Dele was worried about Harry. This murder investigation, with the two of them somehow at the heart of it, was really getting to the older of the two boys. Harry had been struggling to sleep and that was evident. The dark circles beneath his eyes told the stories of many nightmares and sleepless nights. The usual cheery and bright Harry Winks that Dele once knew was slowly slipping away. Dele could only hope that Harper would be able to clear the two of them because he wasn't sure how much longer harry would be able to hold out.

"I'm too sober for all of this." Harry mumbled as he stalked off, away from Dele and out of the training centre.

Harry's drive home was uneventful. People still stared as they realised that it was him who was passing by but it was a different stare nowadays. A stare that said they were keeping an eye on him because they didn't feel safe with him around.

Harry fought through the crowds of paparazzi and reporters as he made his way to his front door step. The boy made a mental note to move house once everything was over. He couldn't have the whole world knowing where he lived.

Walking inside his house, Harry realised that it no longer felt like home. It was his hideout. The place that he had to go if he wanted any sort of peace from the constant speculation and whispers.

Opening his cupboard that contained all of his fancy drinking glasses and alcohol, Harry pulled out the bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass. He wasn't much of a drinker and only had a drink when the occasion called for it but now, Harry couldn't care less. He didn't have to play football anymore and everything was slipping away from him. A bit of whiskey would heal his pain. It had to.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
a/n: heyy! How is everyone? I hope you enjoyed this new chapter even though it's quite sad on Harry's part :(

I have a plan. I want this book to be fully published before the end of the year because I do still love it to bits. It's probably my favourite one that I've written so far. This means that I'll be updating today (obviously) and from now on, I'll be updating one chapter every Thursday and Friday. This means that according to my calculations (they're probably not right so don't hold me to this please, maths wasn't my strong point), that Born To Die will be fully published come Christmas Day (the 25th of December if you don't celebrate)!

That's the plan anyway. Hopefully I won't forget and I'll stick to it. If I do forget, please don't be afraid to tell me off and to spam me with messages about it :)

Now that that's out the way, who's watching Strictly and I'm A Celeb this year?! I am loving it! (SPOILERS AHEAD)

Who are we rooting for on a) Strictly and b) I'm A Celeb?
- a) I was rooting for Max but obviously he's not in it now. Harvey is good and so is Maisie but I like a bit of development personally. Clara is amazing and surprisingly, so is Bill!
b) Jordan 110%. If he doesn't win it, I'll settle for Shane but it has to be Jordan.

Enjoy and stay safe!

Lots of love, e x