Whispers

London’s sky was very grey, swirling with thick rainclouds. Purple thunderheads hung in the distance, lightning lancing across the sky every so often. People on the street walked with bowed heads, going head on or being pushed along by the wind that was tunneling down Oxford streets.

The shopping distract was a flurry of activity, though the skies were threatening with rain, and the wind was bitterly cold. Though it was not near enough for Christmas shopping, people were planners, and liked to look in the shops ahead of times, see what caught their eyes.

Rae and Finn were doing just that, pushing against the biting wind to duck into a shop, thankful for the cut off of the gale and the cold that brought with it. Music hit their ears in the clothing store and they straightened their weather blown hair, hugging jackets closer.

“So how was the date?”

Finn could not help the smile that came across her face, which made Rae smile in turn. She had been dying to ask her red-headed friend the question since they started shopping. But she hadn’t wanted to be pushy. “It was amazing,” Finn admitted, fingering a sweater with interest. It was the same shade of green as her eyes, so Rae gave her a thumbs up on the item. She took it off the rack for consideration. “Liam is the perfect gentleman but not obnoxiously so. And he’s funny; funnier than you lot give him credit for.”

“We laugh at Niall more than we laugh at Liam.”

“Of course you do. But it went brilliantly. I like him, a lot.”

Rae smiled, fingering a jean jacket that she liked. Plucking it off the rack, the two of them orbited the store together, talking about Finn and Liam’s date. It seemed that all went very well, which pleased Rae. Liam seemed like the kind of guy who needed a good girl. And Finn was both fun and good.

Ever since Finn had come around, Liam had been spending more time with them. They’re small group of friends always reminded Rae how lucky she was to have a group of people she could fall back on.

And Harry brought her those people. Granted, Trystan was already part of Rae’s family. But Harry had been friends with those boys, and for some reason, Harry and Rae together had made them even closer.

The only boy who did not come around often was Zayn, but that was because Rae knew he liked to keep to himself. It wasn’t that Zayn was quiet or brooding, he was just a very solitary kind of person, and liked to sit in his apartment and draw. He was just that kind of guy, and she admired that about him.

Niall was always around, and Rae was pretty sure he would always be around. Though he was not Harry’s best mate, like Louis was, Niall was that one guy who was up for anything. It was not hard to convince him to do things. Like sit at Rae’s and make sure she didn’t get in trouble.

Buying the items they picked out, they carried their bags close and braved the outside again. This time, they hurried to the car, just as thick drops of rain began to fall selectively from the sky. They dove into Rae’s car just as the steady rain began to beat down on the roof, causing a loud sound.

“Glad we escaped that one,” Finn laughed, looking up and out the window. The pale light hit her face nicely, and Rae knew that Liam was lucky to have a pretty girl. “It’s really coming down out there.”

“Yeah,” Rae agreed, looking at the rain with distaste as she pulled into the road. She was thankful home wasn’t far away and that they had not walked there that day on account of the uncomfortable wind. “Cold rain and I are not a mix. Are you going home, or are you coming over for some hot tea?”

“I’m going to head home. I think I’m going to visit mum and dad for the weekend, and my sister that decided to never move in.”

Rae suddenly remembered that Finn’s sister really did never move in. She thought it odd that she had looked over such a fact. And it saddened her to think Finn was having to live in that big house all alone. “Why didn’t she ever move in? You were so excited for that.”

Finn’s face darkened. “She has drug issues, my sister. Remember when I said that you’d never get peace with her living with me? I meant it. She’s very loud. Never does drugs at home, but comes home stoned and plays a lot of fucking music.”

Rae blinked in surprise. That was not the answer that she had suspected from Finn at all. She tried to imagine the girl next to her dealing with a drug addict sister, and it was hard to imagine. Finn was not the kind of girl who was sympathetic or gentle. She was hard and brash. “I’m sorry to here that.”

“Don’t be,” she shrugged. “It could be worse. She’s alrigh’ as of now, but it’s safer for her to live with mum and dad. I can’t be home all the time to make sure she isn’t gettin’ high or something.”

Silence fell between them as Rae turned onto their street. “Is she the one who nicknamed you Finn? I know that you said your real name was Annaleigh, the day I met you.”

The girl smiled fondly then, nodding her head. Finn leaned back as they were parked, trying to let the rain lighten before they had to brave the weather outside. Neither one of them wanted to get soaked to the bone. “Yeah, she did. When we were younger, she couldn’t say ‘Annaleigh’ correctly, so she shortened it to the last name. We all call her ‘Ginny.’”

“That sounds nice. I’ve never had a sibling.”

Finn shrugged. “It has it’s ups and downs.”

The rain on the roof of the car seemed to lighten, no longer sounded like hundreds of small battering rams on the metal of the car. Looking up at it, Rae raised her eyebrows, as if to ask Finn if they should brave it. The red head nodded and they both yanked their doors open, slamming them shut and running their opposite ways with a wave of the hand.

Rae made it quickly up the steps and into her flat, the door open from Trystan being home. Closing the door behind her, she let out a breath of air, shedding her jacket that was now wet and cold, running a hand through her damp hair.

Trystan stuck her head around the wall from the kitchen, waving a hand. Her hair was pulled up, damp from what looked to be the remains of a shower. “Tea?”

Rae grinned, nodding and shedding her shoes at the door. “That would be amazing. I’m going to take a quick shower, yeah?”

“It’ll be ready when you’re out.”

Hot water on her skin instantly made the chill go away. Being cold from the rain was one of the worst things. Trying to make sure that she was warm through and through, Rae stayed in the shower extra long before getting out and pulling on sweats and a t-shirt.

As she pulled the t-shirt over her body, a shrill scream from down stairs, causing Rae to fumble with the bathroom door and bolt out her room and down the stairs, rib cage taking a beating from her heart pounding.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, Trystan was bolting out of the kitchen, phone in hand as she hit buttons violently, her hands trembling so much that she dropped her phone right on Rae’s bare foot, making her howl in pain.

“Fuck Trystan!” she bellowed, breathing in sharply. “What the hell is going on?”

“I was- fuck!” she was trying to pick her phone up from the ground frantically, but before she could continue, there was a knock on the door. Trystan remained on the ground, crouched as she looked wildly at the door. “Don’t open the door. It’s Sean.

Rae froze. Her heart began to pound hard in her chest, the speed knocked up several notches from moments before. So they weren’t going to forget about her, and they were going to walk right up to her door and knock on it.

Another round of knocks came, light, friendly taps on the door. But they were anything but friendly. Each sound of his knuckles hitting the wood of the door was like being punched in the windpipe, making it hard for Rae to breathe.

“So we beat on,” she murmured to herself, quoting Gatsby, knowing the past was going to inevitably repeat itself, “boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”