Be Your Everything

"No, absolutely not!" Alice snapped, turning her head to look at Harry with narrowed eyes.

It wasn't that she didn't want dance lessons - quite the opposite, she was dying to take them! But her mother had always taught her that letting other people pay for you was bad manners and rude, no matter how much they assure you it's no trouble.

"Oh, come on," he crossed his arms in annoyance. This was the 3rd time he had tried, and failed, to convince her. "Why won't you let me help you?"

At first he had lied, telling her he had found a place that would give her lessons for free. They weren't, of course, he just wanted her to think they were so that she would agree to attend them. Unfortunately for everyone involved, he was a terrible liar. So on the 2nd attempt he told her the truth, that he had planned to pay with his own money all along.

"Because I'm not anyone's problem but my own."

He sighed dramatically and ruffled his hair. "You're ridiculous."

"I am not! I'm just-"

"Haven't we had this conversation before? Didn't it end with us agreeing that since I had money you should let me pay for you?"

"That was because I had nowhere to live, Harry," Alice sighed exasperatedly, "not because I feel like dancing."

"There's not that much difference..." Harry began, but trailed off at the look Alice was giving him. "Alright, maybe it's not the same. But still-"

"Your arguments are terrible."

Chortling, Harry stepped toward her. "How about we talk about this when we're in London?"

She was about to tell him that, even in London, she wouldn't let up, but decided to use his own tactics against him - she lied. "Alright, fine. When we're in London."

***

London came a lot sooner than anyone thought. It was only 2 weeks after Harry and Alice's conversation that Liam's mobile rang.

Harry, sitting on the couch by himself, looked up when he heard what Liam was talking about.

"When do you want us back?" was the first thing that clued him in. "Mhm... that's fine... should we take the train again?... alright, yeah. Okay, see ya."

Harry waited for Liam to turn around and start talking. He waited almost 5 minutes. "Well?" he inquired finally.

"We're leaving in a few days," Liam told him simply, veering toward the staircase.

"Where are you going?"

"To pack. I wanna be ready to leave when the time comes," he explained to his friend.

"What time is the train?"

"Early Thursday morning."

It was only Monday. Obviously Liam hadn't had the time of his life while he had been cooped up in a strange little cottage in the middle of nowhere and wanted to get home.

"What's got him so happy?" Alice chimed as she skipped down the stairs in a seemingly good mood herself. Harry stood up and followed her to the dining table and sat down while she busied herself with making them some tea.

He explained that they were scheduled to leave on Thursday. "You'll be moving in with me before you know it," he told her with a suggestive smirk.

"Keep looking at me like that and I will punch you right in the penis," she said, all the while trying to keep a straight face. She made it obvious she was joking, but on the inside she knew that if he pulled anything she wasn't comfortable she wouldn't hesitate to tell him exactly how it made her feel.

He raised his hands on either side of his head in surrender with a laugh. "No funny business, promise. I was only kidding."

She handed him a steaming mug of tea. He took a sip and sighed in content; it was exactly how he liked it. She always made him tea because it made her feel useful for something, seeing as most of the time he wouldn't let her clean anything but her own things, which weren't many, so she knew how many sugars he had and how much milk.

"So how are you feeling about it?" he asked, placing the cream-coloured mug on the table between his hands.

"You mean besides worrying about living with someone as insufferable as you?" she teased lightly. "I think I'm feeling alright." She paused to take a sip of warm, sweet tasting tea and thought for a moment. "I'm not sure how I feel about leaving mum behind though," she admitted in an almost-whisper without looking him in the eye.

Harry was silent for a moment as he contemplated what he could say. For a wild moment he thought about offering accommodation for Liz too, but the rational side of his brain told him no, that was a bad idea. He was pushing his luck by bringing Alice back with him in the first place; management had only barely agreed as it was. "Do you want to see her before we leave?" he asked cautiously. He didn't want to say the wrong thing or get her hopes up.

"I think... I think that's a good idea," she took a deep breath and looked at him, "even if it is just to tell her I'm leaving."

He nodded and got to his feet, placing his now empty mug on the bench next to the sink. "Tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan," she smiled and tried to look excited. Truthfully, she was nervous. Her mother hadn't contacted her, not even a text, since Rick had hurt her. What if she was in hospital? What is she hated her daughter for leaving her there? What if she was dead? All of these thoughts had been rushing around Alice's head for the past week. More than once she had very nearly been overwhelmed by her own mind and had to lie down, telling the boys she had a headache. Liam tried to take her to the doctor to get her head checked out for some sort of internal injury a few times ("It can't be normal to be having this many headaches!") but each of these attempts she shut down, assuring him that she would be better soon, all the while flashing him a tight smile that she hoped was convincing.

Unfortunately for her, Harry had seen right through her act. He hadn't said anything though; the girl had been through a lot and was entitled to her secrets. Who was he to question how she was feeling? He knew what kind of headaches she was having by the way her eyes would become unfocused and misty. He had them himself from time to time, when the stress got too much, or when something turned his life upside down. He wasn't a stranger to feeling lost and confused.

As he stared into space he thought about what they were going to do tomorrow. He was becoming exponentially anxious with every passing minute. The thought of going back to that house with Alice made him feel sick to his stomach. Why?

Because seeing Liz meant seeing Rick.