Southern Rebels

rayleyvalentina

Ever since Harry had made it evident that he wanted him to stop drinking, with so much desperation in his voice, Louis felt an inordinate amount of guilt whenever he knocked back anything containing a trace of alcohol. It was for that reason he’d begun avoiding being around it altogether. It was all too tempting otherwise. Sometimes he had to force himself out for fresh air, walking amongst trembling automobiles revving in the side streets and shivering bodies huddling in alleyways. Places so dark he was less likely to be recognised. The fans, whom he adored whole-heartedly, sometimes took it a notch too high with their concerns regarding his health. This time he was taking extra measures to avoid being seen at his worst. He wasn’t sure if it was because he knew this time they’d be right, or if it was something else holding him into the embrace of the shadows and relative obscurity.

With Stan’s arrival, the idea that he might slip down the stairs of recovery was more alive than ever. He knew that his best friend always had his best interests at heart, but since he couldn’t bring himself to share the demons that had been haunting him as of late for fear of looking weak or vulnerable, there was no way Stan could know that pulling him into all that fun was the worst thing possible for him. What he really needed was the sort of domestic quiet his best friend associated with Harry, the sort of peace and stillness he associated with Louis not being himself because of someone else. He was partly right. There was no way he’d be doing all this of his own accord, and Harry was certainly one of his main motivators, but there was also the way he felt chased by ghosts of their accident wherever they went. It felt like his head was being held underwater.

Knotting his shaking fingers together, Louis slumped forward in his chair. He’d found his way into a local pub somehow despite all his sirens going off, telling him being this close to one of his main vices was a bad idea. Currently sat in the beer garden, with a quickly emptying pack of cigarettes before him on the table and an untouched pint of beer, he was trying to will himself to do something. Call his mum? Or Harry? He wanted to be able to have a drink and not need another. Hell, he wanted to not need a drink in the first place.

Rayley would be lying if she said that she didn’t care about Madison at all. She wouldn’t have tried being in a relationship with the girl if Madison was just another person to her. The blonde had her interest ever since she came into the house because even though she liked the whole ‘going out, spending the night in the club’--process, she wasn’t easy. She still had banter, and Rayley enjoyed it. She enjoyed all of it. Of course it was new to her, and she had no idea what she was doing, but she didn’t feel like she was doing something wrong by trying, and that was why she was so surprised about how the things went down so fast and so easily between the two. She had questions, many of them, but she just didn’t bother asking them. She disliked the fact that she let someone become special to her while she knew what could happen. It also seemed like Madison didn’t care at all, which was exactly why Rayley acted the same. Even though she was confused, even though she wanted to know millions of things, she knew it would be the best thing to act like she didn’t care, because when you don’t care,  it’s easier not to get hurt. 

So Rayley did what she usually did to block out thoughts and questions-- She turned to alcohol, even after her doctor specifically told her that it would be better if she slowly started to drink less, and eventually stop drinking all-together. She ran her fingers through her hair as she entered a local pub. She wasn’t feeling the club-scene, but staying at the house also wasn’t something she wanted at that very moment. 

Having arrived at the house, Doniya was more than happy to be reunited with her siblings as well as her cousin. She specifically tried to spend some bonding time with each of them since her arrival which was what resulted her in grabbing her cousin, Rayley, away for a night out. Just the two of them. Before leaving she had grabbed the essentials and her bucketlist, thinking this was a better time than any to start their challenge.

The hours had passed when Doniya and Rayley found themselves stumbling upon a small festival going on within the town. As they wandered around in the mixture of families and people, the brunette could hear music from a distance. Pulling her cousin along behind her as she pushed her way through the crowds to a small restaurant, or bar, she couldn’t see it clearly, having an karaoke night. Doniya pushed her way again through the throng of people in hopes to find an empty table before turning back to her cousin, “Let’s sit through a few songs. Some of these people really sound good.”