Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,’ Piper said, rolling onto her side and curling down further under the duvet. Rob’s bed was comfy. And warm. She did not want to get out of it.
‘You asked me to wake you up,’ Rob said. Piper could hear the amusement in his voice. ‘In fact, you begged me.’
‘I didn’t beg,’ Piper said. ‘And I must’ve been drunk. Why would I want to get up and go running in the middle of the fucking night?’
‘It’s not the middle of the fucking night. It’s almost morning. I slept really well. Can’t imagine why.’
Piper opened one eye and peered up at him. It was definitely still dark – she could only see the shape of him looming over her. But she could tell he was smiling. She pushed herself up on one arm and kissed him. He tasted of toothpaste.
‘Forget about running,’ Piper said. ‘Come back to bed. I can give you a good workout. Really put you through your paces.’
Rob laughed and straightened up. ‘I’ve already got my trainers on. Are you coming or not?’
‘I could be,’ Piper said. ‘If you weren’t making me go out for a run.’ But she was already swinging her legs out of bed.
Their footsteps echoed on the empty pavement. Piper was only aware of the cold air, her breath, Rob next to her, the still water of the river over the wall. She knew why he liked it. It was like being the first people in the world. The only people in the world. She’d never known the prom so quiet and empty.
‘You do this every night?’ Piper asked, her breath coming fast. She was running at the same speed as Rob, but his strides were longer so he kept getting slightly ahead and having to jog on the spot until she caught up.
‘Not every night,’ Rob said. ‘Most nights. I don’t sleep when I don’t.’
‘And you’ve tried running in the day like a normal person?’
Rob laughed. ‘Yeah. That’s good too. But this is better. Honestly, I’ve tried everything else, but this is what works.’
‘Wow,’ Piper said, slowing to a walk. ‘I can feel my pulse in my face.’
Rob slowed too, walking alongside her. ‘I wouldn’t expect you to come with me. I just wanted you to know—’
‘Race you to the clown statue,’ Piper said, running again.
Rob overtook her easily before turning and running backwards, goading her.
‘You’re a shit,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why I like you.’
He stopped immediately. ‘You like me?’
‘You know I like you,’ Piper said. ‘God.’
Once she was past him, she started to jog again.
‘I hoped you liked me,’ he said. ‘I kind of assumed you did since you keep coming back. But you never said.’
‘I mean, do I have to spell out everything?’ Piper said. ‘Couldn’t you just, you know, infer?’
‘Hey,’ Rob said, grabbing her wrist and stilling her with his other hand on her shoulder. ‘Look.’
She turned and gasped at the sight of dozens of rabbits running down over the rocks and the grass that separated the prom from the road behind. Their white tails flashed in the darkness and there were so many of them she couldn’t quite catch them all in her mind.
‘Is this why you like running at night?’ Piper whispered.
Rob hooked his chin over her shoulder, his arms sliding around her waist from behind. ‘Part of it, yeah. First time I saw them I shit myself. One darted out in front of me. It was like something from a Stephen King novel or something. I thought I was going to be swarmed.’
‘Local night runner savaged by rabbits,’ Piper said.
She felt Rob’s laughter against her back. ‘What a way to go.’
‘What are they doing?’ Piper said. They seemed to be running every which way, without intent.
‘Dunno,’ Rob said. ‘Maybe they’re just out for a night run too?’
‘Couldn’t sleep,’ Piper said.
Rob unhooked his arms from her waist, but grabbed her hand. They started walking again.
‘National carrot shortage,’ Piper suggested.
They walked as far as the Pierrot and then Rob said. ‘Do you want to go back?’
‘Not really,’ Piper said. ‘This is nice.’
They crossed the road and carried on to the beach. The tide was out and they sat down on a cement bench, looking out at the water.
‘I wish we’d done this back then,’ Rob said.
Piper smiled. ‘I don’t know. We probably would’ve fucked it up if we had. This is better.’
‘So you don’t think we’re going to fuck this up then?’
Piper looked at him. He was leaning back against the bench, long legs stretched out in front, crossed at the ankles. Piper was cold, but Rob didn’t seem to be bothered at all – totally relaxed. She shuffled along the bench and leaned against him, and he immediately wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.
Light was just starting to show on the horizon: a thin line of pink.
‘Can we stay for the sunrise?’ Piper asked. ‘Or will it take too long?’
‘We can stay,’ Rob said. ‘We’ll probably need to huddle together for warmth though.’
By the time they’d stopped kissing – Rob’s warm hands roaming under Piper’s hoodie – the sky was almost entirely pink streaked with orange. Piper looked over Rob’s shoulders: the rabbits had all gone.
‘I think they only come out in the dark,’ he said, even though she hadn’t mentioned what she was looking for.
‘You and the rabbits,’ Piper said.
‘And now you too,’ Rob said, dipping his head to kiss the side of her neck.
‘Only this time,’ Piper said. ‘Never again.’
‘Never?’
‘Next time you can wake me up when you get back. And I’ll warm you up.’
‘Deal,’ Rob said.
They walked back along the prom, holding hands, and stopped at Starbucks, even though, as Rob said, he had a perfectly good coffee machine at home. But Piper was cold and tired and, if she was honest, kind of wanted to show Rob off. Even if it was only to a barista she didn’t even know.
In Starbucks, a woman had come rushing up to Piper, saying ‘Oh my god!’ She’d clutched both of Piper’s hands and said, ‘It is you, isn’t it? Piper?’
It was only then that Piper had realised who it was: Dee, one of her mum’s friends.
‘Gosh, it’s so good to see you,’ she’d said. ‘You look so much like your mum.’
And Piper had burst into tears.
Dee had been full of apologies and Piper had apologised too, and hugged her, and then she and Rob had left without their coffees. On the way back to his flat, he’d been quiet, squeezing her hand, but not asking her anything or encouraging her to talk and she’d really appreciated it.
Now, on his balcony, she stared out at the water. ‘It was always easier to pretend they weren’t really gone if I didn’t come home,’ she said.
Rob nodded, his hand on her knee. She curled her hands around the coffee he’d made for her as soon as they’d got back.
‘I don’t want to forget them.’ Piper swallowed a sob. ‘It’s just easier when everything doesn’t remind me of them, you know? Like I can picture them here in so many places – my mum looking up at the blossoms in the park. My dad waiting in the queue in the chippy. But then there’s all this new stuff too. Like the cinema and Wetherspoons and these flats. And I don’t have memories of them here. But it seems wrong that they never knew them too. Do you know what I mean?’
‘I can understand that it must be bittersweet,’ Rob said.
‘That’s exactly the word.’
‘When will you be back next?’ Rob asked later as she packed her bag, looking around his room for anything she might’ve missed.
‘First weekend of next month, maybe?’ Piper said, heading into the bathroom for her toothbrush.
‘You know,’ Rob said. ‘You could leave that here. So you don’t need to worry about forgetting it next time.’
‘But then how would I clean my teeth in London?’ Piper joked, leaning down to kiss him as she dropped her toothbrush into her toiletries bag.
Rob grabbed her hips and steered her between his thighs. ‘Leave it all. I’ll take care of it until you come back.’
‘But what if I don’t come back?’ Piper said. ‘Then I’d be out a shitload of make-up. Do you know what that stuff costs?’
Rob’s hands dropped down to his sides. ‘I dread to think. I’m just saying. If you wanted to leave anything here, you could.’
‘Maybe a toothbrush,’ Piper said. ‘Next time. I’ll buy another when I get home.’
She zipped her bag up. ‘Done.’
‘I’ll take you to the station,’ Rob said.
‘You don’t need to do that,’ Piper said, as she always did. Even though she loved it. She loved him walking her to her train, kissing her on the platform, smiling through the window as the train pulled away. He’d got on board once to put her bag on for her and she’d half hoped the train would leave and he’d have to go back to London with her. Even though that wouldn’t work. Her life in London was something else entirely. She couldn’t imagine how Rob would even fit in there.