[ONC 2022 SHORTLISTER] She was running from something while he was running to something. When strange circumstances throw them together, they realise that home isn't just where you sleep at night.
When Lily Gilmore visits her family home over Chris...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
•❅──✧❅✦❅✧──❅•
Lines are weird things. They keep people in something, they keep people out of things, but ultimately, lines just define. They define the shape of something, they define where you're going, they define the realms of what you're doing.
Wyatt keeps going on about what line we've wandered past, and as we sit down and drink our coffees after kissing, I realise how weird it is. I was running away from my problems, trying to escape. Wyatt was running towards his problem, and we've met in the middle. Both going to the same place, on the same line to Cardiff, yet we couldn't be more opposite.
Yet this line we've danced over feels so right. Especially after being thrown like a piece of rubbish from Bruno.
Am I just creating a distraction? I'm not even sure. Even if I am, it just feels right. Wyatt feels comfortable, empathetic, lovely. Yet, I could be just a distraction to him, keeping him from thinking about his sister, only to be dropped when he gets home, and his head is filled up with sorrow.
Understandable, though.
Yet, he doesn't strike me as that type of man.
"Non-Christmas songs now?" Wyatt asks.
I chuckle and sip my coffee. "That'd be amazing."
He taps on his phone and some music comes on. He focuses on the screen for a few minutes.
"Is everything okay?" I ask.
"Just my mum," he answers. "She's still not asleep, bless her. I'm just telling her to go to sleep and I'll be fine. You know what mothers are like though, constantly worrying—sorry, that's insensitive after what yours did to you."
I scoff. "Don't be silly. In a way, my mum had her heart in the right place. She's just... she doesn't think sometimes. Can you not video call her if she's still awake?"
He stares at me for a moment before grinning. "I like your thinking, my angel Lily."
I grin and jokingly give him a bow.
He starts dialling, and I stand up.
"Don't be silly, sit back down, she'd love to meet the girl I'm stuck in the train with," he says.
The video starts, but it's an awful reception. But I can just about make out his mother with dark hair, and a kindly yet young face.
"Wyatt? You okay, darling?"
He smiles. "Hey, Mum! How are you guys?"
"Yeah, okay, darling. I'm worried about you. What's happening?" She's raising her voice, and a man comes into view, older looking with greying hair, but a kindly grin lights his face.
