Running in the night

“Are you coming tonight?” said Warren as he began to walk away from Leah.

“Wait!”

Is what she couldn’t tell him as he waved bye.

“Wait, because I can’t stand to watch you leave.”

“Wait, because I want to you to hug me once more, so that I remember your embrace.”

“Wait, because everytime you’re around, my heart beats fast and I like it.”

“Wait because….you make me feel alive.”

 All these things, were what Leah couldn’t tell Warren. Making conversations while making eye contact with him was difficult as it is. But she didn’t wanna accept the why. She waved back at him. She had made up her mind, so she nodded a yes to him. He briefly smiled at her and left in his car. Leah breathed out a sigh of relief. “Stop beating so loud will you?!” she exclaimed, as if her heart would return an apology to her, and stomped her way back into her apartment.

Flashback

Leah had been on a morning jog with her friends, one of them being Warren. If you think about it, her heartbeat must’ve been off the roof with all that jogging and the existence of Warren beside. They were planning a small get together for tonight. Leah thought,

Another chance to smile.

Another chance to let her heart beat loud without her permission.

Kinda bittersweet.

“So my house?” asked Dana, trying to catch her breath after stopping the jog for a quick break. It would be a sweet simple get together. After a fifteen minute long discussion, Leah’s presence for tonight was still doubtful, but they resumed their jog. Just as Leah was about to jog too, she noticed her shoelace had been undone, so she crouched down to tie it. When she was done, naturally, she looked up. She saw Warren waiting for her, signing her to quickly catch up with the others. She didn’t know why him waiting for her seemed like a special treatment, because it was only normal if anyone did that. “What?” asked Warren, because Leah was lost in her own world, not to mention staring directly at Warren.

Earth to Leah: It’s time to comeback.

She shook her head and came back to the moment. Warren chuckled at her silliness.

Back to the present.

Leah was leaning on the shoe rack and she let another sigh escape, which definitely translated to, “Excuse me, please get out of my mind I have better and important things to think about.” It wouldn’t be a mystery as to whom she was referring to. She reached out for her laptop and lazily proceeded to work on her project. She doesn’t want a reason to cry later when her teammates scold her for inefficient work.

Meanwhile…

Warren was extra chirpy today. Was something on his mind? He was definitely up to something, otherwise he wouldn’t have his evil grin on and he wouldn’t say stuff like, “Would this be likeable? Ugh, I’m going mad. It’s so difficult to know what people like!!” Well mister Warren, you’d know if you’d make deeper conversations with a certain person, this is clearly your fault.

Evening comes over.

“Okay…now, be confident, there should be no regrets. If it doesn’t go the way you’d wished it should, then you can always mend it by calling it a joke- no that’s a jerk move, you’re not a jerk, even as a friend.” Warren blabbered on as he grabbed his car keys . One little detail about the morning jog, Warren had convinced Leah to attend the get together by assuring her transport, meaning that he’d pick her up and drop her back to her home.

Warren was getting nearer to his destiny- I meant, his destination. Well, Leah is already peeping through her window to see if Warren had arrived. Five minutes of sticking to the window and still no Warren.

Where are you man, Warren?

No worries, if you see Leah jumping and squealing happily then it means Warren is near- yep she is doing exactly that now, therefore he’s here. Warren calls Leah and she picks it up, answering that she’s just getting out of the house. She walks out and gets into Warren’s car. “Y-you look cute.” says Leah. Warren blushes.

What.

It’s the cutest thing Leah had ever seen. She didn’t know he could do that, I mean obviously she knew that people are capable of blushing, but she didn’t realize how adorable it would be on Warren.

Anyway. Warren replied, “You look cule.”

….

“I mean, I mean you look cool and cu- cute too!!”

Warren is struggling too much, sigh. It’s alright though, as long as it’s cute or for that fact, as long as it’s Warren, Leah wouldn’t mind. She laughs and manages to thank him through it. Warren turns the radio on and A Lovely Night from La La Land begins to play. He hadn’t really thought about putting on songs on his own to set the mood but, this sure was working for him. Nothing more to do, rather than making some sane conversation, now that they are on their way. As soon as Warren becomes sure of what he has to say, Leah begins to sing along to the song. Warren joins her too, it’s a duet anyway. This evening is all too beautiful and heart fluttering. Another song comes up, this time, neither of them know it, so perfect time for a confess- I meant, conversation.

“Soo, it’s my friend's birthday tomorrow, you don’t know her, but I wanted some ideas. We had already thought about not doing proper gifts this time, so maybe a chocolate would be good? What kinda chocolate do you like- I mean what kinda chocolate would she like?” says Warren as the bunch of chocolates sitting in the backseat flashes through his mind. “ Well, depends totally on her, I wouldn’t be the best person to answe-” Leah gets cut off when Warren spurts out, “No! You’re the best for it!”

Awkward silence

“Because I….uh have a feeling you’d have a great choice in sweets.” Nice try Warren, but Leah buys it anyway. Leah replies, a little too precisely, “Okay, then. Maybe she’ll like the plain chocolate or the one which has those crunchy bits.” Warren smiles big like an idiot. He’s got both. Bless those chocolates for being too cheap. “Right then, I’ll get one of those for her.” Leah gives a thumbs up. A few minutes later, a familiar song seeps into the car.

Running in the night by FM-84 and Ollie Wride is playing on the radio.

“You remember this song?” he asked.

“Ofcourse Warren, you’d play this almost all the time. You had played this song on your birthday, mine, Dana's, Will's and Hilary's birthdays as well. So yeah, it’s lyrics are pretty much engraved in my mind.”

“Wow, you remember so much. When had I played it for the first time then?” asked Warren with that silly smile of his again. Leah began so quick, “After prom when Hilary was driving us back to her place and..”

“And..?” Warren looked at Leah expectantly.

“And…uhm I don’t remember more.”

Warren looked away for a moment before stopping the car, and facing Leah again. The bright light from the convenience store across the street shone softly on their faces. It was the only major source of light other than the street lamps in the dim neighborhood. Warren’s heart raced as he thought to himself, “Just a little courage is what we need tonight.” Leah shuffled in her seat and stole a quick glace at Warren. He begins to speak, “Lies. You remember.” They were looking at eachother now. One gaze of an anticipation and the other of determination. Neither of them bothered enough by the radio, still playing. He continues, “What are you so scared of? I should be the one to be scared…because, I don’t know if you still feel the same way that you did that day. That day when I had first played that song.”

Oh, I’m running in the night so soon

I’ve got nothing left to lose

I’m leaving it all behind

Running in the night with you

I won’t let you get away again

“What do you mean?” Leah is replies in absolute seriousness. She thinks she knows what Warren’s saying, but she doesn’t want to make the same mistake she had made years ago. She wants to hear him say whatever he wants to, without any confusion.

We can see it through the end

But whatever we do

I’m running in the night with you

“Leah, I like you.”

Pause

“I like you a lot.”

Pause

Leah is on the verge of crying. Why would she even think of holding her tears back? She’s tired of hiding and forgetting. She doesn’t care about coming across as too emotional. So she will cry if she wants to.

“I like you too, Warren, a lot.”

She hugs him like there’s no tomorrow and he doesn’t fail to do the same. Leah manages to go on, “Wh-where's my chocolate? The crackle one?” The way she speaks, it’s so broken, but hey, she was crying and hugging way too tight. Warren’s lucky he was able to breath through that giant bear’s hug. They part slowly and halfway through parting, Warren kisses Leah's cheeks softly. They smile, oh so silly. But they still have to go to their get together. Leah wipes her tears and Warren reaches for the chocolate to hand it to her.

I’ve got nothing left to lose

I’m leaving it all behind

Running in the night with you

Warren starts the car and they smile at eachother.

[The lyrics of Running in the night are so nice and I thought that it would be so beautiful if it played while the main characters *cough cough* addressed the elephant in the room.]