TEMERITY | H.S.

6 - LIONS

Maybe Vega's judgment was a bit clouded. Fogged over by a particular pair of stormy green eyes. 

Or maybe she just really needed to get high. 

Getting in a stranger's car to smoke weed with even more strangers while her family was out on an assignment wasn't the most reckless thing she had ever done, but it was definitely up there. At the same time, she didn't care. 

She had no reason to trust Harry, but she wanted to, in the weirdest way possible. She knew nothing of him, but maybe her mind's incessant inability to shake him off her thoughts was what was giving her some clouded judgment in this area. Either way, she knew how to defend herself to some extent. She wasn't sure how those skills would hold up after she'd finished half a blunt and started another one on her own, but she wasn't too worried. 

The few days she spent in The House weren't unbearable, but they were far from enjoyable. 

She was able to distance herself from most people who caused the giant vein on her forehead to pop with infuriation when they spoke and mainly spent her time in Ella's room when her sister had free time. 

Her parents didn't bother her when she spent a copious amount of time in her bedroom. She was avoiding them, and she had a feeling her father knew it too, but that was the least of her worries. In all honesty, he was probably avoiding her too. 

It was December twenty-second now, and she still had a week and a half to go in this goddamn town. 

Going to concerts and hanging out with strangers at them wasn't a foreign concept to Vega. In fact, it used to be all she did for her last year here before the infamous escape. She managed to do it all and get out without being murdered, so she wasn't concerned about these people. 

Hell, half of them were in a band. They couldn't do shit to her even when she was halfway gone and about ready to take a catnap on the nasty couch in the green room of this tiny venue. 

"How you doin', Lavender?" 

Harry's voice sounded so much more attractive when she was in this state. 

Vega opened her eyes that she had apparently closed at some point. She looked up at Harry, whose eyes were burning into hers. 

They were now the only ones on the couch, everyone else in the room having gotten up and started their own conversations. She sucked in another hit, taking her time to inhale, and then let it out with a big sigh before she answered him. 

"I'm fantastic," she punctuated her short words with a sweep of her legs, moving them from their weird, bent position over the edge of the couch with her feet on the ground to rest them over Harry's lap. She adjusted her head on the armrest, making her new, straightened-out position more comfortable. 

Vega looked up to watch for any apprehension in Harry's face or body language about the contact but failed to find any. He didn't even remove his eyes from her while she wrapped her lips around the blunt once more, sucking in and holding it for a minute. 

Harry's hand made its way to the top of her shins, resting with light pressure, but enough for her body to slightly heat up at the touch. 

She wasn't in the mood to question the feeling, so ignoring it seemed like the only option. 

Harry was extremely attractive, and she wasn't one to deny when she saw a pretty person, but she didn't have time for a crush at the moment. Time, or the emotional stability, or the willpower, or even the life for one. Especially not here. 

"Looks like it," he chuckled, and she could feel his eyes on her while she craned her head back and looked at all of the other people in the room. Her glazed over eyes did a scan, taking in information like she knew to. Like she was trained to.