Complicity [h.s]

06

some of y'all really turned on my girl aven damn she's been thru a lot in 9 months😤

Harry Styles

"How much was the watch worth?" Niall pats the bar counter in front of Dez, excited.

"A lot, actually." She turns around to the register, pulling out a white envelope. "Lenny is starting to get suspicious over the fact I keep bringing in mens jewelry every week."

"It's too risky for an ex-rockstar running from the cops to be bringing in all this shit," Niall says.

"Well, there you go." She tosses him the envelope of cash.

Niall opens it up in excitement like a kid on Christmas. Once he gets a good glance inside, his face drops.

"Wait...there's only like three hundred dollars in here." He looks up at Dez.

"Yeah, that's what was left after I had taken out what you and Louis owe me from your monthly tab." She slips in while wiping down the counter.

I chuckle and look back down at my journal, shaking my head.

"What!" Niall protests.

"Deals a deal." She turns around and grabs a stack of trays. "You're lucky I let you still drink here when you run up tabs like that."

"Get fucked, Niall." Liam shoves him.

I get up from my barstool and walk over to the hallway next to the counter, heading straight ahead into the men's room. Pushing through the green graffitied door. I quickly take a piss before washing my hands, glancing at my reflection to see my hollow eyes. I can't seem to rid the red circles beneath them. I'm the lifeless I've ever looked. It could be because I live in a basement and rarely get fresh air or sunlight.

I finish washing my hands before flicking them dry. Pushing through the door, I hear voices as I walk back along the hallway that leads to the bar. It wasn't until I hear Louis' almost panicked voice mixed with everyone's that I become confused.

The second I get to the end of the hallway, they all shoot their eyes over to me and stop talking. I halt in my tracks, feeling immediately awkward. All of there's eyes stare at me with nervous expressions. Louis stands there with dried blood down his face.

"What?" I murmur.

They all stay silent, Niall pulls his eyes from mine and looks elsewhere. Dez is even staring at me with discomfort. I start to get nervous about what is happening. The way they're all staring at me is alerting alarms in my brain.

I look at Louis again.

"What happened to your face?" I try to get someone to say something.

He parts his lips to answer but now words come out. It's almost like he has no clue what to say. This is bad. Something very bad is happening. They're all hiding something from me. I've only been gone for five minutes.

"Can someone fucking answer me!" I snap.

"Aven." Louis spits out.

My heart falls to my stomach. I stare in silence, trying to understand if that's what he really just said.

"I saw her." He adds to the emptiness of the room.

Now I feel my heart really stop.

I shake my head. "What?"

"At that corner store near Park Avenue, she—"

I start heading to the exit of the bar, passing all of them which forces Louis to stop talking. I couldn't hear anything more. I just needed to go to Park Avenue. My throat developed a ache, my brain sending electric shocks down my back in adrenaline.