Syndicates //

xii

"Well, look who decided to show up," Liam booms as soon as we enter the dining room. "Even Niall was here for dinner tonight."

"I was busy training Ciph," Harry throws his hands up, then takes the folded paper target that was folded to fit his back pocket, "But look, she's got better aim than you, Liam."

"Let's see her handle a shotgun. I'm all about close proximity," Liam defends.

"Did you two already eat?" Niall asks. "I don't think that I cook enough, but it's real easy."

"We grabbed food," I tell him, "but thanks, Niall."

Harry heads into the kitchen and I hear the smack of the magnet on the refrigerator door. He actually hung it up. That's funny... and sweet.

"Wow, what a gentleman," Niall teases. "Took you out for dinner?"

"She's a good student," Harry argues from kitchen. "I had to reward her somehow." Well, only because you're a great teacher.

"It wasn't fancy," I downplay it a little for them, because I sense the reason why they're teasing so much. "Just a quick bite at the burger joint down the street from the range."

"Well we're glad you had fun and are getting ready for the heist," Liam says. "Now things are gonna get a little tense. It's here sooner than you know it."

"I think I'm ready," I try to stay positive.

"You'll do fine," Harry shrugs, now back in the dining room. "It's not your first heist. You've been long qualified to do something like this weekend."

"Oh, Cipher, I need to show you the surveillance van. Do you have a moment?" Liam asks. "While the boys set up for our movie night?" I don't remember seeing the surveillance van outside...

"We're watching a movie?" I ask.

"It's our pre-heist ritual. The last fun thing we do as friends before we get really serious," Liam tells me. "Cmon, I don't wanna keep them waiting."

"Harry, can you grab the microwave popcorn from the pantry?" Louis asks. "I'm gonna grab the hard drive with all the movies."

We let the rest of the boys do their own thing while Liam leads me outside to the front door and down a ways. Maybe it's around the corner of our house or a short walk on the estate.

Liam peers around to check for something and then says, "Louis, Niall, and I are convinced that Harry has a crush on you."

"Uh," I awkwardly laugh off the absolute bombshell that he just dropped. "Okay..." How am I supposed to respond to that?

"Honestly it's early to place any bets or say for certain, but we get that vibe as his best buddies. Now I try to stay overall professional, but Niall and Louis are both jokesters that feed off of each other's humor. Even in general, they've let a few jokes get out of hand. So if it gets uncomfortable, let me know or just directly tell them. I just wanted to one-on-one with you."

"I appreciate that, Liam."

"I won't ask you anything about you and Harry unless you're comfortable reaching out to me first. I don't want to assume anything and I'm sorry if I'm intruding." Liam has so much sincerity and genuinely cares for all of us. Overall, all the boys are really nice and hopefully that translates into good teamwork this weekend.

"Thank you."

•••

The movie was over and everyone started to tidy up the living room so that I could go to sleep. One by one, they did their part and said goodnight. Then, sure enough, it was only Harry and I.

We sat next to each other for the movie. I felt a little uncomfortable after Liam's conversation with me, considering whether or not he really had feelings for me. I started to replay every event but I found myself searching and romanticizing the little things. I was becoming biased and so my interest was unclear. That was about as much thought as I had put into our dynamic. I have too much on my plate around here to worry about love. Plus, how typical is that? One of these boys falls in love with the first girl they really get to spend some time with. Figures. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Good job today," he reminds me. "I had a lot of fun and it's good to work with you."

"Thanks for teaching me," I smile.

He pauses to think, and then asks, "are you heading to bed now?"

"Uh..." Yeah, I was, but I wonder if he'd stay. "I was gonna put a few episodes of Friends on before I fall asleep, actually."

"Mind if I join you for a little?"

"Not at all, come sit," I pat the spot next to me. I wasn't really asking him to sit right next to me, but it was my gesture of welcoming him to join me. He ended up sitting where he had sat earlier: beside me, but with a comfortable distance.

I started the episode from the top, not only so he could get the context, but also because I definitely had already fallen asleep last night when this played. This was a show that I basically just loop-binge. I finish the series and go right back to the pilot. I've seen every episode at least twice, but it's still funny. Whether it's silence, a light chuckle, or full on hysterics, I always enjoy it.

Harry was one of those silent watchers. I knew he was enjoying it and I could feel the most gentle bounce of his chest as he silently laughed at something really funny. We weren't really watching it together. We were just both watching Friends. There's a weird, specific condition between the two.

Into the following episode, I tried to fight it, but I was getting sleepy. I felt bad for kicking him out, so I just let him stay and watch as long as he wanted. I didn't want to make it obvious I was gonna true to get some shut eye, so I slouched into the cushions and into comfort.

A few minutes later, I had thought I was safely drifting, Harry asks, "Are you going to sleep now?" His voice was low and raspy to keep his volume down, and maybe he was tired too.

Shit. I've been caught. "No," I deny and try to sit up a little.

"Well you were dozing off," he says. "You should get some sleep, here." He gets up to make room for my legs, grabs my pillow, and takes the remote from the coffee table, "want me to turn it off?"

"No," I shake my head as I pick my feet up to take his place, while he fixes my blanket to cover me. "You can keep watching if you want."

"I'll finish this episode then," he says and puts the remote back down. He finds a new spot next to my head since there was room between the arm of the sofa and my pillow. He leans over and looks down at me, at my view, he's upside down, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," I smile, snuggling into my blanket and rolling to my side to face the TV."