Scandal // h.s au

five: "He seems to be doing better."

" Why do you need a cigarette if you have no intention of smoking it?" She tried again, as he guided her towards his friends' table.

" Need is not properly used here, Miss Montgomery. There was no mention of me ever needing a cigarette, nor were there any implications upon which you could base your assumption, therefore, this is a false accusation. Now, this is Liam Payne; future member of the parliament, famous business man and whatnot. This is Niall Horan; radio presenter extraordinaire. Louis Tomlinson; lead photographer for the competing journal. And finally, Zayn Malik; famous writer and publisher. Gentlemen, this is Miss Aimee Montgomery, a trainee in our paper." He introduced, pointing between each of them, then at her, before sitting down, leaving them to fully welcome one another.

She was shy, highly intimidated by their overwhelming presence and status. She felt like a small fish in an ocean of whales; so little and insignificant. They were warm though, paying no mind to the fact that she was practically a stranger, as they teased him, for almost every single action he dared make. They had been friends since college, she learned, but then each one took a different career path, although, they couldn't possibly allow their friendship to slip away, since they all needed one another, in a way or the other.

Harry smiled a lot around them, she noted, and she desperately tried not to stare for too long. But he had dimples, and a glow to his green eyes. He looked at least ten years younger whenever he laughed, and it was almost impossible for her not to linger.

" So, love, how is working under this conceited dickhead?" Niall asked, casually laying an arm over her shoulder. Harry rolled his eyes, but took a sip from his drink, putting the cigarette back between his teeth soon after.

" It's - it's good, yeah. Learning lots."

" You're such a liar. You two will get along great actually." Niall laughed, and she stared at Harry, waiting for him to grow offended and shut down, but he didn't. Liam leaned towards him, whispering something into his ears, earning a curt nod, before they both lifted from their seats, excusing themselves from the table, leaving her alone, with three extremely nosy, extremely self-assured men.

She watched him walk away, eyes pleading for him to remember her presence, but he never did, as he disappeared out of the restaurant, followed by Liam.

" He seems to be doing better, talking more, not as closed off as he normally is." Louis spoke, earning nods of agreement from the other two men. She supposed his words weren't directed towards her, so she remained silent.

" Yeah, but that cigarette, didn't think he'd be back at it so soon." Niall spoke, his smile momentarily disappearing, for a prominent frown to replace it.

" He - he doesn't. He told me he doesn't smoke." She whispered, staring down upon her sweaty hands.

" Interesting. Harry doesn't normally tell anyone, anything unless he absolutely has to." Zayn spoke for the first time. His accent was thick, voice low and confident, as she simply shrugged her shoulders, not knowing enough about Harry to agree or object.

" Weird." Louis noted, Niall nodded in confirmation.

" Either way, he seems well, or at least as well as Harry can be, so that's good." Zayn said, earning hums from his friends, before they changed the subject, speaking of some kind of match, that she blocked out, uninterested. Her eyes fell upon his frame, barely obvious in the dimmed light, but absolutely intriguing nevertheless.

He always focused upon whomever was speaking to him, giving them his complete and full attention, but never so when it came to her. He never allowed himself to look at her for more than a few seconds. He never paid her any mind, and she thought that maybe she was duller than most. She wasn't worthy of his attention, undeserving.

It weighed her down a bit, that all through the drive there, his eyes were fixed upon the outside world, while hers were fixed on him. And he never felt it at all.

A sigh went past her lips, looking down for a moment, and when she looked back up, all eyes were on her. Some amused, others mainly curious, but all absolutely intimidating. She felt heat rising in her cheeks, nervously putting a hair lock behind her ear. Before she could dwell upon it any further, Harry was sitting down, next to Louis, with Liam right beside him. They seemed unsettled, anxious, heavier than they had been before they had gone out. She looked at him, attempting to analyze what exactly had caused that frown to deepen so stubbornly, but he was always so secretive, so silent, that she didn't assume she'd be able to figure it out.

His green eyes accidentally met her own, and she would have looked away. In fact, she should have. Only, she couldn't. She found herself mouthing "alright?", as he tilted his head to the side, confused by her concern, before giving her a weak nod, refocusing upon his friends.

" So, rumor has it, he didn't kill her, and it was all a set-up, to harm him in the next elections."

" Set-up? The guy is screwed. This is something bigger than just that. Whoever did this to him - if he really is innocent - wanted to bury the guy, not just keep him away till the elections were over."

" You never know, some people like to take it to the extremes, maybe it just got out of hand."

" Out of hand my ass. The woman was beaten and shot ten goddamn times in different spots. They wanted to make it look like a crime of passion, and they succeeded if I'm honest."

" He wouldn't kill her though. I know Ian, he's a lot of things, but he is no cold bloodied murderer, especially not when it comes to her. He loved the woman."

" Love can kill more than hate ever will." Harry spoke, eyebrows itched into that deep frown, lips formed into a scowl, eyes focused upon something he seemed to draw in his notebook. The whole table fell silent, and she was grateful that he didn't hold that effect on her alone.

" So you really think he did it?"

" Stop trying to find some hidden message behind my every word, smartass, I simply said that just because he loved her, doesn't mean he couldn't have killed her." Harry spoke, jokingly rolling his eyes at his friend, who playfully shoved him away, before laughing in amusement.

" Always a journalist first, Harry." Louis spoke, receiving a shrug from Harry, who stood to his full height, preparing to leave.

" You're just trying to get a scoop to save your lameass paper, which I'm not giving you, Tomlinson." Harry ruffled Louis' hair on his way out, as he shoved his hand away, laughing again.

" One day, I'm going to be chief editor, and you'll come begging for a job, and I'll call security on you."

" Yeah, and Liam is going to be the goal keeper of the national team and take us to the world cup."

" It's called poor eye-foot coordination. Look it up, Styles."

" Yeah, yeah. Coming?" He put on his coat, his eyes falling on Aimee's petite figure. It still caught her off guard, whenever he spoke to her without it being absolutely necessary. She nodded, standing up. She shook all their hands, while he put his hand in the air in a waving manner, before walking away. She quickly followed, getting in her seat, ignoring his brief stare upon the seatbelt, as if asking her to fasten it without actually doing it.

" I think I got it now; why do you have a cigarette that you don't intend on smoking or throwing away?" His laughter filled the air of the small car, and she felt a sense of pride coursing through her, a smile of her own taking over her features.

" I could loop around this one too, Miss Montgomery, but I won't. It's because I dropped my toothpick." Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as she bit down on her bottom lip.

" That still doesn't answer my question."

" And that's another uncalled for, useless statement, Miss Montgomery."

" I'm an awful journalist." She dramatically breathed, burying her face into her hands. He surprised her by laughing again, and all frustration dissolved into that.

" Let me try again, yeah?"

" Yeah, Miss Montgomery. Sure."

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a/n: so everyone is introduced now, what do you think of it? :)

ily x