Detached [h.s au]

Chapter 10: Conversation

Elizabeth's POV

Harry's been keeping quiet for the past few minutes, making my frustration grow. He's definitely stalling. He cleared his throat a few times and adjusted his chair about three times. The fact he is having such a hard time telling me the truth is making me nervous about actually finding it out. Since when did my life become some kind of drama book?

"I have an offer," he says. "How about we both ask each other questions in turns?"

"That's called having a conversation, Harry," I remark, rolling my eyes. "Besides, you're the one that owes me an explanation, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but... it will be easier for me to trust you," he admits. "If you open up to me, I'll try to do the same."

I hesitate at first, but end up nodding. "Seems fair." He is a very reserved person, so I decide to grant his request.

"I'll go first," he says.

I shake my head. "No, I'll go first."

"But-" I raise my eyebrow and he frowns "-fine."

"Are you going to be honest?" I ask to ease my doubts.

"Yes," he answers, sprawling his long legs in front of him. "My turn."

"But I didn't- oh." I narrow my eyes at him. "That was cheap."

His lips twitch. "Life isn't fair, Elizabeth." He taps his chin as if he's in deep thought. "What is it that you did that caused Gerald to attack you? It's not a good thing that you gained his attention, he is a dangerous man filled with dangerous ideas."

I gulp thickly, clasping my hands in my lap nervously. "I saw him chasing Zayn down the hallway with two other scientists before they sedated him. After that, they dragged him away," I finally confess what I've been keeping bottled inside all day. "I don't understand how did they found out I saw them, though."

"There are approximately fifteen surveillance cameras on that floor alone," Harry says flatly.

"Oh..." I blink, blushing lightly. "So, how did you get past the cameras?"

He gives me a coy smile. "You see, Zayn is kind of a tech whiz, a hacker if you wish. He managed to create a device that messes with the signal, something with radio waves or whatever, I don't really understand. Anyway, we used it, managing to get into their system. No one suspected a thing so far."

I can't say I'm not impressed, they really have everything figured out. I have no idea what have I got myself into, but I know I want to find out everything now. "Wow, that's impressive. What would-"

"Ah, ah, ah." Harry wiggles his index finger, cutting me off. "My turn." My lips press in a thin line and I inhale deeply. It takes a lot of effort to stay calm right now. "Have you ever been a part of something forbidden by the law?"

My eyes widen slightly as I look at him. If I start talking about how many books I've read and movies I've seen, I would be very vulnerable. I suspect he noticed how different I am from him and the rest of the people around us. I feel like he is not the type of person who would actually understand my opinions, just like no one else ever did. Everyone around me my whole life was stuck up and unwilling to look outside of the box. In the world we live in today, it can be a dangerous thing to mention anything related to the old world.

"Ask me something else," I say. "Like what's my favourite colour or how many spoons of sugar I put in my tea, or maybe if I like cats or dogs more-"

"No, we have a deal."

"Yes, I have," I reply curtly to his question.

"And why, what did you want to accomplish?"

I eye him warily, not quite understading where is he going with this. "Promise you won't laugh or judge."

He nods and leans forward, resting his elbows against his knees and clasping his hands. "I promise."

I take a deep breath, taking a few moments to form an explanation in my head. "You see, I feel like what is considered normal today would be something unthinkable centuries ago," I start, looking at Harry. "The way things work simply don't make sense. How we're forced to live with a complete stranger in a city we didn't choose to live in. Two people who possibly don't have anything in common are forced to spend their lives together. It's all awfully unfair, we should have the right to make our own choices. I mean, what if they have nothing in common, what if they realise they can't stand each other?"

"I think everyone secretly feels that way," he finally states, locking his bright green eyes with mine. "Also, I think it was obvious from the beginning you and I would hardly ever work out."

I feel a slight pang in my chest, averting my gaze. I know Harry and I are different. He hates being asked questions and I like asking them, he's not talkative and when I start talking, I sometimes can't stop. However, I have hope we will eventually get used to each other and maybe find a way to work out our differences. I won't give up just yet.

We're going to be friends one way or another, I'll make this work.

"You say that now..." I trail off. "You know, maybe if you weren't so uptight, we'd be able to at least have a normal conversation once in a while."

He leans back. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused."

He pinches the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes briefly. "You can be really frustrating sometimes, you know?"

"I guess we do have something in common after all," I say, actually liking this. 

His lips twich like usual, but this time I catch a glimpse of two little dimples indenting his cheeks. "It seems so."

My cheeks flush and I suddenly remember what we began talking about in the first place. "I figured you and your friends were the ones that found me earlier today. What would've happened to me if Gerald had managed to pull off what he wanted?"

He frowns. "I don't know much about it, either. Look, Zayn tried something he shouldn't have, he messed with Gerald's personal business and he was punished for it. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"If that's the case, then they should've handled it differently, not sedate him and tie him down like an animal," I reason, remembering how they attacked him in the hallway.

"I agree and I think he's learned his lesson. Everyone should mind their own business in the future," he fires back and I feel like he's talking about me.

"What would they do to us to find out the truth? Torture us, threaten us?" I ask, wanting to figure out how dangerous they actually are. I shudder just thinking about the posibility of them killing us.

"They'd probably use the truth serum, find out what they wanted and let you go or give you in to the authorities, depending on your answers," he explains everything in one breath. "Please, don't ask any more questions about the subject, because I can't answer you. Just trust me on this."

"You can't or don't want to?"

"I can't."

I stare at him for a few moments before releasing a sigh and nodding once. I think it's a miracle he's revealed this much at all, so I will just let it go for now. I know there is so much more about this story and Harry and his friends are all involved in it somehow. I'll have to Sherlock Holmes the shit out of this to get to the bottom of it.

"Just one more thing. How am I supposed to go to work tomorrow? Gerald's going to be there and-"

"Don't worry about that, it's been taken care of," he interrupts.

"Oh, does that have anything to do with your father?" I ask and regret it when I notice his reaction. His eyes widen and his jaw clenches in anger. "I met him today and he- uh, he seems nice..." I struggle to find words, not understanding what is it that I said wrong.

"The conversation is over, Elizabeth," he announces as he stands up, making his way back toward the house.

For the nth time today, I'm clueless about what is happening, left alone with many unanswered questions. I feel like this conversation has made some kind of progress between Harry and me, but there's still a long way to go.