Scandal // h.s au

fifteen: "You're not listening."

The next day, he took his daily shower, changed out of his bloodied clothes, took a toothpick between his teeth, and began driving to the paper. He considered picking her up, but then decided against it, remembering how agitated she seemed to be the previous night, shutting down during their honest encounter. He didn't want to push her. He had a habit of pushing and pushing till they simply went away, and he couldn't let that happen with her.

It took him minutes that dragged on, a few careless turns, before he was parking in his usual spot in front of the building. He had a black leather jacket on today, instead of his usual coat since all his clothes desperately needed to be washed. He walked towards his office, ignoring all the curious stares directed towards him, all the nosy whispers, before he threw his keys and phone onto his desk. He almost shrugged off his jacket, but then he saw her; sitting in front of her desk, head buried into her hands, elbows supporting its weight, rested against her thighs, figure barely moving with her silent breathing.

She was wearing a black skirt that went past her knees, a white shirt tucked into it, and her hair was perfectly side-braided. She seemed immensely distressed and he didn't like that. A frown took over his features, as he found his way towards her. He stood there, mere inches away from her, and waited for her to acknowledge his presence the way she always did, but she didn't.

" Aimee," He whispered, his voice firm, yet quiet, but he received no reaction from her. Worry began to course through him, frown deepening, as he rested a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly, but her body returned to its previous position. And that was when he realized that she was asleep. He felt a contrasting mixture of worry and reassurance, because although she had accidentally fallen asleep during her working hours and in the middle of the office, she had done so, so easily, so innocently, and he couldn't help but smile at the spontaneity behind her actions, that imprinted on everything she did.

His arms pulled out to carry her, maybe rest her head against his chest, lay her body down to give her the rest she needed, but then he remembered that he couldn't do that, he had no right to. A sigh went past his lips, his arms falling by his side.

" Aimee." He called again, this time, allowing his irritation to carry in his voice. She immediately lifted her head, eyes frantic, before they settled on him.

" I - I'm sorry, I didn't -"

" We have work to do. Bring Tomlinson's file and follow me into the main conference room." He then turned away, firmly walking into his office, and slamming the door behind him. She didn't know what was wrong. She didn't know what happened.

She could barely sleep at all the previous night, so she took a shower, changed, made a sandwich for herself, before walking to work, reaching the building before it was even six in the morning. She had worked on the file since then, taking notes, and writing reports, attempting to find a connection between the clues they had so far. Somewhere along the way, she must have fallen asleep.

With a sigh, she stood from her seat, fixing her skirt, before taking the file into her hands, and walking towards the conference room. She knocked, but received no response, so she hesitantly let herself in. Katherine gave her a small smile, walking past her, with a gentle hand laid to her shoulder, almost in condolence. Aimee returned the smile warily, before she refocused her attention onto Harry. He stood in front of the window, hands buried into the pockets of his jacket, jaw locked. Everything was off about him.

" Harry, what's -"

" File on the table, Miss Montgomery. I don't have any time or energy for this." He bit down on his toothpick so fiercely, that it broke under the pressure. He threw it away, skimming through his pockets, retrieving a cigarette, and putting it between his lips, before turning towards the conference table. He laid both palms onto the cold surface, eyes firm as they awaited the spread papers he needed to examine. She felt slightly nauseous with the thick air she couldn't escape, and the radiating rage that took all her breath away. She laid the papers in front of him, hands trembling, and if he noticed it, then he showed no signs of doing so.

" The victim's head is turned to the side, so that means that she was shot, then she fell to the ground. Her eyes are opened as well, so the first bullet didn't kill her. Ten shots are too much though, there must have been at least five shots that were for the hell of it. Police didn't find the murder weapon, although, they found a gun under Banks' name that matched the gun wounds. The report says that there were supposed to be two guns in the safe, but they only found one. It wasn't used though, so whoever did this, killed her with the other and took it with them. This is the only thing we have to defend Ian, other than that, it's all pinning it on him. So, what we need to do, is find that murder weapon, and see all nearby houses, and check for any clear shots."

" The safe wasn't broken into though, and that means that -"

" I'll go check out the neighborhood, and -"

" I can come with you, there are a lot of houses there and -"

" I'm going on my own. You can stay here, and work on this file further, and -"

" Harry?"

" No, Miss Montgomery, it's -"

" You're not listening. You told me to remind you, and - you are not listening to me." The crack in her diminishing voice, broke through his resistance a bit. He sighed, calming himself down, before lifting his mad green eyes to meet her own.

" I," He started, and for once, he was at a loss for words, " fuck it, I'm not doing this. I have to go." He recollected his objects, purposely walking past her, until her hands touched his, and all he had left dissolved into that simple action. His march ceased but he didn't dare turn to face her.

" You're mad at yourself again," She noted, her forehead falling to rest on his toned bicep.

" I don't like it when you're mad at yourself." She continued, inhaling, causing her chest to brush against his side. He felt his own breathing catching in his throat, and he was so tired of being unable to breathe. So he forced his head to angle towards her, cigarette collapsing beneath his feet, for his lips to finally fall upon her own, and just like that, he could breathe again.

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a/n: fifteen chapters later and harry finally caved! let me know what you think of this please, means a lot to me :)

also, I attached his outfit to the media section, in case you want to check it out.

ily x