murder house / h.s

seven.

Avery's POV

"You what?!" I almost screamed when I found Harry standing right outside of the interview room. He looked confused at first, but then he nodded to himself. He wasn't even talking to me. Was this some kind of sick joke, some kind of prank on me to make me look weak and ridiculous?

I wanted to punch him in the face and serve him right for being such a prick to me.

"Well?" I said, fury raging inside of me. It was only a matter of time before I exploded, destroying everyone in my path. "What do you mean, 'you have feelings for me'?!"

"I never said that!" he countered, his spearmint breath fanning my face. A look of distaste played upon my face at the pleasant but putrid smell. His energy definitely was not expected, but anger still took over as I pressed my hands to his chest and shoved him.

"Yes you did!" I retaliated. "Max showed me the clip from the interview where you said it! You said 'I take a liking to the blondie'. Who else here is blonde except for Candy, who's fucking dead?!"

With my last word, I wasn't speaking too carefully because the wad of gum flew right out of my mouth and landed in Harry's hair.

My breathing stopped for a moment, and it felt like Harry was going to attack me any second. He was going to swing, or hit, or something. It would only make sense.

But instead he ripped the gum from his hair and stared at it. The piece was covered in curly locks of thin strands of hair, and it looked completely disgusting.

Of course Harry would take it and stick it right in my hair.

"Ugh!" I groaned, not even wanting to pull it out. If I did, my hair would come along with it. I decided to wait till later to cut it out with a knife. "You lied to me!"

Harry just stared at me, his brows furrowed. Just the sight of him made me want to bash his face in. The way he chewed his gum so discreetly. I wanted to wipe that smug look off his face.

"I never said any of that." he said. His voice was as calm as can be, which actually scared me. "Do you know this whole show is a set up? A trick to make you think everyone is behind your back saying things they never said. Do you really, honestly, deep in yourself, think that they have dozens of people on tech for nothing?"

I thought about this for a minute but didn't show it. I wasn't going to accept defeat, even if I was wrong. But he did have a good point. So many people worked for the tech crew here, but I had never seen where they came to play. They could've easily voiced Harry over the footage of the interview. It only made sense. He was telling the truth.

I fell silent, and Harry could tell I realized that he was right because his expression had a hint of sympathy to it.

"Sorry they played with your emotions like that, Aves." he said. I refrained from correcting him at the use of my cringeworthy nickname. "And I'm sorry for sticking that gum in your hair. I can take it out later."

How could he be so sincere after me basically scolding him like a child, even when he was right? Harry's character was surely showing out, as I would've rubbed it in his face how he was wrong. But no, I was wrong. And he had mercy on me.

"Um, thanks." I said awkwardly. I had no idea where we stood because of this. Were we fighting, we were good again? I didn't want to ask him that but I wanted to say sorry.

"Sorry for jumping to conclusions." I added, my face solemn. I really felt bad.

"Hey, it's okay." Harry was looking in my face and reading my expressions again. He knew how I felt, and it was at least good to know he knew I truly felt sorry. "We're good now. We just need a good plan to bite the tech back in the ass."

"I have one." I said right away.

"Really?"

"Yeah." The excitement grew by the passing second. I knew what we had to do, and it would be fun for once. "All we need is dinner, and some very sticky honey."

Harry's POV

Avery's reaction was actually kind of painful. I didn't know if that meant that she would never even dream of being more than friends with me, or she was hiding the fact that she hated me.

It wasn't like I cared, or it was eating at me. Because it wasn't.

I could tell from her sorry expression that she really felt bad. Would you feel bad for someone you hated, or save their life even when it means risking yours? I know I wouldn't.

Either Avery was just a nice person, or she actually wanted to be friends with me. I wasn't even sure if we could call ourselves friends at that moment. Acquaintances, yes. Friends, not sure.

"You ready?" she asked me, which snapped me out of my thoughts. I laughed when I saw she had war paint-- aka her mascara-- streaked under each of her eyes.

"Yeah." I chuckled. There was something about the way that shade of black made her eyes glint that made me want some too. "Can I have some of that?"

"Sure."

She was acting nice and bubbly, and it was a mystery what had lightened her mood. But nonetheless I sat still as she leaned in and opened her mascara, dipping it twice in the container.

"Do girls always do this kind of thing in the morning?" I asked out of curiosity. She had just started to drag the brush faintly across the top of my left cheek. The sensation was so weird, and it made me want to squirm.

"Yeah, almost every day." Avery said, her voice laced with concentration. I stared into her green eyes as she concentrated on my pale skin. "It's a pain sometimes, but it's worth looking pretty."

Was she wearing mascara right now?

Harry, stop it. Why should you care?

"Okay, all done."

Avery pulled away, finally. Her breath was getting too hot, and I could almost feel a bead of sweat drip down my forehead.

No, it wasn't the air she was exhaling.

The temperature had dramatically risen.

"Do you think they turned the air off?" I asked, looking around for a vent. There was one on the ceiling, which I obviously couldn't get to if I tried. No weapon table, no bookshelf would help me reach that high.

I watched Avery wipe her forehead. So I wasn't the only one sweating, then.

"Yeah. It's getting really hot. Let's hope our war paint doesn't run." she joked, but it came off a very serious issue for me. I didn't want to run around looking like a screamo artist. No one would take me seriously, and it would be embarrassing to be seen like that on national television.

I took my bandana off in a haste, then shoved it in my back pocket. I would use it to wipe off the mascara if it even started to run. Taking these things weren't such a bad idea if you took their multiple uses into consideration.

"Are we still messing with the tech?" I asked. Her plan was so foolproof and ingenious, but most importantly-- fun. I was really looking forward to doing it. Not only would this be messing with the people who messed with us, but it would be a bit of a stress reliever at the same time.

"Yeah."

Her tone was so deathly serious that it reminded me of Liam. I wondered how he was doing with Sophia. Were they still dating?

What about Zayn and Perrie? Louis and Eleanor? Niall and Ellie?

But most importantly, why was I being so concerned with their relationships?

"You alright?" Avery asked me, slipping me from my second trance today. I nervously chuckled and nodded, even though I wasn't sure if I was. Why I kept finding myself slipping from reality, I wasn't so sure.

"Then let's go."

• • • •

triple update yay :(