Awkward Beat [H.S]

Chapter 28

In which all Fitz can do is stand and stare in shock as it all comes tumbling down.

Chapter 28

Normally, I hung around on campus for the hour-long break I had between classes on Wednesday afternoons. I'd get a tea or visit Macy at the Hub Cub or go to the library under the pretense of catching up on class readings but spend the entire time people-watching.

One particular Wednesday, however, I made the trip back to the flat during that hour break. Most days, Harry would check the local weather forecast and tell me if there was anything unusual coming our way so that I could dress accordingly – but since talking to Harry had become synonymous with talking to a brick wall, I hadn't bothered asking for or expecting any updates.

Which was why I'd begun the day wearing a light pair of jeans, flats, and a spring jacket, only to curse loudly when I stepped out of a lecture hall and into a puddle the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Somewhere along the line, it rained. Poured. Everyone else on campus apparently got the memo and produced their umbrellas, but within seconds, I was drenched.

Sopping wet and cursing the bloody sky for the downpour, I burst through the door to the flat. Harry wasn't home, but still I slammed the door to my bedroom to change more out of annoyance than anything else. As I was struggling to peel my cold, wet jeans down my legs, I heard the front door open again, deep voices infiltrating the flat.

"It's not hard material, but she gets off asking tricky questions," Harry was saying.

"Are you joking? That woman's the antichrist."

My heart sped up, instantly recognizing the second voice as Zayn's. It was the two of them.

Harry sniggered in amusement. "Yeah, more or less. Wait here a second, I'll get my course book. It's under my bed somewhere."

I was in the middle of slipping on a new pair of jeans, but I froze when they were halfway up my legs, hoping that Harry wouldn't clue in to my presence while he was rummaging around in his room. The last thing I wanted was to join him and Zayn on their trek back to campus. A more uncomfortable trio I couldn't imagine.

It was also uncomfortable to stand half dressed in my bedroom listening to Harry throwing things aside and cursing through the wall.

After a minute or so of Zayn's chuckling and Harry's frustration, he called out,

"Found it!" I waited to hear his feet pad down the hall before I felt safe enough to finish dressing.

"Here."

"Brilliant. I owe you, man. That course is killing me right now."

"No worries. S'long as you copy the notes instead of spending every class coming on to the fit German exchange student in the back, you'll probably do a lot better than I did when I took it last year," Harry joked.

That earned another laugh from Zayn.

"Jesus, it's a downpour," Harry remarked. I glanced out my window, where the rain streamed at a violent angle. "You want food or something before you head back out there?"

"What've you got?"

"Lemme check." I picked up my wet clothes and threw them in my laundry basket while I listened to Harry rifle through the kitchen cupboards and the fridge. "Uh... crackers... bread... apples... celery... basically anything you can dunk in a jar of peanut butter."

"What?"

"Yeah." I could almost imagine Harry shrugging apologetically as he spoke. "Peanut butter is like crack to Fitz, so... that's pretty much what we eat."