incongruity | h.s.

0.4

21:59

*Scarlette's POV*

The cafe seemed to have begun emptying out slowly, and the only two customers left were Louis and his incredibly familiar friend. I took a small towel and the bottle of cleaner and began to wipe down the tables, slightly having to bend over some of them. I took my hair down from its tight ponytail, letting my wavy natural hair fall. I could hear Louis and his pal quietly conversing. Dan and my other coworker had cleared out by now, so it was solely me. 

Once I finished cleaning up the table and making sure the kitchen area was clean I went and sat behind the counter, waiting for Louis and Co. to finish up. I made sure to lock up the register. Once I finished, I sat on a stool and laid my chin on my palm. I looked up at the two who were deep into conversation. 

I admired the jawline of the one with curly hair. Louis was fairly attractive too, but something about the green eyed, curly haired boy was incredibly enticing. I enjoyed the way his lips moved when he talked at such a slow pace, and how his tattooed arm would clench when Louis said something he didn't enjoy. 

"Hey," Louis spoke loudly, looking towards me and snapping me out of my thoughts. 

"Hmm..." I hummed quietly, "Yes?" 

"Instead of just staring at us like a creeper and daydreaming, come sit with us," Louis grinned, I lightly giggled and shook my head. 

"No, it's alright. I was just thinking," the curly haired one huffed. 

"Of what? How attractive we both are?" He spoke cockily. 

"Well, excuse you Mr. Arrogant, but actually I was not," I spoke trying to cover my lie as solemnly as possible.

"Mhm, I bet you weren't, but come on, have a seat with us," He spoke convincingly. I gave in and took off my apron, leaving me in a denim top and my white American Apparel tennis skirt. I stepped towards the bar area they were sitting at and took a seat beside Louis.  

"And what's your name, love?'' He directed the question towards me.

"Scarlette, although I usually go by Scar," I smiled politely, putting my hair behind my ears. 

"Well, Scar, it's lovely to meet you. I'm Louis," he grinned, "and this over here is Harry." Harry sent Louis a quick, almost unnoticeable scowl. 

"It's lovely to meet you both," a smile tugged at my lips. "What I was thinking earlier..." I stopped myself, before Louis motioned me to go on. "Was that Harry here, looks incredibly familiar and I just can't put my finger on why." Harry shot Louis a quick concerned look and Louis returned it. 

"I was came here on Tuesday, with a friend of mine, Liam," he recovered quickly, speaking in a low voice. 

"Oh! Yes! That's why. The cafe was almost empty that night," I remembered, running my hand through my hair. "That's why you seemed so familiar," I smiled. This was an odd hour for the cafe to still be open, so I looked around repeatedly, making sure that there was not a reoccurrence of yesterday's events. 

"Are you alright? You keep looking around as if you're scared of something. We won't bite, love," Louis added playfully.

"Oh! No... It's just that last night I was working a shift alone..." I paused rapidly, sucking in a breath, "And the cafe was robbed while I was downstairs changing the  music, and I came up and this boy almost shot me. Um... I guess I'm just kind of on edge," I spoke. Releasing a huge breath that I did not even notice I was holding in. 

"That's awful to hear," Louis spoke, dragging out this words. "But we won't let the same thing happen tonight, we're here to protect you," I giggled. "But why are you back at work so soon? Isn't that traumatizing?" 

"That makes me feel so much better," I paused, waiting before I answered his second question. "Um, I probably should've taken like a week off, or something... But I dunno, I really love my job," I smiled brightly. 

"I think the whole situations quite humorous, though," I spoke up. "Because if I truly wanted to, I probably could have knocked the gun out of his hand before the two others came into the room."

"I doubt that," Harry spoke quietly, taking a sip of his espresso. I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Why do you say you could've done so?" Louis asked, directing the question towards me.

"Oh... I... Um... When I was about six, my dad put me into Taekwondo and Jujutsu, and I've been continuing it since then," I sucked in a breath. "I was supposed to go to the Olympics for Taekwondo, but I injured my ankle the month before the International Open," I spoke quietly, still upset. "But yeah, in Taekwondo they teach you weapons defense. So, like... How to knock a knife/gun out of someones hands, how to flip the position you're in if somebody tries to hurt you, a lot of stuff like that, plus a lot of fighting techniques."

Both of the boys looked genuinely interested, so I continued. "And Jujutsu's basically how to defeat an armored opponent. There's also a lot of immobilizing, joint-locking, choking, and pinning techniques. But I'm probably boring you guys with my martial arts background," I laughed, shaking my head at my foolishness. 

"No... Actually that's really interesting," Louis said, with brightness in his eyes. "I've done MMA Boxing since a young age, and so has Harry here." He grinned, looking over at Harry.

"Hm, yeah, I've been doing it since I was 8 and Louis since he was about 11?" Harry added, looking over at Louis for confirmation as he nodded. 

"Ah, well, how old are you two now?" I curiously asked. 

"I'm 23, and Harry's 21," Louis answered for the both of them. "How old are you, Scar?"

"I'm 18, I turn 19 in two months," I grinned. Louis ruffled my hair.

"You're so young!" He laughed as I shrugged. 

"I mean, I guess," I laughed. 

"How much real life experience have you had with fighting?" Harry asked.

"I mean, non-arena fighting, I don't think any. And I hope it stays like that," I chuckled. Louis seemed to check his phone, shutting it off once he saw the time.

"Well, H, I think it's time for us to go, it's almost 23:00." Louis gave me an odd smile, standing up alongside Harry. "It was nice to meet you, love!" He spoke, leaning in to give me a hug, I hugged him back. I awaited for Harry to hug me, instead he just walked out the door. So much for that. 

Wait... Did Louis call Harry, H? Zayn, the robber, called his lead guy H... I traced my thoughts for what the leader looked like. That's when it hit me, the Harry I had just had an hour long conversation with about the robbery and my martial arts skills, was the same Harry who had aided the robbery yesterday. Yet also the reason I was alive... 

-- 

GOOD JOB FINALLY REALIZING THAT, SCAR. YOU'RE SO SLOW. GOSH DAMNIT. 

hey hey hey !!! i might be seeing my beautiful boys in new york on august 5th bc I'm from florida, but they're not coming so i might go to new york and see them so yaaAYAAYYAY.

i love you aaaaall

xo Kat