Vienna {h.s.}

chapter six - enigma

"I'm not going to take that assistant job. Do you have one in the music shop?" Vienna asked over the phone, still in bed early in the morning.

"Yeah, yeah. I can get you one there." He agreed, and Vienna let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." She said.

"Of course." And with that, she hung up.

If you didn't know Vienna, you knew the isolated artist that live on Kilmer Avenue with the nineties taste. She was addicted to all things nineties, the music, the fashion, even her art had a flare for the nineties. She didn't even own a car, no she had a bike with a wicker basket. When she wanted to listen to music, she didn't use her phone, no she used a cassette player.

I've been afraid of changing

'Cause I've built my life around you

She placed the paintbrush back down, and admired the finished painting. She blinked, ignoring the tears that built in her eyes as she took in the two people in her painting that subtly resembled her parents. She gazed down at the floor, before taking the painting off of her canvas, and hanging it in a open slot on the wall.

"Your leg looks better." Harry called through the window, and she gasped, turning to face him through their windows.

"Yeah, thanks." She replied, still a little shaky from her discovery.

"Are you alright?" He asked, hearing the subtle tremor in her voice.

"I'll be fine." She brushed off.

"I'm coming over. Just a sec." He ignored her obvious lie, and snuck away from his window.

She wiped her eyes, getting rid of the tears caught up around them. She covered up the painting with a sheet, and set it off to the side, closing the door behind her as Harry came bounding up the stairs.

"Okay, I'm positive the door was locked that time." Vienna stated, and Harry smiled, seeing she was a bit more happy than he had seen her moments before.

"A key under the rock. Way to live on the edge, duchess." He complimented, and she laughed. "You know, I don't know your full name?" Harry inquired, and Vienna nodded.

"No, you don't." She agreed. But she said nothing, padding along to her room.

Her room had gone through some sprucing up, Harry had noticed. Her walls weren't as bare anymore, as she had pictures of mostly things based in the nineties. There was a couple of Polaroid's of bands, such as Green Day, and Sum 41. She sat down on her bed, which had her cassette player on it.

"Vienna, I want to know your name." He taunted.

"You just said it." She objected.

"Your name is Vienna I want to know your name?" He teased, and she squinted in smiling.

"Quinn James." She told him. "It's Vienna Quinn James."

"What a lovely name, duchess." He said, sitting down next to her. "So you've gone retro." He gestured to the room around them.

"I have always been a ninety's baby, Harry. You just haven't been around enough to realize it."

"So, when are you gonna make me a mix?" He said, pointing to the cassette in the player, and she huffed out a laugh.

"Probably never if you ask like that again." She quipped. He held his heart in feigned hurt, and she smiled at his expression.

The room suddenly got quiet, and she picked at her sheets, doing something to pass the time. Harry was just thinking of things to say. And the room was quiet, and the only sound that echoed in the room was their breathing. For the first time since they had become friends, they had an awkward silence.

"I don't like this." Harry suddenly stated, and Vienna looked at him with curious eyes. "Being awkward like this." He explained.

"Then let's not." She shrugged, and Harry smiled. His mind popped with a question, and she could tell by the way he tilted his head at her slightly with an inquisitive gaze.

"Vienna, are you a virgin?" And she spluttered, coughing at his abrupt question. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." He scolded himself, as she turned a deep shade of red from blushing.

"I-it's okay." She told him. "And no, I am not." And for some reason, he was surprised.

But time makes you bolder

Children get older

Actually, it wasn't for no reason. He knew Vienna was a reserved person, and he was expecting the answer of 'yes I am'. But he didn't receive it, and was telling himself that it was her decision, and that he shouldn't have thought that she was untouched.

But she was just so her, and it seemed that she would be one of those people that would save it for someone. And he had to keep telling himself that he hadn't known her for that long, and there could have been someone that she loved that she gave it to. But at the same time, he was telling himself: it's Vienna. The quiet girl, that seems to have secrets hidden away in her bones, and that seems to have no end to her.

"Oh." He replied, clearing his throat so that he didn't have to gulp down a million questions.

"Are you?" She asked back playfully, trying to restore the light mood that always seemed to float around them.

"What do you think?" He asked her, a smile gracing his lips as he noticed her trying to fix the mood.

"I'd hope that you gave it to some one that loved you."

"I was thinking the same thing about you." Harry responded, and she swallowed, glancing down at her fingers.

And how he hoped that he thought right.

But somehow, he wasn't sure he did.

But Vienna changed the subject before he could think about it too deeply. And she shuffled a little closer to him, placing her toes slightly under his ankle. She hooked her arms around her bent knees, and he smiled at her.

"So tell me about you." She spoke, and he cocked an eyebrow. "You know a lot about me, but I don't know a lot about you." She added.

"Alright, I'm from Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. I'm twenty two year old, I'm in a band, and we've been together for six years. I am not a virgin, surprisingly, and I now live across the street from a girl with a Billy Joel inspired name." Vienna gasped, shaking her head with a slight smile on her face.

"Not true!" She exclaimed. "My parents came up with my name because they had their honeymoon there and fell in love with the city." She explained.

"Vienna, Austria." He stated, and she nodded. "So is that, like, where you were conceived?" He asked awkwardly.

"No." She shook her head in disgust. "I don't want to think about that." Her face twisted in disgust, and he chuckled knowingly.

"Your leg doesn't look as bloody as it did the other day." He commented, and she nodded, glancing down at it.

"No, it's been recovering nicely." She replied.

And Harry just stared after nodding, and she returned the gaze. They just stared at each other for a good minute, Harry reading her eyes as best he could, and Vienna capturing every inch and crevice of his face. And Harry squinted his eyes, tilting his head slightly to the left. And Vienna just waited, because she knew that Harry was going to say something serious, and she was preparing herself to respond.

"You're an enigma, Vienna Quinn James." He told her, and she smiled, glancing down to her lap.

"It comes with time, but you'll see I'm not so difficult to figure out." And he smirked at her

And I'm getting older too.