Vienna {h.s.}

chapter nineteen - protect you

Vienna was buzzing. Jay, who had been down since Murray yelled at him, noticed it, Venice noticed it, Murray noticed, even Matty, who had only seen a glimpse of her when she was riding her bike to work. But she was so happy, and Harry was so happy.

"Will you stop being so damn happy? It's really annoying." Jay snapped, his legs folded into his chest, his arms wrapped around the long limbs.

"I'm sorry, but this smile just may be permanent." Vienna grinned, and she saw Jay's lips twitch upwards.

"Harienna?" He questioned softly.

"Harienna are officially dating." Vienna stated, and Jay smiled fully, looking at her happily.

The bell rang from the front of the store, and Venice walked in, lifting up her shirt. Jay's eyes widened as the girl he had crushed on pulled the cloth up to just under her bra to expose a nasty bruise on her ribs. Vienna walked over and gently prodded it with her finger, then looked up at her younger sister.

"I got hit with a dodgeball in gym." Venice told her, and Jay walked a few steps closer. He poked the darkened skin as well, and Venice hissed as he jabbed a bit too hard.

"I-I'm sorry." Jay stumbled, as he teetered back a few steps, and his hands folded behind his back.

"It's alright." Venice assured, and her grip let go of her shirt, letting it fall back into place.

"Alright, go home, and I'll make you a doctor's appointment." Vienna assured her, and Venice smiled, kissing her older sister's cheek before she smiled in goodbye to Jay and left.

"I didn't realize Venice was your sister." Jay announced, and Vienna looked at him curiously. "I mean I should've made the connection because of your last names and the fact that both of your names start with v's, but it just didn't click." He rambled.

"Jay, are you okay?" Vienna hid her laugh as a cough at his odd behavior, and he sighed.

"I've had a crush on Venice since I was a freshman." Jay admitted, and Vienna smiled widely.

"You two would be cute together, but sadly she has a guy." Vienna said sadly, and Jay huffed next to her.

"Damn guys." Jay teased, and Vienna looked at him curiously, thinking back to the time where he had pretty much hit on her boyfriend. "Okay, Harry Styles is not a mere guy, he is the human form of a god." Jay excused sassily, and Vienna burst out into laughter at his quick defense.

"Vienna, you're closing up tonight!" Murray yelled from his office, and it was as if a lightbulb went off in Jay's mind, but he became detached and distant again as soon as he heard Murray's voice.

"Sounds good!" She called back, going over to where Jay had sat back down, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You need to stop letting yourself get depressed over Murray. He's just a stupid guy who was having a rough day." Vienna smiled at Jay after she quietly spoke, and he shrugged nonchalantly.

"You're probably right." He sighed, standing up once more. "I think I'm gonna go home, Via. Goodnight." The high schooler pecked Vienna's cheek before leaving the music shop.

Vienna heard Murray grumbling as he came down the stairs a while later, and she had run out of things to do. She was sat at the cash register, and she only had to ring one person up since Jay had left. Vienna hadn't been assigned to the cash register seeing how shy she was, but she knew how to operate the machine, so it was fine. But Murray came down, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw her out of the corner of his eye.

"Jesus Christ, Vienna. Why are you still here?" Murray asked incredulously, clutching his chest.

"Y-you told me I was closing earlier." She reminded him confusedly.