At Gunpoint

Chapter 10

"That's reassuring." Harry smiled, successfully lightning the mood a little bit. I couldn't help but getting a funny, butterflies-in-my-stomach-feeling of his rosy lips and perfect row of white teeth. I shrug the enchantment off of me.

"I think it's the same guy." I steered back to the seriousness of it all. Which was a shame, because I really liked the illusion of not having a worry in the world Harry tricked my mind into believing. It was not something I felt every day. I flinched a little when Harry decided to rest his chin on my shoulder. He had scooted a bit closer to see the laptop better. I saw his reflection faintly on the screen and he looked like a curious seven-year-old. Apart from the strong features and the jawline that was way too prominent for a kid. It was just something about his expression and squinting gaze. We sat like that for a while, making jokes about the couple on the other end of the shop, who were big fans of PDA.

"So, how do we figure out who it is?" Harry asked, the movement in his jaw tickling my shoulder. I sunk into deep concentration, scanning the article from top to bottom.

"Here." I said and read an paragraph out loud. "One of the victims' brother caught a glimpse of the man in question when he arrived home from school, seeing him flee out the backdoor." With a photo attached of the brother being interviewed by a reporter.

"I know him. Oh my god. He goes to a high school nearby."

"How do you know him?" Harry got back up to normal sitting position and if I weren't mistaken, I heard an underlaying sting of jealousy somewhere in his tone. With every right it would prove.

"He... Might have snuck into a college frat party and we might have had a thing..." I answered as evasive as I possibly could. It didn't help me much, the only thing Harry picked up was 'the thing'-thing. Woah, way too many uses of the word 'thing' in one sentence.

"Teeny tiny thing!" I added quickly when I saw Harry's judging face. Not sure if he was judging the fact that I'd hooked up with a minor, or that I had hooked up with anyone at all. I decided to go with option one, or we would have a problem. He hadn't given off many vibes of wanting to be anything more than friends, so for now it seemed like the least drama-causing assumption to stick with.

"Teeny tiny thing..." Harry muttered under his breath. I smiled apologetic.

"Aaaaanyway," I changed the subject because it was making me uncomfortable. "We need to talk to him."

"Just how teeny tiny was this thing?" Harry steered back, to my impatience. The word 'thing' was starting to sound weird, just as words tend to do when you overuse it in a short period of time. I pretended like I didn't hear him.

"I'm gonna give him a call."

"Seriosuly?"

But I had already dialed and was holding the phone to my ear. Harry moaned and crossed his arms over his chest while slithering down the backrest.

"Hello?"

"Hey Anthony!" I put on my most casual tone.

"Kasey?" He sounded about as surprised as I had when I found out Santa wasn't real.

"Yeah, hi." I replied a little too fast. "I need a favour."

"How are you?"

"Fine, but that's not why I'm calling-"

"You know, I've been thinking about what happened at that party and-"

Harry must've have overheard Anthony's part of the conversation, because before I knew what happened my phone was no longer in my hand.

"Now you listen to me. She doesn't wanna hear about how much you've 'missed her'," Harry said in his most sarcastic voice. "She needs a favour, that's all. Got it?"

Harry handed me back my phone, which I was too shocked to hold on to. He bended my fingers around it and made sure I was holding it properly before putting it back against my ear.

"Um." Was all I got out.

"Got it you need a favour shoot." Anthony said really fast, all in one breath.

"Yeah... Alright.. The thing is I need to talk to you about your brother."

"Oh.." He sounded really sad, which made me feel even worse than I already did about Harry's little outburst.

"I'm so sorry! I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." I apologized while biting my bottom lip so hard I started to taste blood. I did that when I was nervous or guilty. Which was the least you could say I was at the moment. First Harry screams at him, then I remind him of his brother who was murdered just recently. Oh dear God, what kind of person was I?

"No it's alright. You can come after school, 3 pm in the cafeteria."

"3 pm in the cafeteria. We'll be there."

"What do you mean by we?!" His voice faded away as I shut my eyes deprecatory when I realized I heard it too late and had already hit the 'end call' button.

"Oh joy, field trip." Harry rolled his eyes.

"You're still coming are you?"

"Of course I'm coming." He grinned. "You need me."

"What? I don't need you, I'm fully capable of doing it myself if you're gonna be obstinate."

"So how are you gonna get there? Walk?"

I opened my mouth, but interupted myself before I said something even more stupid."

"Yeah fine, I 'need' you."

Harry had never looked so content during the 48 hours we had known each other as he did when I admitted defeat.