asset [h.s.]

twelve // misery loves company

Alicia

After spending the rest of the night struggling to fall asleep in the cramped car at the side of the road I made Harry stop at, because I was scared he would crash if he kept driving, we spend another half an hour of the morning traveling down small muddy lanes. I'm not sure what time it is, but I think it must be somewhere around late morning or maybe early afternoon.

Harry suddenly makes a right turn into a car park and we pull up outside a white country house. I could easily imagine a little English family living here in the olden days, the children running around the garden their mother made sure was perfect, playing in their cute white Sunday clothes before heading off to church.

I'm snapped out of my reverie at the sound of Harry roughly unbuckling his seatbelt and shrugging it off his body. He's just about to reach for the door handle and open it before turning to me with a serious look on his face, making me furrow my eyebrows. "Now, don't try any of that mouthing shit for help again, ok? Apparently I have to protect you now, so unless you actually would prefer to die, I suggest you keep your mouth shut and do as I say. Understood?"

I nod, but judging by his look I receive afterwards, he was expecting something vocal so I quickly say "I understand."

"Wonderful." Harry smiles sarcastically, reaching out for the door handle again but a sudden realization dawns on me once he does.

"Wait." I gesture down towards my clothes when Harry look back at me with an irritated look. "We can't go in there looking like this."

"I really don't think now is the time to worry about a costume change."

"Oh, well I just thought walking into a B&B covered in blood may seem a little suspicious, but you're right, let's not worry about it." I reply with the same amount of sarcasm in my tone that Harry had, cocking one eyebrow.

He stares blankly back at me, blinking a few times through the silence, before glancing away from me with a heavy sigh. "Alright, smart ass. You've got a point."

His hands suddenly grab the hem of his shirt and he pulls it over his head, startling me when his tattooed chest is revealed and I immediately tear my eyes away. I try to look at anything else as Harry grabs his duffel bag and pulls out a clean shirt, tossing the other inside.

"Take off your jumper." Harry says, throwing his Nike sweater at my chest and I quickly manage to grab it. "Put this on."

I quickly oblige, gingerly pulling off the jumper which seems to be covered in everybody's blood but mine, and replacing it with Harry's jumper, handing the old one for him to stash in his bag. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Are we dressed appropriately enough now?" Harry asks and I roll my eyes behind his back when he opens the door and climbs out of the car. Even after I do something right which minimizes the risk of us getting caught, something he hadn't even thought about, he's still not even remotely happy or grateful.

He locks the car and then we both make our way through the rickety gate and up the garden path. I hear Harry grumbling as he swats the slightly overgrown bushes and flowers out of his face, muttering about the 'stupid fucking things' and I look back at him with an amused expression, but he just glares at me, so I immediately switch back to a frown. I suppose that seems the most appropriate for our current situation anyway.