6 Man ✫ H.S.

57| Pressurization

"Hey, Josh," I greeted his son with a bright grin. "Cleo's in her room upstairs, come inside," I said, stepping back and gesturing towards the inside of the house.

"Okay, bye dad!" he hugged Marcus' side, before running along past me and into the house.

"What time will you be back?" I questioned, leaning against the doorframe as Marcus tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Around 10-10:30, maybe? I'll call you as I leave the restaurant," he told me, making me nod in response. He looked a little nervous, fidgety even. "Hey, I was wondering if-"

He paused momentarily, his gaze flickering to something behind me as a slight frown took over his features. I felt my heart drop in my chest when I felt a hand rest on my lower back, a warm body pressing lightly against mine as it stood with me in the narrow doorway. Harry gazed at Marcus with a dark look in his eye, looking like he was about to rip him apart. Marcus gazed back confidently with narrowed eyes, swallowing thickly. I wanted to roll my eyes and snap at the way Harry was behaving, but I simply let out a sigh before speaking up.

"Marcus, this is Harry, Cleo's father," I gestured towards Harry who continued to attempt to intimidate Marcus, who just wasn't having it. "Harry, Marcus, Cleo's best friend's dad."

"It's nice to meet you, Harry," Marcus reached out first, jutting his hand out for Harry to shake. Harry clenched his jaw slightly, eyebrows pulled tightly over his gleaming eyes as he stared at the hand for a second, before grasping it firmly and shaking it.

"Likewise," he murmured lowly, slipping his arm around my waist and hauling me to his side in one swift movement. I kept the lid on my temper as I ran my tongue along the inside of my cheek, already ticked off.

"Heard a lot about you," Marcus said, making Harry arch his eyebrows up challengingly. What had happened with The Saviors and Harry in New Orleans was a story that was told a thousand times ever since then. But it was a story that only remained in New Orleans, due to Frida and Esmeralda's orders.

"Good things I hope," Harry said sarcastically, making Marcus chuckle a little, but not in a good way. "So, when did you and your wife move here?" he questioned, immediately assuming that Marcus was married since he had a son.

"My wife passed away a long time ago," Marcus said in response, making Harry's face remain expressionless.

"How unfortunate."

"Yeah, but I've got Josh so it's all good," Marcus said with a light shrug. "And we moved here a couple of years ago. Hey, I gotta go, I'll call you later," he said to me, waving me off.

As soon as Marcus got into his car and drove off, I pushed Harry's arm off of me, turning around to shoot him another vexed glare before walking into the house. I heard the door shut behind me, him calling my name out loudly, making me halt. I turned around, noticing the tight frown of jealousy and anger he still had on his face, fueling my vexation even more.

"You need to chill," I told him firmly, making him scoff. "You can not act all jealous and possessive like that, Harry! You have no right to!"

"I wasn't," he said stubbornly, folding his arms over his chest in a childish way.

"Harry," I said with a heavy sigh. "Stop denying it."

"I can't help it, okay?" he snapped with bright, gleaming eyes making me step back a bit. "I-It just makes me mad that I was forced to leave and spend five years away from you and now that I've come back I see you with s-some other man-"

"I'm not with him, Harry," I said with a shake of my head. "I never was. He's just been kind to me and a good friend okay?"

I began walking away before he called out at me again, his words making me lose my temper all over again.