Deception ↠ H.S

Part 2

"I'll see you later? Have a good day." Anna spun onto her heels, starting to make her way back to her car.

"Why are you acting like that?"

Anna froze, her legs forgetting how to move as she faced the trees; knowing his eyes were glued to her back. Anna opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"Is it because I'm taking attention from Liam? I know you two have something going on." Harry's voice wavered.

That was enough to get Anna to turn around, her eyebrows furrowing as she stepped closer. "People were worried sick about you. Your fans were sobbing on TMZ and I actually had sympathy for them and wished for everything to be well with you when all along you were just bored? Hiding out in San Diego knowing all of that was just... going on?" The words rolled off her tongue, the blood boiling beneath her chest. "What did you do? Why did you hide out?" Harry stared blankly at her, his mouth opening to speak and then shutting closed again.

"That's what I thought." Anna rolled her eyes, walking towards the car.

1:55pm

Anna scrubbed at the last plate in the sink, soapy water splattering onto her dress. She couldn't stop thinking about Harry, him and his dumbfounded face when she went off on him this morning. "You didn't have to do the dishes." Louis came in from the back door, beads of sweat dripping down his bare chest. It became evident that the weather warmed up since this morning. It took everything in her not to worry about Harry being stuck in a hot shed with no air conditioning.

"It's fine. I have nothing else to do." Anna shrugged, rinsing the dish off before putting it on the drying rack. "Are you guys getting that gardening done? I know that was Liam's top priority for today." The farm was Liam's dad's pride and joy and Liam didn't hesitate to take over the garden when he discovered his dad wouldn't be able to tend it anymore.

"Yup." He sparked a cigarette, grabbing a water bottle out of the refrigerator. "I tackled the harvesting for the day with the rest of the guys."

"That's good. Any peppers ready? I wanted to make fajitas for lunch." Anna leaned against the counter, admiring the sudden sound of the air conditioner kicking on.

"Plenty of those." He nodded, smoke pouring from his thin arched lips. Anna could admit to herself that he's attractive, but it's not like she could ever admit that out loud. It would be manipulating the power she holds over them; also, they're dead. They can never live a normal life outside the fence like she can. She doesn't believe Liam would be too happy either. One of the men, Connor, walks in the door with his shirt tied around his head like a scarf; absorbed with sweat. Connor has been on the farm for a year; he's the most recent member to fake his death and gain residency in the house.

"I need to take a rest before we do that extra room." Connor breathed out, immediately going to get a water bottle out of the fridge.

"Oh -- yeah. Do you know why Liam is making us clean that extra room out? It's been used for random storage ever since I switched rooms years ago." Louis flicked his cigarette into the butt-bucket on the counter. Anna can only assume that the room is going to be Harry's room when he eventually moves in; whenever that may be.

"Nope. No clue." Anna shrugs, pulling a cutting board down from the cupboard.

"You don't think we're getting someone new, do you?" Louis raised his eyebrows at Connor, taking a swig of his water.

"Hard to tell. He hasn't mentioned it." Connor untied the shirt from around his head and slung it over his bare shoulder.

Zayn walked into the kitchen, a cloth bag full of vegetables wrapped in a thin cloth. "They're triple washed. Ready to eat."

"Perfect!" Anna smiled, reaching for the first pepper she could spot as she began to cut it into strips on the wooden board.

3:26pm

The men enjoyed their lunch, slamming glass bottles of soda that Anna had bought for them earlier that week. Anna crafted two fajitas, wrapping them in some aluminum foil and grabbing a bottle of soda, stuffing it all in an empty grocery bag before heading towards the door. "I have some errands to run, guys. I'll be back a bit later tonight. Just get started on cleaning out that room and that should be it, I believe." She spun her keys around her finger.

"Already started!" Louis yelled from the top of the steps, "see ya later."

As Anna climbed into her car, her heart began to sink into her stomach and the nerves began to kick in. The entire time they ate dinner all she could think about was how hungry Harry must be and how Liam hasn't bothered to check on him all day. She wasn't sure why Harry made her so nervous or why it was so hard for her to trust him. He must have a lot of trust in her to allow Liam to introduce himself to her knowing that she could easily sell him out to any media outlet.

With a deep exhale she checked her surroundings before beginning to drive towards the shed.