salute [h.s]

chapter 21 - dangerous decisions & apoplectic arguments

"You don't control me, Harry." Piper's voice was low and deadly and Harry seemed to sense that he'd misstepped because he tugged his bottom lip between his teeth and then pouted his lips out. He redeemed himself a bit by not saying anything impulsively that would come back to bite him. "And I'm getting really sick of you always being around. This is my place of work. How do you think it makes me look that you're constantly hovering around? Like you're supervising me or something?"

"You know that's not why I'm doing it," Harry said sternly as he took a step forward into her space, crowding her against the wall. His hand touched her nose lightly. "I'm doing it because of this."

It wasn't broken but very nearly. The bruise still coloured her cheeks on either side of her nose and no amount of make-up could make it disappear entirely. It hurt, a lot, but Piper had been doing her best to forget that she was a purple-nosed Rudolph and go on with her life like nothing had happened. It was easier than the alternative.

"I get that you want to look out for me —"

"It's more than looking out for you," Harry interrupted sharply. "I am not letting you sit around, unprotected, when that criminal is walking these halls, understand?"

"Wouldn't it be so much easier if he was, oh I don't know, in jail?"

"Piper —"

"You're the one who doesn't want me turning him in! You're the one who is letting him walk around like nothing is wrong. Not me. You. So you have no right to impose this problem on me like it was my choice because it wasn't."

"It was not me," Harry corrected, his voice dangerously low, the anger barely controlled. "If it was my choice, Samson would be rotting in a cell somewhere in South America where no one could find him. But you know we don't have any options here. There is something going on, something a lot bigger than just you, and Zayn thinks the only way we can flush him out is if we make him sweat."

"Just me," Piper repeated back to him, her chest tightening painfully. Something a lot bigger than just you. Just her. Like she was an afterthought. As if the fact that Samson had tried to kidnap her and had shot her was just a footnote in a bigger story.

"Piper, you know that's not what I meant."

"Oh, that's something I know? Really? Because it sure sounded like that's exactly what you meant from where I was standing. What does it matter that I'm petrified in my own workplace as long as you can get the bad guys in the end, right?"

"Piper —"

"Don't, Harry." She placed a palm flat on his chest and used it to push him back, away from her. When he was far enough away that she felt like she could finally breath again, she let out a long sigh, letting her head drop so she could try and get her wits back without looking at him and his stupid face.

"I get that you're worried about me," she said finally when she'd calmed down enough that she didn't want to hit him. "I appreciate your concern but this situation is unbelievably fucked up. Samson tried to kill me and straight up admitted it to me but I've got to walk around this building knowing that he's somewhere in here too and act like nothing's wrong, like everything is fine. And I get why. I understand that reporting Samson would be pulling a key player out of the game before we can figure out who's moving the pieces. I get that. But I'm fucking terrified Harry. Every time I see a shadow in the corner of my eye, my whole body reacts and it takes me ages to calm back down. So when it's you that's doing it, lurking around in the peripheral, it really sets me on edge."

"I — I didn't realize."

"No, you didn't think." Piper tensed her hands at her side, trying to release some of the building pressure inside her that was aching to burst out. She didn't want to yell at Harry. Yes, some of this feeling inside was anger directed at him and Zayn who had decided to put her through this but some of it was also fear that was trying to push itself out through a different outlet. It wouldn't be fair to put that on Harry.