Samantha
I walked back home with Ivy. We were talking about different types of lenses for different types of photos and I was a little too immersed. So much that I forgot that I abandoned Harley at lunch.
I suddenly stopped walking.
It was around night time now.
"Oh no," I said.
"Hm? What happened?" she asked, looking back at me.
"I forgot to sit with Harley at lunch."
"Ah," she said, laughing.
"That's not funny," I said.
"You guys are seventeen. I'm sure it's fine."
I rolled my eyes.
"I hope I haven't upset her, though," I mumbled.
"Is she the type to get upset?"
I started walking again.
"She's the type to not let me know if she is."
"Ah. One of those."
"Yeah."
"What does she wanna do later?"
"Business."
"Interesting," she replied, not sounding all that interested.
"She said she wants to run a firm."
"And what do you want to do?"
"Photo-journalism."
"Oof."
"What?" I said, chuckling at her response.
"It's just, you guys are so different."
"I like that, to be honest," I said.
"Wouldn't it be cooler if you guys worked together?"
"I guess. But think about it this way. If we have different jobs, we get to meet each other and share unique stories rather than discussing the same one together. Isn't that more fun?"
"I guess."
We neared my house.
"Thanks for walking me, by the way."
"Anytime," she replied. She suddenly moved towards me and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear.
I paused. And so did she. And then we were just staring at each other. She locked eyes with me, her expression strange yet curious.
It lasted for briefly a few seconds before she moved away, awakening from her weird trance.
"Yeah," she said stiffly. "See you later."
I nodded. But before she could turn around to leave, heavy footsteps could be heard coming towards us. Running. The noise got louder and I turned to see a panicked Harley running towards us.
I watched, eyes widened, as she threw her arms around me and sobbed into my shoulder. She had dirt on her clothes, and. . . blood? Something red. Something I couldn't quite make out in the dark.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her against me, pressing a kiss to her tear-stained cheek.
"What the fuck happened?" I breathed out.
She started crying harder.
"N-norah," she whispered through short breaths.
"Norah?" I whispered into her ear. "Tell me after we get you cleaned up, yeah?"
"I, um. . . " said a voice.
I turned to see that Ivy was still there.
"Yeah?" I said.
"I-I'm gonna make my way home. Sure you don't want help? With, um, with-" She gestured towards Harley, who just buried her face deeper into my neck. She was blushing now. I pulled her impossibly closer.
"Yeah, it's fine. Thanks."
"Okay, see you around, Sam," she whispered, awkwardly nodding before walking away.
"Damn," I said to myself, before helping her into my house and closing the huge wooden doors behind us.
Thankfully, my parents weren't home, as usual.
"Let's get you upstairs, yeah?" I said, holding her by the waist, helping her go up with me.
She simply nodded in response.
I got her into the bathroom and took off her clothes one by one. I held her blood-stained shirt in my hand and raised an eyebrow at her.
She was staring at the floor, deep in thought. Her tears had stopped flowing. They were drying up on her skin.
I cleared my throat to get her attention. She looked up, her eyes reddened.
"What the fuck is this, Harley?" I said.
"B-blood," she replied.
"Where is it from, then?" I asked, apprehension growing in me.
Did she get in a fucking fight? Did she get attacked? But there aren't any wounds. What is-
"I saw a murder scene. I got some blood on me."
Her voice was monotonous, almost robotic. She'd gone back to glaring at the floor.
"W-what?" I was taken aback. "Where?"
"At Norah's place."
"Oh my god."
"She. . ." I could see her struggling to get the words out. And then she was crying again.
"She killed him. She killed her dad," she sobbed.
I threw the shirt on the floor and wrapped my arms around her waist again. She hugged me back but I could tell she was exhausted.
I held her for a bit, rubbing my hand soothingly across her back, waiting for her to calm down. And she did. That's when I pulled away reluctantly and told her to take a shower and meet me downstairs after getting into her spare clothes, some of which were at my place by now. Just hoodies and pajama shorts and things like that that she'd leave behind.
She nodded slightly and walked in. The lack of reactions was frightening me but I was too tensed to tell her that.
***
I sat on the couch, toying with my hair in frustration, waiting for her.
Eventually, she came downstairs and sat beside me.
I turned to face her.
"What the fuck do you mean she killed her dad?"
"She killed her dad."
I placed a hand on her thigh and waited as she turned to look into my eyes.
"How did you end up seeing it?"
"I didn't see her do it."
There it was again. That lack of inflection.
"What did you see, Harley?" I asked, trying my best to stay patient.
She must be in shock. This is too much for a person to take in.
"I saw her get arrested. I saw him getting thrown into an ambulance."
I let out a shaky breath and pulled her towards me. She buried her face in my neck again.
"Where's the blood from?"
"I met her outside just before the police arrived. She was covered in blood. She pushed me into a bush to prevent them from seeing me, I guess."
"Fuck," I whispered.
"Fuck," she whispered back.
"M-maybe you should, um. . . sleep it off? Does that sound good?"
"I don't think I'll be able to sleep," she replied, her voice slightly muffled by my skin.
"Okay. What do you want to do then?"
"I just want to stay here. With you," she said, wrapping her arms around me tighter and pressing a kiss to my skin.
"O-okay," I whispered, her lips on me making me shiver.
"I'm sorry for ruining your night," she mumbled.
I kissed her temple.
"No, don't apologize. Let me take care of you," I replied.
She exhaled at that, her body relaxing significantly.
We stayed that way for a bit before going upstairs and laying awake in each other's arms all night.
***
Hey!
Hope you liked this chapter! Lemme know what you think :)
Love,
queenred