should’ve left already. While my mum attempted to drag him back to her medical station, he threw Harry a peculiar look of wonder before the corner broke their line of sight.
The thug and I sat down to block the doorway, sighing restlessly as Beth dragged Millie off to show her some of the nursing skills she had just learned. Neither of us really knew what to say to each other — I still had no idea who Harry was, and frankly his razor-sharp attitude had tainted my impression of him already.
“I know what you're thinking,” he abruptly interjected. “I saw that look you gave me, the moment I showed up on Ian’s door. You think I'm some sort of ned, right?”
I couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh. Nothing gets past this guy. “I think… that if Ian trusts you, then that’s good enough for me. You two have been sneaking around this whole time, I guess you already knew about him being—”
Harry shot me a glare, instantly prompting my silence. If looks could kill. “I don't care what you think about me, but don't go having problems with Ian. He's a good lad, he—”
“That’s not what I meant.” This time, it was my turn to interrupt. “Ian trusted you with some kind of secret... Something he felt that he couldn't tell the rest of us. I know it wasn’t a priority, but look at what happened. These things still matter."
“What? He... really didn’t mention it at all?” This seemed to catch him off-guard. Feeling his inquisitive eyes on me, I still couldn't help but feel a little bitter.
"Now that I know what he was hiding, I'm just pissed that he thinks I won’t be okay with it. So what if he's gay? We're friends, or... at least I think we are.” I was still in a state of confusion as to whether someone could go from being a complete stranger to a best friend in less than three days, but that's what it felt like.
Harry let a rare smile spread across his lips, starting to play around with his switchblade again. “...Right answer. Ian thinks the world of you, y'know. For a moment, I guess I was a little jealous from the way he was talking—”
The thug froze, realising what he had just said. I raised my eyebrows with scepticism, although he must’ve seen that as something else.
“I-I mean, I didn't see you as competition... Wait, I mean, we're not— It wasn't like that! We only kissed once— Gah, fuck off!!”
Harry became flustered, obviously embarrassed about something that had now undoubtedly happened between him and Ian. I was barely capable of listening though, my intimidated eyes still trained on the knife that he effortlessly tossed from hand to hand.
That man was terrifying no matter what situation we were in; he always seemed on-edge with his leather jacket and spiked hair. I couldn’t risk defining him as either a friend or a foe. Friend, huh... Weirdest start to a friendship I've ever seen.
Abandoning Harry before he could ‘accidentally’ stab me, I checked into my mum’s medical corner and found Beth and Millie hovering over a sleeping Ian. Mils used the bottom of her shirt to clean her strange pistol, which I hoped had the safety on.
She could see my astonishment, and answered what I'd been meaning to ask for a while. “...It’s a BB gun. Figured it might help to scare the dead off, but nope. Still good for bashing heads in, though."
“Classy. Nearly gave me a heart attack before.”
Smiling a little, she nodded towards Ian who either pretended to be asleep, or was just an obnoxiously-heavy breather. “What exactly happened to him, anyway?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped myself when Ian stirred with a mumbled groan. It probably wasn't my place to tell, anyway. “You can ask him yourself, if he ever bothers to wake up... Hey, Mils? I'm sorry.”
The plummeting tone caught her by surprise. My childhood friend set down her fake pistol, turning towards me as I scratched my neck awkwardly. Apologising wasn’t something I did often, since I was hardly
The thug and I sat down to block the doorway, sighing restlessly as Beth dragged Millie off to show her some of the nursing skills she had just learned. Neither of us really knew what to say to each other — I still had no idea who Harry was, and frankly his razor-sharp attitude had tainted my impression of him already.
“I know what you're thinking,” he abruptly interjected. “I saw that look you gave me, the moment I showed up on Ian’s door. You think I'm some sort of ned, right?”
I couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh. Nothing gets past this guy. “I think… that if Ian trusts you, then that’s good enough for me. You two have been sneaking around this whole time, I guess you already knew about him being—”
Harry shot me a glare, instantly prompting my silence. If looks could kill. “I don't care what you think about me, but don't go having problems with Ian. He's a good lad, he—”
“That’s not what I meant.” This time, it was my turn to interrupt. “Ian trusted you with some kind of secret... Something he felt that he couldn't tell the rest of us. I know it wasn’t a priority, but look at what happened. These things still matter."
“What? He... really didn’t mention it at all?” This seemed to catch him off-guard. Feeling his inquisitive eyes on me, I still couldn't help but feel a little bitter.
"Now that I know what he was hiding, I'm just pissed that he thinks I won’t be okay with it. So what if he's gay? We're friends, or... at least I think we are.” I was still in a state of confusion as to whether someone could go from being a complete stranger to a best friend in less than three days, but that's what it felt like.
Harry let a rare smile spread across his lips, starting to play around with his switchblade again. “...Right answer. Ian thinks the world of you, y'know. For a moment, I guess I was a little jealous from the way he was talking—”
The thug froze, realising what he had just said. I raised my eyebrows with scepticism, although he must’ve seen that as something else.
“I-I mean, I didn't see you as competition... Wait, I mean, we're not— It wasn't like that! We only kissed once— Gah, fuck off!!”
Harry became flustered, obviously embarrassed about something that had now undoubtedly happened between him and Ian. I was barely capable of listening though, my intimidated eyes still trained on the knife that he effortlessly tossed from hand to hand.
That man was terrifying no matter what situation we were in; he always seemed on-edge with his leather jacket and spiked hair. I couldn’t risk defining him as either a friend or a foe. Friend, huh... Weirdest start to a friendship I've ever seen.
Abandoning Harry before he could ‘accidentally’ stab me, I checked into my mum’s medical corner and found Beth and Millie hovering over a sleeping Ian. Mils used the bottom of her shirt to clean her strange pistol, which I hoped had the safety on.
She could see my astonishment, and answered what I'd been meaning to ask for a while. “...It’s a BB gun. Figured it might help to scare the dead off, but nope. Still good for bashing heads in, though."
“Classy. Nearly gave me a heart attack before.”
Smiling a little, she nodded towards Ian who either pretended to be asleep, or was just an obnoxiously-heavy breather. “What exactly happened to him, anyway?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped myself when Ian stirred with a mumbled groan. It probably wasn't my place to tell, anyway. “You can ask him yourself, if he ever bothers to wake up... Hey, Mils? I'm sorry.”
The plummeting tone caught her by surprise. My childhood friend set down her fake pistol, turning towards me as I scratched my neck awkwardly. Apologising wasn’t something I did often, since I was hardly
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