Chapter Text
“ I think I might throw up.” She leaned against the metal cupboard, attempting to breathe in, without drowning her senses in the dreadful scent of death.
“ Focus on your breathing.” He suggested, fingers skimming through the freshly printed report, glasses sliding against his nose bridge, feet tapping to the serene background music.
“ No. No, you- you don’t get it. Mr. Styles, I-“
“ Harry.” He simply stated, and her mind was too focused on clinging to consciousness to even begin to understand.
“ What?"
If you’re going to throw up on my shoes, then we should at least be on first name basis.” The confusion of his casualty was too much for her to handle through her nauseated state, as she squeezed her eyes shut, willing the ground to stop spinning. The scent of detergents, molded into the rotting smell that leaked through the fridge’s chambers, nearly suffocating her lungs. There were traces of blood literally everywhere, although, the anatomic doctor had hid all organs away. It was all so incredibly overwhelming for her, and it didn’t seem to faze him at all.
He had walked in, kissed the female doctor on the cheek, laughed with her for whatever reason, before she had excused himself, telling him that he needed to hurry because she didn’t want anyone to walk in on him while he skimmed through the victim’s belongings and the confidential report. He had seemed perfectly accustomed to the horrific surroundings, while she had struggled to remain on her feet, and aim while throwing up.
“ I think I’m about to faint.” She choked out.
“ You’re not going to- woah.” Her feet gave out on her, and she almost collapsed onto the ground, if he hadn’t put his arms beneath her own, lifting her weight effortlessly.
“ Okay, maybe you are going to faint. Let me get you out of here.” He dragged her almost uncooperative figure out of the morgue, sitting her down on the chairs outside. He bent down on his knees, pushing hair locks away from her face, and his fingers lingered on her skin for a bit too long, and he didn’t really know why.
It was the most intimate he had allowed himself to become around anyone for a long, long, time, and he didn’t know what was it about her. Perhaps her innocence that leaned towards foolishness, or her eagerness and simplicity. It could have been that she seemed so lively, and how he just…. wasn’t. Her breathing slowed down remarkably, but her eyes remained closed. He knew she couldn’t see the way he looked at her, and for that, he was grateful. He pulled his hand away, clearing his throat and standing to his full height.
“ I’ll get the rest of my things, and we can go.” He walked back into the morgue, resting his back against the door, his breathing suddenly erratic. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, pulling slightly at the roots. His toothpick fell through his trembling lips, but he paid it no mind, as he collected the last of his belongings, typing the last number that the victim had called and texted, putting her phone away, before taking off his medical gloves and walking out of the morgue. He knew that if he touched her, then he’d feel all of that again, so he walked right past her, forcing his eyes to look straight ahead.
“ We can go now. I’ll be in the car.”
It was all so strangling. So unfamiliar and unknown and uncontrollable and he didn’t appreciate that. He got into his car, searching for a toothpick to replace his last, but there weren’t any left. He searched through the single, broken, dashboard, until he found an old pack of cigarettes. He opened it, taking one, and putting it between his teeth. His head was roaming with too many thoughts, and he thought he had overcome this chaotic state of mind, but clearly, she managed to deprive him of every last drop of containment.
The passenger door opened, and she came in. As silent as ever, as she closed the door, resting her head against the chair, eyes closed again. He was tempted to tell her to put on her seatbelt, desperate for any sort of control or reassurance, but he didn’t. He simply started the car, and began driving back to the journal. Normally, she would have fidgeted and moved until he told her not to, but she remained motionless, until he could no longer resist the urge to speak to her.
“ Are you alright?” She sighed, nodding weakly, before opening her eyes, tilting her head to the side, to see him, already looking at her. It made her uncomfortable, intimidated but mostly, assured. The smallest of all smiles formed onto her lips, as she imprisoned a hair lock behind her ear, reminded of the time that he so recklessly touched her hair.
“ Didn’t know you smoked.”
“ I don’t.” He fixated his eyes back on the road, clearing his throat, in an attempt to steady his voice.
“ You- but-“
“ It isn’t lit, is it?”
“ No. I guess not.” She frowned, looking down upon her hands that rested in his lap.
“ You should learn to word your questions differently, Miss Montgomery. You didn’t even ask me at all, you simply stated a fact, that you did not know I smoked, which is informative, but in no way interesting or useful. What you should have said is; why do you have an unlit cigarette in your mouth? Or, for proper preparation, you could have asked whether I smoked or not, but your statement didn’t intrigue me to respond at all.”
It was silent for a while, almost as if she was processing his every word, before acting upon it. Eventually, she angled her sitting position so that she was facing his side portfolio.
“ Mr. Styles, why do you have an unlit cigarette in your mouth?”
“ Because I don’t smoke, so it’s of no use to me lit.” Her frown deepened at his completely reasonable yet useless response. A confident smirk took over his features, his phone started ringing in his pocket, just as she opened her mouth, to question him further.
“ Styles. Oh, if it isn’t Mister Big Shot politician, Payne himself. Alright, alright, I’ll save it for later. Aha. That I know, yes. Alright. Tonight? Now?” He skeptically eyed her, all curious green eyes, and pale pink lips, before he nodded to himself.
“ Okay, I can do that. I might have some company though. Alright, Liam, see you then.” After he put his phone away, he took a sudden left turn, without using the signaling lanterns whatsoever. He could tell the question was on the tip of her tongue, but as per usual, she was too belittled to speak it freely.
“ Mind coming along to meet someone with me? It’s Liam Payne, and a few of the most important individuals in the industry, who also happen to be friends of mine. Strictly for learning purposes of course. And if you’re going to work on this case, or any other case really, you’re going to have to know those people.” Her confused frown finally reformed into a proud grin, as she nodded enthusiastically, settling back into her seat. He almost smiled, but he caught himself, biting down upon his cigarette.
“ Mr. Styles?”
“ Hmm.”
“ If you don’t smoke, then why do you have an unlit cigarette in your mouth?”
“ Since I don’t smoke, therefore, I don’t have a lighter, so I can’t exactly have a lit cigarette in my mouth, or else, I wouldn’t have been a non-smoker.” She threw her hands up in surrender, concentrated frown resurfacing on her features, and this time, he couldn’t help but laugh weakly at her frustration.
“ Keep trying, Miss Montgomery.” He urged, and so she did.
“ Why do you need a cigarette if you have no intention of smoking it?” She tried again, as he guided her towards where his friends were seated.
“ Need is not properly used here, Miss Montgomery. There was no mention of me ever needing a cigarette, nor were there any implications upon which you could base your assumption, therefore, this is a false accusation. Now, this is Liam Payne; future member of the parliament, famous business man, and whatnot. This is Niall Horan; radio presenter extraordinaire. Louis Tomlinson; lead photographer for the competing journal. And finally, Zayn Malik; famous writer and publisher. Gentlemen, this is Miss Montgomery, a trainee in our paper.” He introduced, pointing between each of them, then at her, before sitting down, leaving them to fully welcome one another.
She was shy, highly intimidated by their overwhelming presence, and great value. She felt like a small fish in an ocean of whales; so little, and insignificant. They were warm though, paying no mind to the fact that she was practically a stranger, as they teased him, for almost every single action he dared to make. They had been friends since college, she learned, but then each took a different career path, although, they couldn’t possibly allow their friendship to slip away, since they all needed one another, in a way or the other.
Harry smiled a lot around them, she noted, and she desperately tried not to stare for too long. But he had dimples, and the green in his eyes significantly sparkled, and he looked at least ten years younger whenever he laughed, and it was almost impossible for her not to linger upon.
“ So, love, how is working under this self-conceited dickhead?” Niall asked, casually laying an arm over her shoulder. Harry rolled his eyes, but took a sip from his drink, putting the cigarette back between his teeth soon after.
“ It’s- it’s good, yeah. Learning lots.”
“ You’re such a liar. You two will get along great actually.” Niall laughed, and she stared at Harry, waiting for him to grow offended and shut down, but he didn’t. Liam leaned towards him, whispering something into his ears, earning a curt nod, before they both rose, excusing themselves from the table, leaving her alone, with three, extremely nosy, extremely overwhelming, strange men.
She watched him walking away, eyes pleading for him to remember her presence, but he never did, as he disappeared out of the restaurant, followed by Liam.
“ He seems to be doing better, talking more, not as closed off as he normally is.” Louis spoke, earning nods of agreement from the two men ahead. She supposed his words weren’t directed towards her, so she remained silent.
“ Yeah, but that cigarette, didn’t think he’d be back at it so soon.” Niall spoke, his smile momentarily disappearing, for a prominent frown to replace it.
“ He- he doesn’t. He told me he doesn’t smoke.” She whispered, staring down upon her sweaty hands.
“ Interesting. Harry doesn’t normally tell anyone, anything.” Zayn spoke, for the first time. His accent was thick, voice low, and confident, as she simply shrugged her shoulders, not knowing enough about Harry, to agree or object.
“ Weird.” Louis noted, while Niall nodded in confirmation.
“ Either ways, he seems well, or at least, as well as Harry can be, so that’s good.” Zayn said, earning hums from his friends, before they changed the subject, speaking of some kind of match, that she blocked out, uninterested, as her eyes fell upon his frame, barely obvious in the night’s dimmed light, but absolutely intriguing nevertheless.
He always focused upon whomever was speaking to him, giving them his complete and full attention, but never so when it came to her. He never allowed himself to look at her for more than a few seconds. He never paid her any mind, and she thought, that maybe she was duller than most. She wasn’t worthy of his attention, undeserving. It weighed her down a bit, that all through the drive there, his eyes were fixed upon the outside world, while hers, were fixed on him. And he never felt it at all.
A sigh went past her lips, looking down for a moment, and when she looked back up, all eyes were on her. Some amused, others mainly curious, but all absolutely intimidating. She felt heat rising in her cheeks, as she imprisoned a hair lock behind her ear. Before she could dwell upon it any further, Harry was sitting down, next to Louis, with Liam, right beside him. They seemed unsettled, anxious, heavier than they had been, before they had gone out. She looked at him, attempting to analyze what exactly had caused that frown to deepen so stubbornly, but he was always so secretive, so silent, that she could never tell.
His green eyes accidently met her own, and she would have looked away. In fact, she should have. Only, she couldn’t. She found herself mouthing “alright?”, as he tilted his head to the side, confused by her concern, before giving her a weak nod, refocusing upon his friends.
“ So, rumor has it, he didn’t kill her, and it was all a set-up, to harm him in the next elections.”
“ Set-up? The guy is screwed. This is something bigger than just that. Whoever did this to him, if he really is innocent, wanted to bury the guy, not just keep him away till the elections were over.”
“ You never know, some people like to take it to the extremes, maybe it just got out of hand.”
“ Out of hand my ass. The woman was beaten and shot ten goddamn times in different spots. They wanted to make it look like a passionate murder, and they succeeded if I’m honest.”
“ He wouldn’t kill her though. I know Ian, he’s a lot of things, but he is no cold bloodied murderer, especially not when it comes to her. He loved the woman.”
“ Love can kill more than hate ever will.” Harry spoke, eyebrows itched into that deep frown, lips formed into a scowl, through holding that cigarette, eyes focused upon something he seemed to draw in his notebook. The whole table fell silent under his voice, and she was grateful, that he didn’t hold that effect on her only.
“ So you really think he did it?”
“ Stop trying to find some hidden message behind my every word, smartass, I simply said that just because he loved her, doesn’t mean he couldn’t have killed her.” Harry spoke, jokingly rolling his eyes at his friend, who playfully shoved him away, before laughing in amusement.
“ Always a journalist first, Harry.” Louis spoke, receiving a shrug from Harry, who stood to his full height, preparing to leave.
“ You’re just trying to get a scoop to save your lameass paper, which I’m not giving you, Tomlinson.” Harry ruffled Louis’ hair on his way out, as he shoved his hand away, laughing again.
“ One day, I’m going to be chief editor, and you’ll come begging for a job, and I’ll call security on you.”
“ Yeah, and Liam is going to be the goal keeper of the national team and take us to the world cup.” Harry mocked.
“ It’s called poor eye-foot coordination. Look it up, Styles.” Liam immediately defended, although the humor was saturated in his tone and body language.
“ Yeah, yeah. Coming?” He put on his coat, his eyes falling on Aimee’s petite figure. It still caught her off guard, whenever he spoke to her, without it being absolutely necessary. She nodded, standing up. She shook all their hands, while he put his hand in the air in a waving manner, before walking away. She quickly followed, getting in her seat, ignoring his brief stare upon the seatbelt, as if asking her to fasten it.
“ I think I got it now; why do you have a cigarette that you don’t intend on smoking or throwing away?” His laughter filled the air of the small car, and she felt a sense of pride coursing through her, a smile of her own, taking over her features.
“ I could find a loop around this one too, Miss Montgomery, but I won’t. It’s because I dropped my toothpick.” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as she bit down on her bottom lip.
“ That still doesn’t answer my question.”
“ And that’s another uncalled for, useless statement, Miss Montgomery.”
“ I’m an awful journalist.” She dramatically breathed, burying her face into her hands. He surprised her by laughing again, and all frustration dissolved into that.
“ Let me try again, yeah?”
“ Yeah, Miss Montgomery. Yeah.”