Whispers

Finn sat on Rae’s couch, nursing a cup of warm tea. Rae was sitting on the other end of the couch, her high socks keeping her feet warm as she also cradled a hot cup of tea, looking at the TV. Keeping Up With The Kardashian’s was having a marathon, and Finn had come over to bash on the celebs with Rae in attempt to make her feel better.

The past two days had been outright terrible. Harry was hardly talking to her, dealing with his family affairs. Rae was not even sure what he was doing, but she assumed he was helping his mother make funeral arrangements, look over the will, and call relatives.

Finn had returned home from visit family herself, exhausted mentally from trouble with her drug addict sister. Finn had explained to Rae that her sister had a complete freak out while Finn was home, resulting in a physical confrontation. Finn had two red scratches on her cheek to show for it.

Trystan was back to working her ass off at work, and her shifts were long and laboring. Whenever the girl came home, Rae hardly had time to talk to her before the blonde took a shower and passed out on her bed, not to be disturbed.

“Do you think he’s handling any of it well?” Finn asked finally, making a sympathetic face. Rae shrugged her shoulders hopelessly. “I’m sure he’ll be alright. Liam told me Harry’s one of the strongest lads he knows. I think he admires him.”

“I envy his strength sometimes. But I don’t think it’s going to last much longer. He’s always agitated now, like he is on the verge of snapping entirely.”

“I’ve never… I’ve never seen Harry snap,” Finn started slowly, looking up over her cup at Rae. Rae watched Finn as she searched for the right words to use. “But he seems like he would be scary, if he snapped. Harry is normal pretty cheery, there’s just something about him that looks completely mental sometimes.”

Rae laughed without humor. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

After a while, Finn stood up, draining her tea and washing it in the sink. Rae followed her towards the door, sighing slightly. She didn’t want to be home alone. Lately she had been surrounding herself with whoever she could. “I’ve got to go clean the damn house,” Finn grumbled, running her hand through her fiery hair. “I haven’t given it a good wash in about a month and it’s starting to drive me insane?”

“Need any help?”

“Fuck no!” She waved Rae’s offer away with her hand, chuckling. There was a slight tinge to her cheeks, like she was embarrassed she had answered Rae’s question so quickly. “Sorry, it’s just really disgusting and I like to think that you think highly of me.”

“I’m sure it isn’t worse than Niall’s place.”

“Definitely not. I’ll call you later, check in on you. Yeah?”

Rae nodded. “Yeah." Finn smiled and walked down the steps. Rae leaned against the door frame, watching Finn walk across the yard before she called after the girl, “Have you ever said something you regret? Not like those petty things… something that you think could have caused a domino effect, that could have knocked someone’s entire world down. I think I’ve said something I shouldn’t have, and I think that it has ruined more that one life because of it.”

Finn stuffed her hands in her pocket, shrugging her shoulders. “Lives are ruined every day, Rae. They crumble like the regimes of old. But we’re human, we look past it, at least until we’re the one who causes it to happen. The best thing you can do is admit that it was your fault and move on.”

“Yeah.” Rae gave a weak smile, one that was no where near real happiness. “I think you’re right. Thanks, Finn.”

*

After class, Rae felt no better. It was frigid cold as she clutched to her final exam review, walking briskly to her car. Her nose was already begin to run with the signs of a cold and her teeth were beginning to chatter as she grabbed the keys from her purse, clicking the unlock button on her car.

Walking around the corner and into the parking lot, she stopped short. A blade colder than the weather outside stuck her in the heart, and she was almost positive that she wasn’t going to be able to find her breath again.

Leon was leaning against her car lazily, waving to her as she stood there. He was in a black pea coat and his blonde hair looked like ice in the approaching night. His eyes glinted as she began walking slowly towards him. His hands were clasp in front of him, no weapon- at least that she could see.

“It’s really cold, isn’t it?”

“I could think of worse things.”

“It makes me feel all fuzzy inside when you insult me.”

“Yeah, I’m a natural anesthetic.”

“I like you when you’re sarcastic.”

“I like you when- okay I can’t come up with anything because I actually fucking hate you.”

“Can we sit in the car?” He pushed himself off of it. Rae took a step back and he rolled his eyes at her. There was so much annoyance in the gesture, but absolutely no anger. “Fine, can we get coffee across the street? I’m not asking you to strip and shimmy in your knickers, Rae.”

“Why should I go somewhere with you?”

“Because I’m offering nicely, and I don’t think you want me to ask rudely.” Scrunching her nose up at him, Rae turned on her heel, storming off in the opposite direction of her car and Leon. “Where are you going?”

“You said we were getting coffee. Did you forget already?”

Warmth seeped into Rae’s clothes as she stood in the coffee shop. She was cold to the bone, hoping that the warm air would get working on her faster. The smell of coffee and holiday spices wafted through the air, helping her breathe a little slower and feel a little more comfortable.

Despite herself, Rae ordered a white chocolate hot cocoa, wanting Leon to think that she was perfectly fine. She even gave him an arched brow when he bought it for her, playing along with whatever he was getting at. For once, she wasn’t going to freak out and have a meltdown. She was going to play his game, see if it was any less terrifying that way.

Sitting down across from him, she decided that playing along with Leon’s sick, twisted game was about as scary as going into shark infested waters in the middle of a feeding frenzy without a cage.

“How’ve you been?” She stared at him. He leaned back in his seat, putting his arms behind his head, assessing her. He always had a calm and collected demeanor, exuding arrogance. He was so unlike his brother Sean, who was always cold and serious. “Not too cold for you, I hope?”

“I’ve been better, but I’m sure you know that.”

“How would I know that?”

“Because you are absolutely obsessed with knowing everything about my life.” Leon startled her by laughing- not even laughing, almost. It was a barking sound, loud. People started glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes, wondering what was so funny. “Why are you laughing like that?”

“You are obsessed with fearing me. I am the creature in your nightmares, I am the thing in the dark that makes you fear it. You dramatize my presence, you let your fear consume you, to think the worst of me. Which is exactly the way I want it.”

“That’s poetic.”

“You mistake me; I don’t do anything but show up here and there, drop a few ominous lines and leave. Your fear of me emanates from yourself.” Their drinks arrived and he sipped his, making a face. “Too much cinnamon.”

“You’re unbelievable. Do you take credit for anything?”

“Do you? You locked me away in prison. Granted I found a way out of that one, but you seem to forget that Harry essentially condemned me to a life in a cell. Rae, you didn’t always know Harry. There was a time when he was like my brother, where we would have done anything for one another.”

“I find that hard to believe?”

“Do you? I think you’re a smart girl Rae. You haven’t always liked Harry, probably with good purpose. But you should consider that sometimes this only has partially to do with you. Harry betrayed me.” He stood up then, sipping his coffee again. “One day maybe you’ll feel what I did, when he turned me in because someone- you, really- wanted him to.”

“You think I did this to you?”

He grinned, making her sick. “Who isn’t taking responsibility now?”