Fear Me, Dear

A month has gone past since the attack. Nothing has really happened to be honest. I have gotten a couple more flashbacks, but apart from that everything is normal. Questions have died down, but people still ask me. I'm fine thank you. Yes, I'm coping well thank you very much. For the last time, I am fine now please bugger off before I punch you in the throat. My memory still fails me, and I cannot recall a single detail of the attack other than getting grabbed and waking up in the alley to see Max and Matt. Whether it's a good thing or not, I'm not too sure. I think it's a good thing.

The guys have only been asking if I'm okay, never asking about the incident because they actually understand the phrase 'I don't remember'. Hannah has been hanging out with us every now and again, which is cool I guess. Oli and I have been talking a lot, hanging out frequently, and basically just getting to know each other. He is a pretty cool guy, and it's fun hanging out with him. It's nice having friends other than the people I live with. Don't get me wrong, I love the guys to pieces no matter how many times they have made me want to tear my hair out, but it's refreshing hanging out with new people that I can tolerate and get on with. Oli has a high tolerance for sass and sarcasm, handy for when you hang out with someone such as myself.

Which reminds me, I'm meant to be meeting him in half an hour. Placing my notebook back on my bedside table, telling myself that I'll finish the song later, I half roll off of my bed. Grabbing my phone, headphones, wallet, and keys I make my way through the already open door of my bedroom and head down the stairs. With the full intention of just grabbing my shoes and heading out, the sound of my friends conversing in the kitchen distracts me. Rather stealthily, I make my way towards the kitchen and listen in on their conversation.

"We need to be careful." Dan says.

"Why?" Matt asks.

"It might be her!" Chris says in a rather desperate tone of voice.

"Are you being serious? She couldn't hurt a fly!" Max exclaims, seemingly angry.

"She may be creepy, but there is no way she has the ability to hurt another person, let alone kill them. Have you seen how petite she is?" Matt argues.

"Are you ignoring the fact that one: she goes out in the middle of the night for walks. Two: she had photos of the victims which suggests that she discovered the bodies, and three: don't you find it a little suspicious that she was out when we called about Josh?" Dan lists, and this is the time when I make my appearance. Stepping into the kitchen, they all look at me in shock. Except Max, he's too busy glaring a hole into the side of Dan's head.

"Right, so my assumption is that you are talking about Hannah." I state, grabbing a packet of crisps from the cupboard.

"Yeah, and they think she's the one responsible for the incident!" Max shouts, pointing at the other guys.

"Hang on, I didn't say I thought it was her!" Matt says, looking offended.

"No doubt that you thought it!"

"Actually Maximus Helyer, I don't think it was Hannah so if you would keep your fucking accusations to yourself, that would be fucking great." Matt snaps, before storming out of the room and up the stairs to his room.

Matt leaves a silence behind. Max is staring at the doorway he just walked out of, looking guilty. The rest of us look with eyes wide and mouths hanging open. I swear, my jaw just hit the floor. I don't recall ever seeing Matt have a go at Max and being completely serious.

"I think you hit a nerve, dude." I mumble.

"You don't fucking say." Max mutters, before turning to glare at Chris and Dan. "Let me just make this clear. I have known Hannah for four years, I trust her and there is no way in hell that she would hurt a fly, let alone murder four people and seriously injure another."

"If this is of any reassurance Max, I trust Hannah as well. Besides, what is the likelihood of Hannah being able to grab me and drag me into an alley?"

"Thanks, Josh." Max says with a small smile.

"Still, I think we should still be cautious of her. That doesn't mean she can't hang out with us, but just keep that in mind."

"Whatever, Dan. I'm going to go meet Oli now."

"Alright, have fun with your new love interest." He says with a smirk, and oh sweet lord I have such a strong desire to slap the smirk off of his stupid face.

"Piss off, Dan. I'm going to go and talk to Matt first. Max, I think you need to speak to him as well."

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"Sorry I'm late." I pant as I stop running and skid to a stop beside Oli, who simply looks at me with an amused smile.

"It's alright, I haven't been waiting long. Would it be rude to ask what delayed you? Or did you lose track of time?" He asks as we begin to walk towards the cinema.

"Major friend drama. I've made two sit down and talk to make up, they had a slight disagreement. Plus the other two were just being jerks."

"I see...well, fingers crossed that things are sorted by the time you get back."

"I bloody hope so, I don't want to go home to see that one of them has killed the other three out of pure annoyance." I laugh, and Oli laughs along with me. Wow, he has a nice laugh.

"Changing the subject to friend drama that pretty much sounds like typical teenage girl drama, are you excited to see the film?"

"Hell yeah, it's going to be epic!" I exclaim excitedly, and Oli just laughs again.

"Are you sure you are alright with a horror film? If not, we can always watch something else."

"I am one hundred percent sure, I've been wanting to see The Purge: Anarchy for ages!"

"If you say so, Franceschi." He says with a smirk as we reach the cinema and he heads straight to the machine to get our tickets.

"Are you implying that I'm a wuss, Sykes?" I ask, crossing my arms across my chest (which still has that stupid bandage on it for another week to stop infection) and raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not. I'm just saying, I bet that you will end up grabbing onto my arm and hiding your face in shoulder as the film is shown."

"How much are you willing to bet?"

"Ten quid." He states without hesitation as he takes our tickets and we head over to the counter to get food.

"You're on."

"Just know that I will be ten quid richer by the end of the day, Joshua." He tells me confidently.

"Dream on, Oliver." I scoff, and he smirks as he orders our popcorn and drinks.

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Oli ended up ten pounds richer.