Chapter 17
Hoodie tapped his foot impatiently, arms crossed as Masky stood beside him, both staring down at Eyeless Jack and Ben on the couch. Jeff leaned against the wall of the living room, a frown on his smiling scarred face. Toby sat in one of the armchairs in the room, casually cleaning one of his hatchets.
“So…” Masky began, a hard glare on his face. “What did you two do while you were there that has caused Harry to not talk or visit at all?!” He yelled at the two before him.
“I don’t know! We didn’t do anything! You sure he ain’t just busy?” Ben defended, looking at him.
Jack stayed silent, trying to think of what would happen that would cause Harry to act like this.
They were all confused as to why Harry seemed to suddenly start ignoring them, especially as they had been given permission to visit him whenever and vice versa as long as they weren’t caught. Harry had seemed always busy whenever any of them went to visit. It wouldn’t be so suspicious if it was only them. Puppeteer and Helen always visited him and he was never busy, the same with Sally or Slender. Liu and Jane also visited him on occasion and he always had time for them.
He had also been hanging out with the merfolk more often as well. Specifically, the Aalton guy. All of them had to hold back their anger at the thought of Harry with him.
“Harry is avoiding us for some reason and it started after you guys got back. So spill. What the hell happened?!” Jeff growled out, looking at them annoyed.
“How about you stop blaming us and wonder if there is another problem?” Jack growled back as he looked at them all, annoyed at being constantly accused. “Something is obviously going on with Harry and it’s making him not want to see us.”
“Was he acting off any while you guys were there? Maybe it started before and something happened to cause it to continue?” Masky asked while Hoodie was looking between them, ready to stop a fight if he had too.
“He was really excited about us being there, especially since we got there early,” Ben told them, leaning back on the couch. “Maybe he feels bad about me being his person to save?” He shivered at the thought of that moment, glad he wasn’t awake under the lake.
“Would he avoid all of us for that?” Toby asked curiously, looking up.
“Maybe he feels at blame? Next chance we get we need to corner him and ask.” Masky told them, the rest nodding in agreement, seeming to think this is the problem.
Puppeteer watched them from the balcony of the top floor, shaking his head at them. “Idiots.” He muttered, heading back to his and Helen’s room.
“They really do not realize what is the problem. I bet that Ben and Jack don’t even realize that Harry was jealous of the kiss.” He told Helen as he walked into the room.
Helen snorted, looking up from his painting. “I don’t even think they know that Harry likes any of them Pup,” Helen replied, smiling a little as Puppet came and sat beside him with a sigh, leaning into him. “Harry’s crushes on all of them are adorable, yet none of them realize it through their own wants for him. When Harry turns older he is going to be in a huge shock.” He continued, relaxing in the warmth of his boyfriend.
Puppet chuckled, hugging him close and resting his head on Helen’s shoulder. “Oh yeah. Guess we will have to just be his protective older brothers and watch out for him hmm?” He mumbled, nibbling on Painter’s collarbone.
Helen shivered, looking at him with a blush forming on his face. “Guess so.” He replied, getting caught in a kiss.
Harry crept up behind the man, smirking as he raised his knife in the air, swinging down silently.
The man let out a pained gasp as the knife cut through his throat, life leaving him rather quickly as Harry pulled the knife out and wiped it on the man’s shirt. He hummed, looking around, wiping the blood off his cheek as he headed up the stairs.
A small girl was curled up on a small mattress on the floor, shivering under a dirty blanket. Harry smiled, glad she was asleep as he goes over, gently picking her up and sliding his mask down. He carried her to the neighbor’s next door and set her on the doorstep, making sure the blanket was cushioning her head while wrapped around her before knocking on the door loudly, heading off, and crouching nearby.
An older lady opened the door, blinking confused as she looked around before noticing the child on her doorstep, gasping in surprise.
Harry smiled under his mask, finally leaving as the lady brought the child inside, knowing the deed would be found out soon when they checked the girl’s house.
He was glad that Slender sent him on another job, as he was starting to get itchy while at school. Luckily, they figured out a way for him to move around outside of school so they wouldn’t find out he left campus.
Harry went through the port Slender had in the nearby woods, heading towards the mansion to shower before heading back to the school. He had exams soon after all and needed to study.
He thought about how much he had been avoiding the guys later, after realizing he had a crush on all of them. Harry felt guilty, knowing he had a crush on not one or two, but six of his friends.
He shook his head, he really should stop thinking about it. It was going to completely ruin his relationships with them if this kept up. Harry was tired of acting scared about it. He would just bottle up the feelings and hide them away, to either fade away or be forgotten.
With that, Harry took his shower and went off to find them, determined to make up with them.
He found them in the game room, Ben, Toby, and Jeff yelling at some game. Masky and Jack were talking nearby at one of the smaller tables while Hoodie sat beside them reading a book. All of them looking up when he comes in.
Harry internally sighed nervously, before smiling sheepishly. “Hey, guys.”