Shadows

Annalise's POV
I gulp down the glass of water and lean against the counter when someone knocks on the door. I set the glass down and answer it to see Anne standing, an umbrella covering her dark locks of hair.
"Hi Annalise," she says warmly and I let her into the house. Her arms wrap around me and I return the hug, burying my head in her neck. I've always liked Anne. She's a friend of my moms and I've always found it easy to talk to her about things, she was like a second mom.
"Hi Anne," I mutter into her hair. She rubs soft circles on my back, not even noticing the sweat seeping through my shirt.
She pulls back from the hug and smiles at me. "You're coming over for dinner tonight," she demands.
"Anne that's really not necessary I can feed myself," I mumble and shove my bare foot into the hardwood floor.
"You shouldn't have to sweetheart," she says.
I look into her bright green eyes, exactly the same as Harry's, yet hers were filled with kindness where his were filled with cruelty.
"I don't know that Harry would like that very much," I admit shyly. He was nice enough to me after I broke down but I know what he says about me. It's not a secret that I'm not cool or popular.
"Harry will be fine," she scoffs and tucks a stray strand of hair back into my braid. "Come on over as soon as your dressed, you can help me cook." She reopens her umbrella and ducks back out into the rain. I lock the door behind her and rush upstairs to change.

Harry's POV
I take the steps two at a time upstairs when the smell of cooking food assaults me, my stomach grumbling in response. I hear laughter coming from the kitchen and quicken my pace out of curiosity.
"I swear he was!" I hear my mother says through her laughter.
"I never would have guessed," a familiar voice says giggling as I enter the kitchen. The view I'm front of me surprises me. My mum is standing at the stove, stirring something in a pot. Immediately my eyes are drawn to Annalise, though only hours earlier I watched her sob, she was now laughing. As I watch her smile I notice that it doesn't really meet her eyes. She sits on the counter next to the stove, swinging her stockinged feet back and forth while she watches my mum cook. I clear my throat and both of their eyes travel to me.
"Uh when will dinner be ready?" I ask and clear my throat.
"Not for a bit," mum says over her shoulder. Damn I'm starving. "Why don't you show Annalise around? I don't think she's seen the house since the remodel."
Oh my god mum. I groan internally as Annalise protests to my mothers request. Her efforts are futile and eventually Annalise gives up and hops off the counter. She approaches me slowly as I lean against the doorframe, not making eye contact.
"Sorry," she mumbles and stands in front of me.
"Well what are you waiting for?" My mum sighs.
I abruptly turn and walk out of the room, Annalise following timidly behind me. I climb the stairs, my weight causing the boards to creak. To my surprise, Annalise barely makes a sound as she walks upstairs. She'd be fantastic at sneaking out.
"So this is the bathroom," I say gruffly and open the door to the new upstairs bathroom before shutting it quickly. I continue down the hall when I hear a phone ringing.
"Oh jeez," Annalise mumbles and pulls her phone out of her pocket. She tucks one a section of hair behind her ear and pulls the beanie on her head down farther. I roll my eyes and watch as she answers it. "Hello?"
I observe her face as she listens to the other person.
"Yeah that would be fantastic," she sighs in relief. "Can you pick me up though? My car isn't available at the moment," she looks at me shyly and I smirk. Her dark blue eyes travel around the hallway, looking anywhere but at me.

Annalise's POV
I hang up the phone call with Maggie and glance at Harry.
"Uh sorry about that," I say and gesture for him to continue the tour. He pushes off the doorframe and I admire how his muscles move as his tall figure walks. Despite being a complete jerk, he's pretty attractive. However, the fact that he knew he was hot kind of ruined it for me. I follow him past a few doors that he doesn't open until we get to one that I know. He pushes it open and I'm faced with the room I can see from my window, Harry's. I slowly walk into the room, it looks much different from inside. The dark blue walls are hung with random photos of him at different ages, I'm sure Anne put those up. I look around at the messy desk and the random clothes strewn about the floor. Last but not least, my eyes travel to the bed. Harry made himself comfortable on the unmade disaster, leaning back into the pillows.
"And this is my room," he says as though it wasn't obvious. I look away from his laying figure and walk over to the window. I look through it, directly into my bedroom. How I wish I was over there right now instead of here. Thank God Maggie called me asking if I wanted to spend the night at her place, it gives me an excuse to leave this dinner disaster early.
"I really am sorry about Catherine," Harry's voice startles me. I trace the window, following rain drops with my fingers as I answer.
"I am too," I say clearly.
"She was a good person," he says, I can sense that he's becoming uncomfortable with the conversation but it's his fault for bringing it up.
I laugh. "You must not have known her that well," I say through my laughter and turn to face him. He rests on his elbows, looking at me quizzically.
"I loved Catherine, but I don't think she was a good person," I shrug my shoulders as I finally admit my true feelings about my sister to someone. "I'm so sick of everyone telling me that Catherine was a good person, she was a bitch. Sure she had her nice moments, and we got along fairly well, but that doesn't mean she was a good person. Just because someone's gone doesn't mean everyone needs to pretend that they were some angel when they were here."
His eyes widen as I speak. "Damn I didn't know you felt that way," he says and sits fully upright.
"Neither did I," I mumble, surprised by the words that tumbled out of my mouth. "Don't tell anyone I said that."
"Your secrets safe with me," he says, still in shock from my feelings about Catherine. I nod and look back out the window.
"Did you and Catherine ever hook up?" I ask nonchalantly, looking into my familiar bedroom.
"Nah," Harry says and throws himself back on the bed.
"Hmm," I kind of assumed they had.
"I did see her at parties though," he admits.
"That's nice," I say. "She liked parties."
"That she did," he says with a deep chuckle. "Why didn't you ever go with her?"
His question takes me off guard and I contemplate my answer before speaking. "I didn't want to get in Catherine's way."
Harry looks at me with his sparkling green eyes and opens his mouth to say something but his mothers voice rings out, signaling that the food is ready. Harry hops off the bed and practically sprints downstairs, mumbling about how hungry he is.
I follow suit at a much slower pace, the conversation about my deceased sister leaving me reeling.

Notes

Sorry it took so long to update but here ya go!