For a short, zero budget, film, The Splattering was a hit. The theater filled rather quickly, the special effects not going unnoticed. Everything seemed great, Harvest didn't even mind the fact that her socks were itching her terribly. And then she found Gabe kept looking over his shoulder, every few seconds.

"Expecting someone?" she had to tease with a raise of her brows.

He forced a laugh, "Quick bathroom break."

"Oh, okay." she blinked, accepting the popcorn as he stood up and hurried off rather quick. Harvest looked over her shoulder as Kinsey gave a questionable look, only getting a shrug and a just as oblivious one back. Logan took notice of it, he took notice of all the time Gabe would randomly disappear and be gone for long periods of times before coming back with a rather lame excuse.

By the time the credits rolled around, Harvest waited to see her name credited for props, then stood with the rest. She was sure she'd find Gabe in the front, ready to tell him how he missed his big scene with Kinsey.

Only it seemed her sister and best friend were already laying it pretty thick on him.

"Hey." Harvest cut the tension short as she interrupted the trio, "Everything okay?"

"Just letting Gabe know what all he missed." Kinsey forced a quick smile, "The movie turned out pretty good, don't you think?"

"Yeah, Scots gonna do great things." the redhead hummed, still giving a odd look between them, "Ugh, mom."

"Mom?" Logan gapped at her sudden words.

"Mom." Harvest repeated, pointing behind him as Nina gave a grin toward Kinsey.

"You make me proud, kid, even when you're covered in blood." the woman smiled at Kinsey, tapping her chin before giving her a hug. Her thin finger dug at Harvest next, "And I happened to like seeing your name in splattered blood right there at the end."

"Stole the entire show." Harvest hummed with a half grin, adjusting the collar of her pant suit

"You must have gotten your acting chops from your dad. He took theater in high school." Duncan nodded toward Kinsey.

"He did?" she asked, Harvey noticed Gabe looked around. She knitted her eyebrows together, giving him a harsh gab in the side with her elbow in hopes of him telling her what's up.

He didn't.

"By the way, you're my new favorite monster, and I was wondering if you could kill me in the sequel." Bode looked up at Gabe with adoration and inspiration, his little lobster claw on his right hand.

"Yeah, we have to make that happen, buddy." Gabe looked down at him, Harvest cracking a grin at the pair. Then she felt a light kick the the back of her knees, making her stumble slightly.

"You and Gabe are coming to the after party, right?" Logan asked, coming from behind her after she turned to see who tapped her knees, "My dads are 100% going to murder me and paint the living room with my insides when they get home from their trip, but I think it'll be worth it."

"Gotta live while you can, right?" Harvest asked him with a hum, "You know, until your insides are used as living room paint."

"Until then." he agreed with her, standing a few inches taller then when they first met, "So, y'all are coming?"

"Well, I am." Harvest pointed at herself, "Plus, I put a lot of trust in you to do that Sand Dollar Wall."

"It's finished." his hands went up in surrender, "You'll love it."

"I better. I didn't spend the entire summer turning into a raisen and dodging sharks to find them for nothing." Harvest hummed, digging into her pockets, "Smoke break."

"Well, what made him say that?" Harvest asked as she rode in the passengers seat, Gabes truck driving down the dark roads. Harvest spent a lot of time in the front seat, Gabe always being the one to drive. Unlike Logan, he made it a strict rule that Harvey wouldn't drive after she wrecked her moms car the first time around.

"I don't know, he was like, all up on me like some private investigator or something." Gabe recalled the story about his conversation with Logan after the movie let out, "I don't know, I just didn't like the way he was talking to me."

"I think it just bothered Kinsey that you left and that just made him mad." Harvey began to defend Logan after Gabe told her how he accused him of always leaving and how it was starting to get sketchy.

"Okay." Gabe spoke with a hum.

"What?" Harvey gapped at him, "Don't just 'okay' me with some attitude then give nothing else."

"I just don't think that it was Kinsey he was trying to defend." Gabe commented as he turned down the road, following behind Tyler's car, "I mean, he was pretty much accusing me of something. Saying how i'm getting sketchy now and that he's into me. Doesn't even make since, he seems dangerous."

"He isn't. I'll talk to him." Harvest said back, looking out the window as the turned down the road, "I mean, what did you say?"

"I said he was seeing things and that i'm not hiding anything." Gabe shrugged, pulling beside Tyler in the drive way, "Could you just let him know to, you know, back off a bit?"

Harvey shrugged with a nod. Apart of her wanted to say "He has a point." but the other part of her was saying she knew her boyfriend well enough to know if he was hiding anything. Gabe didn't speak much about his family, but she could understand that, knowing not everyone was blessed with good parents like she was. She never expected him to go into detail about who he was, where he came from, who was in his life, who wasn't, why he was here, why he didn't like to talk about anything regarding before Matheson. But in her head, even though she was considered his girlfriend, she found it wasn't any of her business.

That was the first flaw in Harvey's system.

Harvest's promise to talk to Logan about Gabe flew from the window when she heard her song playing through out the house, leaving Zadie mid conversation and stumbling through the group of dancing people. She was no dancer what so ever, not much rhythm, barely being on beat either. But she still threw her body around like her life depended on it, red hair flying everywhere, arms doing the same.

For someone who couldn't dance, she still managed to look good while doing it.

That went on for quite some time, about three songs in when she found Gabe coming from the kitchen, "Gabe!"

His head turned at the sound of her voice, giving a grin as she approached with deep breaths, "I've been looking for you the entire time."

"On the dance floor?" he gave a snort.

"Wanna dance?" Harvey spun around him with a shake of her shoulders, "Might be a little hard to keep up though."

He gave a forced chuckle, "I think i'm gonna head home, actually. I'm not feeling too well."

"Oh no, want me to come?" Harvest frowned at his words, "I know where the medicine cabinet is, let's get you something before we go."

"No, you stay." he spoke fast, grabbing her arms before she could walk, "You're having fun and i'll be okay. Just wanna go to sleep anyways."

Harvest frowned, "Are you sure? I can come."

"Positive." he grinned, leaning over the give a peak for her lips, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Text me when you get home." Harvest called as he heads through the crowd of people, watching until the door opened.

"Holy shit." Harvest spoke as she looked at the wall of different painted sand dollars, "We got this many?"

"Apparently." Logan laughed as he sat on the bed, looking at the wall he'd done, "At first I was painting and then I just decided to dip them."

"Well, that's smart of you." Harvest said sarcastically, staring at the wall a moment longer before turning his way, "Sooooo."

"Oh god." Logan huffed at her, "What do you want?"

She cracked a grin, "Gabe mentioned something about you accusing him of something?"

Logan sighed as he leaned on his elbows, "I wasn't- well I kinda was."

Harvest rose her eyebrows, "Care to explain?"

"I just said he was sketchy for constantly disappearing all summer and that whatever he's hiding, i'm into him." Logan shrugged as he sat up normal again, not being able to sit still at all it seemed. Harvest's look on her face made him sigh, "I can say sorry, but that doesn't change what I feel."

"He doesn't disappear just outta no where." Harvest tried to defend him with a small snort.

"No?" Logan asked her with a raise of his eyebrows, "So the beach, the summer party, the mall, Phil's, the strawberry field, and now the theater was just, what?"

"Not any of my business." Harvest spoke, but Logan had her thinking suddenly, "I trust Gabe."

"That makes one of us." Logan stood up, reaching into his bedside table and pulling out a sand dollar, "Here, I kept that one you liked instead of paining it."

And she took it with a half grin.

•

kylie speaks

as much as i love
all you for reading,
try not to be a ghost
reader please! x