Guardian (Niall Horan + Harry Styles)

Prologue

Prologue

The wedding music faintly plays in the background. Niall is seated in the front row, staring at his soon-to-be step father with disgust. Des, his point of vison at the moment, is neatly tucked into an expensive, dark suit and is gazing at Niall's mother, Maura Gallagher, with love. Niall can't stand it. Maura returns Des's gaze, the two of them sharing a moment of purity and  intimacy.  She's dressed in an elegant gown with a long, silky train lying behind her. Her hair is up in an elegant bun, leaving some loose curly strands down either side of her head. 

The priest from behind them asks Des to make his vows.

He smiles at Maura, eyes twinkling as he promises, "I will hold you, love you, and protect you forever. You are the light to my darkness and the wind beneath my wings. You are the happiness to all of my sadness. You're perfect just the way you are, I wouldn't change a single thing about you. From your gorgeous eyes to your beautiful, glowing skin. I love you, Maura, and I will never stop."

Niall tries hard not to gag, but the task proves itself more difficult once everyone around him begins cooing in awe. Well, everyone except Niall's soon-to-be Step Brother, Harry. He's sitting right by Niall, looking like a fish out of water with his thick eyeliner and lip ring, matched up with his plain black button up dress shirt and black jeans. Harry has sunken low in his seat, wanting nothing more than to dissappear as everyone sends him and Niall congratulatory smiles. Ew.

maura finally finishes her vows, and the priest speaks again.

"Now, do you, Des Styles, take Maura Gallagher to be your bride?" 

Des smiles, "I do."

"and do you, Maura Gallagher, take Des Styles to be your husband?" The Priest repeats to Maura.

Maura glows, her eyes sparkling with affection as she promises the sealing words, "I do." 

"I now pronounce you man and wife!" The priest turns to Des and beams. "You may kiss the bride." 

Des takes Maura into his arms, planting a delicate kiss on her lips and sending the crowd into a sea of cheers. Niall wants to barf.

not only is he being forced to watch his mum be married to someone who is definitely not his father, but now, he'salso brothers with his school's major punk, Harry Styles.

~~~

One Week Later... 

 *Niall's POV*

i  hear a high-pitched squeal come from downstairs, the unmistakable voice belonging to my mum.   i drag myself out of bed and out into the hallway, knowing that this is just going to be another annoying episode of my mum getting excited over dumb things. but, i'm still somewhat curious. it's always something new. once i reach the end of the stairs, i see her turned to Harry, trying to get him to respond to her enthusiam.

she realizes that i'm standing behind her, and an even bigger grin crosses her face. "Niall! Guess what day it is!"

"Uh...today is the day to celebrate potatoes," i stammer,  caught off guard.

But she just chuckles and shakes her head, "Nope! It's Harry's birthday! He's officially eighteen now!" she exclaims, letting out another squeal and making me wish i had earplugs to block out the sound.

Once she  finally calms down a  bit, i pout, "You didn't squeal like this when I turned eighteen." 

"That's because you did plenty of that for me," she laughs.

My cheeks flush as i look away from my mum. she raises an arm to pinch my cheek; i guess that's her way of comforting me. 

she drops her hand after a moment, turning back to Harry. "Harry, aren't you excited to be eighteen?" 

He ignores her, continuing  to pour his cereal in silence.

a few moments later, he turns to  open the refridgerator, grabbing the milk before slamming the door. it's evident that Maura's excitement only annoyed him. We still stand around the kitchen table, adjacent to the kitchen, in awkward silence, waiting for anyone to say something.

Harry pulls out some Nutella and places it on the counter, peels a banana, slices it, and adds a blob of the chocolate-nut spread to his fruit. Then, he grabs his food, takes it into the living room, adjacent to the table, and sits down without a word.

talk about moody.

"Harry?" she repeats, still determined to get a reply from him. "Hazza?"

Harry freezes. He looks up at my mum, anger flashing in his bright green eyes, thickly lined with black eyeliner. Her face drops, and she is taken aback  as Harry stands up, walks over, and gets right in her face, causing her to flinch back. I glare at Harry, not liking where this is going.

"Never call me Hazza again." he booms, dead serious as he turns and storms back upstairs, abandoning his breakfast. 

Before Harry goes out of earshot, he whispers, "You will never be my mum. I hope you know that." 

My mum's once lively and kind face has fallen, sadness taking over her eyes as she fights the urge to burst into tears. She knew this had been coming. i stand silently, sympathy for my mother growing as i try to comfort her.

 "Mum..."

she just shakes her head and walks off, heading downstairs. i throw the half-eaten food that Harry didn't bother to finish, instantly feeling wasteful. but, what else could i do? he had already eaten some of it, and it's not like i'm just going to cater for him and bring it to him like some assistant monkey.

just the mere thought of Harry himself is enough to make me mad. why does Harry always have to have a stupid attitude?? 

Damn it, Harry.

I have a feeling that this will be a loooooong school year. 

One more year.

~~~

credits go to Jai for writing the original prologue, i just edited the crap out of this to make it present tense and first person on Niall's part. :p she has magical writing skills though. MAGICAL. heh. :)

-dani