You will do anything for me.

Chapter 21. Grounded.

"FUCK!" I shout, panicking.

I sit up and pull the blankets to my chest.

I take in my surroundings.

I'm still in the van. 

I strain my neck to peek out the window and notice the sun is just rising from behind the land in front of us.

I climb over to Harry's side and sit on top of him, grabbing his wrist to looking at his watch. It's 6AM.

"Harry, wake up!" I hiss, shaking him.

He startles awake. "Huh?" he croaks, staring at me confusedly. 

"Harry we have to go!"

He blinks his eyes a couple of times, and then shakes his head like he's waking up from a bad dream.

"Shit." he sits up quickly and pulls the cover off him, revealing his naked chest. "It's light out." he says.

"Uh, YES!" I shout.

Harry untangles his feet from his half blanket I'm holding, so I let go. He succeeds, and slides open the door next to him. He hops out of the van, closes the sliding door, and throws himself into the drivers seat. He searches for something in the glove box, shuffling papers until he gets what he wants. A key.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" I shout.

Harry ignores me and attempts to start the engine, he's not having much luck.

"Harry, what the- I thought you said it's been here for ages and YOU CAN'T DRIVE!" I shout.

"Don't worry, Robin gave me lessons a while back." 

"What if we get caught by the police?!"

"We'll take the back roads. Just trust me OK?"

Finally, the engine roars to life. I stare at Harry for a second, wondering whether or not just to jump out and make my own way home, but it would only take longer.

I jump to the front of the car and put my seatbelt on. I keep my hand firmly wrapped around the door handle as Harry backs away from the barbed wire fence and towards a dirt road.

"Brookie, are you OK?" Harry asks, once we've turned on to a paved residential road.

"I'm fine," I answer, before looking away from him and out the window.

"I'm so sorry," he says. When I don't respond, he adds, "If your mum gets pissed, I'll say it was all my fault, OK?"

"Good luck with that." 

                                                              * * *

As Harry rounds the street corner to my house, I can almost see it breathing with motherly rage. We're barely into the driveway before the front door flings open and my mum is rushing to meet me. The car hasn't stopped before she begins tugging at the door handle.

"Oh man," Harry whispers, as he struggles to put the van in park so that the automatic locks will release. "I'm so sorry, Brookie," he says once again.

"Both of you, in the house!" my mum barks at me and Harry.

Harry tentatively turns off the engine and unbuckles his seat belt. I mimic his movements and follow him and my mum inside. Harry and I exchange awkward looks; I notice he still has no shirt on and I feel my face turn red at the thought of my mum asking why. 

My mum storms though the front entryway to the living room and stops abruptly in the centre of the room.

"Sit!" she orders when we hover in the fringe. I take a seat on the far edge of the chocolate leather couch and Harry sits in the middle. 

"First of all, let me just state the obvious," my mum begins, with measured restraint. "You're both grounded. I've been on the phone all night with your mum, Harry."

Mum goes on. "She is furious! Robin was out looking for the two of you all night once he found out you'd both vanished from the party." 

Harry groans next to me and hangs his head.

The berating continues. "I'll call them when you're on your way, which, in your case will not be by car. I know it's not my business to deal with but I know we're close enough for me to say I am very upset that you'd even have the nerve to drive uninsured with Brooklyn." 

Harry just nods.

And it goes on and on and on... "OK so will someone tell me where the hell you were the whole night? I tried to call and text a million times." 

I take out my phone and find 20 missed calls and 8 texts. "I turned it off," I mutter, looking down. As I replace the phone in my bag, mum folds her arms over her chest and the room grows silent. I look at Harry. He raises his eyebrows expectantly, as if he thinks I'm going to explain the situation.

"You said you would." I hiss.

Harry sighs. "First we went to the party, but then a few things happened and I decided to take Brooklyn to... well, past the school, just north of town. It wasn't far, we walked," he says. "I planned this whole dinner-and-star-watching thing in the old minivan. We ate pizza and looked at the stars. It was no big deal... until I guess we fell asleep. I'm really sorry."

My mum's mouth is slightly ajar, and the ice melts. I see the realisation hit her and she looks from me to Harry, then looking at his bare chest before looking back at me again, biting her lip.

"Is this true, Brooklyn?" 

"Yes," I breathe, finding myself desperate to run up to my room, slam my door and bang my head repeatedly on my desk.

"OK then. I trust you and I know you wouldn't mean to do anything to hurt Brooklyn, Harry, I choose to believe that this was an honest mistake, and we'll leave it at that." my mum says. 

She puts on her Tough Mum hat again and adds, in a harsher tone, "But you're still grounded. Harry, you'd better get home; your mum and Robin are worried."

With that, she leaves the room and heads to the kitchen. I know that this is her way of letting me say good-bye to Harry without her watchful eye on us.

I walk him to the door. Before he leaves, he turns and eyes me sceptically. 

"Are you angry?" he asks.

"No, no. Don't worry, it wasn't your fault."

"It was, I should'nt have-"

I press one finger to Harry's lips and shake my head.

Harry smiles, revealing those adorable dimples.

"Was it worth it?" he asks, stepping closer to me.

"Yes," I say, looking up at him. He takes my hand. "Do you think so?" I ask in return.

"Definitely," he says brushing a strand of messy hair from my face. He bends down and lightly skims my lips with his, then whispers in my ear, "See you soon, Mrs. Styles."