That Summer (One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter 7: Hmmm

“No Brad!” I could hear Riley’s angry yell from the basement. “You come in after Harry starts to sing. Idiot.”

“Riley, I think we could all work better if you stopped screaming at us all the time.”

“Just shut up and play the drums Marcus.”

I pulled out my iPod and stuck it in my ears before grabbing Harry’s favorite purple sweatshirt off the floor and slipping it on. It was raining softly outside but I couldn’t listen to Riley’s voice anymore. Band practice had been going on for an hour and I personally thought they sounded wonderful, but Riley found a flaw in everything.

“All right, from the top.” The chords of Riley’s guitar sounded before Harry’s gorgeous voice kicked in. I thought about what Harry had mentioned earlier as I left the house. He should definitely try out for X Factor, there was no way someone with his talent and his looks would be turned down. He would be a star.

I scrolled through my songs, finally settling on The Script’s Man Who Can’t Be Moved. I shoved my hands into the pocket of Harry’s sweatshirt and started walking, not sure where I was going but glad to be getting away. Danny O’Donoghue’s perfect voice filled my ears as I thought back to the first time I heard Harry sing.

We had been nine years old, sitting in Harry’s living room and playing house. I had forced Harry into the game and he wasn’t very interest in me or the doll I was using as our child. I had wandered into the kitchen to get a snack for ‘dinner’ when I heard Harry start to sing. In that moment I knew I was witnessing something special. I stuck my head out the kitchen door and watched him. He was sitting on the floor, cradling my doll in his arms. His head was bent and his hair, not yet curly, brushed the doll’s plastic cheeks.

“Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful? Isn’t she precious? Less than one minute old.” I didn’t understand much at that tender age, but I did know that Harry’s voice was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. I didn’t know the song he was singing, I didn’t know why he suddenly seem interested in playing daddy, I didn’t know that one day I would love Harry more than I could ever imagine. But I did know that what he had was special.

Which is why I went in to the room, sat down next to him Indian style, and laid a hand on his arm. “Please don’t ever stop doing that.”

He glanced up at me, his dimples carving small smiles into his cheeks. He finished the song before gently handing off the doll to me. “One day, I’ll sing that to our baby.”

I smiled softly as I thought about it. Back then Harry saying that to me meant nothing. We were just young kids; I didn’t understand that one day I would be falling head over heels for him. Now I would give anything to hear him sing that song again.

I was so lost in my memories that I didn’t really pay attention to where I was going and I tripped over my own two feet. “Very smooth Brittany,” I muttered as I picked myself up off the damp pavement. “You’re lucky no one saw that.”

“Or not.” I blushed when I noticed a guy in a gray sweatshirt looking my way. His face was shaded by his hood, but I knew he had seen my fall.

“Are you all right Brittany?” he jogged over, letting his hood fall off his brown hair. It was Liam from the restaurant the day before.

“Yeah I’m fine, just embarrassed.”

“Your knee is bleeding.” I followed Liam’s pointed finger and saw the trickle of red liquid running down my leg. I wiped it away with my sleeve, completely forgetting I was wearing Harry’s sweatshirt.

“It’s okay, just a scrape.”

Liam squatted so he was eye level with my leg, one of his hands going behind my knee as he inspected the injury. “It looks like you have a few pieces of gravel in there. We should get it cleaned out.”