You Think I Hate You? (Larry Stylinson AU) Stepbrothers

Chapter 2

[Harry]

When I got home that day, I went straight to the kitchen to pull out the ingredients for pancakes. After an hour of working hard in P.E. class, I was both exhausted and starving. I'll admit, my fitness wasn't the best, but that didn't mean I didn't try my best, unlike others. Some people couldn't even jog a lap around the gym without running out of breath.

Louis had been a pain in the ass during that lecture as well, just like always. He couldn't seem to stop minding my business and interrupting me by making nasty remarks. It was just so damn frustrating. Like, what did he even get out of it? Joy for sabotaging my life? Because really, I had done nothing to him, besides not worshipping him for his popularity and falling at his feet. Absolutely nothing.

Pulling out the milk from the fridge, I strolled over to the counter to pour it in the bowl with the other ingredients. Once the batter was done, I grabbed a pan from one of the cupboards and turned the stove on. It took me about half an hour to make all the pancakes, which were about ten. Don't ask me why I didn't just make half of the recipe - that would surely not have taken as much time - but being the good brother and son that I was, I made some for my family members as well.

Just when I sat down at the kitchen table, the front door slammed shut in the hallway. Not even ten seconds later, my lovely sister stepped into the room, a smile playing on her lips. "Hey, bro. Are these for me?" She went over to the plate of pancakes on the counter and smelled them.

I brought a fork of pancakes to my mouth, chewing on them before gulping them down. "Depends on how many I'm going to eat," I winked, earning a roll of the eyes.

"Ha ha, funny, aren't you?"

Gemma and I had probably one of the best brother and sister relationships around. We had always gotten along with each other even if we had small fights every now and then. Usually, it was only over silly things though, like she once thought I had stolen her car keys. But I mean, come on. I didn't even have a driver's license, so of course I hadn't taken them. However, she had whined about it all day and blamed me until she finally found them in her jacket pocket... Man, that was something I probably won't ever forget.

She sat down in the seat opposite me and poured some maple syrup on her pancakes before stuffing a forkful of the food in her mouth. "How w's school t'day, brother?"

I shrugged, sipping on my glass of milk. "Okay, I guess. Louis won't leave me alone, though," I grumbled, looking down at the surface of the table.

Gemma knew everything about me and Louis and our friendship in the past. No one did, except for her and Liam, not even my own mum. Louis had been quite... demanding. He didn't want anyone to know about our friendship because the reason he first befriended me in the first place was due to his low grades. He needed a hand, and I had shockingly agreed to help him, but only because he told me he would pay me for doing it. I would never have done it otherwise, I didn't even like him back then.

However, things changed after some time. Whenever we would meet up in the library or deserted places at school, he would act like a whole other person than when he was around his friends. We would laugh, play awful jokes with each other and just hang out like two close friends. Still, he was afraid of someone finding out about our friendship, so he always used to remind me not to tell anyone. And of course I kept our secret. I had started liking him being there, and I couldn't afford to lose our friendship.

It went on for almost a year, and we only grew closer and closer each day that went by during that period, until he all of a sudden stopped showing up at our meetings. By this time, I had stopped charging for helping him out with his school work. We hung out to have fun, not because one of us was paid to be there. So, when he suddenly stopped appearing, I felt rather sad. I would try sending him a look when we passed each other in the hallways, but he would only look away, pretending as though he hadn't seen me.