Gold Rush » Harry Styles

021

Grace

Lauren had left around an hour ago. Even though it was only two days, I had gotten so used to our little routine. Harry's family was still here and it was nice to have them around. His Mum is genuinely sweet and Harry's smile was identical to hers. Today was the day, the day Harry and I will be going on our non-date.

"Hey, you zoned out for a bit." Gemma's voice brought me back to reality, "It's your turn."

Gemma and I were in the middle of an intense game of Scrabble. I formed a word on the board quickly and apologized, "Right. Sorry about that."

She grinned, "Nice move. Are we sure names are allowed, though?"

I shrugged, "Let's make an exception."

We continued to play, but I wasn't exactly concentrating on the game. After a few minutes, Gemma asked, "You Alright, Grace? You don't seem that into the game."

I sent her a small smile, "Oh, no. I'm having fun. Don't worry."

"Well, I suppose this game is sort of boring. We can play something else if you want," Gemma said, putting all the letters back into the pouch, "You seem worried about something."

"Worried? I'm not worried," I told her honestly, "Just thinking about stuff, I guess."

"Okay, how about we just talk?" Gemma suggested and I nodded my head. "Do you miss home?"

"Of course I miss home," I answered, "But I'm adjusting to living here. It's kind of nice, actually."

She smiled. "That's nice."

I asked, "Where's Harry?"

"He's outside eating lunch with Mum and Erin," Gemma asked, "Why?"

I said, "Just wondering."

Gemma and I heard a rather loud sound mid-conversation. We furrowed our eyebrows in confusion. It seemed as if it was coming from the kitchen.

"Dang it," We turned around at the sound of Harry's voice. He ran into the kitchen from the terrace and opened the oven. Smoke was everywhere. I began to cough. He waved his hands in the air, "That's the cookies!"

"Oh, goodness," Gemma gave her brother an eye-roll, "Harry, could you be any more irresponsible?"

"I was just trying to bake some cookies for the kids! This always happens!" Harry shrieked, "And you don't understand! Loud noises scare me! Especially ones like these! Oh, and don't even get me started on fireworks! They're like beep, beep, BEEP—"

Gemma sighed, "Harry, when will you learn? Just sit down over there and let me fix this."

Harry covered his ears and quickly ran over to me. He took a seat and held onto his ears tightly, "Quickly, Gem! Make it stop!"

"If you can't even handle the smoke alarm while we're here," Gemma sighed, grabbing a stool from the side and standing on it, "How do you manage on your own?"

Harry only answered with, "Joey's very brave."

"Well, he certainly didn't inherit that from you," Gemma shook her head, "Just be quiet."

"Sorry about that," Harry sat down next to me while Gemma remained in the kitchen, trying to fix his mess, "Hey there, Grace.''

"Hi,'' I answered quietly. No one was around us. Gemma was in the same room but she couldn't possibly hear from all the way over there. "You remember right, Harry?"