Ride (h.s)

16

Harry

"Alright here are your keys and if you find that anything is not up to your standard, please do not hesitate to let us know," I spoke as kind as I could, today was not a good day.

First, it was Sunday, I never work on Sundays. I hadn't eaten anything and it was almost three in the afternoon. For some reason, my alarm didn't go off and I was almost ten minutes late to work. Luckily one of the guys I worked with covered for me.

"Styles!" My boss's son came into the office where I was helping my customer. "I need you to stay for another hour and change the oil on those two cars outside." He demanded.

Fighting with Liam was a waste of time, he'd tell his daddy on you and get you fired. "Sure no problem." He walked away and I sighed in frustration. My mentality right now scared me deeply. I had the need to drink for the first time in a while.

The last few days have been stressful. My homework had begun to pile up, and my work schedule was hectic. At times like this, I would be sitting in a bar getting hammered. It took everything in me not to tell Liam to fuck off and go to a random bar and drink until I blacked out.

I finished what I needed to do before I could get on my bike and get home. Home, where Louis had half of the kitchen filled with bottles of alcohol. I couldn't go there. I couldn't go to the library because it was closed. I smiled at the thought of Jane sitting at her front desk checking out books, or how she reached the top shelves and her shirt would ride up just slightly enough to show her soft skin.

I needed to see her.

I knew she would give me the strength not to do something stupid, so I took a sharp left on my bike towards her house and pulled up in the front. Her car was parked in front and the hood was up. I had changed out of my uniform before I left but still smelled like a car. I walked up to her driveway and noticed who was standing by the car wasn't Jane.

"Oh, hello sir." Jane's dad looked over and gave me a smile.

"How's it going son, you look terrible." He said almost worried. "You alright?"  I couldn't explain exactly what was wrong with me to my girlfriend's dad, but I gave him a short version of it that didn't give away my alcohol problem.

"I'm having a pretty bad day, just needed to see Jane," I said awkwardly.

He nodded. "Well, she's out getting groceries for Sunday dinner with her mom. But hey, you're welcome to hang out." He offered. "Are you hungry, you seriously look like crap, no offense." At that moment my stomach growled and he laughed grabbing a towel to clean his hands. "Come on, I'll make us a couple of sandwiches." I agreed walking inside behind him.

He washed his hands and began making me some lunch. He made small talk and explained that Jane's car was making a weird noise.

"It could be the front axle or a loose serpentine belt," I said after taking my first bite. "I could look at it if you'd like?"

Jane's dad was nothing like my own father. Desmond was a crook and an abuser. He had died when I was a kid, but I didn't know much of him since he was a stranger in my life. An abusive man who drank too much was all I knew.

"Well, that would save me the trouble of taking it to a damn shop." He chuckled walking back over to the refrigerator and pulled out some cans of soda. "What do you drink Harry, we have anything but beer." He joked. I gulped at how his small joke was a good thing for me.

"Whatever you're having sir." He handed me a ginger ale and I accepted it.

After we ate, he and I went back out to see the problem with the car. I turned it on and sure enough, it was the belt. Luckily it wasn't ripped. He began telling me how he had an old truck he was trying to restore as a hobby but he wasn't too sure where to start. "I used to be good with cars, but I lost my edge over the years. Kids do that to you, and besides, I prefer working as a contractor."