Infatuation // Harry Styles

Chapter 21

♡ chapter 21 ♡

       Timid is an understatement to describe how I felt luring Harry into my grandmother's home. Behind that small wooden door would be an enormous family that was anything but quiet and had an odd liking to pick on people. I already had myself prepared for a lecture on bringing Harry - either a teasing lecture or one from my grandpa where he reminded me boys had cooties. 

       I was his first granddaughter, and so in a sense, he's more protective of me. I'm not sure why, or how that even works, but bringing up the mere thought of a boy around him as always been a no-go. Unless you want to sit for thirty minutes on him ramble. He may be a man himself, but he does nothing but bash his gender. 

       You could hear loud laughter from out back and it was clear that's where most of the family was. Later on there would no doubt be a bonfire. My family had odd traditions for cookouts and special occasions - no one planned anything but the food, yet somehow we all knew how to blend. It was like telepathy ran through our veins. We just knew.

        Noah, Neil, and Bill all ran through the back gate to meet up with the other cousins while Mom, Harry, and I entered through the front door. The elders were mainly the ones piled in the kitchen, cooking and finding other things to do while they gossiped on stupid people in the world, the ID channel playing in the background. 

        My grandparents have special names - Sitti and Giddi. It's odd, but it's actually Lebanese for grandma and grandpa. I liked it. It gave me a unique quality I wasn't sure many other people had. 

       Sitti was in the midst of rolling the grape leaves when she spotted the three of us. "Oh, Madeline and the kids are here! And... some company?"

        Aunt Frieda shot up from her seat at the bar to give us each hugs, then paused at Harry. "And who is this handsome man?" she said, giving him a hug nonetheless. Harry seemed unsurprisingly uncomfortable.

        "This is Harry. Harry, this is Aunt Frieda, Aunt Nikki, Aunt Pearl, and my grandma. We call here Sitti, but you can probably call her Kathy," I said, wringing my hands together. I hated introducing people. It put me on the spot and I didn't like that.

        "Do y'all need help?" Mom asked, mustering her best smile. 

        "Oh, that'd be lovely, dear," Aunt Frieda said as she went back to the couscous. "Is your fiance going to be making an appearance?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

        Mom laughed as she walked over to help. "He may show up, yes."

        That was all it took for me to grab Harry's wrist and drag him towards the backdoor. I didn't need to hear about this "fiance" stuff over again.

        "Was that a murder show playing in the background?" Harry asked.

        "Yeah. Frieda and Sitti are sisters and they both have a massive hatred for the world, so it's kind of fitting."

       Harry hummed in response and I was praying he didn't already classify me as insane. My family is borderline of insanity, but I'd like to think I'm a little more... composed than they are. But then again, my family's craziness is why you can't help but to love them.

        I glanced out the backdoor window before sighing. "All right, the cousins are out there. Here's a quick background - Sadie, totally egotistical and fake. She's the second oldest. Zach is the third oldest, and he's a complete country boy. You ask him to build or fix something, and he's on it in a heartbeat. Super sweet but kind of a bully at the same time. It's weird." I leaned over to see who else was outside.