Moon Tower

4.

We weren't five steps in the door and already the house had descended into chaos.

For one, I forgot to tell Harry about the dogs. When I opened the door and called out into the house, I was too distracted by thundering feet storming down the stairs to hear the scratching of paws against the hardwood floor. But when Apollo and Granger bounded up to us from the kitchen, I quickly turned to Harry, firing off questions without really giving him a chance to answer.

"Do you like dogs? I forgot to mention we have dogs. You're not allergic to dogs are you? I can put them outside? It's no big deal. Here I'll take them out right—"

Harry gently grabbed my arm, squeezing a little, as if he was trying to tell me to slow down. "It's fine. I love dogs, and I'm not allergic." I took a deep breath of relief, exhaling slowly. I smiled at Harry, letting him know I was okay, and he gave me a warm smile back. And before I could think about the butterflies fluttering around in the pit of my stomach, I remembered the dogs. The siblings.

I turned back towards the front of my house to see Niall and the littles petting Apollo and Granger. Marissa and Sebastian seemed entranced by whatever it was that Niall was saying, so much so that I think they'd forgotten that I was even home. Typical.

"Ahem," I fake cleared my throat to get their attention. "Aren't you going to say hello to your favorite older sister?"

That got their attention. I was suddenly bombarded by the littles and the dogs. Apollo, a golden retriever, and Granger, an Australian shepherd, both trotted over, tails whipping back and forth excitedly. Once they felt I'd sufficiently greeted them, they move on to Harry, sniffing around him as dogs do upon meeting a potential new friend. Marissa and Sebastian took that as their cue to hug me with so much force that I had to take a step back. I felt a hand steadying me, and when I looked up, I saw Harry reaching his hand to my lower back, keeping me from making a complete fool of myself. When Marissa and Sebastian finally let go, they asked me who Harry was.

"Mar, Seb, this is Harry. He's in a band with Niall. Niall told you about his band right?"

"The one that doesn't make music anymore, but is still together?"

"Yes, Mari, that one."

Sebastian turned to Harry. "I've heard of you, you're Mr. Harry Styles. I hear my sisters listening to your music a lot." He turned to look at Niall. "And Mr. Niall Horan's too." Harry quirked an eyebrow at my brother's formality and told him he could just call him Harry. Sebastian just smiled and said "Okay, Mr. Harry Styles," and then ran back upstairs to go play with his toys or whatever it was he was doing before we arrived.

That left me to explain to Harry that Sebastian was currently going through a phase of calling adults by their full names. No one really knew why, but he did it often enough that it had become the new norm.

That was a few hours ago. Now the five of us were at a park close by our house. After we'd settled inside and I'd given Harry a quick tour of the house, Sebastian came back downstairs in a completely different set of clothes that he had come down in; I guess he wasn't playing with his toys.

He came down in his athletic shorts and shirt and asked if I would take him to the park to play soccer. Marissa joined in too, saying that since I was home I could help her with some of the new moves she'd been learning at practice. I told them that we had guests over, and that maybe they didn't want to go to the park. But Niall was all for it. He was coming back from the bathroom and gave the littles a "Hell yeah, when do we leave?" I gave Niall a pointed look at that, to which he gave me a sheepish smile and a quiet "sorry." I swear like a sailor, but I tried not to in front of Marissa and Sebastian if I could help it.