Rebel Rebel |harry styles| - ongoing

TWENTY-ONE

"Have you handled the drinks?", his head popped through the door to my bedroom.

"I have, enough booze to make everyone forget about the bad decisions of this year. Don't worry, tonight will be perfect.", Harry flashed me an instant smile, as if he were thanking me for calming his nerves, even if it was just for a bit.

People started gathering around six in the afternoon, his home suddenly resembling a frat house with people shouting and laughing. It was a welcome change, after what felt like months of all work and no play. Gemma's plane landed an hour ago and she was in an Uber, which made Harry check the door five times a minute, anxiously waiting for his snippet of home to arrive.

The doorbell rang and he lunged to open the door, throwing his arms around his sister's body. I was sure that he felt like he was hugging all of Britain in that moment.

"Gem, I want you to meet Essie.", he led the tall woman to me and she extended her hand for me to shake, "Oh please, I feel like I already know you from all the stories Harry has told me, we're hugging.".

"Well likewise. He cannot stop raving about your talent and how much he's excited for me to see the artwork for the new record. Are you almost finished with it?", Gemma and I went over to the drink table, and Harry disappeared for a second, allowing us some time to get familiar with each other.

"There are some finishing touches that need to be done, and Jeff has to approve of our picks, but it's going to be done soon. I'm very excited to head on tour, I've never had a job so dynamic, and if I'm being completely honest, I'm going a bit stir crazy here in the house.", she laughed and her laugh sounded just like Harry's. They both had the same endearing dimples, and little bunny teeth that showed up only when their smile was genuine.

"You'll love it, but it does get crazy at times. I joined him on a few One Direction tours and all I can tell you is that it truly is a unique experience. Tensions rise, sparks fly, and you want to drop to the floor from exhaustion more than once, but it's still the best ever.", it helped to talk to someone other than Harry about the tour, since his point of view was very different from my own. I wouldn't be living that infinite high every night upon climbing the stage and the crowd's roars wouldn't be food for my soul like they were for his, because they wouldn't be there to see me.

"You have to join us for some of the European leg, I'm positive it would make Harry very happy."

"Oh, trust me, that fact that you're going with him has made him plenty happy already, but I'll see how it works with my schedule.", it was comments like that that unleashed a flock of butterflies inside me, making me imagine things that simply weren't possible.

The party went on, getting rowdier by the minute, the food was being devoured in every corner of this large house and people were happy. We were all excited to ring in the new year, together, mismatched as we might be – we were currently the closest thing to family to one another. As midnight was creeping up on us, I looked around in hopes of spotting Harry. My eyes scanned the living room, the dining room, and the back yard, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Gemma, have you seen your brother? It's almost showtime.", she shot me an apologetic look. Where the hell was he?!

Since I couldn't see him downstairs, I snuck upstairs to see if maybe he'd gotten caught in some conversation and lost track of time. He wasn't in his room, so I opened my own and saw him sitting at the end of my bed.

"What are you doing here, Harry? It's almost 2020! Come on!", I tried taking him by the hand and pulling him up from the bed, but he ended up trapping me by his side.

"What's up, you?"

"I was just sitting here, thinking about how lucky I've been this year. I don't really know what I did to deserve you in my life, but I'll always be thanking the universe for making my 2019 brighter and happier by dropping you into the mix.", my arms instinctively wrapped around his upper body and I felt him relax against me.

"Darling, you know how much I love you?", he nodded against my shoulder, "Well then, that is no reason to get all down, today is about celebrating all that we've accomplished thus far and looking forward to all the wonderful things that are waiting for us over on the other side.".

"I know, I just get especially emotional around the end of each year.", I looked over to my bedside table and saw that it was midnight in 15 seconds.

"You've got a quarter of a minute left of melancholy, then we celebrate, okay?", Harry checked his watch and nodded. Those 15 seconds felt like eternity staring into his eyes. I could hear people counting down from the living room, yet I couldn't move an inch. His hand rest on my thigh and it felt like tiny licks of fire each time he touched me.

Harry

"Happy New Year, Essie.", the cheers erupted downstairs and I leaned into her, caressing her cheek lightly. She melted into my hand, a small smile of eternal gratitude playing on her lips.

"You realise it's bad luck not to kiss when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's?", her smile stretched out into an even bigger one, and I could tell she was trying hard to scold me into submission, but it wasn't working. Maybe it was the wrong thing to do, but it felt right in the moment, so I let go of the worries and the questions and connected my lips with hers. We stayed still for a few seconds, neither of us breathing or moving a muscle. I wondered if she would part her lips or tilt her head, gifting me with a bit more of her, but she didn't. She just smiled into the peck and wrapped her entire body around me, pushing all the weird thoughts right out.

"You're crazy, did you know that?", I smiled, "People are gonna start wondering where we are, let's go back down.".

I wanted to tell her that I couldn't care less what people would wonder and assume, that I wanted them to know she was my person, the one that brought a smile to my face whenever I saw her, the one that knew how to turn every dark and stormy cloud over my head into a rainbow. But I didn't, because shocking her with a kiss was enough for one night. We were absorbed by the crowd from the moment we set foot in the living room, nobody seemed to notice we weren't there a minute ago. Nobody, but Gemma. She searched for me with her eyes until I gave up on avoiding her. It wasn't a look of shock or a disapproving one on her face, it was a look of understanding instead.

"Happy New Year, H. I hope you make all your dreams come true in the next 12 months.", my sister's hands were warm and gentle when she ran them through the ends of my hair and down my neck, just like our Mum usually does, "I hope you also get her.", she whispered.

"Thank you, Gemma. I'm happy you came."

----------------------------

A/N: Hi!!!! Long time no hear, I know. I moved to Madrid, so I was trying to settle in and get used to the new normal here, because it's very different from the new normal in Croatia. Also, I hate the new normal, this all seems like a windowless room with no way out, that just keeps getting smaller. Thankfully, we've got Harry and Essie to help us :) 
The thought of the new year doesn't really excite me much, but I get that it makes these two happy since they have no idea what's waiting on the flip side. I am planning on keeping the story as realistic as possible in the pandemic aspect, but I won't make it as depressing as it is irl. 
Hope you're all well, tell me what's going on in your life, pls! 

TPWK, always.

T