Harry;
The night before was a mess. My dad was out late, so the boys, Myra, and Alexis came over and it turns out driving in circles around our field was a very stupid idea. The truck was completely covered in dirt and I was grounded for three days.
Not only were we under the influence of alcohol, but I popped one of the tires on the truck and sure enough my ass gets caught immediately.
I used the hose to wash down the dirt and a few sponges and soap. My shoes were kicked off and I was standing in the bare grass in front of our garage, a very disgusting truck next to me. While my father insisted that this will let me reflect on my actions, Max wanted to join me.
He scrubbed the rims because I was too busy to bend down. I stood off to the side, gazing up at my front door when my father came outside. He walks down the porch and towards me, and sees that Max is scrubbing rims.
"Seriously? This is your punishment, Harold," my father scolds lightly, shaking his head. "Max, buddy, get up from there."
Max looks up at dad. "I'm good! I like this," he beams up at my father, and I know damn well he's going to let it slide because no one can say no to Max when he's got that grin on his face.
I send my dad a smug grin. He points his index finger at me warningly. "Shut up," is all he remarks.
My laugh is audible as I say, "This is not much of a punishment."
"Are you asking for a bad one?"
"No," I chuckle. "But I really am sorry, dad. I do crazy things all the time, and I'm sorry I disappointed you."
He sighs and waves his hand in the air. "I'm not disappointed. More angry that you guys were drinking is all. And that tire money is coming out of your allowance, by the way."
"Well aware."
"Don't do it again. Or I'll really be pissed off and the punishment will be much worse than this," he warns me, and I nod in understanding. "Also, put on a damn shirt. Eight girls already stopped by to stare and you've only been out here for like fifteen minutes."
I gaze down at myself. No shirt, just a pair of jeans that surely are ripped at the knees. When I looked up at him, I shrugged. He then adds, "Why did I let you get all those tattoos, anyway?"
"Because you're the best dad in the whole world," I teased with a grin.
He scoffs. "Only because I let you do whatever the hell you want."
"If Harry can do what he wants, why can't I?" Max questions with a frown.
Dad crosses his arms over his chest. "Because Harry's focused on his girlfriend and he's an idiot. You, buddy, are not at that stage yet."
"I like Sally. She could be my girlfriend," Max suggests, and I immediately start laughing as dad rolls his eyes.
"Seriously," he mutters.
"He is a Styles," I laughed, looking down at Max. "Have you tried holding her hand, yet?" When he nods, I laugh louder and shake my head. "He even tried stealing Alexis from me the other day."
"You two have fun cleaning up the truck. I think I'm going to take a nap," he says to us before turning around. He leaves and soon it's just Max and I, occasionally pointing the running hose on him and soaking the back of his red t-shirt in cold water.
He screams and shoots me an angry glare. "Harry, you're annoying!"
The last time I do it, he throws the soapy sponge at me. As a result, I laugh and throw it back at him. We're talking about the football match that I promised him to go to when the neighbor's cat, jumps on the top of the truck just as I was going to rinse off that spot.
It's piercing eyes watch me almost defiantly and I frown, staring at it for a few seconds as Max doesn't notice the cat on the truck.
"Max," I call, and he looks up at me with annoyance. I sent him a quick scoff. "There's a cat on the truck."
He looks up and finds that I am indeed not being irritating this time. "Well, I'll get it off," he says as he stands. He reaches to grab the cat, but it hisses and raises a paw, just missing Max's arm. Max backs up and looks at me with a sour frown.
"That's a rude cat," is all he said. "And fat."
I huff and raise the hose. "Should I wet it?"
"Why are you asking me? You're the older brother here," he sasses.
"Okay, are you my little brother or Louis's?" I retort, rolling my eyes. "What if it actually likes water?"
Max crosses his arms over his chest. "Most don't. Who cares, anyway. It's rude and fat."
"Don't be mean to the cat. Maybe it wants friends," I sympathize.
"Dad's right when he said you're an idiot," Max sighs. I send a glare at the back of his head.
Reluctantly, I aim the hose at the cat and the second water soaks it's fur, it meows and hisses loudly, hopping off the truck and sprinting down the street. Thank God it didn't run for the field because then we'd have to go find it before the neighbors ask questions.
We're back to rinsing off the car and getting every dirt. When we're finished, we dump out the bucket and rinse of sponges. In record time, we're back inside and dad's already tossing me money.
"Go into town and buy that tire. You know which ones. And you have half an hour. I'll be watching the clock. No fooling around. Understood?" He demands firmly.
Max jumps up and eagerly asks, "Ooh, can I go?"
"Sure, buddy," I tell him.
I quickly put on a random t-shirt and shove the money into my pocket. Max and I are out the door almost immediately and on the road to the town square. A few of our neighbors wave at us, and I politely wave back.
"So who's this Sally girl?" I ask Max as we're making our way down the sidewalk to the auto parts shop.
Max explains to me his little infatuation. "I see her every time dad and I go to play football at the park. She's cool."
"Is she your little girlfriend?" I tease him, ruffling his hair.
He pushes my hands away and defensively exclaims, "No! But she will be."
I laugh. "That's my little brother. You're pretty confident."
"'Course I am," he huffs.
"Remember what I told you about girls, though," I add.
He nods. "Be nice, not rude. And never ever agree when she says she looks bad."
We bump our fists, my way of congratulating him and his way of being proud of himself. We're passing by Zayn's family music store when I glance into the glass windows. I'm faced with the sight of my friends dancing to music that is faint from outside.
Niall and Louis are swinging their heads side to side and Liam's teaching Myra to moonwalk. And I'm surprised to see Alexis, but my smile fades a little when I see that she's being spun around by Zayn, a laugh leaving her lips and he's all smiles.
My anger boils. And I can't help but feel a tinge of jealousy, but knowing Zayn, he's not trying anything. He's been my friend since forever, and I highly doubt he's trying to hit on my girlfriend. Still, I have the urge to storm in and surprise them, which I do, and Max follows.
I'm inside, hearing the familiar tune that is loud enough to make the elderly complain. I lean against the counter, pressing my finger against the stereo and the music pauses. They're immediately curious and look up to see me.
I smile, trying to seem like I was not jealous whatsoever, which in fact I was definitely getting upset over it. Alexis let's go of Zayn's hand and I gaze at her briefly, she sends me one of her pretty smiles, but I don't send one back, far too upset to scold myself.
She notices and begins to frown a bit. Niall's the first to question me.
"Hey, Haz. Thought you were grounded?" He asks.
"I am. I'm just in town because I need to get a spare tire for my dad," I explain dryly, shrugging my shoulders.
Zayn then says, "We're sorry about getting you into trouble. It was most definitely our fault for bringing the alcohol. It shouldn't have ended that way."
"Yeah, it was stupid of us," Louis adds. "We're sorry, mate. Really."
I shake my head, scoffing and waving as if to put aside any differences here. "It's fine. I have to get back, though. So you guys just have fun." I press my finger to the pause button on the stereo and the music comes back on.
They're silent as I turn around, and Max is waves to them quietly, sensing tension. I'm sighing and frowning by the time we're outside in front of the auto parts shop. I seriously can't get my mind off how he was holding her hand and I might be an idiot, but I'm a jealous one, which makes it worse.
Max opens the door and goes inside. I'm about to follow, but a hand grabs my wrist and I'm forced to look behind me. Alexis stands there with a concerned expression, her beautiful eyes looking up at me. Shit, I'm not going to be mad too long.
"Hey," she starts out softly. "Are you okay?"
I rub my hand to my temple and sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine," I respond with a shrug of my shoulders.
"I'm opposed to that," she says.
"Well..." I start, dragging out the word. "I don't know why you're opposed to it. I'm more than fine. I'm great, actually. And there's no reason to be so concerned. I've been grounded lots of times. Not a big deal and --"
"You're rambling," she points out, shaking her head. "Look, I'm sorry that you got into trouble. I really feel bad about it and I wish I could change that."
My lips pressed together tightly as I process her words. "It's not that," I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest, but she grabs my hands and entwines her fingers with mine. I'm almost rethinking entirely why I was jealous to begin with, but I don't.
Our eyes lock. She asks, "What is it then? Is it that I was dancing with Zayn?" Shit, she's caught on. I'm silent, though. So, she's quick to understand. With a sigh, she says, "Harry, we were just dancing."
"I know that," I stubbornly reply. "I got jealous," I confess.
Alexis looks up at me, faint smile forming on her lips. "Don't be. He was joking when he said I'd fall for him and he was joking around with me when we were dancing. And...you are my boyfriend. You are the one I want," she said, leaning on her toes to peck my lips.
I wanted to hold her there and kiss her much more, but we're in public so I refrained. I'm frowning when I mutter, "I'm sorry. It was stupid to get jealous."
She shakes her head and smiles. "It's okay. It shows me that you care. And I would have done the same."
"Then I probably shouldn't tell you that a few girls stopped by my house just to watch me wash a truck while shirtless," I casually tease her, grinning when she rolls her eyes. I lean down to kiss her once more. "But, I have to go because my dad's going to have a fit if I'm late. He's counting."
Alexis sadly pouts, and I have the urge to kiss her again. I'm returning the pout just to tease her, and I place a quick peck on her lips.
"Harry, are you coming?" Max says as he stands by the store's door. "Hi, Alexis," he waves when she looks down at him.
She greets him back and I wrap my arms around her tightly. She accepts my hug as I whisper to her, "I'll see you around, baby." Unable to stop myself, I kiss her one more time.
Max groans. "You guys are gross. And annoying."
When he says that, Alexis moves away from me, turns around and bends to his height. She places a kiss on his cheek and he immediately flushes bright red. I laugh as she begins to walk away, waving at me for a moment.
I look down and see Max wiping his cheek. I smirk and tease, "I think my girlfriend's falling for you."
He glares. "I hope not. Sally's going to be mad."
note:
wondering why my little brother isn't max tbh