Harry and me got into the car. He pulled out of the driveway, turning onto the street. He flicked on the headlights and the light seeped into my old neighbourhood. I watched the familiar houses go by as he made his way round Longshore's suburban streets.
"Isn't this where you used to live?" He asked me.
I nodded and realised that we were coming up to my old house. "Yeah, that's my old house there." I told him, pointing at a house, which seemed to have light glowing out of it's windows like it was trying to tell us it was still there.
"Feels like a long time ago we were going round there for dinner." Harry said to me as we passed by the house and it faded in the rear view.
"It does, doesn't it?"
Harry smiled. "You know the first time you and your Mom came round to dinner?" He asked and I nodded, remembering the surprise I felt when I discovered my Mom was dating the father of the Lakewood brother's. "Well, don't tell my Dad I said this, but he didn't cook the meal he made us."
I raised my eyebrows. "I thought it was your grandmother's secret recipe and it took years for him to get it right?"
"That was a half truth. It was are grandmother's secret recipe, but our Dad never got it right. Me and Tommy had to make the lasagne. Dad can cook, but he can't follow one of our Grandma's recipe's and make it taste nice." Harry chuckled.
"Sounds like a complicated recipe." I commented.
Harry shook his head. "It isn't. Our Dad just makes it complicated because he tries so hard to get it right."
I smile. "He makes a pretty good lasagne now." I said, remembering how he made it for us last week."
"I think that's your Mom's help, there."
I rolled my eyes. "That's exactly what my Mom likes to do -- perfect the imperfect."
Harry shrugged. "Maybe. Or maybe she just knows how to make things better."
I shrugged and the pair of us fell into a comfortable silence as Harry turned onto another road. I stared at the tree's we passed until I was beginning to get the feeling that the ride home was taking a lot longer than it usually did. It was only when we came onto a coastline road that i realised this was not the way home.
"Harry?" I said, getting his attention. He glanced at me. "Where are we going?" I asked, but he offered me a smirk and didn't respond.
"Harry? Answer the question." I demanded, but i still got nothing. I was beginning to get anxious.
Harry ignored me and pulled up at the side of the road. Without a word, he got out of the car and shut the door behind him, leaving me alone in the car.
What the fuck?
I huffed and undid my seat belt. I got out of the car and found Harry stood by the side of the road, looking out at the sea. I walked over to him and folded my arms, waiting for an explanation.
"What?" Harry said like it was completely normal to pull up randomly on your way home.
"What do you mean what? What are you doing? Why aren't we heading home?"
Harry didn't reply, but instead a grin appeared on his face as he lifted his right arm up, showing me that the car keys were dangling in his hand.
I narrowed my eyes. "What's that supposed to mean? Are we driving back?"
Harry's grin drew wider. "We are, but I'm not the one driving us back." He told me. "Catch." He said, throwing the keys to me and luckily i caught them before they flew over the edge of the road.
Before i could process what he had said, he had walked over to the car and sat in shotgun, waiting for me to get in behind the wheel. I stood still, holding the keys in my hand, feeling the anxiety rise up in my chest at the thought of me being the one to drive us home.
"I'm waiting, Charlotte!" He called.
I was frozen. I couldn't drive. I couldn't be given that sort of responsibility. My reaction time was far too slow and I couldn't keep up with all the things going on around me. I would hit a stop sign or worse... a person.
Suddenly a hand touched my shoulder and I looked up to see Harry stood before me again. He gave me a small smile as I looked up at him, feeling my eyes tear up.
"I know." He said to me.
My eyes widened. He knew? He knew what?
Harry seemed to catch onto my confusion. "Tommy told me you don't like to drive." He said. "I put two and two together and realised why." He said, softly.
Oh, he did know. Was I that easy to read?
I looked down. "I can't do it, Harry. I just can't." I whispered.
"Hey, look at me." Harry said and I looked up to see warm hazel eyes staring down me. "You can do it. I'm going to help you do it."
I shook my head. "You don't get it, it's too hard. It doesn't feel safe."
"I understand, but you're over thinking it. Don't stress about it. Just do it."
"No, no, no." I said, shaking my head. "You don't understand, Harry. It scares me. I can't do it."
"Hey, shhh." He said, rubbing his thumb on my shoulder. "I'll be in the car next to you. If it gets too much, we can pull over and I can drive. We're on an empty road where hardly anyone drives. It'll be okay." He reassured.
I bit my lip and looked back at the road. No car had driven by us since we stopped. The street was lit by street lights and the roads were dry. It seemed pretty safe.
"Come on, you can do this, Charlotte." Harry said to me, giving me a small smile. "I know you can."
I nodded slowly. "Okay." I said.
Harry grinned at me and he began walking back towards the car, getting back in shotgun, leaving the driver's seat waiting for me.
I took a deep breath and headed back to the car and got in behind the steering wheel. I shut the door and fastened the seat belt tightly around myself. Before my fingers fumbled over the keys as my hands shook as i tried to put the key in the ignition.
I put my foot down on the gas and thanked god for how it was an automatic car so there was no possibility that i would stall. With much hesitation, we set off and i pulled back onto the road with my fingers wrapped tightly around the wheel.
"That's good, now put your foot down a bit more. It's more dangerous for you to go ten miles an hour on this road than it is for you to go forty." He explained.
I nodded and forced myself to apply more pressure to the gas. The car sped up and i felt the anxiety rise up in my chest. I shook my head. "Harry, I don't like this. I don't feel in control." I said, wondering how my foot applying slight pressure to the pedal was making us go forty miles an hour.
"Charl, it's okay. You're telling the car what to do. You've got more control behind the wheel than you would if you were sat in shotgun." He told me.
I nodded. "It doesn't feel that way."
"But it is that way. Trust me."
I bit my lip and we continued along the never ending road. Ever so slowly, I was getting used to it. The car drove along the road smoothly, following the direction I directed. I was feeling calmer.
"See, you can do this." Harry smiled. "Now do you wanna take the next turning and head home?"
I rolled my teeth over my bottom lip and looked in the rear view. There was no one behind me and it was an easy turn so I nodded slightly and flicked the indicator before turning right. We pulled onto the road without a problem.
"Good." Harry commented. "Now, slow down a bit. The speed limit here's thirty."
I did as I was told and the car slowed down as I applied gentle pressure to the break. I smiled as I saw the turning for our road in the distance and indicated before Harry even told me to. I looked in the rear view and checked the wing mirrors before I turned onto the road.
"Are you okay to park in the driveway?" Harry asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah. I'll just pull in if that's okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to do any parallel parking or anything like that. Just pull in next to Dad's car." He told me.
I did just that and the car came to a stop. I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned the engine off and turned to Harry. I didn't realise it, but I was smiling.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Harry smirked at me.
My smile turned into a grin. "it's a start."
Harry nodded. "Course. You'll get better. I'll teach you."
My smile faded and my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Why did you do that, Harry?" I asked.
"Do what?"
"Help me to drive?"
Harry looked me in the eye. "What kind of brother would I be if I didn't try and push you outside your comfort zone from time to time?" He said.
My eyes widened with shock as he called himself my brother? I thought we'd never get to a place where he'd see my as my brother. I thought I'd never be okay with it or accept it. But, here in this moment, I was nothing, but relieved. He wasn't holding me accountable for how I had tried to push them away and kept my distance when I first met them. He wasn't even angry anymore that I had gone out with his worst enemy or didn't come home one night and caused our parents to worry. It was reassuring.
Harry got out the car before I could even reply. I thought about the idea of seeing my stepbrothers as actual brothers. For a while I had felt that Tommy and I were friends and in many ways I guess I was slowly starting to see him as my brother without even realising it.
However, Harry was a different story. I hadn't and couldn't forget how he'd disrespected me and embarrassed me infant of my piers. He'd also gotten angry at me, irritated me and teased me, yet he took me home with Tommy when I got too drunk and didn't tell my Mom. Yet, he'd acted like my brother tonight and for some reason that meant a lot to me. Harry had pushed me through one of my worst fears.
I got out of the car too and caught up with Harry. He was just a couple metres from the front door when I catch up with him. "Harry!" I said and he stopped just as I was behind him and he turned around to look at me.
Before I could stop myself, I threw my arms around him. I pulled him into a hug, wrapping my arms around his neck for the first time. From the moment my arms wrapped around him, he was tense. His whole body felt stiff in a way that told me he was shocked that I had hugged him. But, slowly I felt his arms wrap around my waist, causing me to feel the warmth of his body around mine.
I smiled as he held me in his arms, making me feel okay. Relief was washing over me as I realised our relationship was the epitome of a love-hate relationship that some sibling's have and Harry didn't actually hate me the way I thought he did, but the way he teased me and got mad at me was his way of showing me he cared.
I sighed and whispered, "Thank you."
"Anytime." He said to me
Yet, I knew, he had no idea just how much helping me drive really meant to me.
Hey!!!
I feel like this was a really sweet chapter and a moment like this between Charlie and Harry's been a long time coming!!
What did you think to Harry helping Charlie how to drive?
I guess she's a step closer now to
Overcoming her second biggest fear!
Any of you passed your test? I failed ages ago :/ and I still can't drive aha
Thank you for all your support, as always!
If you enjoyed don't forget to vote and comment and follow for updates / announcements on this book :)
Next update will be June 4th — I have exams over the next two weeks, so will be back then :) xx