A/N: This is the start of a double update, eeeek, I hope you enjoy!!
-
"They must be having the time of their lives."
I slammed the car door shut, not purposely though enough for Harry to side eye me as he got out on his side. "Oh yeah, because bein' at the restaurant for the entire night would be such a blast." He had a point, it would've been awfully boring and I already knew that if we had been stuck there too, the sight wouldn't have been a pretty one.
Harry locked the door of the car as I began my pace down the pathway leading to the front door. He parked his car where it had been before, not in the driveway, but at the very front of the house. I snagged the key out of my bag, fitting it into the doorknob and swinging it open.
No noise. No nagging. Comfortable silence.
"This is when the house is at its peak." I chimed, looking over my shoulder slightly to see Harry making his way up. "When nobody else is in it?" He suggested, shutting the door behind him and making sure it was locked. Nodding my head profusely, I answered, "Definitely. You can hear yourself think, that's how quiet it is. I love it."
I could only imagine what the rest of them would all be doing, if they were still living the night away or making their way home. All I knew, was that I didn't want to be in range for when they chose to walk in through the door. "I'm probably going to call it a night, get changed and ready for bed, all that good stuff," I told Harry as he placed his wallet and keys onto the table next to him, "but seriously, thankyou for tonight. I can't even tell you properly how much I appreciate it and- well, I really owe you one. If you ever need anything, I'm your girl."
The enthusiastic spring of my tone immediately vanished as I realised what I'd said. A minor slip of the tongue that would hinder my mind right when all I wanted to do was let sleep have it's way with me. The honey light from outside had been enough to fill the room, which created the cast of a shadow sprawling itself across Harry's face, the sharp peak of his jaw becoming very noticeable. His slightly tanned skin looking even warmer as the artificial light washed upon him. He had the faintest smirk playing on his lips, "I'll hold you to that." A part of me sat in angst, hoping he'd brushed off the words that horrifyingly slipped from my tongue, though the other part of me wanted to hear some sought of acknowledgment.
Letting out a shaky laugh, I dropped my eyes from his hold. The insides of my mind felt like fairy floss flowers and sweet candy suckers. It sickened me, disgusted me truly, because this had not been how I built myself. I knew better than to let myself get wrapped up in sweet words and magnetic eyes, I knew a lot better. Quickly, I swung around, walking only a few steps until I reached the staircase, in which my hand hovered over the side as I stepped up each one.
Standing before my room, I could hear the faint steps of Harry making his way up too, felt his presence brush past me as I entered my bedroom and shut the door.
"Are you crazy? Yeah, you are, you're fucking crazy."
I angrily whispered to myself as I stood in front of my mirror, harshly pulling at the zip of my boots, ripping them off quickly and throwing them into the corner. "Stop being so stupid, seriously, for the love of god. I beg of you, get it together." Shimmying the skirt off of my hips and letting it drop to pool around my feet, I unbuttoned my shirt as I threw it from my body.
Pulling open the drawers in front of me, I grabbed my oversized 'choose life' t-shirt and threw it on. I then made my way over to the vacant bathroom, thankful that Harry wasn't in there so that I could have more of a chance of not being awake when my parents arrived home. I slid across the cupboard, locating my trusty facial cleanser and squirted it into my hands, rubbing it over every inch of my face as I stared myself down in the mirror. My bare feet cold on the tiled floor, I bent over, turning on the tap and splashing water all over my face as I washed away the remnants of the white foam.
My eyes were closed, securely shut from the previous splash of water, my face towel only a few inches away, I made it a habit to always place it in the exact same spot so my closed eye state would always know where to retrieve it from. I walked the necessary few steps over towards the right, water dripping from my face and rolling down my neck, a feeling I absolutely despised. Though as I extended my hand to where I knew the towel would be, my fingertips were instead met with a warm, hard and muscular surface. Forcing me to pry my eyes open, hating the way the water droplets beaded down my eyelashes.
"Harry?! Move, I need the towel." My stare was a mixture of open and closed blinks, trying not to the let water seep into my eyes further, though failing miserably as Harry continued to stay frozen. His bare abdomen coming into my vision, the shaded butterfly sitting at his sternum looking rather beautiful on his firm skin. "What're the magic words?" He teased, holding up the towel between his fingers and swinging it around. "Oh come on. I'm serious, let me dry my face. I'm dripping, it's so uncomfortable."
"You're dripping are you? Hm, what's got you so riled up for you to be dripping?"
My hands dropped to my sides, this time, I opened my eyes fully, staring blankly back at his cheshire grinning cheeks. "Harry. Give me the towel... please." I sneered out, this was not the time for him to twist my words again, or let his particularly dirty jokes consume my mind. Harry brought his index finger up to his chin, eyebrows quirked as he thought, "I guess, since you said please." He handed the towel over towards me, I snatched it from him instantly, patting it onto my face as I let out a defeated breath.
"You don't need to be so moody with me, I'm on your side remember." He quirked as he grabbed for his pale pink toothbrush. "I am not moody. I just wanted the face towel, I had water dripping from my face, you know how gross that feels? When it's all just, ugh, running down here," I screwed up my face as I motioned towards my neck, "so yuck."
Harry delicately squeezed the toothpaste he held in his other hand, making sure it sat neatly onto the bristles as he nodded his head, "Yeah, you have a point. Didn't need to get so primal about it though." He passed along the tube of toothpaste as I grabbed for my own toothbrush, squeezing on the minty goodness and running it under the water quickly before shoving it into my mouth.
There both Harry and I stood, side by side in front of the mirror. Harry standing in nothing but his boxers, a deep grey colour that accentuated the muscular tone of his thighs, an observation I'd made as I let my eyes skim over him while looking over to his side of the mirror. I could feel him do the same to me, discreetly, though enough for me to know his eyes ventured along the length of my t-shirt— which stopped around mid thigh, as well as noticing the fact that I had decided to ditch the pants. Technically he couldn't see anything because my t-shirt was oversized enough, but as the flushed look washed over his face for the quickest second... I wondered if he'd made that connection.
Minty foam began to accumulate from either of our mouths, it ran down the side of Harry's lips and onto his chin. He bent over the sink, spitting into the basin as he washed the foam away, which left me waiting for my turn, with an overflowing mouth of crisp mint. "You got plans for tomorrow?" He asked as he wiped a hand across his lips, watching me and waiting for an answer even though I could barely swallow with the over abundance of toothpaste dripping from my lips. I rose my finger, a signal for him to hold on as I then spat into basin and rinsed.
"I think Avery's coming over during the day, I've still got to phone her though. But uh," I tilted my head to the side in thought, "I think that's probably it. And you?" I grabbed the tube of moisturiser that sat amongst my other various bottles of skincare, squeezing a dollop onto my hands, I smoothed it onto my face and began to rub it in. "Just practisin' during the day, gettin' ready for the weekend gig. Not sure if the rest of 'em are doing anything later on." Harry calmly spoke, his voice so soothing and comforting as he stood leant against the shower.
I gripped my hair into a ponytail, tightening the elastic band as I turned around to face him, "The world awaits you then." I breathed out with a grin, forcing my eyes not to lower. Harry seemed stagnant in his position, arms folded over his chest and looking at me with expecting eyes, he peered over towards the door, then back over to me.
"I've got to take a wee."
"Oh! Me too. Let me go first, I'll be so quick."
"That's hardly fair, I'd be quicker than you any-"
"I don't want to be targeted when my parents get home, and they'll be back any minute. Pretty please." I pouted, looking up at him with doe eyes. He took a step forward, uncrossing his arms and narrowing his stare. "They aren't even home yet. I'm going first, and to be quite frank, I don't care if you're in here or not. So that's on you."
I flew my hands forward, onto his warm, sun kissed chest, trying my best to push his body backwards though failing miserably as he continued to stand solid. "Fuck, you're hands are bloody freezing." He snickered as he stepped back, looking at my fingers that no longer graced his chest. "Cold heart, what can I say. Now let me use the bathroom and then I'll be out of your way. Please, and thankyou! Cherry on top!" I sang as I gently pushed his body backwards and outside of the bathroom. Much to his huffing and annoyed expression, I sent him the cheeriest smile before closing the bathroom door and locking it.
"You're a headache! I hope you have a shit night sleep." Harry yelled from the hallway.
"Goodnight Harry! Sweet dreams!"
-
Much to Harry's evident annoyance of last night, I'd had an amazing night sleep. So amazing that I hadn't even woken up once, nor could I remember any dreams that I'd had over the course of the night.
All I knew, was that I'd woken up to Evie by my side, asleep from the world and oblivious to the fact that her alarm clock had been buzzing like crazy. I stretched my arms over her curled up body, slamming my hand down on the top button and immediately relaxing as the buzzing noise came to a stop. Letting out a breath, I slid myself out from under the covers and leapt over Evie, my feet hitting the carpeted floor as I tip toed out of my bedroom and shut the door behind me.
Turning my head slightly, peering down the span of the hallway, I noticed the furthest door shut, assuming the rest of them would have been asleep. Making my way down the steps, I headed for the kitchen, hoping to make myself some breakfast because the constant rumble my stomach kept making was rather concerning. As I rounded the corner, the open kitchen coming into view, the presence of my mother looming over the stove caught my eye before I could back out further.
"Mabel. You're up early. Help me with this please." She gloomed with her back still turned to me, I wasn't sure how she'd realised it had even been me, though I rolled my eyes— something I knew she definitely couldn't see, and stepped onto the tiles approaching where she stood. "Goodmorning, how'd you sleep?" I questioned, standing beside her now as she filled two cups with steaming hot coffee.
"Well enough, apart from your father storing his head off. Infuriating that is. And you? How's your stomach feeling?" I slowed my steps over to the chair, with my back turned to her, I widened my eyes, remembering the events of last night I'd tried to forget. "Oh, much better than last night. Still a bit uneasy but I'll just lay low today." I covered, pulling out the dining chair and taking a seat opposite to where my mother sat. Her floral dressing gown wrapped around her body, various parts of her hair home to curlers as she took a sip of her cup. "Honey, last night... you left poor Jax all alone, he was as quiet as a mouse without you." She watched me with eyes she thought could read me, I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. "Mom, I- we haven't seen them in so long, let alone him. I have absolutely nothing in common with him." I exhaled, blowing onto the surface of my coffee.
"That doesn't matter, you still have to try. He really thinks highly of you, wanted to talk to you all night if you hadn't gotten so sick."
"Okay, well, it doesn't matter now. He's renowned for being a jerk anyway, plus, you know all the things that family had to say about Evie. You shouldn't try so hard to keep in the loop with them."
"Mature people move past things honey, you can't hold a grudge forever. Jax is a nice boy who wants to get to know you, it could lead to something really beautiful and there you go, your life could be set up just like tha-"
"I don't give a shit, mom, I don't want to be married off by the time I'm twenty one, are you crazy? I don't care about any of that stuff, why do you?" I vouched, knowing my words would be breaking her heart but saying them anyway. "Why don't you? What are you going to do with your life? You don't know what you want to do career wise, you don't want to get married, god already knows you probably don't want children. What have you got going for yourself then?"
My jaw propped open, mouth parted as my nostrils flared in anger. My mother looked quite proud of her smart remark, her perfectly painted nails holding the sides of her coffee cup. I shook my head slowly, my tongue running along the length of my bottom lip, "Unbelievable." I huffed, standing up quickly and pushing in my chair. "You'll understand me one day honey, probably when it's too late." She snickered out as I began walking away from her.
It hurt to know that I could never have a proper, civilised conversation with my mother. That I could never truly lean on her for anything because she would always want to manipulate her way into my mind. It was sad. But it was also something I had come to terms with long ago. So I marched my way upstairs, clenching my jaw up each step as I huffed out almost every curse word I knew.
Rounding the dark corner quickly, my body immediately bumped into another, causing me to stagger back, "Shit, sorry." I mumbled, trying to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the hallway in the early morning. "Goodmorning sweetness, you okay?" It was Jett who whispered, her long nails hovering beside my arm to keep me steady. My eyes trailed over to the tall figure of Harry, who stood next to her. The both of them watching me in worry, "Mhm, of course. Just got up to get some water, I'm going back to bed now though. Be careful down there," I mumbled, angling my head towards the steps, "the devil's risen. She has work in about fifteen so the coast will be clear then."
Jett let out a hushed chuckle, "Did she rip into you? That why you look so sad?"
"Oh, no I was kinda going for that look today." I grinned, watching the two of them shake their heads at me with a smirk. Harry's eyes didn't settle on me for long, I wasn't quite sure why, but I felt far too tired to try and analyse the situation. "See you guys when I wake up again." I waved as I tip toed my way back into my bedroom.
Sneaking back over Evie and onto my side of the bed, pulling the covers over the length of my body, I let the warmth soak into my skin. Wondering why on earth I'd decided to get out of bed at all.
-
"Hmm, something's just... maybe try the checkered pants instead? It could really bring out the red in your top."
Sighing, and doing exactly as Avery had asked, I'd unzipped the front of my pants and wiggled my way out of them, walking over towards the checkered pants that sat on the edge of my bed and pulling them up the length of my legs. Avery sat on the middle of my bed, cross legged and waiting with jittery hands.
It wasn't long after I'd woken up for the second time this morning, that I'd decided to stay awake. I'd peacefully made breakfast for myself and phoned Avery to ask if she'd come over, all the while being in the quietness of my home. My mother and father finally off to work for the day, and Hot Mess practicing in the outside room in which they hadn't left since they'd entered it. I took the precious time to myself to play some music, dance around while tiding up my bedroom and bask in the beautiful noise of silence.
"Okay, how about this one. You like?"
I gawked hopefully, really trying to read Avery's expression— which didn't seem to give much. She folded her lips together, a tiny scrunch forming at the bridge of her nose. "I think we should try something else." She staggered out, which immediately led me to undo the fourth pair of pants I'd tried on and rip them from my body.
"So basically there's nothing- oh god, there's nothing! What am-"
"We've only covered tops and pants, we've still got skirt options, dress options. Don't you dare lose hope." She warned, pointing her finger my way as she pushed herself up from the mattress and walked over towards my closet.
As soon as Avery had arrived, in her matching tracksuit and antsy demeanour, she had disclosed that her sister— who was only two years older than we were, was having a raging party, since their parents had decided on a spontaneous trip to their beach house for the week. I dismissed the fact that even if Avery's parents hadn't gone for their trip, they would still have allowed for the party to go ahead and if anything, they would've joined in on it too. They were amazing. They'd always made sure to include me as one of their own and they were quite literally the coolest parents I knew.
This party meant one thing— the first house party of the Summer that I'd voluntarily want to be included in. Both Avery and I were always in our element when it came to house parties, and seeing as it was at her own, it gave us all the more reason to absolutely enjoy it as much as we'd like. The plan was for us to both get ready at mine— an idea that probably didn't make the most sense, but we'd decided to go with it and turn up to the party as if we'd just embarked on the event.
"I'm just- you know when you feel hopeful for the night ahead and already know it's going to be good. I don't feel that. I hardly have anything to wear that'll look half decent and that is not what I need tonight."
"You're completely wrong, like, so wrong it makes me want to scream," Avery huffed, whipping a few dresses from their hangers and throwing them at me, "now I know that you have a majorly impressive wardrobe. So suck it up, put on those dresses, twirl, and let's make a decision. Okay? Because I am so serious when I say we aren't leaving this house until we look disgustingly hot." With widened eyes and a parted mouth, I nodded my head slowly, ripping the top I wore from my body and picking up one of the three dresses that had been thrown to the floor.
As soon as the dress sat in its desired place, I shook my head instantly, "It's itchy, absolutely not." I yelped as I tore it off and threw in behind me. Picking up the next one, making sure to feel the material first and hoping it would satisfy me. It's smooth texture made me hopeful that it could pass as being the one, slipping it on, immediately feeling somewhat comfortable.
"Okay. Okay look what we have here, turn around." Avery clapped, motioning her finger in a circle. I spun around, nervous and itching to know what Avery thought. I skipped over towards the mirror, letting my hands smooth down the dress, it's pink colour gracing the majority of my body, sweeping into a halter style neckline with a white lace trimming along the top and bottom of the dress. I was satisfied with its short length— not too short where everything would be seen, but at the perfect length were the wonder was there.
"This is the fucking one, and with those white platforms over there- oh god yes." Avery shot over towards my sisters boots, a knowing smirk on my face because this would be another thing of hers that I'd be wearing, which led me to think that I had to be okay with her wearing things that were mine.
The struggle to get on the boots were horrific, although as both Avery and I stared in the mirror at the work we'd achieved, we knew it had all been extremely worth it. "See, I fucking knew you'd find something. You look so hot that I'm getting jitters."
"Oh shut up," I cackled, nudging her arm, "but thankyou. Now, you get over there and let me choose from the options you brought." I walked over to the bag she brought with her, shuffling through the many items of clothing that had been stuffed into the small duffle. "Jesus, you brought a shit load. But guess what, I already know what I'm choosing." I slinked out the brown satin skirt, along with the patterned bandeau top and a pair of chocolate brown stilettos that I knew were her favourite.
"You think? This skirt doesn't really scream easy access and-"
"And if someone truly wants some Avery action, the length of the skirt will not matter, okay?"
"Hmm okay. I guess I can hitch it up a little bit." She mumbled to herself in thought, taking her clothes off and trying on the ones I had chosen for her. Once she'd secured each piece into place, delicately turned around and glanced at herself in the mirror, I knew my work was done. Nodding to her figure that looked extremely gorgeous, I rushed over to stand beside her, "I'd wanna get a piece of that." Avery burst out in laughter as my eyes skimmed over her reflection, "I'm serious, Ave! Disgusting hot... check." I motioned my hand as Avery posed in the mirror, our insides giddy and excited for the first house party we would grace with our presence.
Seeing as it was only the afternoon and our preparation skills seemed to be more successful than usual, we both rid ourselves of the clothes we'd decided on— neatly placing them on the space of my bed, and changed ourselves back into our previous clothes. Sitting on the bedroom floor, legs sprawled apart and toes ready to be painted. Avery confident in her choice of a neutral shade and mine of a pale pink.
"So how was yesterday? Get up to much?" She asked, coating her nails with a starting clear polish. My mind hadn't ventured as far as telling Avery about the night prior, even though I'd wanted to, I was worried as soon as it all spewed from my mouth that the specialness of it would have faltered. "Umm, it was okay. We all went out for dinner which... actually then all turned to utter shit, you wouldn't believe who my mother brought as a special guest." Avery bit her bottom lip in thought, bending forward slightly to blow on her toes, "Wait, my mind is running with too many names, you have to tell me."
I let out a dissatisfied breath, "Jax."
"Get the fuck out," She gasped loudly, covering her hand over her mouth, "I actually want to puke. Jax! Oh god no, that's a face I am thankful I haven't seen. Did he look the same? Still an asshole?" I nodded my head instantly to her words, while trying to also concentrate on the first layer of pink my toes now had. "I really wish I was joking. He came at me like some animal, boasting about football and how he loves the exercise and... and how he wanted to take me out."
"Fuck off! Actually fuck off, he's so warped. Please do not tell me you agreed."
"You think I would agree to go out with him?! Him. Never in a million years. He really tried though, bet he thought he was going to scoop me up because my mother and father love him for some reason."
"They're so far up his ass it's not funny Mabel, they always have been. I can't believe she did that to you."
"I can." I fanned my hands over my toes, waiting patiently for the coat to dry so that I could carry on with the next. Avery had her hands behind her, resting on them as she let her toes wiggle, "They shouldn't be doing this kind of shit to you," She sighed, rolling her eyes as she blew up at a piece of hair that had threatened to fall further onto her face, "and so then what happened?" I brought one knee up, leaving the other laying straight on the ground, continuing with a second layer.
"Well, funny story actually. I got up because I couldn't keep sitting there without freaking out, and then, well, Harry came to check on me. He asked if I wanted to get out of there and I said yes. Which surprisingly didn't freak me out as much as I thought it would, he took me to his friends record shop, we just hung out, spoke for a bit, it was actually really nice." Letting out a breath, I peered up at an open mouthed Avery, watching me as her brush lay stagnant. "Harry? This Harry? The hot drummer that lives in your house, Harry?"
"Well I don't know another guy named Harry, so yes, that one."
"He would. He totally would do something so fucking cute like that, of course. Did he lay one on you? Was he the sweetest? I bet he was the sweetest." She squealed out, a love struck gaze covering her eyes as she eased into wonder.
Finishing with the last touches of the polish, I screwed the cap back into the bottle and stretched over towards the ledge of the dresser to place it there. "He was being friendly, Av. A nice person helping another, so no he didn't lay one on me and I wouldn't want him to," I began, immediately thinking that I actually wouldn't be so sure and was more than half way certain that I would want him to, "but it was just, really nice. He's very laid back. Kind of full of himself but, he's allowed to be, he's a rockstar for gods sake."
"Oh he is so allowed to be anything he wants."
"You want to sing his praise any louder?"
"Come on, it only gets me so excited because of how badly I think you two should hook up. Just imagine it, so secretive and hot. Nobody would know, you'd have to make sure that no one sees when you both start fu-"
"Avery!" I gasped, launching a hand forward to signal for her to be quiet, because with her back facing the door, I certainly knew that she had no idea that Jett was now standing patiently with her hand against the doorframe. "What? I'm just saying, think it could be really beneficial since it's been-"
"Oh for fucks sake." I brought a hand to my forehead, sinking in the pits of embarrassment, hoping Jett had only caught the tail end of that. "Now that all of the sexy girls have arrived," Jett began, smiling her way into the room and plonking herself on the bed as Avery stared in understanding, "what are we talkin' about? Oh! Jett by the way, we haven't officially met." She stuck her hand out, towards a guilty looking Avery who then joined her waiting hand with a quiet whisper of her name. "We were just talking about tonight. There's a party at mine, going to be totally bitchin', lots of potential since it's been a while." I internally whined at Avery's cover, even though it only seemed to fuel Jett's excitement further.
"A party? Hmm, okay I could definitely get behind that. I'm a whore for a good party, you guys should see me when- actually you know what? Can I come? Oh, even better, can four more people come? Promise we'll make it worth your while." She winked, her hands rushing up towards her cheeks. I could not think of anything worse, and I really didn't want to, since tonight was supposed to be a very low key situation between Avery and I. The thought of having my sister hovering over my shoulder— even though she'd be rooting for me, was not the kind of house party I wanted to embark on. "Can you guys come?" Avery laughed out, as if it were the stupidest question in the whole world, she spoke again, this time much louder, "Absolutely you guys can fucking come. Oh my god, Hot Mess in my own home?"
"I can assure you it's going to be totally fuckin' rad, don't worry, you won't even notice us there," Jett chimed as she peered towards my worried eyes, "unless it's time to do body shots of course, that's got my name written all over it." Scooting myself back against the dresser, I leant my head back slightly, trying to match the energy of the room but feeling absolutely far from it with the thought of the four of them now being in the same vicinity as a sloppy Avery and I.
"And," Jett drew out, in a long and cheery tone, "if you want a live performance, we can totally fuckin' do it. Actually, we'd love to— if we're not drunk off our tits, that is." She rose up from her seated position on the bed, skipping in between Avery and I's strewn out legs, and headed towards the open door until she turned back around quickly,
"Make sure you both save me dance. Or a drink, or a smoke... or whatever else you have in mind."
In an instant, she was gone. Leaving Avery and I both shocked and mute. "She- did she just- oh my god they're coming. Mabel, do you know what this means?" Avery leant her hands forward, with eyes so serious I could have sworn I'd never seen her more excited. Shaking my head, I frowned, "I really don't want to know that it means." Though it were as if my words travelled through the air and out of the open window, "This means, that you can work your sexy way into his arms. His big, muscly, tattooed arms and I want you to give me every single detail after."
"That is so not happening, he wouldn't go there with me. You want to know why? Because he respects the band too much, and I respect that."
"You can't tell me that if he had the chance, that he wouldn't go in for a tiny little smooch." She insisted, pouting her lips together, as well as letting out a kissing noise. "No he- quit it, I don't need to be on edge about if he'll kiss me. No way, I'm not going to go near him tonight, if he finds me, he finds me. And if not, then I don't care because you and me," I stuck my hand out, gesturing between the both of us, "you and me are going to get wiped out and that is my top priority."