A.J.'s POV
The party from the night before was clearly evident when I walked through Harry's living room. There were cups, plates and food everywhere. It's hard to believe that just a few people can make such a large mess. Well, Harry's and my friends and sister, so what did I expect, they could get a little messy. Harry could too, but he was a little more neater compared to the rest.
I went through the kitchen until I found a trash bag, making my way back to the living room. I tried to be as quiet as I could while I stuffed the bag with empty pizza boxes, beer bottles and, plastic cups and paper plates. Once all the trash had been picked up, I made my way back to the kitchen, laying the bag near the trashcan.
Once I was satisfied enough with the cleaning, I slipped into Harry's room, he was still asleep. I was tempted to wake him, but I couldn't, he enjoyed his sleep and I knew how much he hated waking up early. Instead I went through the dresser and closet, looking for the clothes he said he had gotten for me. I couldn't find anything, so I settled for some of his sweatpants and an old t-shirt and headed to his bathroom.
I showered and got dressed quickly, when I came out of the bathroom, Harry was sitting up in the middle of the bed rubbing his eyes.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," I grinned.
He looked at me with sleepy eyes and a giant smile. "You're awake." His arms opened, gesturing for me to go to him.
I walked over to him and climbed onto the bed. He pulled me into his body, wrapping his arms around me and kissing the top of my head. I wanted to tell him he smelled amazing, but decided against it. "Go back to sleep," I rubbed his biceps, trying to comfort him.
"No, you're awake already," he murmured into my hair.
I kissed the bare skin on his chest. "It's fine," I sat him, pulling away from him slightly so I could see him. "I'll make breakfast while you finish waking up."
I pushed his hair back, placing a kiss on his plump, dark pink lips. Instead of it being a sweet and innocent kiss like I had intended, it became heated and intense. His mouth opened, letting me in, his large hands gripped my hips, sitting me on his lap as he leaned back slightly. I tangled my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer to me.
"We need to stop," I mumbled against his lips, but not really stopping.
"Why?" He mumbled back, kissing me further. His hands moving from my hips to my backside, gripping me slightly,
I gave into him momentarily before pushing him away slightly. "Because there is a lot of people here, including both our sisters and both our friends," I pointed out.
"We can be quiet," he grinned, kissing my neck.
I moaned quietly, gripping his shoulders. "Harry, please," I begged.
I didn't want him to stop, not at this stage anyway. But he did. "Fine, but you owe me now," he grinned wickedly.
I kissed him briefly, wrapping my arms around his neck. He let his head drop, his forehead resting on my chest. I pressed my lips into his hair as I ran my fingers through it.
I was finally able to escape Harry's grip, heading to the kitchen and starting breakfast while he showered and got ready. I put on a large pot of coffee just in case the others woke up, if not, I was more than happy to drink it myself. I wasn't much of a coffee drinker, but I had an odd feeling that I was going to need it today.
"Oh, god, this is what heaven looks like," Niall chuckled as he entered the kitchen.
He sat on a stool, grabbing a few pieces of bacon.
"Coffee?" I asked.
I nodded, grabbing a mug and served him some coffee, handing him the mug and sliding over the sugar and cream, just in case. He added sugar, stirring it before taking a sip.
Soon enough the rest of the house was awake and having breakfast, sitting around the island, the table or on a counter. Wherever they could find a place. I watched on, Odie seemed to be getting along well with Lottie. Their names sounded funny together. Odie, Lottie. Lottie, Odie. A tongue twister for sure.
The doorbell rang, interrupted our breakfast. Harry disappeared, moments later reappearing with a beautiful, dark haired woman by his side.
I heard what sounded like Gemma say "mom", getting up from her spot to give the woman a hug and the rest of the group greeted her as "Anne". Crap. It was Harry's mom. His mom was here. Now. In his apartment. Were I was. Here. Now. In his apartment.
I felt a sudden tension in my chest, making it harder for me to breathe. I was beginning to panic. It wasn't till Harry was at my side, that I felt more at ease. It was a sort of routine of our now.
"Mum, this is my girlfriend," he paused for a minute, not sure what name to call me. "Katarina Sloan," he decided. "Katarina, this is my mum, Anne Twist."
He stood there with his hands behind his back, teeter tottering on his feet. Looking back and forth between the two of us.
I extended my hand towards her. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs..."
"Call me Anne, sweetheart," she said, taking my hand, shaking it slightly before pulling my into a hug. Which caught me off guard.
She was warm. Not physically, but something about her made me feel safe and a sense of belonging. This is where Harry and Gemma probably got it from. Both of them radiated of kindness just like she did. She finally let me go, rubbing my arms lightly before pulling away completely. Harry introduced her to Sam and my sister before she went off to greet everyone else.
I stood nervously off to the side, not knowing what to do with myself while Harry's mom made conversation with everyone, including my sister. I felt an arm wrap around my torso. I looked to my side to see who it was, finding Gemma with a wide smile.
"He didn't tell you she was coming. Did he?" She whispered. I shook my head. "That little brat," she rolled her eyes. "It's okay, she doesn't bite," she smiled before letting me go and sitting next to her mom.
Not long after that, their mom gestured her hand for me to come over. I took a second to contemplate it before untimely walking over and talking the empty spot across from Anne and Gemma.
"So, the boys have told me that you are quite a girl," Anne smiled. "And you're not afraid to put Harry in his place when he needs it."
I looked over to the so called "boys", all of the except Niall, who had a wide grin, looked away.
"Don't worry," she called my attention away from them. "Sometimes he needs it, and I don't mind if you do that with the rest of them either. God knows they need it," she chuckled.
I smiled, chuckling along with her.
We eventually slipped into an easy conversation. Mostly about my work and family and what not. Like with Harry, it was easy to talk to Anne. She was quite funny too, not Harry's particular brand of funny where you laughed so hard because what he said never really made sense, but she was actually genuinely funny.
After about three hours, everyone left, except for me and Odie. Anne and Gemma wanted to spend some mother, daughter time alone, and the rest wanted to go home and go back to sleep. Though Samara went with Niall, so I doubted they were going to actually going to go take a nap.
I made Odie help me clean up while I washed the mountain of dishes and Harry went around cleaning the rooms that were used the night before. Odie had complained the whole time, which was to be expected, she was used to having a maid around to clean up after her. Not that it was her fault, my mom sort of didn't let her lift a finger for anything. Unlike with my dad and his dad, who made it a chore. I sometimes felt a little jealous of that, but got over it quickly whenever I saw how bratty Nina was and who Odie could get if she slipped.
Once we were all finished cleaning up, I went to my purse, pulling out my phone to check it. I had a few missed calls from my mom, stepdad, his assistant, my grandpa and his assistant. I rolled my eyes, annoyed that they were calling so much. Obviously if I hadn't answered them in that moment, I would eventually get back to them when I could.
"What does mom want?" I asked Odie when she sat on the couch across from me.
"I don't know, she hasn't called me," she shrugged, looking at her phone.
"She's blowing up my phone, so is Victor and grandpa," I pouted tossing my phone to the side.
We stared at each other for a long moment. She was giving me a look, waiting for me to cave, which didn't really take long. I stuck my tongue out at her, grabbing my phone and calling each one of them back.
Harry's POV
Half the day was gone and I felt like I hadn't spent any time with Katarina, at all. Though I was glad that my mum loved her and Katarina seemed to like her too. I was a little worried about that, I don't know what I would have done if my mum didn't like her. Which was highly unlikely since Katarina was easy to love, but you never know with mum's. I was also glad that she and Gemma got on from the start. If anyone was harder to impress than my mum, it was my sister.
I walked over to the living room, sitting down next to Katarina, who automatically stood up and left the room when I did. I looked over at Odette, asking a silent question as to why her sister just did that.
"She's talking to my mom," she answered, annoyance laced in her voice.
I wondered if she too had a friction with their mother. Though it didn't seem so. She seemed to be a more well put together version of her older sister. I loved Katarina, but I knew she was rough around the edges and her parents had a lot to do with that.
"Now that we're alone," she sat up from her spot on the couch. "I have some questions for you dimples."
"Ask away, grey," I laughed.
"Grey?" Her face scrunched up in confusion.
"Your eyes," I pointed to her face.
Her lips opened, forming an 'o' as she connected the dots. "Well, I'm sure Sam and Chris have done this already, but now it's my turn."
"You gonna threaten me too?"
"No, sir. That was implied the moment you asked her out, but I'm pretty sure my sister can handle herself," she shrugged. "I had to learn it from somewhere. Besides, I don't think you would hurt her."
"So, what do you have to ask me?" I sat up, matching her pose.
She inhaled deeply, "I want to know why you like my sister?"
"What do you mean?" I was confused by her question.
"It's a simple question and how you answer is very important to me." The amusement from her eyes was no longer there, it was replaced by seriousness and genuine concern.
I sat closer to the edge of the couch for a moment thinking about how to answer.
"I don't like your sister," I finally answered.
Her eyes got wider, like they were about to pop out of their sockets, anger was beginning to take over her.
"Let me finish," I tried to calm her. "Odette, I don't simply like her," I continued. I took a deep breath, "I am in love with her." I said, letting the words slip from me for the first time. They sounded better out loud than they did in my head.
"But, why?" She pressed.
I thought about her question again, not knowing how to answer.
"Please do not say, it's because she's beautiful," she rolled her eyes. "Cause I heard that one before and that one ended up... Well, you're here so you can imagine how that went."
"No, no. Of course not," I laughed. "I don't think I could put it into words, not just yet, not in a way that you or anyone else could understand at least," I finally answered.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, tilting her head to the side. "Alright, Horowitz, I accept that for now."
"Horowitz?" I felt my face make a weird expression, not sure how to act. "What the hell?"
"Language Harold. Language. I'm just a child."
"You weren't just a child when you were swearing like a sailor last night."
"You're lucky I like you or else something else would have come out," she shrugged.
"Is Harry such a hard name?" It seemed like the more time passed, the less I was being called by my own name.
She shrugged again, looking up behind me. I followed her eyes, an angry Katarina walked back into the living room, sitting down next to her sister. Odette automatically leaned into her, twisting her hand into hers. I watched as Katarina's anger melted away quickly, leaning down and kissing the top of her little sisters head.
"Everything okay?" I dared to ask.
"Fine, just a crazy family," Katarina mumbled at me.
I decided not to ask any more questions, her expression was almost like the one she had last night. If I did ask anything, she might get even more upset. Instead I grabbed a few movies and a few bowls of ice cream and snacks. I had planned on a fun day for the three of us, that way Katarina could spend time with her sister and I wouldn't have to be apart from her too long. But, this would have to do.
"Kit, your stupid phone keeps ringing, answer it before I break it." she tossed the cell phone to Katarina.
"Who is it?" Katarina asked.
"Some guy named, Stephen," she before getting up and heading towards the kitchen.
I looked at Katarina, who wasted no time in answering him. I watched in disbelief as she walked away from me to take the call. Why was he calling her this late? Why was he even calling her at all? Most importantly, why was she taking his calls? Not that she needed my permission to talk to anyone, but this was different. This was, Stephen, she knew how much we hated each other, or at least it should have been clear enough by now.
I got up from my spot and began to pace around the living room, I wasn't being able to stay still. Almost an hour had passed by, Odette and I had decided to start dinner and Katarina was still on the phone with, Stephen. I tried to stay calm and not snap in front of her, god knows Katarina wouldn't let it go if I lost it in front of her little sister. Their relationship was odd. It was quite noticeable that they were sisters, their physical form, eye, and skin color were different, but they shared the same features. Odette looked like a, grey eyed, lighter complexioned, shortened version of Katarina.
Once I had given up on the entire "give her space and stay calm" nonsense, I decided to look for, Katarina. I was pleased yet annoyed that she was in the first place that I had looked‒ my room. She was sitting on my bed, still on her phone, laughing. I tried to contain my anger, but it was becoming harder and harder. She said a goodbye before hanging up and looking up at me, confused.
"What's wrong?" She had the nerve to ask.
"You know exactly what's wrong, why are you talking to him?"
"What? You mean, Stephen? He's just‒ oh god Harry, I'm sorry," she said as she got up making her way towards me, but I stepped back. "Harry, that was my stepdad's assistant, he wanted to‒ it doesn't matter. Just, it wasn't who you think," she tried to reassure me.
I watched her as she spoke, trying to decide if she was being honest with me or not. "Harry. I don't even have his number and he doesn't have mine, this is my work phone," she said, stepping towards me again. This time I didn't move as her hand came up to cup my face, tenderly with her small, soft hands. "Even if it was him, I wouldn't have answered him, especially if I was with you."
"So you would answer it if I weren't here?" I asked, stepping away from her once more.
She dropped her hands from my face, her tender nature turning to agitation. "That's not what I meant and you know it, but since you want to act like a brat, you can do it alone. I'm not doing this with you, Harry, not when I have my little sister in the other room," she spoke as she grabbed her things from my room before walking out into my kitchen where Odette was sitting down, looking through her phone.
A brat, she just called me a brat! Who even say that to another person? I was not being a brat. I was being reasonably cautious, I thought.
Odette was about to speak when Katarina cut her off, "hey, we gotta get going," she said, a smile in place, but I could tell she was pissed.
"What? Why?" Odette said, putting her phone down on the table.
"I have some work stuff that I need to take care of and Chris send me a text, he wants to take you out for dinner and Harry is going to be busy," she lied. I leaned against the kitchen island watching her, I knew she was upset, yet she hid it so well behind a fake smile. It was still beautiful, but it was still fake, lacking the general kindness and love that was usually behind her smiles. I knew this was for her sister's sake, if it were just us two, she would have been more honary and put me in my place.
Odette happily got up, heading towards the bedroom they had shared the night before to gather their things.
"Can I get my things from your car before we go?" She asked, without looking at me as she picked up the ice cream bowls and placing them in the sink.
"I'll take you guys home."
"No, that's alright. I couldn't make it through an entire car ride with‒," before she could finish her sentence, Odette came back into the kitchen.
"Well, let's get going," I said, taking Katarina's hand in mine, intertwining our fingers. I took advantage of the fact that she wouldn't say anything in front of her sister. I idly wondered why this was.
The entire way from my kitchen to my car, was made up of Katarina trying to let go of my hand and shooting me death glares through those fake smiles that no one but me could see through. I hated this side of her, I wish she would just yell or put me in my place, this side of her was driving me crazy. The only true smile that ever escaped her, was when Odette said something about the stuffed animals in my back seat that caused all of us to laugh, the glimmer in her eyes re-appearing, momentarily, before her eyes came back to meet mine, a fake, sad smile taking it's place.
I watched her from my peripheral, absent mindedly twirling the cross pendant on the necklace I had given her not only two nights ago. As I watched her, I prayed that she wasn't thinking about breaking up with me.
"It was nice meeting you, Harold," Odette said, exiting my car before I had even come to a complete stop, which earned a few choice words from Katarina before she ran up the front steps, climbing over Chris like a monkey child, who was waiting at the front door.
Katarina and I both sat there in silence, not knowing what exactly to say. I knew if I spoke up now, I would only say something stupid that would probably make her even more upset with me. On the other hand, if I stayed quiet, I risked her feeling hurt.
"Thank you for everything, especially, Odie," Katarina finally spoke up, quietly, only smiling at the mention of her sister's name before her smile fell. I nodded slightly, still not comfortable to speak up.
As she exited my car, I realized that the stuffed animals I had gotten her on our date were still in the trunk, where Odette had stashed them when she got in the back seat the night before. "Wait, aren't you going to take your souvenirs?" I asked, turning off my car, making my way to the back, opening the trunk. I watched her as she debated with herself, before she made her way to the back of the car with me.
I silently walked with her to her door as we carried the stuffed animals under our arms. She opened the door, setting down the two she was carrying before taking the two that I had, thanking me quietly.
"I'll call you later?" My statement coming out more like a question.
"It's okay, you don't have to," she said quietly as she gave me a small peck on my cheek before slipping through the door, closing it behind her.
I stood there for a few minutes, thinking about what had just happened. Part of me felt like she had just broken up with me. Maybe if her sister wasn't there, she might have. I wanted to knock on her door and talk to her and make everything better, but I knew if we spoke now, we would just end up fighting. I decided to leave, I would call her later when I had a chance to cool down and not be so angry.
A.J.'s POV
I stayed with my back against my door, I felt tears threatening to come to the surface, but I fought them back. This was not the time to deal with Harry's antics, I hadn't seen my sister in almost two months, she was my priority. Whatever was to happen with Harry would have to wait, I would make a decision sooner or later, but for now, I needed to forget about him.
After I left my things in my room, I made my way through the house, looking for my small dysfunctional, makeshift family, until I found them in the kitchen. Odie was on Chris' back, I couldn't tell if he was giving her a piggy back ride or if they were wrestling. All the while Samara was laughing as she was taking pictures with her phone. I quickly realized that they had ganged up on him, which usually happened when those two got together. I felt bad for Chris, but I quickly got over it, his big mouth was usually the one to get him into trouble, so, whatever was happening to him now, was most likely his own fault.
Once they had calmed down and we decided where to go for dinner, we all headed off to get ready. Because I didn't take as long to get ready, I laid on my bed, sending my stepdad's assistant the information he needed before we headed out and I forgot.
"You feeling okay?" Chris asked as he entered my room, laying down on my bed next to me.
"Yeah, I think I need a nap, though."
"No naps, come on perk up, it's two against one out there, I need my partner."
"Well if you stop messing with them, they'd leave you alone."
"But, there's no fun in that."
I shook my head and rolled my eyes, only he would enjoy being tortured. "Than don't complain," I hit him with the pillow I was hugging.
"Are you ready for your family to come over?" Chris asked, knowing I wasn't.
"I guess so, they're only going to be here for a few days, so I'm not too worried about it, besides I have Odie alone for an entire week before they get here, so that's a plus."
He kissed my forehead before getting up from the bed, "come on, let's get this show on the road."
I followed him to where the girls were waiting. As much as I was smiling, I felt like I wanted to cry. I hated this feeling that I couldn't quite explain, I couldn't decide if I was sad, angry, or happy. All the uncertainty made me feel overwhelmed causing the heat in my body to rise, making me feel like I had a fever. Up until I had met Harry, I was clear about my feelings, things were pretty much black and white, yes or no. There was no in between and no maybe's. Now, with Harry, I was always confused, never sure what I should do or say. Part of me knew that this was a disaster in the making and that nothing good could come from this, but, the rebellious side in me, didn't really care too much about "the right thing to do".
As annoyed as I was with Harry at the the moment, I knew I'd eventually get over it, after a few choice words, of course. He would have to tell me why he hated the mere idea of, Stephen, otherwise, I would never be able to understand his behavior.