Chapter Fifteen
“You know, you didn’t have to get so upset.”
I blinked. Was he actually speaking to me?
“He didn’t know it was a touchy subject. I didn’t get a chance to explain to them Modest!’s mishap yet,” Harry continued.
My head shook slowly, hardly at all, though I hoped he’d notice the movement anyway. I returned my attention to the city flashing by out my window. The sun glinted off of the sideview mirror of a vehicle parked across the road on a curb and nearly blinded me. “That’s convenient.”
He exhaled long and slow, obviously choosing his next words with care. “Well despite the circumstances and that particular incident, I hope you somewhat enjoyed yourself tonight.”
Though I stubbornly did not respond, my nose wrinkled because admittedly, I did enjoy myself. The boys were so funny. In fact, eventually I had a hard time believing they were as famous as they were; they were so real. If the situation wasn’t as it was, I could easily see myself willingly spending time with them.
But the situation was what it was, and therefore I would never be willingly spending time with them. It would be totally and completely unwillingly.
Harry and I rode in silence the rest of the way, and I momentarily wondered if he was working very hard to come off as civil towards me. That last statement was way too kind for what I deserved; he should be snapping back at me just as I was to him. Or at least ignoring me again. I glowered to my faint reflection in my window as I realized he was clearly the bigger person.
Once again, it was so unbelievably awkward that it was practically tangible. So needless to say, I felt like I’d just accomplished some incredible feat when the SUV finally came to a stop outside Brady’s building.
I opened my mouth to politely thank Harry, but he was already out the door, on his way over to my side. I sighed.
He pulled my door open and held a hand out to assist me, but I ignored it. As I stepped out and straightened my blouse, I muttered, “You don’t have to get my door. Ever.”
He stared blankly at me for a moment.
And after too long with no response and feeling like the biggest jerk on the planet, I added, “But thanks.”
I left him that way as I was impatient and quite frankly harboring no more care. If he wanted to stand there like an idiot, then I’d let him. Quickly I walked, having to put in a conscious effort to not break into a run. The excitement of being home – well, Brady’s home – and away from him was nearly too much. I had to remind myself that none of this nightmare was over yet. It was just beginning.
“Would you just listen to it?”
I swatted away the hand shoving a white CD envelope in my face. “Brady!” I laughed, having to wipe a dribble of food off of my chin.
He chuckled, his brows tilting inward as he pleaded. “Come on!”
“I will, just let me finish my noodles,” I insisted, shoveling another forkful of the chicken-flavored boxed dinner into my mouth. “You know, this is the least luxurious meal I think I’ve had since arriving here.”
Brady pressed a hand to his forehead. “The shame.”
I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”
“Yeah, honey, this is fine.” Mom waved a hand, offering her signature I’d-much-rather-a-steak-but-this’ll-have-to-do smile. Dad rolled his eyes upon seeing it.
“You’re on vacation. I should be pampering you guys with the impossibly delicious meals that I get to enjoy every night.”
“Seriously, get over yourself.”
He shot me a look, and I returned it with one worse.
“Well, we all know whose fault it is that you’re not,” Dad breathed, stuffing the corner of the peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich he’d prepared for himself into his mouth as quickly as possible.
Immediately, my eyes narrowed as Mom and Brady gave me pointed glances. “Okay, screw you all, you have no idea how sick I am of being out in public, and it’s only going to get worse.”
“Lex,” Mom frowned.
I probably shouldn’t have screwed them all aloud, but honestly, this is possibly the last normal meal I’ll get to enjoy before I become Harry Styles’ girlfriend publicly, and I wasn’t about to let it go to waste after what I had to endure earlier. I may have just gotten home two hours ago, but late night suppers used to be a norm with the four of us before Brady left home, and even still with Mom, Dad, and I after. For the first time all summer, despite the awfulness of the entire day leading up to this meal, I felt like nothing had changed; we were still the same family of four sitting around an old mahogany dining room table in a two-story white farm house on McAllister Road.
Only not quite. Because Brady continued to bring up the fact that his fame should allow for us to experience much better delicacies, and I was seriously debating stuffing a forkful of my noodles into his mouth if it’ll shut him up for a bit.
“Well it was a simple request,” I defended myself quietly, spinning my fork around to gather what little remained of my noodles.
My brother sat back in his seat, watching me finish, watching Dad drop a glob of jelly from the back of his sandwich, watching Mom dip her pinky into her soup to see if it was cool enough yet. I stared at him for a moment, but he didn’t notice.
“Hey Brady,” I began, a small smirk lifting the corner of my lips. “How did your dinner go with Lucy?”
“Great,” he responded immediately. “We had lobster.”
I wrinkled my nose. Ew. “Did she look nice?”
His eyes began to narrow as his gears began to turn. Why would I be asking? “I guess?”
“You guess?” Mom cut in. “Lucy’s your hair stylist, right?”
“Yes, she is.” I smiled.
“Well, she always looks nice. I’m sure she looked fantastic, Brady,” Mom continued.
God, this keeps getting better. Satisfaction swelled in my head, blowing it up with possibilities and snarky comments and teases, and my smile began to grow. I felt like the Grinch. “Yeah, Brady.”
He cleared his throat, glancing at the table before meeting my gaze sternly. “She looked good. Why do you ask?”
“Was it a date?”
“No.”
“Are you lying?”
He quirked a brow. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Lex, leave him alone,” Dad said then, a scowl aimed my way. I backed down.
Childishly, my brother needed to have the last word. “Yeah.”
I sighed.
“So what did you think?”
I gazed at my brother’s expectant face; his arms were folded across his chest, his eyes slightly narrowed, his lips pursed – strictly business. Immediately I felt put on the spot as Mom and Dad waited for me to say something before they would.
“Well,” I began, but trailed off.
Brady’s foot tapped the floor once, twice. Three times. “Well what?”
The secretive smile on my face was interrupted by my index finger pressing against my lower lip as I pretended to think about what exactly I wanted to say. Really it was no struggle; the song was amazing. It was a mixture of his old style with a more mature sound, and I loved every bit of it from the lyrics to the chords.
And because I felt as if I’d been rude enough to last me an entire week today, I decided to play nice. “It was like, a million shades of perfect, Brady. I loved it.”
His fingers curled into a fist, which he pumped into the air a couple times, clearly satisfied. Our parents began to nod, agreeing with me though I’m not sure if they really did or not. As much as they’re proud of their son, his music isn’t exactly their taste. However, this song – and I’m assuming the entire album – might come close.
“I can’t wait to hear the rest,” I added, just in case my previous outbursts – most of which they didn’t even get to witness – weren’t quite forgiven yet.
“Well, you can’t until it’s released,” my brother said. “But I’m so glad you like it, Lex.”
And then his arms wrapped around me from the side, and he yanked me into him the way he used to do before he moved out, and though I pretended to be disgusted by it like I used to always be, I secretly enjoyed it so much that I nearly returned the hug. I may hate being here, and I might be angry with him lately more often than not, but it’s so nice having things be somewhat normal again.
Then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this will be the last time this summer that anything will feel somewhat normal, and my smile began to fade. But it was okay, because before anyone could notice, I heard my phone’s text tone from my bedroom.
“Be right back,” I rushed, quickly detangling myself from Brady’s embrace.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I pressed my back against the closed door behind me, grateful for whoever saved me. Hardly anyone has texted me from home since I left; maybe someone finally realizes I’m gone, or something.
Upon picking up my phone, however, I saw that the message was from a number I haven’t got saved on my phone.
Would you be willing to come discuss a few things tomorrow at my place with Louis and I? We didn’t really get a chance to talk earlier.
As I began to type back who is this, I realized with a sinking feeling that I think I did, in fact, know exactly who this was.
And his response confirmed it.
Harry.