"We should go out for dinner," Beau suggests as he walks around the kitchen. It was only the girls and Beau in the kitchen now.
"We should!" Gigi grins. "We should celebrate."
"Celebrate what?" Sierra says from behind the counter. "We lost."
"Not the game, the fact that we're here!"
"Going out would be nice," I say, "And we wouldn't have to wash the dishes tonight."
"Good point," Zoey says, "I'm in."
"I know a really great Italian restaurant," Gigi says. "I'll make the reservation!"
She walks away in a hurry, not bothering to wait for our responses. She was obviously very excited about this plan. We all shrug and not bother to stop her. We were all unfamiliar with the area so we trusted her judgement. Besides, we could never say no to Italian food.
"Reservation for what?" Adam says as he joins us. The guys reluctantly follow behind him, still talking and cheering about the game.
"We're going out for dinner," Beau answers.
"Oi," Niall joins in. "Where to?"
"An Italian restaurant," Sierra replies as she takes out the leftovers from last night.
"Well, since we're going out for dinner, we should have a light lunch," Zoey says, walking around the island to go to the kitchen cabinets. "Sandwiches anyone?"
We all nod and agree, too hungry to really care what we eat. We break up into different duties. Zoey and Maggie were in charge of toasting the bread, Bella and Beau washed and cut the lettuce, Adam and Zayn lightly cooked the ham and boloney in a buttered pan, Niall cut the onion, and I was in charge of cutting the tomatoes. Louis and Liam set the table and made sure the area was clean while Gigi was still on call with the restaurant. And much to his dismay, Harry was in charge of slicing the avocados.
"Avocados ruin a lot of great sandwiches," he says.
I couldn't help but snicker as I hear how serious he is.
"Mate, they make it even better," Niall says.
"I don't feel comfortable doing this."
"Everyone here wants avocados, bruv," Zayn says with an amused smile.
"You don't speak for everyone."
"Alright," Zayn turns to face everyone, "who wants avocado in their sandwich?"
Everyone raises their hand, trying to hide their smile as the look at Harry. I hold back a laugh as I slowly raise my own hand and glance at him. Harry looks at us and slowly shakes his head. He grabs a cutting board and knife and starts cutting the avocados with a small scowl on his face.
"Animals," he mutters.
We all finish up preparing the sandwiches pretty quick since everyone helped out. We each make our own and grab a drink before going to sit at the table. I try not to flush when Harry chooses to sit next to me. It was hard not reacting being near a beautiful man like him. I know I wasn't supposed to feel these things but it's not like I couldn't control it. It's what I decide to do with them that matters anyway. Feelings are just feelings until you act on them.
"Let's get down to business," Louis says, "The lads won so we get to pick rooms first."
"Not so fast," Gigi says, "Don't forget that the one who makes the winning point gets to choose before everyone else."
"They also choose their roommate," Beau adds with a small smirk. "This is gonna be good."
"That was indeed the deal," Louis says then turns to Harry, who was stuffing his sandwich into his mouth. "So, which room will it be?"
"He's obviously going to pick the master bedroom," Liam says, "or the opportunity will be wasted."
Harry sarcastically smiles at Liam, swallowing his food. "How ever did you know?"
I hold back laughter. I don't know why but Harry has been very sarcastic to Liam. I find it funny because I don't even think Liam realizes this.
"So you're choosing the biggest, best bedroom in this entire house?" Louis asks him.
Harry nods. "I am."
"Great. Who's the lucky lad that also gets the room? May I remind you that I am one of your best mates."
"Oi, so am I!" Niall says.
"Harry, mate," Zayn says, "I think it should be me. I was your roommate in uni after all, makes sense for me to be your roommate now."
"Don't listen to him," Louis quickly says, "it's time for a change. Someone new, someone better."
"Me," Niall quickly says, "We were friends first."
"Hey," Gigi jumps in, "the only person more qualified to share the room than you guys is me." She turns to Harry with a small pout. "Your baby sister."
"Let's just pick names out of a hat," Liam suggests.
"No, what the hell?" Gigi says, "I deserve the best room with Harry. It's our parent's house. You all wouldn't be here if it wasn't for us and our legacy."
"Oh, my god," Bella mumbled under breath, trying to hold back a laugh.
Beau snorts quietly. "Did she just say 'legacy'?"
The rest of us sit and enjoy this back-and-forth talk while we eat our sandwiches. This was all very entertaining for us.
"Who do you think he's going to pick?" Beau asks as he leans in towards me.
"My bet is on Niall," I whisper back. "He's proving himself to be a strong candidate."
"I think it's going to be G," Bella joins in.
"Really?" Beau looks back at Harry and the ones campaigning for themselves. "I think Zayn might get it. I mean, he can get it, you feel?"
The voices of the four trying to convince Harry to choose them are still going on in the background. Harry just sits back in his chair and looks at each of them as they make their statements while he eats his sandwich, hiding a small smile.
"I wouldn't want to face Gigi's wrath if she didn't get picked," Bella adds.
"I don't know," Adam says after he leans in next to Beau, "Louis is putting up a hell of a fight."
"Gigi, babes, I hate to break to to you," Louis tells her, "but you haven't seen your big bro in a while. He's changed, you've changed. It's time for a change."
"Pick me." Zayn dismisses Louis' argument with an eye roll. "We could use the same system we used back then. It'd go baby smooth."
"H," Niall jumps in again, "we've known each other the longest time. We're like two peas in a pod, wouldn't ya say?"
"We've known each other for the longest time," Gigi says, "or was he there for your birth too?"
"Alright," Harry stops them before they all end up selling their souls to him. "You all make excellent points. Very valid."
"Shit is about to go down," Beau whispers. He looked excited and honestly, so was I. The anticipating was killing me.
The four of them smile and look very pleased with themselves. I can tell each of them was confident Harry would pick them over the other. But what Harry said next no one saw coming.
"But I think Lacey should get the room."
My eyes widen and my whole face grows confused by his statement. I turn to look at him as everyone turns to look at me.
"What?!" Louis, Niall, Zayn and Gigi say simultaneously in the same surprised and shocked tone.
"What?" My mouth felt heavy as I spoke, blinking at Harry, unsure if I heard him correctly.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Beau says, high-fiving Bella.
"What a twist," Bella says with a chuckle as they both lean in like they're watching a movie.
"I'm sorry," Gigi says with a humorless laugh, "I don't think I heard you correctly, Harry."
"I pick her to get it," Harry repeats with a small shrug. He pops a chip in his mouth before nodding and looking at everyone and the chaos he caused, like he wasn't bothered by the reactions.
"A-as your roommate?" Louis asks.
"I'm giving the room to her. She could pick whomever she wants to share it with."
"Is.. is that allowed?" Niall asks everyone else, a very confused look on his face.
We all sat around, quiet and confused, trying to come back from this unexpected turn of events. They looked at me searching for the answer but I was just as confused at them. Why did he say that? Why is he giving me the room?
"Well," Louis slowly says, "he was the one to make the rules of the bet but I-I don't know."
"Look, I made the winning point, right?" Harry begins to explain.
"You sure did," Beau says with a small sigh.
"Well, the winning point hurt Lacey." He looks at me with a playful gleam in his eyes. "And I have a heavy guilt in my heart for that. It's only fair that you get the room."
"Aww!" Bella and Beau exclaim.
I gulp nervously and start shaking my head, completely caught off guard. "No, I don't want it."
I hear exclaims of confusion and shock.
"Are you batshit crazy?" I hear Beau say.
"What is happening?!" Niall almost shouts.
"Lacey, are you listening to yourself?!" Gigi asks, her eyes wide.
"Can I have it then?" Louis asks.
"You won it," I tell Harry, ignoring everyone, "it's only fair that you get it."
"But Lacey-"
"Don't take pity on me," I interrupt Harry, glancing down at my covered stomach, "besides, it doesn't even hurt anymore."
I let out a loud yelp as Harry suddenly wraps his arm around my stomach with no warning. He only pressed a light pressure against the bandaged area but it was enough for me to wince at the pain.
"Looks like it still hurts to me," Harry says smugly as he pulls his arm away, calling me out on my shit.
I roll my eyes, mostly at myself. "Well, I don't accept the room so.."
I hear Harry lowly chuckle beside me. "Fine. Let's compromise."
I turn to him with furrowed brows and wait for him to continue.
"If it was me that got the room," Louis begins to say, "I wouldn't need to compromise shit."
"Same here," Zayn agrees.
"Yeah, Lacey, why the hell would you turn it down?" Liam asks me.
I ignore them and turn back to Harry. "What's the compromise?"
"I'll take the room," he says, mischievous green eyes boring into mine, "but only if you share it with me."
"What?" Gigi says with a lower voice.
"Oh, shit," Beau gasps and grips his cup of water at yet another turn of events.
My heart has never beat this fast before. The words coming out of Harry's mouth and the look he was giving me made me all jittery on the inside. I had no idea how big the effect he had on me really was. Even by just sitting next to me, I felt like I was having heart palpitations. How can I ever be in the same room everyday as him without dying? And how can I share it with someone who's still a stranger to me?
More importantly, would I be respecting Gigi's boundaries if I agreed?
"It's only fair that she rests in a nice, comfortable room," Harry tells everyone.
"Oi, mate, I was hit with the ball too!" Niall says, "Where's my invite?"
"I was hit too!" Maggie joins in.
"Niall, you hit yourself with the ball," Zayn tells him with a laugh.
Harry turns back to me. I'm still looking back at him with the same confused and shocked expression.
"Just agree, Lacey. If you don't, I will live with this guilt inside of me for the rest of my life."
"Oh, my god, I can't take this, this is too much for my poor heart," Beau squeals and hold onto Bella's hands as they look at me.
I can't hold back the small smile as I hear how friendly and nice Harry was being. Why was he doing this to me? I can still hear the seriousness in his voice, which made it that much harder for me to turn him down. I let out a sigh.
"You say you want it to be fair, right?"
He slightly tilts his head, seemingly confused by my question but answers anyway by nodding his head.
"I'll share the room with you," I begin to say. Everyone has excited reactions, until I immediately make them quiet again. "But only until the bruise is gone."
"Wait, what?" Harry asks, not expecting me to say that.
"Deal?"
"Lacey-"
"Deal." I smile and look away, not caring if he agreed or not.
"Oh, my god," Beau says, "What just happened?"
"Holy shit," Liam chuckles. "That was some crazy shit."
"Adam, can you please pass me a napkin?" I ask him as the stack is right in front of him. He looks a me for a second before taking one and handing it over to me. "Thanks."
I try to eat the rest of my food but it's hard to do it under so many eyes. I felt so odd having to share a room with Harry, especially with Gigi around. I was already feeling something for him, I didn't want that to evolve into something more by being a room all by ourselves. I figure the only way around this was for it to be temporary. I wouldn't have a bruise for more than a week. I can handle that. At least I hoped I could.
"Alright, I guess that's settled then," Louis breaks the silence. "How many rooms are left?"
"Five," Zoey answers.
"The rest of us get to choose next," Liam says, referring to himself and the guys.
"Should we just go with what we discussed earlier?" Zayn asks. The rest of the guys look at each other and nod.
"So," Louis announces, "Niall and I will take a room with a queen bed."
"Continuing tradition, eh?" Harry says to them.
"I've already had enough of him in uni, but no one else stepped up to the plate and wanted to room with him," Niall says with a playful smile.
"More like the other way around, dick," Louis retorts with a laugh.
"My bro Zayn and I will take a room with the twin beds and the pull-out couch," Liam says. "We were generous enough to leave you guys with the rest of the rooms with queen beds."
"A queen for a queen," Beau says and turns to the girls, "who am I sharing with?"
"I definitely want a queen," Sierra says.
"Same here," Zoey says, "we all can share! We'll fit. The beds are crazy huge."
"I'll take a queen for sure," Gigi says.
"Wanna be roomies?" Maggie asks and Gigi agrees with a grin and nod.
"That leaves a room with two twins."
"Roomies!" Bella says to Adam when she realizes they're the only ones left and they high-five each other.
I nudge Bella as the other continue to chat. "I can just switch with Adam later."
"Are you really going to stay there temporarily?"
I give her a shrug as an answer and a slight nod.
"We'll see," she says with a certain tone before turning her face away.
I was confused with her reaction but not for long as I hear a voice right next to my ear.
"You're really stubborn, you know that?"
I turn and look up at Harry, giving him a light scoff.
"I thought you knew already that from all your psychological tests."
His smirk slightly drops. I didn't realize how witty I can be until I exchanged more than three sentences with Harry. With him, I feel like it all comes to me quickly.
"If I did, I would've chosen a better roomie, roomie."
He stands with his empty plate and cup and walks off before I could respond. I feel my jaw slightly drop and I watch his broad back move into the kitchen.
I'm definitely not more quick-witted than him.
When I turn my head back, my eyes immediately stare into Gigi's. I nervously gulp when she just looks at me with a face that shows no emotion. I give her a small smile before quickly looking down and finishing my food. I shouldn't have agreed to sharing a room with Harry. Even if I wasn't planning on doing anything with him, I just dug myself into a giant hole. One ten times bigger than the bruise on my stomach.
-
The mix of waking up early, playing an intense game of volleyball and getting hit with a ball made me want to take a nap. I left unnoticed just as we all wrapped up with lunch. I go upstairs into my (temporary) room and change into a pair of sweats. I let out a yawn as I sit on the bed. I wince slightly when I lay down. My bruise acted up when I moved this way. I lifted my shirt up to see how it's doing. I carefully peel the bandage off, gritting my teeth as the adhesive is still fresh on my stinging skin.
I am only able to get halfway before I have to stop, breathing in and out quickly. I look at the bruise I am able to see behind the part of the bandage I just took off. It's still a deep purple color with a yellow-green tint. I stick the part of the bandage I took off back on my skin and pull down my shirt. I sigh before getting comfortable underneath the covers and only spend a few minutes with my eyes closed before drifting off to a deep sleep.
-
"Lacey," I hear a voice coo in my ear. I feel my eyes slightly twitch but remain close. I could feel myself going back to my slumber until I hear that voice again. "Lace, wake up!"
My eyes peel open and immediately meet with blue-green ones.
"Good morning," Gigi chirps and chuckles at me.
I breathe in deeply and shift underneath the covers, turning on my side and closing my eyes. I'm still very sleepy and tired.
"No," she says before I feel her turn me back on my side, "you have to get up. We have an hour before we leave for dinner."
"Mhmm," I mumble. My eyes are still half closed since my body or my brain haven't fully woken up yet.
"Don't make me tickle you."
That makes my eyes open wide. I absolutely hate being tickled because I am extremely ticklish. If she started tickling me now with my bruise on my stomach, I would experience more pain than pleasure.
"You're up!" She laughs and lifts her hands up in victory.
I carefully sit up, letting out a yawn. I look around the room as I blink the grogginess away. It's much darker than before. It looks like the sun has gone down behind the closed white curtains. It feels like it's been 10 hours since I first laid on this bed.
"What time is it?"
"Almost 6," she answers as she takes my hands and makes me stand up. "Reservation is at 7:30 so let's go!"
She rushes me out of the room and into the one she and Maggie are staying in. Bella and Beau were laying on the bed on their phones with a green face mask on. Sierra was applying her makeup in front of the large mirror in the corner. Maggie was straightening her hair next to an outlet near the window. I could see Zoey in the bathroom coating her curls with hair products.
"Is this restaurant fancy?" I ask, suddenly feeling like I needed to start getting ready from head to toe.
"Not that fancy," Gigi replies, "but I wouldn't wear jeans and flip flops."
"But G," Liam says, startling me as he appeared right behind me, "that's what I was gonna wear!"
"Everyone who lives around here is rich, snobby and judgmental. You'll probably get banned if you show up dressed like you're going to a barbecue."
"Don't ever dress like that, Liam," Beau tells him, scrunching his face at the thought of Liam wearing jeans and flip flops. "Not tonight, not ever."
He groans and walks away, mumbling something underneath his breath. I spot my bag and suitcase in a corner of the room. I frown, not remembering when brought my stuff back in here from the other room.
"I brought your stuff in here," Gigi says with a laugh when she realizes how confused I must have looked staring at my pile of things.
"Oh," I tell her with a small chuckle. I don't really know why she did that but I guess it was so I don't have to go back and forth from this room to the other.
"I tried waking you up, like, a hundred times until I gave up and let you sleep for 20 more minutes."
"How long was I out?" I ask as I make my way to my things.
"3 hours, I think."
I nod in response, feeling slightly more awake as I dig into my stuff to find my makeup bag. I leave it on the bed then I walk to the bathroom that Zoey was now walking out of.
"Hey Lace," she smiles at me. "How are you feeling?"
"Not too bad," I smile back. "I'm gonna take a quick shower but I'll leave the door unlocked so you guys can come if you need something in here."
I move into the bathroom once they acknowledge what I said. I need to fully wake up and clean myself off of my day at beach, feeling like I still had sand everywhere. My hair was also pretty tangled up and felt crunchy from the water. I let out a yawn as I stand underneath the warm water, slowly soothing the tiredness away. The only bad thing about taking naps is that you can feel so disoriented when you wake up and you feel like you missed so much when you were asleep.
I feel more refreshed than ever after I'm done. I take a seat next on the bed, wearing a big t-shirt and comfy shorts while my hair was wrapped in a towel. I start applying face moisturizer, not realizing how burnt my face got from the sun today until I felt the cooling sensation the lotion was giving me.
"Remember how we used to get ready for all of our big school events?" Bella says as she gets up and walks across the room to the bathroom.
We nod and recount the fun times we've had getting ready for parties and going out together. We used to have a serious system back when we were all in high school together for the big events, especially during senior year. We'd managed to bring down the time it takes for all of us to get ready, which was one of our proudest accomplishments.
"This brings back so many prom flashbacks," Gigi says.
"Oh, god," Beau says, getting up to wash his face mask off, "Don't remind me about prom, especially the after party."
"Oh, god, the after party," Bella laughs as she walks out of the bathroom with her face mask gone.
"At least, we looked good," Zoey laughs.
"Yeah, we were all cooped up in Bella's room trying to hurry," Sierra laughs as she refreshes our memories.
"We might have been a tad late to prom but we looked good as hell," Gigi says as she fills in her eyebrows.
I decide to keep my makeup look simple. I didn't feel like I had enough time to do something nice and pick out an outfit before we leave. I started applying a tint to my skin when Adam opens the door and pops his head in.
"You guys, isn't it true that I have over 50 pairs of sneakers?"
"It is," Bella answers.
"Aha! Did you hear that, Niall?!" He says as he runs out, making us laugh.
"Is that what they're bonding over?" Beau says with a laugh.
"I will never understand boys," Maggie says.
"Me neither," Gigi says, "especially these guys. They have all gotten along so well with each other in less than 24 hours. It's crazy."
"It's like they've known each other for years," Bella adds.
"Can I borrow someone's eyelash curler?" Zoey asks.
"Here you go," I say as I toss it to her once she turns around to look at me.
I apply some powder and bronzer before starting on my eyebrows. Mine were naturally shaped straight and pretty dark so they didn't take as long. I swept on my bronzer as my eyeshadow (a trick I learned from Gigi) and then applied a generous amount of black mascara, coating each one so they were long and dark.
"I'm starving!" Beau groans as he walks over to his pile of clothes.
Everyone that wasn't staying in this room brought in outfit options. It was the usual for us. We all helped each other on our makeup and outfit looks for whatever occasion we're getting ready. It was something I'll surely miss when the summer is over and reality kicks in. When we aren't living with each other anymore.
"I don't know whether I should wear pants or shorts," Zoey murmurs.
"What top are you wearing?" Gigi asks at the same time she's perfecting her winged eyeliner.
"This black bodysuit," she says as she holds it up.
"Black jeans would look good with it," Beau tells her. He was already in his outfit of black fitted jeans and a white short-sleeved button up that was left unbuttoned to show off his white tank top.
We all nod and agree with him when Zoey gets her pants and holds the clothes against her and looking at us for feedback.
"What shoes?"
"Either your boots or cute black ones with the heel," Bella says.
"I'll try on both," she says before disappearing into the bathroom.
"Done!" Maggie says and stands from her position she's been in the whole time. "Outfit time."
"What are you gonna wear?" I ask her, putting away every product I used back into my makeup bag. I just need to apply some lip gloss and my makeup is done.
"I think I'm gonna go with my new jeans and my leather jacket," she answers as she ruffles through her pile of clothes.
"Should I do red lips?" Bella asks.
"Hell yes," I tell her. Literally everyone I know can pull of red lipstick except for me so I just live vicariously through them.
"What are you wearing?" Sierra asks her.
"My black dress," she answers, "the one with the long v-neck and bell sleeves."
"I think red lips would look good with it," Zoey says as she emerges from the bathroom.
"Yes, Zoe, you look hot!" Beau tells her and she winks at him in return.
"My hair is not cooperating," Sierra groans out and then sighs. "Whatever, I'm just going to do a bun."
I get up from the bed and towards my suitcase. I ruffle through it, unsure of what I should wear. My eyes light up once I spot a black halter top with a silver star pattern all over it. I pull it out and find bottoms to go with it.
"Does this sweater go with this look?" Sierra asks.
I turn around and see she's already changed into a white bodysuit and ripped jean shorts. She's wearing a loose green sweater that passes the edge of her shorts.
"It does," Maggie answers. She's now only wearing her jeans and she tries on different shirts to go with them.
"I like it," I tell her before turning back around to find the other half of my outfit.
"You should wear a belt," Beau says, "it would really pull the whole outfit together.
A minute later, Sierra talks again. "You're a genius, Beau!"
"Thank you, I know."
"I've reapplied my lipstick, like, three times already!" Bella groans.
"Here, let me help," Gigi offers.
I purse my lips as I come across my mini denim skirt. I put the two together and stare at it for a couple of seconds. I like it. I put them aside and look for my shoes. I only find a pair of white sneakers and a pair of black Doc's. I decide to go with the boots.
"I'm just gonna go with this shirt," Maggie murmurs before placing her leather jacket on top and sighs of relief. "Not bad."
"I don't know how to do my hair," Gigi says as she plays around with it. She's now wearing a bright red romper with long sleeves.
"You should wear it down," Sierra says, "your waves look especially good today."
Gigi grins at her then brushes a comb through her hair, making sure every strand is in place. I walk back to the bed and put my clothes down. We've all changed in front of each other hundreds of times so I didn't feel weird or awkward doing so now. I wince slightly as I pull my shirt up, the movement hurting my stomach a little bit.
"Lace, you good?" Bella asks with her perfectly red coated lips as she walks towards me, looking down at my bandaged stomach.
"Yeah, just sore."
"I apologize again on behalf of my idiot brother," Gigi tells me as she rolls her eyes. "I didn't realize he's a monster."
I let out a breathy chuckle as I put on my top. My heart was starting to beat fast with just the mention of him. It still feels weird talking about him with Gigi.
"Don't worry," she continues, "I already had a talk with him."
"You had a 'talk' with him?" I raise my eyebrows at her statement.
She nods as she slips on a pair of black sandals, not noticing my confused face. The girls look our way and then quickly go back to what they're doing when I meet eyes with them.
"I had to, especially since you guys are roommates."
I couldn't figure out what her exact tone was. I couldn't exactly read her face either because she kept looking away as she tried on every pair of shoes she had.
"Temporary roommates," I correct her with a nervous laugh.
"Right." She looks up at me and gives me a tight smile.
I slightly frown after she looks away and goes back into her closet for another pair of shoes. I feel Bella's eyes on me but I avoid her stare as I fold my t-shirt I had on before and put my skirt on. I couldn't stop thinking about what Gigi would say to him in her "talk."
"I'm gonna go see how the boys are doing," Gigi announces, "it's almost time to go."
It was quiet for a few seconds after she leaves. I sit on the bed again and play with my chipped nail polish. Something was off with Gigi. I knew her too well to not suspect anything right now. Maybe she didn't mean to mention that she had a talk with Harry.
"Hey," Bella softly says, grabbing my attention, "don't worry about her. She'll get past it."
"Past what?"
"You know what." She narrows her eyes at me.
"I don't." Although I might have an inkling this could be about Harry and I sharing a room for a short while.
"You do."
"No." I shake my head and avoid her gaze.
"Yes."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," I say, hoping she'll drop the subject because everyone here will get curious and start asking questions.
"I'm talking about you and Harry!"
Fuck.
"What about you and Harry?" Beau chimes in.
A sigh escapes my lips as I look over at Bella. She shrugs, giving me an apologetic look. Something tells me she wasn't that sorry. She was amused by their reactions.
"No way!" Sierra gasps. "Spill now!"
"No, there's nothing to spill."
"Oh, please," Beau scoffs, "I know there is. The sexual tension between you guys is," pauses as he dramatically shivers, "unreal."
"There is no-"
"Lacey, you like Harry?" Zoey interrupts me as she emerges from the bathroom.
"I-"
"I totally see you two together," Sierra squeals.
"Right?!" Bella grins. "Wouldn't they make the cutest couple.
"Ugh, the babies they would make," Beau says, "hot as fuck."
I groan frustratingly as they just continue to stare and smile at me, making their comments. "We aren't-"
"Damn, Lace, it's only been, like, a day and you've already bagged one of them," Maggie says with raised eyebrows. "I'm impressed."
"Maggie!" I exclaim, my cheeks heating up.
"I think it's so sweet," Bella says, "I love romance!"
"You guys," I stop all of them as I stand. "He and I aren't anything. I mean, we met, like, 48 hours ago. We're barely friends!"
"That's what you say now," Beau mumbles with a smile.
"No, you-"
The door opens, stopping me with what I was going to say next. It was Gigi. My stomach dropped at the idea that she heard any part of the conversation we were having.
"Your mom is calling," she says before handing me my phone.
"Oh," I say, taking it and answering it immediately. I take this call outside in the hallway. I felt the guilt deepening in me as I place the phone in my ear and hear my mother's voice.
"Hi, Lace."
I immediately feel better just hearing her voice. I feel warm and fuzzy inside, making me realize just how much I miss my mom.
"Hi," I say, trying to sound causal. "What's up?"
"Well, I just made spaghetti for the kids and it reminded me of you and I might have cried a bit so I wanted to call you."
The guilt deepen. I used to ask my mom to cook me her delicious spaghetti and meatball dish for my entire childhood. It's sort of funny now that spaghetti is not my favorite dish anymore.
"Aw, mom.."
"This is the longest we've been apart." I hear her sigh. "I don't even want to think about the day you move out."
"This is practice." I softly chuckle then take a pause. "It's weird being away from you."
"Agreed."
"How's everything over there?"
"Cold, the kids wake me up way too early, the coffee here kind of sucks. But besides that, it's great."
I laugh. I mindlessly walk over towards the staircase, twirling my hair around my finger.
"How about you?"
I hesitant. I had the sudden urge to tell her the truth. To tell her where I really am. She seemed to be in a good mood, why not? A quiet sigh escapes my mouth as I sit on the first step and rest my free arm on my knee.
"Good." I hold off saying what I really wanted to say.
"That's all I get?" I know she's raising one of her eyebrows. I can just tell by her tone.
"Been hanging out with friends, watching too much Netflix, eating junk food for breakfast, lunch and dinner."
"Aw, aren't you just the greatest kid on earth?"
"I know right, I've been telling you that for years."
"Why don't you get out and exercise?"
I dramatically groan, not able to imagine the thought of me being physically active right now. I was on vacation, for crying out loud.
"You mean voluntarily get out of my nice, comfortable house, get touched by the sun rays, and raise my heart rate for fun?"
"Crazy, right?"
"I'll try it tomorrow." I laugh.
"Alright, tell me how it goes. In fact, take a video and capture the historical moment then send it to me."
"I'm active!" I playfully scoff.
She scoffs back. "Yeah, on social media."
"Whatever, dude. You're the one still on Facebook."
"Hey, leave me and my precious Facebook alone."
I hear a clear of a throat right behind me. I turn around and meet with black-clothed knees. My eyes wander up and meet Harry's eyes. He's wearing a black and pink palm-printed short sleeve shirt with half of the buttons unbuttoned, revealing a silver chain with a small cross on his very detailed butterfly tattoo. I gulp, not having the strength to turn away from him. His hair is neater than earlier. The emerald color of his eyes is more vibrant now that he got a good color from the sun on his face. I can even smell the scent of his warm and sweet cologne from here. His presence was hard to ignore and it was that much harder as he stands before me, looking so good. It made me gulp nervously.
"Lacey?" My mom's voice brings me back to reality.
"I have to go," I manage to say with his piercing eyes glued on me as I look away, still being able to see him through my peripheral vision. "G and I have plans for dinner."
"Where to?"
I panic and blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. "McDonald's."
"You call that dinner?" She laughs. I weakly chuckle, avoiding Harry's curious gaze. "Alright, l'll let you go. Have a good night, sweetheart. I'll check in with you when I can. I love you."
The guilt has officially gone off the charts.
"Goodnight, love you too."
I quickly hang up before I spill everything to her. I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this huge secret from her. I know I've said that it's for the best, but now I'm doubting that. I hear Harry clear his throat again, which makes me snap my head up at him. A small smirk appears on his face, his eyebrows lift up as he stares at me.
"You're in my way," he says with his deep voice.
I thought he was being playful like he has been since I met him but I quickly come to realize that he wasn't. He was just stood there with a stone-hard face, no gleam in his eyes.
"Oh," I peep out, suddenly feeling very nervous and awkward. I feel like I couldn't move right away. It was like his eyes kept me frozen in place. I was also waiting to see if he was going to burst out in laughter or crack a smile and tell me he's just playing around. But it never happens.
"I'm not a ghost," he scolds, "I can't just walk through you."
He sounded and looked like such an asshole right now as he continues to stare at me like I just threw up on him. I feel like I just got in trouble. I break out of his hypnotizing stare and let out a quiet scoff as I turn away from him and stand up. I turn quickly to leave, not locking eyes with him anymore. He just stands there as I walk around him and go towards the room with the girls.
What a jerk, I thought.
A simple 'excuse me' or even a 'please move' would be better than what he said. I thought everything was cool between us. I was sure we left things off fine after lunch. Wasn't he just apologizing for hitting me with the ball a few hours ago as he was putting a bandaid on my stomach? I couldn't shake off this awful mood as I walk back into the room.
"Which ones?" Bella asks with a smile as she holds up a pair of black flats in one hand and black boots in the other.
I sigh then shrug, not really looking at either. "I don't know, they're both fine."
I walk off towards my things and pick up the shoes I'm going to wear. I don't even care that it's hurting me to put on my own fucking shoes because I was too angry. The more I thought about my interaction with Harry, the more pissed off I became. I wasn't sure if he acted the way because I did something or he was in a bad mood and he was just taking it out on me. Or maybe that wasn't an act. Maybe he had high levels of asshole in his system and they're finally showing.
I didn't care. I shouldn't. He's my best friend's brother. I shouldn't be thinking about him any more than I am.