"Hold my hoops, Harry."
Sabrina was the first to take action, nearly the moment Rylee made herself known. She was no longer the sweet and sassy lady we all know and love. No, instead she transformed into something that no one would dare to unlock and unleash. It was absolutely terrifying how quickly her persona transformed. The drop in expression and near smoke coming out of her ears made her more terrifying than Harry on a bad day.
"Sabrina calm down, don't do something you'll regret, please" Louis cuts in, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, her body relaxing slightly with the small gesture.
However, the gesture was nowhere near enough to put out the fire that was put ablaze in her.
"No Lou," Sabrina shakes off, her shoulder nudging his hand away, "She-" Sabrina motions with a pointing finger at Rylee "-can not just show up out of nowhere, uninvited, and ruin this for Gracie. She doesn't deserve it and has done absolutely nothing wrong to the girl. The twat's just mad that Harry has other priorities now."
"You tell 'em Queen" someone shouts from the crowd of people who are quick to surround the two girls.
Rylee continues to stand there, a manicured hand held out in front of her for her to inspect, a bored expression settled over her face. She's quick to pick at a cuticle, before turning her attention back to Sabrina, a small pout coming over her glossed lips.
"Oh, you're mad at me" Rylee catches on, seeming to not have listened to a word that just came out of the curly-headed girl's mouth, "Gosh, you never did get rid of that short temper, did you? Something you and your brother seem to have in common" she mocks, a small smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. "It's fine, I'm used to it from the two of you. You both have such a hard time letting the little things go."
At this point, Sabrina's practically fuming to the point that I could nearly see the visible smoke coming from out her ears. I was beyond confused because, at this point, Rylee was making it seem as if the two had deeper rooted problems that I wasn't aware of.
"Don't you dare bring that up right now" Sabrina barks, hurling her body out towards Rylee, however only managing a couple steps before Louis puts a hand around her to hold her back.
"Bring what up?" she replies innocently, batting her eyelashes.
From there, everything escalates very quickly.
Put simply, the beast is unleashed. Sabrina emits a loud and unexpected battle scream, lurching her body out of Louis' hold and tearing through the crowd. She charges at Rylee, who emits a loud yelp once the realization of the small, but mighty, girl coming after her hits.
The two collide, an 'oof' coming from one girl's mouth, the other, who I assume to be Sabrina, emitting a bark-like noise. The fight is a sight of thrashing limbs, nails coming out to scratch at each other, another hand used to pull at hair, and at one point biting became involved. I'm at a loss for words as I watch the fight, lost in the shock of what to do while others are quick to shout and holler at them to keep going. At this point, Rylee's on the ground with Sabrina on top pounding at her with no mercy.
That was expected. No one could keep up in a fight with Sabrina, not myself, not Louis, and probably not Harry either.
However, what wasn't expected were the tears streaming down her face as she continues to strike at Rylee, bottled up anger and frustration seeming to flow out of her. To others, the emotion seemed to go unnoticed, several catcalls encouraging the two on, and a comment from Taylor about '"waiting until she gets her Capri-Sun" being said instead. From their eyes, the fight was simply one caused by sudden frustration, not the pent up emotions Sabrina had for Rylee. Emotions I wasn't aware she had for her until now.
"Get her out of there!" I scream at no one in particular, wide eyes watching as Rylee continues to get pounded. I almost felt bad for the girl as she struggled to fight back, being no match for the state Sabrina was in right now. I scream out again, this time catching the attention of Louis who was struggling to make his way through the tight circle of people.
I push my way through the crowd, making my way towards him and finally managing to get a grasp on his arm to push myself forward. Louis is quick to act the moment we get close to Sabrina, myself pulling Rylee away from her grasp. With little to no effort, Louis hauls Sabrina's thrashing body over his shoulder, several curses stringing from her mouth as he does so. I try to do the same to Rylee, but only manage to get her limp arm around my neck before I crumple to the ground due to the weight.
She had the looks and figure of a supermodel, but that didn't mean she wasn't heavy. Especially when she gave no effort in helping me haul her away.
I try a second time, this time successfully getting her entire body onto my back, giving me a few extra seconds before my body topples face-first to the ground once again. My legs and arms fail to save me, rather falling out to the sides and leaving me in a corpse-like position. I try pushing my arms up but crumple back down even quicker than before.
I blame the excessive amount of cake I ate before this for not being able to get up.
I suddenly hear a choking-snore like sound comes from above me, which I soon realize to be a knocked out Rylee.
I knew Sabrina hit her hard, but I didn't realize that it was to the point of unconsciousness.
"Here let me help you" I hear from above me, which I'm quick to place as Harry's. In less than a moment, the sudden weight of Rylee's body is being lifted off of me with ease. I take in a gaping breathe, glad to have use of my lungs once again, before flopping over to my backside to stare up at him.
Similar to Lou, he easily threw Rylee over his shoulder, hoisting her up with one hand before he offered the other to me. I take it quickly, thanking him as I do so, and stumble my way up to my feet.
"Thanks" I breathe out, brushing off the debris that I've managed to collect on my white - still cake-stained - shirt, while on the ground, "I probably wouldn't have been able to pull her off for a while."
"Yeah" Harry nods, facing his head in attention towards the direction Sabrina was taken, before shaking it slightly. He seems to be distracted with his thoughts and that's led to a more awkward silence between us than usual.
"So" I roll back and forth on the balls of my feet, "the weather?"
"What?" he turns back to me, my words successfully catching his attention.
"The weather" I state again simply, "It's nice out."
Harry continues to stare, taken back by the confusion of my random question.
"Uh, yeah, 's nice out" he finally replies, still giving me a strange look.
"Mmh."
"You okay?" he checks in, continuing to give me a strange look "Looked like a rough fall, seems like you've hitten your head."
"Oh! Yeah! I'm totally a-okay" I pop back, giving him an okay sign with my hand, "you know just chillin, and my noggin is just fine, thank you for asking," I confirm, before continuing, "However, I am still trying to figure out what the hell just happened, you know with the whole Sabrina beating Rylee to a pulp while really in her feels, but yeah besides that, yeah, I'm great. This was a really great way to end the night if I do say so myself" I finish off.
"Oh."
"Yeah" I nod, staring up at him, before I repeat his previous statement back to him, "'oh'."
Harry stares back at me, taken back on the tiny outburst I just exhibited, clearing his throat a bit before directing his attention back to me. "That wasn't my fault."
"I never said it was" I shrug, staring at him, "But, for some reason, when you say it isn't your fault, it makes it really hard for me to believe you" I continue accusingly, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Excuse me?" he bites, adjusting the passed out girl on his shoulder, "I didn't do anything to start this."
"I know that, however, what you're also saying is that, before this, Sabrina only knew Rylee as one of your booty calls" I question, piecing things together as I continued to speak. "I hate to break it to you, but what Sabrina just did was not because she was trying to defend my honor. Sure, that may have been a tiny part of it, but you and I both know that she had a completely different motive. She's not one to act out like that without a good reason."
Harry continues to glare at me in silence, almost looking bored with what I was saying, and that set me off. "She's your sister Harry! I don't know what the hell happened between the three of you, but I do know that whatever it is, Sabrina doesn't deserve to be involved with it."
"Grace you can't just assume that-"
"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do! No one ever tells me anything until the truth is literally dangling in front of my face. Hell, I didn't even know you existed until a couple months ago" I practically shout, failing to keep my frustrations under composure.
"I'm sorry" I apologize, shaking my head, "I didn't mean to get upset, I'm just so frustrated and confused. We-" I motion between us and then to the party "-we're having such a good night, and I really don't want this to ruin it." My shoulders slump and my head falls down to look at my shoes, one foot stacking on top of the other.
"This won't ruin your night" Harry promises almost silently, his voice once again catching my attention, my eyes landing on his bright green ones, "Let me find a place to put Rylee and I'll meet you inside with Lou and Sabrina, okay?" he watches at me, waiting for my nod of confirmation, which I give with little to no thought.
"Why?" I question, catching the small smirk that tugs on his lips as he pulls out his phone and quickly punches in a passcode
"A bit of a traditional thing that we like to do, but this time it seems like I have no choice but to invite you." he smirks, putting the phone up to his ear, "Now go, I'll meet you inside."
----
Their 'tradition' included movies, food...
"Boxed wine?"
"And chocolate!" Sabrina screams, making a quick grab for the snacks Harry walked in with, cuddling back up next to me with a new handful of M&Ms. The events from earlier seemed to have disappeared from her mind considering the mood she was currently in, and I had no intention of bringing them up if that kept her happy.
"Yeah" Harry nods, passing out the supplies he brought with him, which included several blankets, pillows, snacks, and of course, liquor. "It's kind of a thing me, 'Brina, and Lou do after big events like these" he admits, bringing a hand up to scratch his neck.
"I feel so honored being included then" I smile up at him, Sabrina still clinging onto me with a blanket on her head. "We're very happy to have you hear" she muffles out through a mouthful of chocolates.
"So" I look around at all of them, "what do you guys do for this tradition of yours?" I question, bringing up a handful of popcorn to my mouth.
"Well we kinda just chill out and stay the night here" Louis motions at the room we were currently in, a section of the country club I hadn't known existed until now. It was a comfy room with lots of oversized couches and lounging that we were all laid across, Sabrina and I together on one, Louis and Harry on the other two. "We watch a bunch of Sabrina's favorite movies and eat and drink a bunch of shit we find in the cabinets."
"Sounds like a fun night," I grin, holding out a hand towards the boxed wine "Now pass the carton, please."
It didn't take long until Sabrina and I were more giggly than usual, the two of us finding absolutely everything the boys did hilarious. They were quick to put a movie on, specifically Sleeping Beauty per Sabrina's request. It wasn't long until we were both dancing along to the movie.
"Oh my gosh, Lou passed me the red blanket right now" Sabrina exclaims, her hands coming up to her face dramatically.
"Why-"
"Just do it!" she stomps, Lou practically rushing to grab it and give to her after that. "Thank you very much Lou-bear" Sabrina giggles, slurring her words a bit. "Okay, now Gracie you're the owl-dude and I'm Princess Aurora," she says, handing me the red blanket.
"What, why am I the owl. I wanna be the princess" I pout, shoving the blanket back into her arms. "It's my birthday, therefore I'm the princess" I counter back, wrapping the red blanket around her head.
"That's not fair! It's not even your birthday anymore" she sulks, stomping her foot on the ground and taking the blanket off her head and into her arms.
"But it's my birthday week" I reiterate, refusing to give in, which in result earns a groan from Sabrina. She's quick to look around the room until her eyes settle onto one particular British boy.
"Louis" she smiles sweetly, batting her lashes at him flirtatiously, "Will you be my owl?"
The boy, being completely whipped, waist no time jumping to his feet, nodding excessively while he takes the blanket from her hands and ties it around his neck. Louis takes Sabrina's hand and leads them into the space in front of the TV, the two beginning to dance along to the animation.
Frustrated a bit that I was abandoned by my dance partner, I flip myself around until I come face to face with the only other partner-less individual.
"Harry" I smile at him, tilting back and forth on the balls of my feet, my hands folded in front of my waist politely.
"No" he cuts in without even looking up from the TV screen, eyes focused on the dancing animation.
"You don't even know what I'm going to ask" I scowl, losing my innocent composure, though it didn't even matter considering he wasn't even looking at me.
"You were going to ask me to dance with you" he shrugs, putting an arm out so that he could grab a bag of crisp from the side table.
"You don't know that I might have been asking you something else" I fight back, arms crossed over my chest.
"And what would that be?" he finally looks up at me, resting his chin on his hand as he shoves a chip into his mouth.
"I was going to ask if you wanted to sleep with me."
Automatically, Harry's eyes bulge out, a sudden cough overtaking his lungs as he chokes on the processed food he tried to ingest. "Excuse me?" he chokes out, still in absolute shock because of my statement.
"I asked if you wanted to sweep with me" I reply innocently, waving my hands around me "The room is awfully dirty considering how many people were here and I feel bad leaving that to the janitors to clean up."
"You're lying. You know that's not what you said" he argues, obviously a little upset with my comment.
"Yes, it is. Why, what did you think I said?" I challenge.
"You know exactly what you said" he replies, refusing to give in to my little game.
Two can play it that way.
"No, I don't" I refuse once more.
"Yes you do"
"No, I don't."
"Yes you do" he nearly growls, frustration seeping from his tone.
"Yes, I do" I nod, smiling at him, giggling far too much as he lunges at me. In one swift motion, he has me lifted over his shoulder and catapulted in the direction of the couches. I go through the air with a loud scream following behind me, flailing through the air until I make contact with the couch.
"Well that wasn't very nice" I grumble as I push myself onto my forearms, pouting at a frustrated Harry. "C'mon I just wanna dance with you, after that I'll stop being annoying" I promise, trying to give him my best-begging eyes in hopes he'll give in.
"I don't know if that's possible" he mutters, looking unconvinced with my promise, his statement earning him a whack in the face with the pillow I just threw at him. However, to my disappointment, it falls short and lands flat in the middle of us with a small 'thump.''
"Please Harry, the song is almost over anyway" I try one last time, looking over at a very happy Louis and Sabrina, the two smiling widely at each other as they spin in swift circles around the room. I can't help but smile at the two, seeing how happy they were doing something so simple at the most random time in the morning.
"Fine."
My head whips back towards Harry, my mouth dropping at first in shock of him agreeing, and transforming quickly into a large grin. I push myself off the couch as quickly as I can and make my way towards him even faster in fear that he may change his mind in the few seconds it takes me to close the space between us. I'm quick to grip his hands into my own and pull him to stand in front of the TV.
I situate his hand in mine, and with a roll of Harry's eyes, we're dancing.
It isn't long until he takes the lead, somehow being an extremely talented dance partner, impressing me as he mimics the scene from the movie. However, due to my slight intoxication, I find myself tripping over my own feet as we move at a facer pace, spinning and twirling, and nearly face planting as Harry suddenly spins me once again, unexpectedly.
I was pretty sure he was purposely making this difficult for me. Spinning and alcohol do not mix well.
"If you spin me one more time, I'll throw up on your shoes" I gag a bit, bringing a hand to my head in an attempt to slow down the spinning.
"You were the one that said you wanted to dance" he shrugs, smirking, confirming my suspicions of his intent in spinning me so many times.
"Don't be mean to me" I frown, my forehead crinkling a bit as I do so. My annoyance earns a genuine smile from Harry, a dimple indenting into his cheeks, which reminds me so much of the ones Sabrina has.
"Here," he says bringing his thumb up to smooth my forehead, before latching his hands under my arms and pulling me up so that I could place my feet on top of his own, "You just stand there and look pretty, and I'll lead," he says, taking much shorter and slower steps, for my benefit, as we began to dance again "Don't want you to get sick everywhere, these are new shoes" he laughs as we sway.
That earns him a swat to the chest.
"Better?" he checks, as I rest my cheek against his chest, yawning. The exhaustion of the night, from my birthday party to the fight, and to now, was finally catching up with me as I struggled to keep my fluttering eyes open. The soft music and slower dancing were putting me to sleep.
So instead of verbally replying, I nod, the idea of formulating words taking too much brain energy.
"I think it's time for someone to go to sleep" Harry speaks lowly, nearly whispering it as he places his chin on the top of my head, the two of us still swaying.
"Sabrina?" I yawn, my eyes fluttering a bit as I try to guess who he's referring to, genuinely too tired to think.
"No, not Sabrina."
"Louis?" I try again, this time my eyes falling shut, too tired to try and keep them open anymore.
"Not Louis either," Harry laughs lowly, his chest vibrating as he does so.
"You?"
"No Gracie, you, I think it's time for you to go sleep" he finally says, and I can practically hear his eyes roll.
"Don't roll your eyes at me" I grumble into the fabric, keeping my face stuffed into it. Harry had changed into a basic sleep tee and some shorts earlier, which I was really appreciating right now because of how soft they felt on my skin.
"How'd you even-"
"Shh," I grumble, bringing one of my hands that was clasped around his neck to cover his mouth, "No talking."
It isn't long until I'm nearly unconscious, the somewhat sweet moment ending as I begin to feel my body go limp around Harry's. Seemingly sensing this, I feel my arms being removed and instead dropped to my side, my body being lifted and my head falling to the side during the process.
"Aw look, she drools in her sleep" a high voice I barely catch calls from the background, to tired to genuinely care to place. All I know is that I feel warm and very, very happy.
It isn't long until I'm placed upon a comfy surface, my body sinking into the cushion of the couch, my head lolling to the side. By instinct, I curl up into a tiny ball, gathering together all the body warmth I possibly can before a blanket is placed on top of me. I'm quick to snuggle into it.
"Happy Birthday Gracie," a voice whispers a small smile forming on my lips before as I hear it, "Sweet dreams."
With that final wish of good dreams, I fall instantly to sleep.