Chapter 14

Every time I get into whatever we do

Yeah, I'm with you

Over dinner, Mum agreed to my terms about the doctors and I felt such a relief going to bed last night. So this morning, I did as I promised and downed the right medication as Dad made toast, and Mum gave me a glass of water.

It made me idly consider that that's something Harry doesn't understand about my family. He sees what everyone else sees, the perfect family with the conservative daughter that does the right things and there's nothing wrong on the outside. But Harry sees a bit further. He sees uptight and stuffy parents that won't let their daughter off the leash because they fear she'll grow her own mind. He's not wrong.

But there's even more to the situation that he can see; what only I know because I'm constantly inside the four walls of our home. They obviously love me and they care for me, they just want the best, which is understandable. They have great intentions although it may not show that way. And I'm happy they care enough to make sure I'm perfectly healthy and that I'll live a long life.

I'm just tired with the lifestyle.

Now I'm sitting in the sea of other students, in the middle of all the kids with the last name starting with S. Surprisingly, there's not many of us, or at least after me. There's a girl who sits right next to me with the same last name as me ─ however, we are not related ─ but the first letter in her first name comes after mine.

But in no way did I ever realise or remember leading up to the assembly that Harry's last name is Styles. So when a broad body come to sit on the other side of the girl, just before the assembly began, I was startled to see him there, smirking. His jade eyes only flicker to me once, but he knows it's enough to make me blush. Then the house lights go down and Principal Bean takes to the stage and starts his speech about working hard and the end of the year as Harry leans into the girl to whisper.

I become confused as to why he would speak to her because I'm fairly sure he doesn't know her. And to only add to my confusion and my relief at the same time, Harry and the girl switch seats. Biting on my lip to conceal my smile, I glance all around me to see if any of the teachers noticed the change. They didn't.

"Hi," I whisper so we don't attract attention.

"Hey."

We keep our eyes on the speaker but I'm sure neither of us are listening to a single word. I'm too caught up in the warmth radiating off his arm as he takes the arm rest, and how his hand is awfully close to my exposed knee. Why did I have to wear a dress today?

"What're you doing?" I ask.

"Can I not sit next to you?" I can hear the smirk on his face as he feigns innocents.

I scoff, "Knowing you, you'd have a reason."

He doesn't answer to that and I'm left wondering what his real reason is. Them I jump at his hand suddenly claiming my knee. My head snaps to the left to see what he was thinking, but Harry's not looking me, only forwards with a straight face. I silently wonder if he knows I secretly like his touches and when his fingers graze my skin without a good reason, just because he wanted to.

But when his hand starts to move inwards and up, I snap my legs together in a warning. Now he's grinning at me denying his actions; it doesn't stop him from rubbing my smooth skin with his thumb. It slightly hurts to continue sitting like this, with my muscles tightened and toes pointed, so I slowly, very slowly, relax back into my original position and Harry's hand stays where it's supposed to.

Until he moves again and this time I don't move because he gives me a warning squeeze and I know that this will just continue through the whole assembly. He reaches the edge of my dress without anyone noticing and I wonder how that's even possible. Thankfully, he stops there, not making a move to continue with this torture.

"I want to take you somewhere after school, okay?" He whispers into my ear, catching me off guard.

I think about what my plans were after school today. I was just going to finish some class work so I don't have to do it later, but I guess it can till tonight. So I nod and smile whilst trying to figure out where he'll take me.

***

Harry rode with me, giving directions from the passenger seat before I soon realised he was taking me to Jerry's auto garage. Jerry is a very nice man, not like the men you'd see in movies that have anger issues and solve them by working on cars and such. I would actually go to him with complications with my car if it weren't for the guy uptown that my parents are committed to. I've only spoken to Jerry a few times in passing but he was sweet and courteous every time. I'm not surprised he wanted Harry to work for him. I can see Harry as one of those who aren't afraid of getting a little grease one their hands. He'd be working with his shirt off because of the heavy lifting and whatnot. I could see the frown in his eyebrows as he figures out what's wrong with the piece of machinery.

Wait, am I getting turned on by this?

"Damn," Harry mutters as I pull into the lot.

"What is it?"

"Nothing...I just thought no one would be here seeing that everyone had a day off," he grits his teeth. "We can leave, if you want."

"Well," I deliberate. "Who's here?"

He points to the one motorcycle in the lot, "That's Niall's ride. You remember him, yeah? From my party?" I nod. "There's a good chance Erynn is with him. And there's no telling who came in the SUV but I know it's Louis'."

"So is there a reason you offered to leave so quickly?" I tease. "You've met most of my friends, why can't I meet yours?"

"Because, Rae, these are the kind of people you don't want to particularly want to associate yourself with. I mean, Niall and Erynn are cool, and I don't have to worry about them, but the others...I don't know," Harry explains.  

I playfully roll my eyes, "I think I can handle it."

Harry doesn't stop me from taking my key from the ignition and stepping out of the car. He actually takes the lead, seeming rather cautious about the whole ordeal, but I can't fathom why. We come to a stop at one of the closed garage doors that have clipped paint from weather conditions evident on them. I couldn't see inside the windows, which I found odd.

He knocked twice on the door, quick and short, and then we waited. There was silence to which we both listened intently to, trying to hear any noise to give away the whereabouts of anyone on the other side of the door.

The door was suddenly rolled up, only enough to reveal a boy about my height with soft brown hair pushed back like Harry's, but his clear blue eyes are rimmed with red and glassy ─ I know straight away that he's been smoking. I feel as if I vaguely remember him from somewhere although I'm sure I don't know his name.

"Damn it, Harry. You shouldn't give us a scare like that," he chastises.

"You shouldn't be here, but we can't all get what we want, Louis." I can hear the annoyance drip in Harry's tone of voice and his jaw strains. "You gonna let us in or not?"

"Depends..." Louis says. "Who's this?"

I feel a little violated as Louis' hazy gaze roams up and down my body slowly, taking in every inch as I shuffle closer to Harry. His hand finds the small of my back to comfort me. He must be able to sense my anxiety, and if I had been in this situation a month ago, I would be cowering under Louis' intense stare. But I had insisted to meet Harry friends, so I will.

"Louis Tomlinson, this is Rae Simmons─"

"The Rae Simmons," he interrupts with wide, serious eyes. I glance at Harry's irritated features, wondering how Louis knows me exactly. "The one you told us about?"

Oh.

Instead of standing with them talking about me like they don't see me, I hold out my hand and say, "Hi."

Louis is taken back by my gesture, looking as if he's never seen a handshake before. Even if he has, he still doesn't take my offer of greetings and tells us to come in with an odd voice. Harry leads me in, staying by my side as we enter the first empty car bay. It's larger than the building lets on, easily able to hold three heavy duty trucks in one bay, and there are four bays. Equipment and large machines are pushed aside to make one big open space.

That's where five other bodies are seated on lawn chairs or crates and the toxic smoke centres around.

They all have some sort of joint between their lips, but the aroma of weed is the strongest. After scanning over each of their faces ─ excluding Erynn and Niall ─ I suddenly know where I remember them from. I've seen them with Harry, that one day at The Parlour. They all came in and sat at the booth when I was sitting at a table with Jamie, Crystal and Christopher. Unsurprisingly, they haven't become any less intimidating.

"Rae!" Erynn squeals, rushing to stand from her boyfriend's lap to hug me. "Oh, it's so good to have a girl here!"

She avidly takes my hand and finds me a place to sit, on a bucket that she turned upside down. I'm not sure how it could be that comfortable, but before my bum made contact with the surface, Erynn said, "Harry! You're not going to let her get her beautiful dress ruined, are you?"

Everyone remains silent, watching what Harry's next move will be, even I do. He holds his hands up defensively and stalks to where I am, taking a seat on the bucket. I blush furiously when I realise that I have to sit on his lap in front of all these people whilst they scrutinize us. Harry makes it easier for me, looping his arm around my waist and tugs me down on his knee.

Erynn takes her spot between Niall's legs, leaning her back against his front. "So," she directs towards me, "You've already met Niall and Louis. That just leaves Liam Payne and Zayn Malik," and she points to both of them.

Besides the redness of their eyes, they both have deep brown eyes. Liam has a more full face compared to Zayn's defined features, and it appears he hasn't shaved in a few days by the stubble growing on his jaws and chin. Zayn's cheekbones sit high on his face, and I'm sure if he smiled, he'd look like a little kid whose gotten candy. A spliff rest between both of their lips, though, burning away at the lit section.

Liam says, "Hey," and Zayn only nods. I return their greeting in my own shaky voice, hoping it didn't come out as trembling as I thought it was. Harry's hand on my knee, thumbing circles and patterns into my skin can only calm me so much.

"You want one, Harry?" Niall asks, speaking of the joint.

"No thanks mate," he declines.

"What about you, Rae?" Louis smirks.

Before I could answer for myself, Harry beat me to it. "She won't be smoking either," he says bluntly. Though that was my answer anyways, it annoyed me that I wasn't able to say it.

"You her keeper now, Harry?" Zayn speaks for the first time, and with a chuckle that sends shivers down my back.

"No," I utter. "I can speak for myself. And no, thanks." Niall sniggers from his seat.

"Then why are you even here?" Zayn rolls his eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing," Harry retorts. "No one's supposed to be here. And definitely not smoking. Do you know what can happen if someone finds out?"

"Good thing no one's going to find out. Right?" It worries me how menacing the darker skin man said that.

Harry competes with Zayn's stare, and with a terse voice he said, "Right."

The air thickens as the seconds tick by in silence. Niall was the only one to be brave enough to break the stillness. "So, Rae," he says, making me come to attention. "How old are you exactly?"  

Uh oh, I think to myself. I never really thought of that. Harry's nineteen while I'm only seventeen, and I safely assume I'm surrounded by all adults here. I can only imagine what they'll say or do when they find out I'm only a minor. To make nothing better, they most likely know enough about me to know who I really am, who my parents are, and how I was raised. They probably can't believe I'm hanging out with Harry like I am; I can hardly believe it either.

Age didn't matter when I was with Harry. It was just us two, not the whole world and its perspective on certain things. He made me feel as if I was just as old as him, that I could do the things he did and it'd be alright, when in reality, no one else would see it that way.

I know Harry is thinking the same thing I am when his hand tightens on my knee. "I'm seventeen," I answer honestly, and then quickly add, "But my birthday is next month."

I was born on the twenty-fourth of February, during a snow storm, making it increasingly hard for Mum and Dad to arrive at the right time. Thinking of how close it was makes me feel a little better, knowing things will become easier with Harry when I'm of legal age.

"Is that so?" Erynn perks up. "Harry, isn't your birthday coming up in the next few days, too? The first, right?"   

Letting out a sigh that fans against my shoulder, Harry answers, "Yeah."

This is news to me, and with it being so close, I would've thought Harry would've said something. We're friends, something like that, and I can't help but to beginning wondering what I could get him.

"We should totally do something!" Her brown eyes glisten with the idea.

"No!" Harry turns her down immediately. "No way."

"Why not?" Erynn whines as everyone watches.

"Because I don't want to make a big deal out of it," Harry dismisses like it's nothing to him. "I'm just turning twenty, there's nothing big in that."

I don't know if anyone else can hear, but I can detect something else behind Harry's excuse. Any birthday is important, celebrating another year of life, but Harry doesn't care. I don't speak my mind; at the very least, I'll wait until we're alone to ask him what's really wrong. So many things race through my mind though.

He could've had one horrible birthday that he hated enough to never want another one, or it could be because he doesn't want to celebrate without his mum. Whatever it is, I'll find out and proceed from there. Until then, I have a present to find.      

+++++

Many questions that shall be answered *smirks evily*

What do you think's wrong with Harry and why he doesn't want to celebrate his b-day?

Next chappie will be Rae and finding a prez for Harry.....fun man, fun ;D

Let me know what you think because dang I update way more than I ever have with this story, and VOTE too! (only if you want tho)

-A xxx