“Fuck.” I groan when I hear a door slam shut. The sunlight seeping through the windows temporarily blinds me and makes my head throb even more.

Why do I feel like this?

I sit up as slow as possible, but I still end up feeling like I need to vomit. I groan as the events of last night slowly flood my memory… going with Harry to hang out with his friends, getting drunk and high. God, what a terrible idea.

I try to remove myself from the bed as carefully as I can so I don’t lose the contents of stomach. How did I even get here? God, Harry probably thinks I’m ten times more annoying now… I’ve been told I’m a piece of work while I’m drunk, so I can only imagine what adding getting high to that means.

When I feel a wave of nausea run through me, I pause with me feet dangling off the bed and put my face in my hands. Shit! It’s already eight in the morning; there’s no way I’m going to be able to get ready and get to school in a half hour. How the hell does Harry do this every single night?

I force myself to fight through the disgusting feeling in my stomach and ache in my head so I can get my ass into gear. When I get stand up, I stumble on my feet before steadying myself. That’s when I notice the glass of water and two capsules of Tylenol sitting on my bedside table.

That couldn’t have been Harry, could it have been?

I don’t have time to think about it, so I swallow the pills and take a big gulp of water, but it only makes me feel more nauseous. Fuck, there is no way I can drive to school. Maybe Harry can drive my car.

In an act of desperation, I go out into the hall only to run in to the person I’m looking for.

“I didn’t think you’d get up,” He says looking me over. “How are you feeling?”

“Like death.” I groan when his voice sounds like he’s yelling.

“I can tell…” He laughs a little and I notice I’m still wearing the same thing as last night, and my hair is a mess on top of my head.

“Look, I’m sorry if I was a pain in the ass last night… I blame the weed.”

“Chloe, you weren’t a pain in the ass.” He assures me, and if I wasn’t so exhausted, I’d be much more surprised at his reaction. “And I told your dad you weren’t feeling well, so if you wanted to stay home he said he’ll call school.”

So it was him that put the tylenol there. Who is this guy in front of me, and where is the asshole Harry I've come to know?

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that…”

“I did though, it is my fault after all.” He chuckles. “Just get some sleep, you’ll feel better in a few hours.”

“Okay.” I nod.

“Well I should get to school.” He begins to walk towards the stairs.

“Harry,” I stop him before he can get past me.

“Yeah?”

I swallow my pride and go for it. “Thanks for last night… and this morning. I owe you.”

“No problem.” Well that was painless. I really am starting to wonder what’s gotten him in such a good mood this morning. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I did actually. Thanks.”

“So I guess we can tell your dad we bonded.” He laughs and begins to leave again. “See you later, Chloe.”

“Bye, Harry.”

---

After I got a few more hours of sleep and took a nice, hot shower, I felt much better. I decided I should catch my last few classes so I didn’t get too behind, so I got dressed and headed out to my car.


I got to school just in time for fourth period, so I sat through French and waited for lunch. I don’t know why I didn’t eat at home, but sitting here in this quiet class made it much more noticeable that my stomach was begging for food.

At lunch, I found my usual spot by Brynn and her friends to eat my salad and got back into my old routine.

“Okay, someone please tell me who that is. I see him everywhere, but he’s so damn quiet.” Lexi, one of Brynn’s friends asked.

I looked up to see her attention was on Harry. Of course. “That’s Harry Styles.” I inform her.

“Well Harry Styles is hot.” She laughs and fans herself with a napkin. “It’s too bad he’s such a loner. I’d be all over that if he wasn’t so anti-social.”

I’ve never really thought about why Harry was always alone at school, but I suppose last night opened my eyes to his life a bit. I remember him clearly being upset over the fact that he and Anne were moving here, and now I understand that it was because he didn’t want to leave behind the life he had made for himself… just like I didn’t want to leave behind my life in Arizona.

I could tell by the way he and his friends interacted that they were pretty close, so I’m sure he’d rather spend time with them and not have to make new friends. I really didn’t have the choice when my friends live hundreds of miles away, but his are only a few minutes away.

“I know, right? Jason said he was actually pretty cool, so he invited him to the party next Friday, but he said he’d pass. Who passes on a party! Like c’mon, what else does he have to do on a Friday night?” Brynn added.

I felt this urge to defend him, but I didn’t know what to say and I wasn’t down to be questioned about our situation at home, so I just let it slide. As long as they didn’t say anything bad.

“Hey Chloe, you wanna hit the mall after school? I really need to find something to wear this dinner my mom is dragging me to tomorrow.” Brynn asked me.

“Yeah sure.” I agreed.


The rest of the day past quickly, and after school, Brynn and I followed through on our plans to go shopping. It probably wasn’t the best idea to shop with the biggest shopaholic with a brooding hangover, but it was a welcomed distraction. With the passing days, it’s definitely been easier to cope with my mother’s passing, but it still hurts. Any thing to keep my mind of the pain is fine by me.

When I got home, Harry and a… friend… were leaving.

Harry was wearing only his jeans, while his female friend, who looked freshly fucked might I add, was fully dressed, but wore a smile that spoke volumes about what they had just finished. Ugh.

“Hey Chloe.” Harry ran a hand through his hair and caught the door behind me.

“Hi…” I smiled at both of them and began to make my way upstairs.

As I made my way to my room, I could hear her giggling, asking him when she would see him again, but all he told her was that he would call her.

I laughed to myself when I heard them say their good-byes before she realized he didn’t even have her number and he shut the door on her. God, He is such a guy.

“What are you laughing at?” Harry met me in the hallway.

“You.” I admitted. “Let me guess, you don’t even know her name?”

“No need,” He laughed. “How are you feeling?”

“Much better.” I sighed. “But please don’t let that happen again.” I laughed remembering my suffering this morning.

“That was not my fault!” Harry laughed with me, showing those dimples. Ugh, stop it Chloe. He’s practically your stepbrother.

“Sure,” I smiled. “Well, I should probably get some homework done.”

“Yeah, sorry. I'll let you get at that.”

I leave him in the hall to attempt writing my essay for lit. class. I actually make good progress, but get distracted an hour or so later when there’s a knock on my door, and I turn around to see Harry standing there.

“You wanna do mine when you’re done?” He smiles.

“No.” I smile and turn back around in my desk chair.

“Fair enough. I want to get a good grade anyway.” I turn back around expecting him to be serious, but he’s still grinning. It makes me wonder what changed between us. One day we’re down each other’s throats, the next we’re joking around like old friends. I definitely prefer this over the constant fighting, but that doesn’t stop me from wondering what got us here.

I stick my tongue out at him as I continue to type away on my laptop. “Is that really why you came in here?”

“Actually no… I was wondering uh, if you wanted to go with me to Perrie’s house.” I turn around to see his hand running through his hair. “She wanted me to invite you.”

“Oh, I don’t know… I’ve still got to do my calculus homework.” I look for an excuse. I did have fun last night, but I’d rather remember this night and not wake up tomorrow with a nasty hangover.

“You don’t need to smoke or drink,” He laughs, probably being able to sense the real reason for my apprehension. “For some reason they like you, so I told them I would ask.” He teases.

“I don’t want to intrude though. I’m sure you don’t like hanging around with me.”

“Chloe, you’re not intruding. And now I’m forcing you to close the computer, and get ready, because we’re leaving in five.”

“Ugh, fine. But we’re taking my car again!”



"You're down to four minutes! Better get your ass dressed!" He yells as he leaves my room.

Things are starting to look up.

Notes

I know this chapter sucks, but it's my second update today so don't get mad!

I'll update again tomorrow IF YOU ALL GO RATE THIS STORY!!

I'm really excited for the next few chapters, so vote if you haven't already and I'll update quicker!