Brother's Best Friend

With a Sea View

It wasn't fair.

How dare YN's brother bring Harry on vacation when he knew they were awkward around each other. He was constantly teasing them both to the point it was incredibly annoying, but YN supposed that's what older brothers do - make fun of their little sisters for literally everything. For years now, he had been convinced that YN had a crush on Harry. He taunted her about it constantly. And any time he brought it up YN couldn't help but blush a little bit at the suggestion, making both the boys laugh and embarrassing her further.

Because the truth was of course she had a crush on Harry. How could she not? He was beautiful, and funny, and when he wasn't laughing at her with her brother, he was actually really sweet to her. He had this way of smiling at her that made the butterflies in her stomach wake up like she was a teenager again. And he used pet names like 'darling' and 'sweetheart' so easily that even though she felt like the words were monumental he seemed to not even notice he was saying them to her. He defended her when her brother went too far and actually tried to include her when she was around.

But he would never actually think the same about her, how could he? Although only two years younger, she was always going to be just a kid in his eyes. An annoying little shadow that they couldn't ever get rid of. The same little girl that used to hide behind the couch and eavesdrop on them when they played video games in the living room.

Of course she was unable to act normal around him. She tried not to be in the same room as him and her brother at the same time so she could avoid the teasing. And she always stumbled over her words when talking to him, desperate not to embarrass herself but only making it worse each time. Harry never said anything about the way YN acted around him, but she knew in the back of her head that he thought she was making a fool of herself.

So it wasn't fair that YN's parents had allowed her brother to bring Harry on family vacation to Italy, because this definitely would not be a vacation for YN when she was spiraling in her head about what it would mean to be around Harry 24/7. Not fair at all. She'd never be able to relax, she knew that for sure. And vacation was all about relaxing, wasn't it? In the back of her mind she knew she'd always have to get fully dressed before breakfast, she'd be self conscious in her bathing suit at the pool or the beach, and she'd be overthinking every word she said when he was around.

Dinner on the third night of the trip had been by far the worst of it. Harry and her brother had been in a silly goofy mood all day and took advantage of the audience they had to tease YN even more than usual. They weren't even creative, not really. It was all about how she was younger, or a joke about the way she ate her noodles, or a comment about the time she almost won a board game on family game night but Harry ended up coming out on top. Her brother was pushing all her buttons in that way that only siblings can. By the end of the meal she was frustrated and exhausted and ready to just be alone.

But when they were heading up to their hotel rooms, Harry surprised her by inviting her to join them for some drinks, and as much as she wanted to, YN really couldn't say no. Not to Harry. Not when he was looking at her with clear, wide eyes and a soft smile. Before she even knew what she was doing she was nodding her head and following him towards his room to the left instead of her own room to the right and that's how she ended up drinking beer with her brother and Harry on the balcony of Harry's room after the sun had set.

The teasing didn't stop just because the meal ended. No, he was still going at her hard to the point where YN was very glad she had alcohol in her hand to turn to. She didn't notice, but Harry had stopped joining in, and was actually frowning with a slight furrow to his brow as her brother continued his torment.