By Chance

34 - Harry

 "What?" I asked, my mouth full of cereal.

"Nothing," Tom quickly answered, continuing to chow down his toast. Since last night, he had been giving me looks, and I was starting to get suspicious. I finished shortly after and got up to rinse my milk-stained bowl.

Paddy wandered in, making me tense and scared that he was about to bombard me with a round of brain-numbing joke-telling. Surprisingly he was quiet, which made me even more nervous. Paddy never misses a second to talk. He didn't look like he was in a bad mood or anything, he was just quiet. Too quiet. It was almost like he was hiding something, and I was praying my suspicion was wrong.

Tom and I looked at each other, nervous for different reasons, but I didn't know that. I thought we were both scared that the engagement news leaked somehow, but he was worried for other reasons. Our little brother read something off the back of the cereal box, Tom and I wondering what was going on in his head. I raised my eyebrow while setting my bowl into the sink, catching Paddy's attention.

"Hey, Pads. How are you?" I asked in a shaky tone, trying to be casual but failing miserably.

"I'm good, I guess. You guys?" he asked hesitantly, looking from me to Tom as if we were the ones acting weird. I quickly shot a panicked glance at my older brother, fearing the worst.

"We're fine...," I answered cautiously, edging away from the teenager that I never took my eyes off.

"What is it?"

I decided to stop beating around the bush and get to the point. I took a deep breath, scared of what could be coming.

"You're just quiet this morning," I observed casually, giving him a side-glance as I moved my glass from the table to the sink.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said in a tone that was way too carefree for anyone's peace of mind.

"Okay...," I replied, taking my phone and leaving Tom to fend for himself, walking towards the stairs.

"Oh, Harry?" I heard Paddy add as I was nearing the stairs. So close.

"Yeah?" I asked nervously, slowly turning around.

"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering what time you're going to pick up-"

Out of nowhere, a scream that came from Tom's direction interrupted the boy. My head swung towards my older brother, missing the dirty glance the youngest was throwing at him.

"There was SUCH a big spider right there!" he explained with an open mouth, eyes bulging. I sighed, shaking my head as I shifted my eyes around, not putting too much effort into finding what he saw.

"Kind of ironic that Spider-Man is afraid of spiders," I said with a low laugh.

"You know I'm not actually Spider-Man, Harry," he said with an annoyed sigh, rolling his eyes while he folded his arms. I shook my head, turning to leave the room, seeing Paddy still on the stairs. I stopped, turning to him. I might not have known what he was going to say, but something told me it shouldn't have ever been said in the first place. 

"You know, maybe if you started acting like the adult you are and stop telling on people, we'd tell you more."

With that, I pushed past him, not bothering to look behind and see the stunned expression on his face.