Grease Monkey- h.s

11

He remained silent and took another drag of his cigarette. I remembered Louis saying that Harry didn't like to talk about it and I began to feel stupid. I kept walking along side of him, but my focus turned towards the ground as I tried to figure out a way to end the torturous silence between us. Thankfully, his thick voice pierced the air so that mine didn't have to.

"My family lives there. Well, my mum and my sister." He paused to take inhale more tobacco. "Hadn't seen them in quite awhile, so I went."

"Oh. Why are you living here then?" As soon as I spoke, I wanted to grab the words and shove them back down my throat. Why are you so damn nosy?

Again, he didn't say anything for a good minute. "It's a long story. And it's starting to get dark. So we'd better head back."

I felt like a complete idiot. We walked in silence, back to the shop. It had quickly become very dark out. The moon was the only light we had to find our way back. I gazed up at the stars, taking in the sight. I hadn't really been out at night since we'd moved here. "The sky is absolutely stunning."

"It's one of my favorite parts of living out here. I used to lay outside for hours at night, just looking at the stars." Harry smiled as he looked down. He never looked at me, but I continued to watch him as we walked. He looked back to the sky, with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"I like this side of you, Styles." I could feel my eyes light up. For some reason, seeing him like this made me happy. He didn't act like this much - like he truly enjoyed something - and I liked it.

He simply looked at me as his smile faded. I thought he was going to say something, but he didn't. He diverted his gaze to his feet and kept walking. We'd arrived back at the shop. "Bring your car back by tomorrow and I'll get it ready for you to go to New York."

Oh yeah. You didn't tell him that you didn't need him to fix it because you weren't going back by car, but instead plane. And he thinks you're going back as soon as possible to see your boyfriend. "Okay, I'll have my dad drop us both by after school tomorrow." I waved and climbed into my dad's car. I left the shop without the oil and filter.

++

Another week passed and somewhere between long hours at the garage and catching Harry up on his math work, I completely forgot about Kyle and Tessa. Harry and I were growing closer as friends and his friendship healed my aching heart. Once I let myself be a true friend to him, it was as if all my problems faded away.

"Class, we have a new student. This is Liam Payne." I looked up from my math notebook to see a guy standing in front of the class, looking embarrassed. He was hot though, so no need to be embarrassed. "Liam, you may find a seat anywhere you'd like."

He filed into the row next to mine and took Harry's seat. Shit. That's what Harry gets for skipping class. I focused back on the teacher, who was now lecturing.

"Pssst." A sharp whisper interrupted my focus. I turned to see who it was. Liam. "Do you have an extra pencil? I seem to have forgotten mine." He smiled. I reached into my bag and handed him a pencil. "Thank you, sweetheart."

I blushed as he turned in Harry's seat and began to take notes.

++

I burst through the front door, in a hurry to get to the shop. I had to drop my things off first, but as I headed for the stairs, my dad called my name.

"Ah, here she is!" He smiled as I entered the dining room. "Kenna, this is my new business partner, Anthony Payne and his wife, Leila!" I shook their hands and smiled.

"Nice to meet you both."

"Wow, nice place you have here!" I followed the voice to the door of the dining room.

"Kenna, this is their son, Liam." My mom spoke.

"Ah, yes!" He smiled. "We have math class together and she loaned me a pencil." His hand went to his ear, where he had my pencil temporarily stored. "Thank you again." He handed me my pencil.

"You're welcome." I choked out, taking in how attractive he was.

"Maybe I can thank you sometime by taking you to dinner?" He asked, his eyes dancing.

"I'd love to!" I smiled. "But, dad I have to go check on my car. I'm borrowing yours, okay?"

My dad nodded.

"Again, it was nice to meet all of you!"

"Indeed, it was! I'm sure we'll be seeing much more of you!" Leila waved as I bustled out the door.

++

"Hey, how's she looking?" I called out to Harry as I walked into the shop after school.

"You're late." He mumbled, without looking up at me.

"Sorry, I had to meet some new friends of my dads." I said, thinking again of their hot son and his proposal of a date.

Harry wiped his hands off on his greasy rag and tossed something at me. I caught the flying mystery and turned it over in my hands.

"Harry, why did you throw me my keys?" I hesitated, not wanting to assume anything.

"We're going for a little drive." He grinned.

"You mean - she... she's fixed?" I stared at him, mouth wide open.

"I had her cranked just a few minutes ago. She purrs like a kitten." He brushed his shoulder off and I laughed as I ran around and jumped into the driver's seat, starting the engine. He was right, my car sounded perfect. I honked the horn and motioned for him to get into the car. He climbed into the passenger seat and I slowly exited the garage.

"When you get up here, take a right." He motioned as I came to a stop.

"Where are we going?" I asked, confused.

"To get this baby a new paint job." He looked at me, smiling wide.

"Are you serious?! Harry, you don't have to. I just wanted her to run smoothly, that's all." I felt bad.

"A car like this deserves more than to just run smoothly." He remarked. "Now go."

I took the right turn, so excited I could barely breathe.

After about thirty minutes and a ridiculous conversation about cows - since we passed so many - we finally arrived to the paint shop.

"Harry, it's late and dark inside. Are you sure they're open?" I worried.

"I know the guy who owns it. Pull over to that door." He instructed and I did as I was told.

We climbed out of the car and Harry led me inside. He whistled out and someone returned the call. An older guy who was just as dirty as Harry came around the corner and Harry hugged him. They spoke for a few minutes before Harry introduced us. The man's name was Bobcat. Really.

"So what color are you thinkin'?" Bobcat looked from me to Harry as we flipped through a selection of colors.

"Cherry red." I pointed.

"Perfect." Harry's eyes lit up. "With a white racing stripe?" He looked at me with pleading eyes.

I laughed. "Since you've worked so hard on it, I'll get white racing stripes for you."

Harry's smile spread out onto his face and his eyes sparkled a bit as he looked at me. I could almost feel myself start to blush, so I quickly looked away.

"Well, you kids run along and give me a few. I'll holler when I'm done." Bobcat disappeared out into his shop and I followed Harry out the front door.

"Oh, wait!" I turned and sprinted to my car to pull an old quilt out of the trunk. I made my way back to Harry who stood, looking confused. "There's nothing to do but sit and wait, so we might as well sit and wait and look at the stars." I grinned, pointing to the beautiful night sky. "Plus, you said you used to do it all the time when you were a kid, so I know you like it." I teased as I spread the blanket out onto the grass. We were still out in the middle of nowhere. This paint shop had to be the only thing around for miles, except cows.

I sprawled out on the blanket, but Harry just stood there as if he was trying to decide what to do. He finally eased down onto the blanket and I smiled a little. We sat in silence for a bit - I relaxing on my back and Harry sitting.

"You know how you asked me the other day about my family?" He spoke and I could tell by the shake in his voice that something was bothering him.

"Yeah." I answered, trying not to pry.

"Well, they used to live here."

"Oh." I was trying not to be nosy, but I wanted him to continue.

"My uh, my dad passed away when I was little. They moved shortly after."

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Harry." I reached up and patted his hand, which I think startled him a bit.

"It's okay. I grew up with Louis and Bart. Bart is his dad."

"No way! I thought they looked alike, but I never would have guessed!" I let out a little giggle, thinking about Louis and Bart being related. Harry laughed a little, too.

"Yeah, they're quite the pair, aren't they?" He shook his head.

"Is there a reason you didn't move with your mom and sister?" I was afraid to ask, but I felt like I needed to.

"My dad and Bart were best friends. They started the shop together when they were young. I was eight when he died. Louis and I were always at the garage, learning from our dads. I always said when I grew up, I'd be a mechanic just like my dad. Bart and dad would laugh and say that they couldn't wait until the day that Louis and I could run the business for them." He paused and I swore I saw a tear in his eyes. "But anyways, my mom always wanted to move away, but my dad loved it here. As soon as he was gone, she took the money and left. I went too, but I hated it. After four years there and a bad case of depression, she let me move back and live with the Tomlinsons. I visit her now and again, but I've never quite liked it much. She still begs me to move up there, but I plan on staying here and doing like I'd always planned - taking over the business for my dad."

"That's such a sweet thing, Harry. Your dad would be so proud of you." I smiled, hoping that he could see how much his story touched me.

We looked at one another for a moment, but Bobcat broke the gaze with a yell.

"I've got her ready for ya!"

Harry laughed and got to his feet. He held out his hand and helped me up. I grabbed the blanket and we made our way inside.

"Oh my God, it's perfect!" I squealed.

"Bobcat, wow, this looks amazing! Thank you!" Harry hugged the guy and I did too, surprising the both of them.

"I can't thank you enough! Both of you!" I jumped into the driver's seat.

"Well, I better hop in before I get left!" Harry laughed and waved to Bobcat.

"Y'all be good now! And come back anytime!" He waved and with that, we were on the road, heading home.

++

"Thank you - for tonight." Harry hesitated as he climbed out of my car at the shop. "I don't like to talk about that much, but I felt like you needed to know."

"Thank you for telling me, Harry." I smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He waved and went to his motorcycle.

I backed out of the parking lot. I took a deep breath and made the turn towards my house. I'd opened up just enough to become friends with Harry, but why couldn't I be totally and completely honest with him, like he was with me tonight? He'd shared his most painful memories with me and I couldn't do the same.