When We See You Again

Chapter 19

*Maddie's POV*

We are all getting in our cars heading back to my house. I purposely made sure to change up the seating arrangement for this trip. I need to talk to Harry about his reaction to Greta. I'm also low-key punishing Louis for paying for all our dresses. I had a feeling they wouldn't let me pay for it but still. And he lied to me. The only time he was away from us to do that would have been when we discovered there were only two open stalls for the dressing room and Alyssa and I came back to the boys. He said he was going to the bathroom, I knew something was up but I didn't think he would lie to me.

"Catch, Lou! You're driving!" I yell at him right before I toss my keys at him. He catches them. I grab Harry's arm and start dragging him to my car. "Backseat." I tell him.

"Should I be scared? You're being kinda scary." He asks as he gets in.

"What do you think? Slide over, I don't wanna walk around." He does and I get in beside him and close the door. Liam hops in the passenger seat. No one says anything until after we're on the road. I break the silence. "So, Harry." I start. He turns his head to look at me. "I'm about to grill you and I expect complete honesty. Do I make myself clear?"

He face shows his emotions. He's too afraid of me right now to lie to me. "Yes ma'am."

I visibly cringe. "Ew gross. Don't call me ma'am." A small chuckle escapes me. That's not what I need right now. He needs to see I'm completely serious about this conversation. "Anyways, when Greta came out in that very revealing dress, you muttered 'beautiful' and you were staring at her awfully hard." I give him a moment to let that sink in. "I need to know what that's about. And what your intentions are from here on. I love you. You're a friend and brother but this is my sister. It is my responsibility to take care of her and I take that very seriously. If you break her heart, I will end you. Then I'm gonna have to go searching for a way to bring you back just to yell at you for making me kill you. So you need to explain yourself. Now." I keep my voice even. I'm not trying to cause a fight or anything I just need answers. I'm also very aware that Liam and Louis can hear everything being said, which is fine because it's good to have witnesses if this goes badly.

*Harry's POV*

I thought that out loud? What is wrong with me? I guess I have no choice but to tell her, especially after what we've just learned about her. Please don't kill me. I take a deep breath. I see Louis looking at me through the rearview mirror. Liam is definitely listening as well even though he's just sitting there. "Maddie, I like your sister." I release a shakey breath before continuing. "I don't know anything other than that. I don't know how she feels. I don't have any answers. I just know I like her, a lot." I avoid looking at her as I finish what I have to say.

"And your intentions, Harry?" She prompts. Her voice isn't giving me any indication of her emotions. She's in security mode. She's scary when she's like this. She means business and there's no doubt about that.

I look at her, showing her I'm not hiding anything. "I would like to find out if she likes me and possibly go out with her."

*Maddie's POV*

Thank God he looked at me. It's much easier to read people when I can see their face fully. I have to keep her safe. If I can keep her from getting hurt, I absolutely will. The media has casted Haz as the heartbreaker. As much as I hate it, I know people can change. If he had changed and had his sights set on my sister as his next broken heart, I really don't know what I would have done. I do love him. He is a friend and brother. It would have hurt more than anything to see that fame had changed him. I'm glad that's not the case. I can still see the same Hazza I knew before they left. I reach over and hug him. "Thank you. As much as I love you and believe in you, I have to look out for her and her well being. If you'd like I can tell you what I know."

He sighs in relief. "Please."

I laugh and pull back. "So we don't talk about liking you guys often, it's mostly how much we miss you. She has feelings for you but I don't think she knows what kind of feelings, she's still trying to figure it out. I think that because she also has feelings for Niall. Like I said, she's still trying to figure her feelings out." He's in thought, contemplating how to move forward. "Speaking of. What's going on with him? And Zayn?" I ask. My voice takes that even serious tone again.

Liam speaks this time. "Zayn likes Trinity. He thinks her personality matches his. Niall... is a different story."

"I totally see that from Zayn. She likes him too from what I know. Explain Niall, please." I need more info before I say anything else.

"He's like Greta. He can't figure out his emotions. He's caught between two of you." Louis explains.

"Which two?" I question.

"Your best friend and your sister." Lou answers.

"Of course he likes the two closest to me. Is there someone he's leaning more towards? Or is he completely stuck?" How do I keep them both from getting hurt?

"I'm not sure" Liam answers me.

"Alyssa likes him back. She's known for a while, anytime we talk about it I see Greta get a little jealous. That's how I know she's conflicted. What about you, Lou?" I give them all the information I have.

"You're my girls. I love you all but I don't see any of you romantically." He laughs.

Everyone laughs with him. I can't bring myself to ask about Liam, to get conformation. I don't know that I could handle it if he doesn't like me back. I'd rather remain blissfully unaware. We sit in silence for a bit when I remember, "Hey, Lou?"

"Yeah?" he answers.

"Thank you for getting the dresses for us." I say genuinely.

"You're welcome, we were planning on surprising you guys with that anyways." Louis smiles brightly.

"But don't lie to me. Please. Even for something like this. If I start asking questions about something that needs to be a surprise, just tell me 'It's a surprise' more than likely I'll drop it. I don't like not knowing things. The way my brain thinks...it just, I need to know things, please." I'm looking at him through the mirror. He needs to see how serious I am about this. I don't like surprises. Surprises mean I don't know something, and if I don't know then I can't prepare for the things to come. Everything has consequences. I just need to be prepared to deal with them.

"Okay, thank you for telling me. It won't happen again, I'm sorry." he gives me a sad smile. I don't know what Greta told them, but I don't want to burden them when they're only home for a short while. If they don't need to know, then I won't tell them.

Meanwhile...

*Zayn's POV*

After Maddie dragged Harry away, we all got in the car. Niall and Alyssa got in the front. Greta, Trinity and I all got in the back. Trinity sat in the middle. I get to sit beside her. Alyssa is scanning the radio trying to find a station that's playing music and not advertisements. She finally finds out and all three of the girls start jamming. I mean singing, dancing, just completely losing themselves in the music. Trinity is careful with her dancing though, making sure she doesn't hit me in any way. She moves so gracefully, even when she's moving erratically. I just watch them, commiting her to memory. I want to draw her perfect face. She's definitely my muse. If the girls hadn't pushed us to go try out for X Factor, I would've never left her. I've liked her for so long. It's nice to see her having fun. It's nice seeing her in general, but I'm glad she's happy. Everything she does amazes me; the way she moves, the words she speaks, the way her mind figures out problems, everything. Niall changes the station for them everytime ads start playing. Eventually, Alyssa gets tired of having to skim through every station and pulls an aux cord from her bag. She plugs her phone in and hits shuffle on a playlist she has. I can't believe the song that starts playing. It's my favorite from our album, Tell Me A Lie. I'm not sure why but it surprises me that they know all the words. It shouldn't, but it does. It's nice to know they care about our music enough to learn the words, to support us unquestionably. The girls are even more into our song than they were the radio, which I didn't think was possible. They even take turns when it's a solo part. They're all amazing. I wonder how long it took them to learn all the words. Finally, we pull into the driveway at Maddie's house.