The Shop

Chapter 6

"Where the hell have you been all night?" Tara's hands are on her hips and she is wearing her light blue robe. The words come at me slowly, probably because of the alcohol. 

"I went out for a drink woman!" I have to lean on the wall to balance myself. 

"And you stayed out until two o'clock." I'm surprised at how composed she is. Ignoring her remark, I make my way past her down the hall. Tara speeds up and throws her body in front of me to stop my walking. 

"Move the fuck out of my way." I hiss and she doesn't budge. 

"We need to talk about you doing this." Her voice is extremely irritating and I just want to sleep.

"What Tara? Damnit what the fuck do you want to talk about?" I throw my hands in the air and she flinches. Guilt rushes over my body quickly, washing out all of the alcohol from my system. She thought I was going to hit her? The thought makes me sick and all of my anger vanishes. Tara acts like nothing happens and maintains her angry attitude. 

"Baby, how could you think I would hit you?" 

"I didn't think you were--I know you would never. It just took me by surprise that's all." The tension in the room has completely disappeared. 

"Good, because I would never, ever hurt you. I could never live with myself if I did. I love you so much." I can see her eyes are a little glossy. The few romantic words I share once in a while can move people to tears. 

"I know." She smiles as a single droplet escapes her eyes. 

"Of course unless we were in bed and I was hammering down on your ass so hard--" She cuts me off and I laugh at her horrified expression. 

"Harry!" She scoffs and I pull her into a hug. 

"You smell like whiskey had a baby with scotch." Tara scrunches her nose and tries to free herself from my grasp but I pull her in tighter. 

"They had an abortion and adopted Vodka." Now I really upset her because she rips herself from my arms and stares and me a little irritated.  

"Why do you hate kids so much?" Always with these damn questions of hers.

"Shh, not tonight baby. I'm tired." I plant a kiss under her ear.

"And drunk." Then I graze the skin on her neck with my bottom lip, leaving her with goosebumps. 

"And yours, all night." I coo in her ear then slightly bite her collarbone as she pulls me into a kiss. We stumble backwards, heading to the bedroom.

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"Harry." Someone is singing my name and poking my lips.

"Oh Harry." The musical voice calls again and I try to expose my eyes to the light of the room.       

"Wake upp." My eyes peel open to find Tara hovering over me, balancing by both of her arms. Her blond hair is darker because it's wet. She took a shower and is fully clothed. 

"I'm going out to the grocery store." 

"Ok." My voice is thick with sleep and it cracks a little. Tara laughs at my teenage moment and leaves the room. I stretch my feet to the end of the bed and yawn.

"Bye!" Tara yells from the front of the house and I hear the door slam. Jumping up from the bed I soon find out I'm completely naked. I recall the wild night Tara and I had. Grabbing a towel from the floor I make my way to the closet, throwing on a pair of boxers and gym shorts. I can hear giggles coming from the living room. Tara already left so it has to be fucking Mary, and she has company with her. I swear is she brought one of her friends here I'm going to flip the fuck out. I stride into the living room to find Mary and some boy sitting on my couch.     

"What the fuck is this?" I growl and Mary jumps up to her feet putting her hands out to stop me from moving in closer. The young blond boy has bright blue eyes and and deathly smile, he is wearing a red and white flannel shirt with black jeans and converse. He looks well groomed but what the fuck is he doing with Mary? 

"Um Harry, meet Niall. Niall, meet Harry." Niall reaches his hand out to shake mine but I just nod at him. He smiles and withdraws his gesture.

"Harry uh, Niall is my boyfriend." What the fuck? Boyfriend? Oh hell no. Niall this times stands up and wraps his arm around Mary's waist. I glare at his hand, but he doesn't move it. I'm not jealous of Mary, God I could never like her, but I care for her. Yeah I hate her fucking guts but she is like a younger sister to me. I would never say that out loud though. We have a weird relationship.      

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I can hear a thick English accent off of him, maybe we have one thing in common. 

"Likewise." My voice is flat with no emotion.

"Niall and I are just going to go get some breakfast at the diner down the street." Mary looks at me slightly for approval and I nod. 

"Ok, bye Harry." Mary says and rushes Niall out of the door. He was mid sentence in saying goodbye but the shutting door behind them cut him off. Waiting around in this apartment until Mary or Tara come back is not going to work for me. I head back to my room and grab my towel again. Taking a quick shower, I put on black jeans and a dark grey t-shirt.  My boots slide on easy and I snatch my leather jacket and keys off of the hook. I walk step outside the door and see Liam wandering around aimlessly. I give him a brief smile and avoid eye contact. I quickly press the elevator button and walk in, hitting L. Maybe it's his condition or innocents but I just feel slightly awkward around Liam. He makes me want to be a nicer person, God forbid that. Walking into the lobby I notice Roger eyeing me suspiciously. When his glances become annoying I just ask him what his beef with me is. 

"Why do you keep staring at me?" I ask. Whatever his name is, looks down and pretends he doesn't hear me. I exit the apartment and glide down the street to the convenience store. Even though I come here a million times a day that marijuana stench smacks me in the face, always. In attempt to make this stop as quick as possible I walk to the drink section and take an Arizona iced-tea off of the shelf. As I round the corner of the aisle I bump into a familiar face. Why am I glad to see Jasmine here?