Can You Understand? (1D fanfic)

Chapter 19

I woke up later at around ten in the morning. Dallas was nowhere to be seen, but I heard knocking at the door.

"Come in!" I yelled.

The door swung opened and in came Niall and Louis.

"Hey." Niall mumbled.

"Hey guys." I said, relieved to see them up and walking. "Is everything okay?"

Louis nodded. "You and Harry were the only ones that got burnt. Zayn, Liam, Niall, and I just needed some fresh oxygen."

"Oh, good." I said. "But why did Harry get burnt?"

"Your back was on fire when you and Dallas left the arena. Dallas was passed out so he obviously couldn't do much. The fans were crowding tight around you, so Harry used the last ounce of energy he had and lunged at you, knocking you, and the fire out."

Ohhhh. I understood now.

"I checked on him last night," I began. "And he was okay."

"You should see his arm." Said Louis. "It's so bad I'm concerned he won't be able to perform for a while."

"Yeah, remember how I had my bandage on my arm for three weeks?" Asked Niall. "He's gonna have a sling for a whole month!"

"No!" I cried.

"Niall? Louis?" Came a strong American accent. "I would like to talk to my sister please."

I looked beside the boys and saw my brother Mason march into the room.

"MASON!" I yelled, shocked to see my brother. "What are you doing here? IN ENGLAND?!"

"Study abroad." He said "But what I want to know is WHAT HAPPENED?!"

I looked up at Niall and Louis for help.

"No, answer without them." He snapped, with an angry tone. "And you better be glad that this is only local news, and that I only heard about it. If it was on the global news, then you would be in serious trouble at home, and if I wasn't here, you would've been on the first flight back to Richmond."

I stared up at him, blankly. "Uh-"

"And seriously!" He cried. "You couldn't have at least said something?"

"Well, what did you expect me to do?!" I cried, raging.

"Hullo." Said a voice from behind. It was the nurse. "I'm afraid Miss Evans must come with me." Next to her was Harry, crossing his arms and glaring at my brother.

I glared too, and jumped out of bed. Niall and Louis quickly stepped aside and proceeded to talk to my brother.

"Well he's certainly nice." said Harry sarcastically, as we both walked down the hall in our nightgowns.

"Huh, just be glad you don't know about my oldest brother."

"You mean to tell me, you've got ANOTHER sibling?"

"Aaron? Yeah, he's like...29 or something. You didn't see him at the funeral?"

"How in the heck would I know what he looked like?!"

I shrugged. "Just saying. He lives in California with his wife and daughters that are like six and seven."

"Anything else I should know?" he asked.

"Yeah. He's got a really grumpy disposition. When Mason was like, 13, I was 10, Shelby was 17, and McKenzie was 8, he was about 22. He's actually adopted from Australia."

"Oh really?" Asked Harry. "Does he have an accent?"

"No, not really." I said. "My parents adopted him when he was a toddler. He could hardly speak then. All I know is that I don't really like him. When I was born, he was 12, and he seemed to think he was always the boss of me."

"That's what older siblings do." said Harry. "Like my sister."

"No." I said, stepping into the exam room. "Aaron never really fit in with our family. He was just too...different."

"So did you even talk to him at the funeral?"

"No!" I laughed. "No one LIKES him."

"But, he's family." said Harry, with a look of confusion.

"Hardly." I said. "He was just brought into it. He was never born into it."

"Still." said Harry. "You weren't born in MY family but I still care about you."

"Yeah, but Aaron's different, like I said." I repeated.

The nurse came in with the doctor.

"Allright you two." said the Doctor. "You must change your bandages every night, and put on some ointment too, Harry, let me show you how to move your elbow like so-"

The doctor bent over to fix Harry's sling.

"I know but really, Hayley," he began. "You guys need each other more than ever now. Aaron, like you said, is in California, Mason' s here, er, well, in college, nd Mackenzie is home all alone. Shelby's passing has made things hard for you guys, but that's what family is for."

"You don't understand." I said, groaning.

"No, I don't, frankly." said Harry, his tone growing. "Why is it you think lowly of your family? You're lucky to have many siblings. "I've got one, and a mother. That makes THREE of us."

"Yes, I know how to count, Harry." I said. "But being one of five is really hard to! You don't practically own anything, and being one of the awkward middle children, my life has been nothing but still and boring. The only thing I was recognized for was the figure skating! Harry, you don't understand, I never got enough attention! I was always cast aside!"

"At LEAST you had a full and fulfilling family!" yelled Harry. "You're being selfish by complaining about being the second to last child!"

"Selfish?!" I cried. "I never had anything to call for MYSELF! I hate Aaron! THAT'S why you've never heard of him! I hated him! He always hated me too...!" I drifted off.

"At LEAST you don't have to worry about separating parents." said Harry. "I'd have a billion siblings if that meant I got to still keep my parents together. Yes, no family is perfect, but in the grand scheme of things, be HAPPY. You have a family! Some people don't even HAVE a family!"

I went quiet. For once, Harry was correct about something.