The Boy Next Door (An All Time Low Fanfiction)

Thirty Five

We have a 1 week long winter break coming around the corner. Harry invited us to come over to NYC and stay for a couple of days with him. Mom was gonna come with me and Alex but unfortunately she had to go on a business trip that week too. I'm really excited, since I've never been to New York City before and of course, meeting my brother who I haven't seen in years. I haven't been to many places in the east coast. Back in California, me and my friends would go on road trips and go camping almost every week.

Speaking of my friends back home, I haven't heard much from them as of lately. I mean, we still talk, but I think we're just busy with our own life now. I used to hang out with a completely different kind of people than I do now. I love my friends here, but moving here has definitely changed me as an individual, with all the different atmosphere and vibe around me. People change. Minds can be changed too.

"Hey, Gail? Are you with me?" Alex waves in front of me

I daze out of my thoughts, "Sorry, I was lost in thoughts."

"What did you have in mind?" He asks

"You know.. stuff. Well, I'm just really excited for for this trip to happen. It's been a while since I've gone on a trip. I used to do road trips and camping all the time with my friends in California." I reply

"Yeah, I'm really excited to go see The Big Apple again. It's been a while." He says

"Can we get inside the car? I'm freezing." I shiver. The moment I get inside his car I'll make sure the heater is cranked up to the highest

Alex tosses his key, "You go in first. I still have to get my bag."

I don't argue and get inside the car straight away, turning the heater on as it slowly defrosts my almost frozen hands. I make myself comfortable for the 3 hour drive. I start picking out CDs and Alex finally joins me in the car.

"Ready?" He asks

"NYC, here we come!"

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Harry lives in the Upper East Side, Harlem to be precise. As we drive into Manhattan, I am literally overwhelmed by everything. Tall buildings and skyscrapers that rise up to the sky, the hectic streets, the pedestrians that just seem to be rushing, basically everything.

The GPS shows that we should be arriving in around 5 minutes and that Harry's neighbourhood is nearby. I give him a call to say that we're arriving soon. He promises to wait outside so we know which house's which. If I get to be honest, I actually have mixed feelings about meeting Harry after all these years. Should I hug him when I see him? Or what if he doesn't want to hug me? Why wouldn't he though- quit it, Gail.

"Hey, don't be nervous. Everything will be just fine. There's nothing to worry about, we've come this far." Alex tries to calm me down, he must have noticed how nervous I am

"You're right. Everything's perfect. He's my brother." I let out a huge breath

And there he is. A couple of houses down, we can see a tall man with red hair and green eyes standing. He looks so different from the last time I saw him years ago.

Alex pulls in and I unbuckle my seatbelt straight away. A rush of excitement strikes me, I leave everything behind, my phone, my purse, still in Alex's car, and get out the door. We crash into a hug, me and Harry. My brother, whom I haven't seen in years is now here with me.

"You've grown so big!" Harry lifts me up, "I almost can't lift you anymore!"

"I missed you, Harry." I tighten my arms around him

"I missed you too, Bug." He pats my back. I giggle at the sound of him calling me by my nickname he gave me when we were little

When we pull apart fro the hug, I haven't realized that I've been crying.

"Hey, don't cry! Why are you crying? Aren't you happy to see me?"He wipes the tears off my cheek

I laugh, "I am. I'm just really happy to see you again."

Alex comes out of the car after shutting the engine down, smiling at us.

"Harry, I want you to meet Alex, my boyfriend." I introduce him

"Well, hello Alex. I'm Harry Olson, Gail's brother. You break my sister's heart, I break your nose." Harry shakes his hand

We all laugh, we know that he didn't mean that. It was just him trying to play as the scary big brother, which I find really sweet.

"Harry, nice meeting you too. I look forward to keeping my nose in one piece." Alex laughs

"Why don't we get inside? It's freezing out here. I've always hated the cold." Harry complains

"I guess it runs in the family, huh? Not liking the cold?" Alex says

"Told you I wasn't the only one." I nudge him

We get our bags from the trunk and get to his apartment. It's a really nice modern styled apartment with 2 bedrooms. The inside is really clean and tidy, Harry's always been a neat freak. Harry leads us to our room so we can put our bags in there.

"Margo should be here any minute, she went out to get some things for a bit. Do you guys want anything to drink? Coffee? Tea?" Harry kindly offers

"Coffee for me, please." I say

"Do you by any chance have a can of coke?" Alex asks, as per usual he always drinks soda

Suddenly the door opens, revealing a woman in her early 20s with blond hair carrying brown paper bags. She has her scarf wrapped around her neck, her cheeks rosy red from the cold. Harry wasn't exaggerating about Margo's beauty. She really is stunning.

"Harry, they ran out of baguette at our usual bakery! I had to walk another 20 minutes in the cold to go to the other store!" Margo says as she closes the door. She clearly hasn't noticed our presence here. And also, that's really European of her to say so, about the bread.

Her facial expression changes when she sees us, "You made it here!!" Margo squeals

I get up from my seat and she leans in to kiss me cheeks, "I'm Margo! You have no idea how excited to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Margo. I've heard so much from Harry. He talks so highly of you." I smile

"And you too, Alex. Nice meeting you too!" She turns to kiss his cheeks also

We all sit in the living room together after that to chat. We catch up with a lot of things, Margo serves our drunks and some pastries from the bakery. I find out that Margo moved from Italy when she was 16 to join New York City Ballet. Harry met Margo through a mutual friend of his but it wasn't until 3 years ago that they started dating. After 1 year, they finally decided to move in together to this apartment. Margo works full time as a professional ballet dancer, she was just promoted as a soloist a couple of months ago. I can't help but look at the way Harry looks at her.  I can really tell that they're in love. It's hard to believe that we've grown up. My brother who used to always forget to bring his lunch to school, who used to tell me scary stories as a kid, is now a grown adult. And now there's me, who'll be graduating soon from high school.

Where has the time gone?

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Hope you guys liked it!

So yeah, Gail and Harry are finally reunited! Writing this, I'm actually really drawn into their character. I'm currently studying abroad for a few years and me and my older brother of 4 years are literally best friends and I miss him everyday.

Are you close to your siblings? :-)