step brother ≫ styles

10

*{MADISONS POV}*

"Madison! Dinner!" I heard Anne call from downstairs.

I grabbed an extra chair for Shane placing it next to mine.

"Hey Madison," I turned around to see one of Harry's friends.

The blonde one again.

"Hi.." Damn. What was his name again?

"Are you ever gonna remember my name?" he laughed.

"Probably not," I mumbled as Harry walked into the room. I mean I probably would. At some point. 

Our eyes met and guilt washed over me.

What if Shane was right? What if he does like me?

Or worse - what if I like him?

Shush Madison, your inner insanity is showing.

We all sat down to dinner, dad and Anne at the ends of the table.

I sat between Shane and Niall while Harry and Jackson sat opposite us.

"So Madison," Anne broke the growing silence, "Harry tells me you've got a boyfriend?"

Her remarked caused Harry and I to both choke on our food.

"Mum!" Harry exclaimed, clearly embarrassed.

Why was he embarrassed? It was my boyfriend we were talking about.

"Ah! So that's why Shane's here!" My dad said causing me to choke again.

"No! Dad!" I groaned.

Shane's face was red and Niall was shaking from laughter.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Dad. I'm not dating Shane. You know that."

He shrugged, "Who then?"

"His name is Luke!" Jackson spoke up.

I turned my attention to him, "How'd you know that?"

"I overheard Harry talking about him." he replied.

Now it was time for me to turn my attention to Harry - because why was he talking about my boyfriend so much?

"Luke.. Luke Hemmings?" My dad asked and I cringed.

I knew my dad didn't like him.

"Isn't he the kid always ditching school and getting in trouble? The one in the band? With the lip ring?" He looked at me sternly.

"Um yeah.." I mumbled. "That's the one."

"I don't know if he's really the best guy for you Madison.." he trailed and I rolled my eyes.

"Mr. Fayes," Shane interjected, "If I can, I've seen Luke around with Rose at school and he does seem to care a lot about her."

I ignored the fact that he'd called me Rose and whispered a 'thank you' to him.

"Well maybe you'd ought to have him over for dinner then?" Anne suggested.

My eyes widened, "No I don't-"

"I think that's a great idea." Harry said.

What the hell was he doing?

"Good," dad smiled, "But I still think you and Shane would make a better couple."

We looked at each other pretending to be overly disgusted.

"Hmm," I joked, "I'm not really one for blondes."

"Hey! Luke has blonde hair!" Shane pointed out.

"Yeah, but on him it looks good," I laughed.

"Well," Shane scoffed turning away.

After that dinner was pretty boring - everyone making bad jokes and laughing at one another.

Just another evening at home.

And.. I hate to admit it, but I was warming up to Niall. (I remembered his name!) And even moreso to Harry.

Niall was pretty funny, I don't think he stopped smiling the entire dinner.

"See you tomorrow, Rose" Shane waved to me walking down to the drive where his car was parked.

I went back inside and up to my room to shower.

I'd just gotten dressed into some sweats and turned on my ipod, 'Skyway Avenue' by We The Kings blasted through my speakers, when I heard a knock on the door.

I turned around to see Harry dressed in some sweats like me.

"Hey Madison," he ran a hand through his floppy hair.

"You need something?" I asked turning down the volume so I could hear him a bit better.

"I um.. I didn't tell my mum or Jackson about Luke.. I was talking to Louis on the phone and I guess they overheard me," he said.

I sighed, "It's okay. They would've found out eventually."

He nodded, "I um.. I also wanted to give you this," he pulled out a silver bracelet with the letter M.

"I felt bad about everything.. And I mean everything. I know it's been annoying having me around and I know I'm going to be a nuisance.. But I want you to know that I care about you. I want to be friends with you Madison, and I'm hoping you'll let me."

I don't think any boy has ever said anything like that.

Scratch that, I don't think anyone has ever said anything like that to me.

"I got you this, think of it as a symbol of our friendship," He told me handing me a box. 

I opened it, seeing a silver bracelet inside. I couldn't help but smile as I slipped the bracelet on.

"M?," I read aloud, looking up at him; I was only 5'7 so he had a few inches on me.  Well, at least he had decent taste.

"Yeah, M for Madison. You can add charms to it, for things you like." he smiled.

"Thank you, Harry. And I'm sorry too. I haven't exactly been welcoming to you... And I know this is hard for you too."

"No big deal," he brushed it off. "That's in the past, right?"

I nodded, allowing myself to smile again; this time a bit bigger.

"The past," I agreed.

"Well.. good night then Mads," he told me.

He stood in the doorway as though he had something else he needed to do, but he bent down giving me a kiss on the cheek.

His eyes widened once he'd realized what he'd done, "uh night!" he said and scurried away.

I reached up and touched the spot where he'd kiss me, my skin felt tingly and my body buzzed inside.

What just happened? Does that mean that I was the girl he was talking about?

The point is, he was worming his way into my life, and I was actually kind of enjoying it.

Shut up, I told myself deciding to turn off the lights and go to bed.

I fell asleep looking at the bracelet and thinking.

I know it sounds cliche and stupid, but I can't help it.

Maybe I was wrong about Harry.