habits of my heart (h.s.)

eighteen

I immediately jumped off of Harry, throwing the covers back as a final protective measure, but it was too late: my brother had already seen him.

"I knew you were busy, Aly, but I had no idea you were busy doing someone," Adam said. He wasn't smiling, but for a second, I was naive enough to think he might be calm about the situation. Unfortunately, a moment later, he snarled, "Who the fuck is that?"

I could feel Harry stirring under the covers, but I decided that it was for his own good and shoved him to indicate that it wasn't the time. "It's no one, Adam. Why the hell didn't you knock--or better yet, why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I left you the voicemail!" he exclaimed. "I told you I was going to surprise you."

"You know I hate surprises," I reminded him, trying to change the subject. "Remember that one time when--"

"Save it, Aly," Adam rolled his eyes. "Now who the hell is that--wait. It isn't Ray, is it?"

I gulped at the mention of Ray, and then quickly shook my head. "Of course not. You were right, Ray is engaged."

My brother frowned. "I thought you guys only broke up at the end of the school year."

I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should tell him or not. Then I remembered that my brother's rekindled hatred for Ray would most likely get his mind off of Harry, so I quickly said, "Actually, he was cheating on me."

"Cheating on you?" Adam repeated. "Are you fucking kidding me? I knew I should have punched that guy when I saw him."

Something that you should know about my brother: he is not a psychopath, nor does he have major issues. It's just that my dad died when I was three, and Adam is six years older than me, so he always considered himself to be somewhat of a father figure as well. It was fine for the most part, although it could get annoying sometimes. Right now, however, I too was wishing he had socked Ray in the face at Fenway.

I was about to tell him that it was fine, but before I had the chance to, Harry chose that moment to pop up from under the covers. I was about to hiss at him to get back under there, but then I remembered that he was probably close to suffocation. Also, his hair was extremely mussed up and he looked very cute, so it was hard to say no to him right now.

"I would never cheat on Alyson," he blurted out. "I know this is a really horrible way for us to meet, but I really do care about her, I swear."

I stared at him, and if it hadn't been for my brother, I would have leaned over and kissed him. "You do?" I turned to my brother. "See? Look how sweet he is."

Adam frowned. "Who even is this guy?" He faced Harry, eyes narrowed. "How do you know my sister? Do you go to NYU too?"

Harry hesitated for a minute before shaking his head. "No, I don't go to NYU."

"Columbia? Fordham? Shit, I don't know...Juilliard?"

"No, I'm not in college anymore," Harry said. "I work, actually. I'm a teacher."

Eyebrows furrowed, Adam asked, "How old are you?"

Harry and I exchanged an uneasy glance before he sighed, "I'm twenty-seven."

I watched as my brother's eyes practically popped out of his head. Had I mentioned that he was also twenty-seven? "Alyson, what the fuck?" he seethed. "You're dating a guy who's six years older than you?"

"Look, it's not--" Harry tried to say, but my brother immediately cut him off.

"If I were you, I would keep your fucking mouth shut," Adam snapped. "Are you...I mean, did he take advantage of you or something?"