My Best Friend's Brother

Chapter Three-

Overall, my day at Gemma's house was pretty enjoybale. Our lunch was probably the most delightful meal I have ever demolished in my entire nineteen years of living. Anne makes the best Spaghetti, I swear to god. The amount of conversation at the table wasn't on a high level, though; it was really quite limited. Not a lot went on there, causing everything to be really awkward, which confused me a lot. I had never felt this awkward at Gemma's house. Ever

-'-'-'-'

"So, how's your weekend been, Audrey?" Anne asked me, as her, Gemma, Harry and I sat around the circle table in the dining room, silence being the loudest, main key factor right now. I glanced up at her face, feeling slightly embarrassed as I was in the midst of eating a mouthful of spaghetti. That obviously resulted in an extreme downfall; in this case, a string of spaghetti hanging out the side of my mouth. I pushed it in my fork, feeling my cheeks burning red with humiliation. Of course, this had to happen to me. I chewed on my food at quite a rapid pace, wanting to move onto Anne's question more than anything. What made my actions even more awkward and complex was the fact that the three people before me were staring straight at me, like their eyes were burning into my soul. Maybe not quite like that, but pretty bloody similar. 

I quickly swallowed my food, holding my right hand over my mouth as I did so, not wanting the others to see a sight they probably weren't fond on. "It's been good," I simply stated, after I finally got my food down, which was now burning down my throat. I slipped my tongue out between my lips, slightly moistening them, trying my absolute best to ignore the burning, not-so-pleasant sensation which had now traveled down to my chest. "Didn't really do much, though," I added, reaching out and getting a gentle, yet firm grip around the glass of water in front of me, further on the table than my plate. I wrapped my lips around the edge of the glass and tilted it back, my head going with it. I closed my eyes slightly as I felt the refreshing liquid race down my throat, soothing the burn, which had almost gone away on it own.

"What about you? What'd you guys do?" I asked, when Anne didn't bother to add anything else on the conversation, which wasn't really going anywhere in the first place. I placed down the glass after taking my final sip and put my cutlery together, placing it in the middle of the china plate, signifying that I was finished. Just the basic manners that my parents taught me when I was a kid, and had been bugging me about for as long as I can remember. 

I glanced around the table, waiting for one of them to answer. When nobody spoke up, I let out a quiet sigh. So quiet that none of them even heard it. This lunch was getting more and more awkward by the sencond. 

All of the sudden I saw Harry sit up in his seat, from his position before that, which was just lazy and slouched. I glanced over to see him attempting to get ready to say something. At least, I thought that was what he was doing. He had always been socially awkward and bewildering. I sat there for a few more seconds, until he finally spoke up.

"Me and the boys had a signing yesterday, so mum and Gemma came along to help with all the merchandise," he explained, staring down at his plate as he twirled his fork around in the multiple strings of left over spaghetti. I could tell something stronger was on Harry's mind; he never liked to miss a meal. He was a lot like Nial, from his band. Niall ate practically everything, and wouldn't trade his food for anything in the world. Well, I guess Harry isn't so much like Niall. But whatever; he just doesn't usually skip on a chance to eat. He is a growing boy, after all. 

"Oy yeah?" I began, a slight smile growing on my face. I didn't plan on having it occur, but when it did, I looked over at Gemma who was gazing intently between Harry and I, obviously expecting some sort of reaction. A grin broke out on her face when she notices my small smile. I took that as a sign of making her happy for the entire day, so I slowly turned my smile into a more casual and neutral look, trying to make it look natural to Gem and Anne. I presumed that Gemma had told her mother about Harry and I making an effort to be more urbane towards one another. I guess I had no other choice now; they both knew, so not trying to do what I had been requested to do would be a bit shallow of me. "And how did that go? Was it fun?"

A grin grew on Harry's face as he heard my words, obviously recollecting the previous memories of yesterday in his mind. "Yeah, it was really good. A lot of people turned up and it was great fun," he said, his smile still nicely in tact. I liked it because it was a sweet and genuine smile, not a little cheeky, smart-ass smirk. I nodded my head slowly, smiling back at him. His eventually faded as he glanced up at me. It didn't vanish immediately, it was still there for a couple moments. But when he realised that the entire table was looking at him - which in reality was only three other people - it faded, in a more nonchalant way than deliberate. 

After the topic dimmed down, I, being the polite and kind guest I am, volunteered to do the dishes. I do this every time I'm at their house, and Anne finds it rude for her to agree to it, but I like to help her out. She is a single mother of two, nevertheless. 

But she did ask Harry to do the dishes with me, he protested against this order, of course, being the stubborn teenager he is. "We've got a dishwasher," he whined. "We've also got a guest in the kitchen willing to help, so get up and give her a hand!" Anne snapped back. I could practically hear the frown on her face and the venom in the voice. 

A few short moments after I heard the small tussle between the two, Harry slumped into the kitchen, looking more pissed than anything. "You can just go up to your room, I won't tell her," I suggested, fully expecting him to agree the minute the words left my mouth. But instead, he stayed, shaking his head in response, putting the plug in the bottom of the sink, running the hot water, adding cold to it after. I let out a small sigh and shrugged my shoulders, walking over to the bench where the sink was, grabbing a tee-towel from the oven rail before I stood next to Harry, preparing myself to dry the dished after they had been cleaned. 

There would be those casual, yet ever-so-awkward moments when our elbows would bump into each other. Well, it was more like his elbow bumping into the side of my arm. Yeah, I'm not so tall. He'd quietly apologize, looking down at me, his face as bored as ever. I'd nod my head in response, not feeling the need to say anything else. But there was one thing that sparked up a conversation.

"So, Brooks.." he began, his tone becoming more cheeky. He didn't bother to look at me. "Care to do me a favour?"