My Best Friend's Brother

Chapter Six -

"Oh.." I began, my throat suddenly feeling exceedingly dry. I swallowed, attempting to get rid of the knot that felt like it was there, but it was almost like it was just stuck there, and swallowing did it no justice whatsoever. "I'm giving him a lift there," I added, followed by me realising that I didn't even have my license and that the plan was slowly plummeting south. On the outside, I smiled after the words had escaped my mouth, but on the inside, I was repeatedly punching myself in the face. I knew that Gemma was going to see right through me at this moment in time. "Are you joking me right now?" Gemma responded, her eyebrows raised once again. "Nope," I lied, feeling almost agitated. "Harry's going to be teaching me how to drive," I added. "I'm helping him find books at the library, and he's teaching me how to drive. It's a win-win," I continued, adding a charming grin to then end of it, hoping to seem more convincing. A grin broke out of Gemma's face and she nodded her head quickly, resulting in both Harry and I to frown slightly. Only due to the fact that she looked like an utter spastic.

"You guys have seen the light," she smiled, looking between the two of us, her appearance slightly dazed. "You're finally going to be friends!" she practically yelled. I jumped at the her sudden raise-of-voice and then nudged Harry towards the exit once more. "Something like that," I said, my voice low. "Okay, cya later!" I said. When I heard Gemma call out after us following my goodbye, I power walked to the front door, Harry following slowly behind me, looking as calm as ever.

I forced the door open, stepping into the cool breeze. I closed my eyes and inhaled the fresh air, feeling my almost boiling hot temperature going down. I swear to god, I'm never assisting to create an escape plan with Harry, ever again. All it did was instigate stress.

"Move," Harry's low and dark voice whispered in my ear, as he placed two fingers in the center of my back, pushing me slightly, leading to me almost stumbling down the front steps. I frowned as I watched him walk towards his car, which looked literally hundreds of thousands of euros. "Hey!" I called out, catching his attention. He glanced back at me, boredom the only thing I could capture as a facial from the distance between us. "If you're gonna be like that," I added, turning my body at a certain angle so I could grip the handle of the front door. "I could blow up your little plan, right now," I concluded, making my voice seem as daunting and threatening as possible.

Harry's face suddenly dropped, at least, that's what it looked like. He was down the other end of the driveway, so it was kind of hard to detect. He let go of the door handle on the car that he had grasped before and put his hands both up in surrender. "You're right," he spoke up, and I smirked. "I'm sorry." I nodded my head at his apology and happily let go of the door handle, practically skipping in the direction of the car. He followed me around to the passengers side and stepped in front of me, pulling the door open. I pinched his side as I walked around him, causing him to flinch slightly. I grinned cheekily, only inches away from his face as he stood behind the door. "Thanks," I said, my voice low, merely intimidating. Stepping into the car and sitting down, I glanced up at his face; he was just looking at me, almost like a gaze. It was bizarre. No, it wasn't like a frown or a glare, it was just him, simply glancing at me, almost a look of aspiration in his eyes. Hard to comprehend, then again, actually explaining the vibe.

He closed the door, the sound making me jump lightly. I watched as he made his way around the front of the car, over to the drivers door. He opened it and jumped in; I glanced over, looking at his facial expression. He almost looked lost as he put in the keys and started up the ignition. "What's up?" I simply asked, popping the 'p' on 'up'. "I just can't believe that she actually went with it," he mumbled, backing out of the driveway. "Gemma?" I asked and he nodded. "What? You mean, you think she knows?" I added, feeling my throat go dry again. "No," he stated, his voice a particular tone, almost like he knew something I didn't, which he couldn't. I had been there the whole time, there was no way. "By 'going along with it', I mean her believing it all," he added, exiting the street. I nodded, even though he wasn't looking at me.

 "So wait, where are we actually going?" I spoke up, looking out the window more than bewildered. "To the library," he responded, not seeming bothered about anything that was actually going on. I guess he didn't have to worry. He was going to a party, while I had to sit at his house, protect him from getting caught out, and then help his drunk ass inside the house and upstairs without being seen. I had to do all of the work here, not Harry. "What's the plan, though? Where do I go from here?" I questioned him. "Stop asking me stuff. Can't you just go with it?" he said, his question more on the side of a statement. "Not when I have nothing to go with, Harry," I raised my voice, looking at him in utter disbelief.

He sighed, closing his eyes for a short moment before opening them again. "So what do you want to do, then?" he asked me, his voice almost a mumble. I shook my head incredibly dumfounded, "I don't know." He sighed, turning a corner, pulling into the parking lot of the supermarket. It was practically empty, as it was after hours. "What're we doing now?" I sighed, expecting something stupid like this to happen. "I think the only acceptable thing to do now is go to the party," he looked at me, a small smirk playing on his lips. I look down at them, then back up at his eyes, not meaning it the way that it looked. It soon created some kind of awkward tension bubble between us and I quickly turned to look straight ahead. "Have you forgotten that I can't drive? I won't be able to get home once you're there," I laughed slightly. "No," he replied, rolling his eyes playfully. "You are going to come to the party with me."

I frowned at him immediately after the words let his mouth. "What?" I practically shrieked. "How's that even gonna work?" Harry looked at me, his lips pressed into a fine line that formed a smile. "It probably won't. But at least when you get home, you'll know you had a good night," he replied. My frown softened as I thought about it, but then once again, realised how idiotic it actually was. "That's not such a good idea," I replied, feeling nothing more than nervous. "It will be," Harry grinned, pulling his iPhone out of his pocket. He dialed in a number and then held it to his ear; I waited patiently, biting my lip as I watched him eagerly. "Hi, Gem," he spoke into the phone. My eyes widened. Oh shit.

"Yeah, we just pulled up to the library," he lied. I was completely unaware as to how he could do it so easily. I guess it was because he wasn't with the person he was lying to. If that wasn't the case, he'd be stuttering all over the place. "Yeah. Um, well, afterwards, I'm gonna be dropping by Louis' house," he began, and there was a moment of silence after he spoke. "Audrey? Yeah, she's here with me right now. She's gonna come to Lou's place, too." I swear to god, the lies just rolled off that boys tongue. "Do you seriously not believe me?" Harry rolled his eyes, even though he was completely in the wrong. "Here, talk to Audrey, she'll tell you," Harry added, handing over the phone with pleading eyes. I bit my lip nervously and took the phone, my hand grazing his. I ignored that and pulled the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Audrey, hey," Gemma began. I was about to say something when she completely cut me off. "So you two are going to Louis' house?" I nodded my head, even though Harry was the only one who could see it. I furrowed my eyebrows at the tone she was using with me, which added onto the pile of nervousness in the pit of my stomach. "Yeah, that's right," I finally spoke up, my voice slightly raspy. I cleared my throat, hoping that it wouldn't blow my cover. Obviously it wouldn't do much damage at all, but I wasn't risking making any kind of mistake with this. I wanted Harry to think of me in a certain way, and I didn't want it to be: 'The girl who chickened out on having a good night because she was too scared to get caught'. But then again, I didn't know why I wanted him to think of me in any kind of besides being a family friend. He was, after all, just my best friends brother.

"Do you even know Louis?" Gemma practically spat into the phone, her tone turning into something I'd never really experienced before. "How much damage could it cause for me to go to his house for a couple hours? This really isn't a big deal, Gemma," I replied, my voice just as feisty. I looked over at Harry who's jaw had dropped, but a smile was present. I rolled my eyes, a smile threatening to appear. I heard her sigh into the phone, "Whatever, Audrey. Just make sure that you're back by eleven thirty. Keeping Up With The Kardashians repeats are on," she explained. I giggled and then nodded my head again, forgetting that she couldn't see me. "Okay, Gem. See you then," I replied, pulling the phone from my ear and pressing the red end call button. I looked at Harry, extending the phone in his direction. He grinned at me, his dimple visible. He got a grip on the phone but didn't break the eye contact we had. "That was great," he said, referring to my performance with Gemma. I laughed nervously in his presence before letting go of the phone. I glanced down, fiddling with my hands in my lap.

"Okay," he stated, putting the keys in the ignition and starting the car up. "We've got a party to get to," he added, shooting me a slight wink. Well, this was going to be an adventure.