Our Little Secret//lh

2 • short girl jokes

Meredith's p.o.v
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"Ohhhh Meredith!"

It rang through my ears like a bell, but I just smiled to myself and continued to take the contents from my suitcase and pack it into my dresser drawers.

"Come out, come out wherever you are." Mikey's distinct voice teases as their footsteps continue to get closer to my bedroom door until the door knob jiggles and soon enough I'm being lifted into the air and the shouting begins.

"Holy shit, you're still a munchkin."

"Geez, I thought you'd at least grow a little bit more."

"Oh my gosh! You actually have boobs now!"

"Too far, Calum."

"Right, sorry sorry."

I'm planted back on my feet, and 4 sets of eyes stare back at me, waiting for me to say something, anything.

"Yeah, Cal, I'm officially a C cup. Whatchya think about that?"

And instantly they cheer and each take their turns giving me a hug that practically suffocates me, being that their height has significantly changed.

"You guys are like grown men now." I say as I pull myself away from Mikey, who was the last one to get a hug.

"I hate to burst your little bubble, sis, but we are grown men."

"You hardly act like grown men," I chuckle, "I'm younger than all of you and still act more mature."

"Yeah, but you still have the height of a five year old. When you go to bars, do you bring a step stool to get onto the tall chairs?" Luke snickers and I lightly punch his shoulder.

"It's like she's trying to hurt me, but it feels like a tiny tap." Luke jokes, earning a few laughs and snorts from the other 3 boys, so I punch his arm harder, "Not funny, Hemmings."

"Oh whatever, Little Irwin. Don't forget I'm much, much taller than you and I will not hesitate to put your ass on the floor." Luke says, knowing fully well that I absolutely hated when he called me Little Irwin.

"Hey, easy. She's small and fragile, Luke." Calum says, joining in on the teasing of my whopping 5'2" stature. I fold my arms across my chest as I looked up at them.

"You guys think you're sooo funny because you can crack a few short girl jokes." I say before rolling my eyes. Luke folds his arms across his chest and bends his knees so he's relatively close to my height.

"You guys think you're sooo funny because you can crack a few short girl jokes." Luke mimics in a whiney, girl voice as he folds his arms over his chest.

"I don't sound like that!"

"I don't sound like that!" They yell in unison before stomping their feet.

"Ugh—this is going to be a terribly long summer." I say before covering my face with my hands.

"Terribly long, but we can all go to the best bars now that Little Irwin is finally legal." Luke says before ruffling the top of my hair with his large hand. I smack his hand away and shove him in the chest, though he doesn't budge even a little bit.

"Stop calling me that, Lucas." He hates when I call him that. Luke scrunches his nose and shakes his head, "Don't ever call me that again."

"What's the matter? Don't like the taste of your own medicine, Lucas?" I say, my arms crossed over my chest as a smirk creeps its way across my lips.

"That's it," Luke pauses, and before I can even begin to make a dash for the door, Luke snatched me up and throws me over his shoulder while Ashton, Mikey and Calum cackle at the sight.

"You weigh as much as a chihuahua." Luke jokes.

"Put. Me. Down." I demand, poking his back a few times as he slides the screen door to the back patio open.

"Luke." I warn, knowing exactly what he was about to do, and I was not going to like it one bit.

"Lucas."

"Sorry, pretty girl. You asked for it." Luke shrugs before tossing me into the pool. It was freezing cold and when I finally broke above the water, I gasped at the cold sensation against my skin.

"Haha—Your nips are hard." Mikey laughs, pointing at my chest and I immediately cover my boobs with my hands.

"You're so twisted, Michael." I laugh as I make my way to the stairs in the pool.

"The fact that it has taken you this long to realize that is quite pathetic." Mikey retorts back and I simply laugh at his statement before nodding in agreement, "I suppose you're right. Silly fucking me."

Calum, my bestie, returns with a warm towel and tosses it to me. I smile and thank him before letting the group know that he is my favorite, to which Luke was offended by.

"What do you mean he's your favorite? It's always been me." He folds his arms across his chest. I stare back at him, challenging his intense gaze, but the look in his eyes makes me blush and I can't help but look away.

Luke has always been quite attractive, but as he aged and looking at him now, I realize just how handsome he really is. His boyish features had been replaced with more defined, sculpted ones. His jawline looked as if it were hand chiseled and the scruff that lined it made it almost impossible to not want to reach out and touch his cheek just to feel it scratch against your palm roughly. His blue eyes, just as blue as I had remembered them years ago, but as I looked at them now, in this moment, it looked like they were a bit darker.

Lust? Surely not at you, Meredith. He's your brothers best friend. Luke would never look at you that way.

"Calum, wouldn't throw me into a pool my first day back home." I say, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Yeah—I would have at least waited until tomorrow, but since Luke was one step ahead of me," Calum pauses before pushing me back into the pool.

When I emerge, for the second time, I fold my arms across my chest as I listen to the boys laugh uncontrollably, bending over and clutching their stomachs.

"I-I-I can't breathe!" Ashton yells and the boys only continue to laugh at what appears to be each other's laughs. Meanwhile, I'm freezing, still standing in the pool as I glare at them.

"None of you are my favorite anymore."

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