I woke up the next morning with a terrible headache! It felt as if a fat man—weighing approximately seven thousand pounds—sat on my head. I groaned before pulling the blanket further over my head, but when I did, somebody else pulled it closer to them—successfully ripping it off, not only my head, but my body. I scrunched my eyebrows together before slowly turning over and gently opening my eyes. In my line of vision was a mop of brown curls, I quickly jumped out of bed and stared at the sleeping pop star.

“What the fuck!!” I screamed, and saw Harry beginning to stir.

“Was the yell necessary?” After releasing a groan, much like I did. “What happened?”

“Open your fucking eyes, dumbass!” I yelled at him, ripping the blankets off of him.

“Holy shit!! Did we sleep together?! What even happened last night?!” Harry yelled, while jumping out of bed and throwing his hands in his hair.

“I don’t know! If I did do you think I’d be freaking out?” I asked him and he nodded his head at me.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“You laughing at that one guy who asked if you were gay,” I, point blank, told him. “What about you?”

“You talking about the time you let Lyla throw up on you, when she got shit-faced at a party, and how you wanted to punch her but you didn’t,” Harry told me, and I chuckled at the memory of that party, I should have punched her.

“Maybe nothing happened! I mean, we are both clothed, and we weren’t cuddling, in any sort of way!” I told him, hoping I was right.

“What is all the commotion in here?” Todd said, as he walked through the doorway and into the sanity that is my room, right now.

“Harry was sleeping in my bed! He slept with me!” I yelled, pointing at Harry, who, in return, just rolled his eyes at me and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You probably enjoyed it,” Harry, nonchalantly, said.

“You guys didn’t do anything,” Todd stated, causing both Harry and I to turn and look at him, as if he had three heads.

“What? How do you know?” I asked my brother.

“Because, I drove your guys’ drunk asses home last night, and Ashlyn helped me chase y’all down and put you to bed. You guys just wanted to share a bed.”

“What? So we didn’t do anything, like romantic or intimate?” I asked, and, for some very odd reason, I felt let down at the fact that nothing happened between Harry and I.

“Nope. Nothing, not even a kiss. You just hung off of each other,” Todd said before walking out of my room. I looked at Harry, who looked a little upset as well, and shrugged before walking out of my room and to the kitchen, where I fixed a cup of coffee.

“So, Kat, what are the plans for today?” Harry asked, as he poured a cup of coffee as well.

“I was thinking we’d open shop at 3, and then before that we could just wander around downtown Austin?” I proposed, and Harry nodded his head, further solidifying our plans for the day.

“No you aren’t. Today’s the annual Drakos cook-out, we’re going to that, remember?” Todd asked as he set his empty dish in the sink and rinsed it off.

“That’s today? I thought it was next weekend!” I expressed, throwing my head back, but mentally cursing myself, due to the hangover induced headache.

“Nope, it’s today. And we leave at noon,” Todd said, while refilling his coffee cup. “I’ll be back, to pick y’all up, at eleven-thirty.” With that, Todd took his—my—coffee cup and walked out of the kitchen and out the front door. I stared at the door for a few moments, even though Todd was long gone, until turning back to Harry, who stood there waiting on a response from me.

“Wanna go to a family cook-out?!” I, sarcastically and a little bit sickly, asked him. He started to shake his head no. “You really have no choice. You’re going.” With that, I walked into my room and began getting my things together for the day.

“If we go I’ll hate you forever!” Harry yelled from the kitchen.

“I wish you hated me! You’re annoying!” I called back before shutting the door to my bathroom and starting the shower.

“You don’t really mean that do you?” Harry said, popping the door open. Thank God, I was clothed still.

“Knock next time, asshole! I could have been naked!”

“Now that’s a sight I’d love to see,” he, flirtatiously, said. “Answer my question.”

“No, I don’t want you to hate me. But you are annoying.”

“I get that every now and then,” Harry said, still with his head poked through the door.

“Get out already! I gotta shower!” I yelled.

“Oh, right,” Harry, awkwardly, said before shutting the door. I quickly locked it before stripping out of my pajamas and climbing underneath the scolding hot water.

- - - -

“Harry, get out of the car!” I yelled, as I grabbed the boy’s leg and tried pulling him out.

“No! I don’t wanna go!” Harry said as he held onto the headrest of the passenger seat.

“It won’t be that bad!” I told him, dropping his leg. “In plus, we’re already here, and you won’t have any cell phone service out here,” I told him before turning on my foot and walking away from my brother’s car. Once I got ten feet away I felt Harry’s presence beside me.

“Promise not to leave me stranded?” Harry asked, and I smirked at him.

“Promise,” I told him, before pushing the front door, to my parent’s house, open. Immediately, I was bombarded by my younger brother and sister, Calla and Tommy. “Well if it isn’t my favorite set of twins!” I beamed at them as I threw my arms around them, in a hug.

“Kat, we’ve missed you!” Calla exclaimed as she squeezed me, extremely tight I might add. “You hardly come home anymore.” My heart sank at my baby sister’s words and caused me to pull her closer to me.

“I know, Cal. I’m sorry, have mom and dad given you your phone back yet?” I asked her, holding my fourteen year old sister at arms length.

“No, I got a bad evaluation at piano lessons,” she sadly said.

“It’s not the end of the world,” I told her, patting her cheek before turning to Tommy, my fourteen year old baby brother. “And if it isn’t my football champ!” I exclaimed, pulling him in for a hug. “You’ve grown! You’re almost as tall as me.”

“That’s not saying much, you’re only 5’4”,” Tommy snorted at me, and I couldn’t help but hug him more.

“You’ve got sass, just like me,” I told him. When I finished hugging my siblings I heard someone clear their throat from behind me, and when I glanced back I saw Harry awkwardly standing there. “Oh right, Calla and Tommy, this is my friend Harry. Harry, this is Calla and Tommy, my baby siblings.”

“Hello,” Harry greeted, with a slight wave, before taking a step forward so he was now standing beside me.

“You’re in One Direction!” Calla stated, and my eyes went wide. “I’m a huge fan!”

“Don’t freak him out, Cal. He’s just a normal guy today,” I told her, walking past her and into the kitchen. I had just pulled the fridge door open when I heard a pair of heels work their way into the kitchen.

“Katriona, so nice of you to present yourself today,” my mother said. I grabbed a beer before turning around and looking at her, noticing the look of distaste on her ageless face. “And I see you didn’t bother to dress nice.”

“I’m wearing a skirt, and my stomach is covered. I’d say I’m pretty presentable and decent,” I smartly said while taking a gulp of the alcohol in my hands. “How are you, mother?”

“I’m well, thank you. I didn’t think you were going to show up today, your father will be delighted to see you,” mom said before turning on her heel and walking out of the kitchen. I rolled my eyes before shoving a carrot in my mouth.

“Thanks for leaving me in there!” Harry said as he, too, walked into the kitchen and popped a carrot in his mouth. “Hand me a cold one, will ya.” I looked at him before turning around and grabbing him a beer out of the fridge.

“Did Calla interrogate you?” I asked him, taking a seat on one of the breakfast bar chairs, Harry joining me.

“Yes, although she had some interesting questions. It was still a bit overwhelming,” he said, taking his phone out to text someone back.

“Sorry,” I muttered, staring at the countertop.

“Something wrong, love?” Harry asked, placing his arm on the back of chair.

“I just don’t wanna be here, is all. Now come along, time to go mingle with the Drakos and company,” I told him before hopping off the stool and going out back. I introduced Harry to all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, dad’s coworkers and our family friends before going to join Todd and Ashlyn by the fire pit. I plopped into the open seat next to Ashlyn before chugging the rest of my beer.

“Slow your roll, sister,” Ashlyn said, a friendly smile adorning her face. Ashlyn is my brother’s fiancé, and one of my favorite people ever. She just gets me, and I can always count on her for anything.

“I hate it here,” I confessed, kicking a rock with my motorcycle boot.

“Mom already talk to you?” She asked, handing me another beer from the cooler beside her.

“Apparently I’m not dressed decent. I have a fucking skirt on,” I said, cracking open the can of Bud Light.

“She’s just trying to get a rise out of you. Ignore her and have some fun. Have they met Harry yet?”

“No, why is that so important? I always bring a friend,” I told her.

“Oh, I thought you guys were like, more than friends. Todd hasn’t told me y’all’s story yet.”

“What’s to tell? I gave him a tattoo, he tried to hook up with Lyla but she just wanted someone to cuddle with, I watched him do the walk of shame the next morning and then I confessed that my best friend killed herself and now we’re best friends, “ I, simply, told Ashlyn, who in return stared at me with no sign of life on her face. “What?”

“You told him about Bre?” Ashlyn asked, after snapping out of whatever trance she was in. I nodded my head. “That’s a big step, Kat. How did he react?”

“He told me he had a similar situation, except he was able to talk his friend off the ledge.”

“Wow. I thought all along you two were talking or hooking up. I mean, the way he looks at you, it’s clear that he’s interested in you in some fashion,” Ashlyn confessed, both of us looking at Harry, as he talked to Todd.

“He’s too annoying for me,” I told her, kicking my feet up on the side of the fire pit.

“Everyone is too annoying for you,” Ashlyn said, a small smile on her face. I rolled my eyes before staring up at the sky. I closed my eyes and after a few moments I felt a presence towering over me. I cracked one eye open and saw Harry smiling down at me.

“What do you want?” I groaned, closing my eyes again.

“I brought you a drink,” he said, and I opened my eyes and saw a red solo cup in his hand.

“What’s in it?” I asked him, sitting up straight and watching him as he took the seat, that Ashlyn was sitting in, and set the drink on the arm rest.

“Malibu and Gatorade,” he simply said before taking a sip of his beer.

“My parents had Malibu?” I asked, arching a brow.

“Todd showed me where you hide it every time you come home,” Harry, nonchalantly, said. I smiled at him before picking the cup up and taking a gulp. “So, what’s bothering you? And don’t say nothing.”

I looked at him through my sunglasses before releasing a sigh, “I just don’t see eye to eye with my parents.”

“And why not?” Harry pressed, kicking his feet up on the fire pit as well, before looking at me.

“I’m not the angel child, like Todd, Calla and Tommy. I sucked at school and I didn’t go to college. Instead I went to a tattoo school, and got into trouble.”

“Then why do they invite you this thing every year?” Harry asked, taking a swig of his drink. I knew he wasn’t being nosy, he just was curious.

“To look like the perfect family. It never works though, I’m such an oddball in this family.”

“I’m sorry, that must be tough.”

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault my parents don’t approve of me, and it’s not your fault for when I do things to piss them off,” I told him, a small smile gracing my face.

“Katriona Drakos, pissing the world off, one person at a time,” Harry said, in an announcer voice, causing me to giggle.

“Shut up,” I said with laughter while standing up. “I’m going to get some food. Want me to bring some back for you?”

“That’d be great, love,” Harry said, after taking a sip from his beer bottle. I walked through the sliding door that led to my parents living room, and just as I was about to take a step into the kitchen, I stopped, overhearing two people’s conversation.

”You don’t think that guy really is Kat’s boyfriend do you?”

“There’s no way, they’re dating. He’s too hot for her, he could do so much better.”

“In plus, he’s in that one boy band, and she’s just a silly little tattoo artist. He deserves a real woman, a woman who can be seen on his arm and not be criticized for childish things she did in the past.”

“In plus, her parents would never approve of him.”

I rolled my eyes once I decoded who was talking. I took a deep breath, not wanting to cause a scene at the cook out, and walked into the kitchen, acting as if nothing even happened.

“Oh, hey Natalia and Demi! I didn’t know you two were here,” I greeted my two cousins, as I went to grab two plates.

“Hey Kat, we didn’t think you’d show up this year,” Natalia, my evil bitch of a cousin, said to me with a fake smile gracing her face. I’d like for my fist to grace her face.

“And why wouldn’t I come to my families cook out, Nat?” I asked her, while placing some potato salad on Harry and I’s plates.

“We know how you get with your family, you’ve got a short fuse,” she mocked.

“And last I heard you’ve got STD’s,” I told her, a smug smile on my face as her mouth fell open in shock.

“You’re going to be alone for the rest of your life!” Nat said, stomping her foot down on the ground, she was fuming with anger.

“Whatever you say, Natalia. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve gotta get back to my boyfriend,” I, sickly told her. I knew what I just said was wrong, and Harry would hate me, but I just had to prove my cousin wrong.

“I can’t wait to meet him!” Natalia shouted out to me as I walked out of the room. I rolled my eyes as I juggled the two plates in my hand.

“What have I done,” I groaned to myself, as I approached the curly headed fuck.

“Finally, what took you so long?” Harry asked as he took a plate from me.

“I was talking to my annoying, cunts for cousins,” I told him as I sat down beside him and took a bite of potato salad.

“That’s lovely,” Harry said around a mouthful of chicken. I rolled my eyes at him. British men and their manners, yeah right.

“You’re going to hate me,” I, nonchalantly, said.

“I already do,” Harry said with a smirk.

“Well, you’re going to hate me more,” I stated.

“How is that even possible?” He asked. “Because I hate you a lot.”

“I kind of told Natalia, my cunt for a cousin, that you were, kind of, sort of, my boyfriend,” I said, mumbling the boyfriend part. I looked down at my shoes, avoiding Harry at all costs.

“And why the bloody hell would you do that?” Harry asked, keeping his voice at a calm level.

“Because, she tried to say I wasn’t good enough for you, and that people wouldn’t approve of you. And I’d do anything to piss her off, and obviously, you being my boyfriend would piss her off,” I informed him, batting my eyelashes.

“So I have to pretend to be your boyfriend?” Harry asked, taking a large gulp of his beer.

“Just for the rest of the barbeque,” I told him and he looked at me for a minute.

“Fine, but if I do this, you have to let me do one thing,” Harry said, holding up his pointer finger.

“I’ll do whatever, Harry.”

“You have to let me tattoo you,” he simply said before going back to eating.

“As dangerous as that can be, I’ll let you tattoo me,” I told him, smiling at him before standing up and giving him a hug.

“Thank you,” I told him and he rolled his eyes at me, but with a smile on his face.

“Anything to let you piss more people off. I do enjoy watching your scuffles quite a bit.”

Notes

I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SO LONG.
I moved into college a couple weeks age, and classes started two weeks ago and I've had absolutely no time to write! College is exhausting! But, as of right now, I am doing my laundry so I have plenty of time to post this update that's been completed for days, AND to start writing another update! So be on the look out!

LOVE YALL LOTS,
Jade.

P.S. I'll post Kat's outfit next update!