“Harry! You have to aim for the bottle!” I said to him as I slapped his upper arm. We were currently playing ‘redneck’ horseshoes against Todd and Ashlyn. Redneck horseshoes is where you have two poles in the ground, roughly fifteen feet from one another, and then you take two beer bottles wrapped with electrical tape (so they don’t break when they fall) and set one on each pole. You then take a Frisbee and your goal is to knock the beer bottle off by throwing the Frisbee, if the other team catches the bottle you get one point, if they catch both the Frisbee and the beer bottle you get zero points, if they don’t catch either you two points and if you hit only the bottle and not the pole, causing the bottle to fall off, you get three points. Another important detail of the game is you had to hold your drink in your opposite hand, so you only had your strong hand to use. It was a game Todd and I came up with when we were younger and needed to get through these dreadful cookouts, only now we were allowed to drink during them.

“I’m trying you know!” He exclaimed after taking a gulp of his beer.

“Well you suck. I never lose at this game!” I told him, snatching the Frisbee off the ground and placing the beer bottle back on the post. I handed the Frisbee to Harry and he grabbed it from my hand. “Don’t fuck this one up.”

Harry released the Frisbee and hit the beer bottle right in the middle, Todd and Ashlyn failed to catch either object, I jumped up with excitement, spilling a little beer on my shirt, before turning to Harry and doing a chest bump. He had to grab me by the arms because the different between our heights and weights almost caused me to fall over.

“Careful, love,” Harry said as he steadied me. Todd had just handed me the Frisbee so I could take my turn, when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned around, eyebrows creased with confusion, to find my father standing behind Harry and I.

“Dad!” I said, a smile on my face, before pulling him in for a hug. I hadn’t seen him all day.

“Hello Kat, who’s your friend?” My dad asked, motioning over to Harry.

“My apologies, sir. I’m Harry Styles, Kat’s boyfriend,” Harry said, and before I let my mouth fall ajar, I remembered he agreed to be my fake boyfriend.

“I had no idea my daughter was seeing someone,” Dad said as he stuck his hand out to shake Harry’s.

“It’s recent,” I told him, nodding my head.

“Has your mother met him?”

“No, dad. Not yet,” I told him before turning back to Todd and Ashlyn and telling them it was going to be awhile.

“Well then, come along. I’m sure your mother is dying to meet him.” My dad gestured for us to follow him, I shot Harry a look that said I was sorry for what he was about to endure. We walked across the backyard until we approached the patio, where a group of women were gossiping under the awning.

“Leona, darling. Did you know our Katriona has a boyfriend?” My dad said as he walked up behind my mother. My mom quickly turned her head to look at Harry and I. I watched her eyes go up and down Harry, judging him, before she placed a fake smile on his perfect face.

“Hello ma’am. I’m Harry Styles,” Harry greeted my mom, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“Ah, you’re British. How lovely. It’s nice to meet you, how long have you and my daughter been dating?” My mother asked him, I felt bad because Harry was about to get interrogated again.

“Not long, it’s really recent,” I spoke for him when he failed to come up with an answer.

“I see, and what brings you to America, Harry?”

“My band and I are getting ready to go on tour around the States,” Harry said, and my mother’s fake smile immediately fell as she learned what Harry did for a living. A smile grew on my face, because I knew my mother wouldn’t approve.

“You’re in a band?” She asked. Harry nodded his head. “What part do you play in this band?”

“Me and my five best mates are in a boyband, we’re all singers.”

“Aw, so you sing. Did you know Katriona used to sing and play piano?” My mother mentioned, pointing to me.

“I didn’t know that,” Harry said, while turning to look at me with that dumb grin that high-lighted his dimples perfectly.

“She used to be fantastic; she got accepted to a lot of great musical programs here, in America. It’s shame she let it all go to waste to become a tattoo artist.”

“Okay mom, we get it. You’re still bitter that I chose the wrong path,” I, rudely, said.

“Just making conversation, dear.”

“How did you two meet?” My dad asked, stepping into the conversation, clearly sensing the tension that was beginning to rise.

“I did one of Harry’s tattoos a while back, became friends after that, and now we’re a thing,” I told my dad, a glint in his eyes when I said I did one of Harry’s tattoos.

“Do you mind if I see the tattoo my daughter did?” My dad asked, turning to Harry. Harry just shook his head and lifted up his white t-shirt, showing, his perfectly toned abdomen, his butterfly tattoo. “It looks wonderful, Kat. You’ve got a real talent.”

I smiled at my dad, I knew he wasn’t happy with the career I chose to obtain, but he’s always supported me. “Thanks, dad. Means a lot.”

“You know, I just don’t believe that you two all of a sudden are dating. Especially because Harry was seen in the press not too long ago, running around New York with a girl that had pale purple hair,” my cousin, Natalia, said from her spot across the table.

“It’s really none of your concern, now is it Nat?” I asked her, a firm line set on my lips.

“I’m just stating my own opinion. I can tell you guys like each other, but I’m just not convinced you two are dating, that’s all,” she said, while flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder.

“Would you like for us to convince you then?” I, jokingly, asked her, before rolling my eyes and turning my attention back to my parents.

“Actually, that’d be great,” Nat said, and it took everything in me not to let my jaw fall slack.

“What would you like for us to do? Go upstairs and let you watch us fuck each other’s brains out?” I said, and I heard my mother gasp, and Harry cough from beside me.

“Katriona Drakos, watch your language,” my mother warned me.

“No, no need for that. A simple kiss will do,” Nat said, crossing her arms over her chest, with a smug grin on her face.

“We don’t want to kill you with how adorable we ar—“

“Fine, we’ll show you,” I said, cutting Harry off. I turned to Harry, who was looking at me as if I had five heads. I shrugged my shoulders before taking a step closer to him, closing the space in between us. I place my hands on the back of his neck and stood on the tips of my toes, pulling Harry closer to me. Once our lips touched, it felt like a fourth of July firework display, fireworks everywhere. It was like a studio audience was giving us a standing ovation, the way Harry and I’s lips meshed together, you would think we were made for one another. I felt Harry kissing back and not long after I felt him brush his tongue along my lower lip, which snapped me back to reality and I pulled away from him.

“Are you happy now?” I said to my cousin, before grabbing Harry’s hand. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got to finish playing a game.” I dragged him down the patio and began making our way back over to Todd and Ashlyn.

“Kat, what the fuck was that?” Harry asked, pulling me to a stop.

“That was me proving to my cousin that you’re my boyfriend. Okay, it was just a stupid kiss, Harry. It didn’t mean anything,” I told him before opening the closest cooler and grabbing a beer. I handed it to Harry so he would open it for me, and when he did he handed it back to me.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you making me pretend to be your boyfriend?” Harry asked, our fingers still laced together.

“Because, Harry! My parent’s will hate the idea of you! No matter what I do with my life, my parents will always be judgmental of the guys I date and will always want to give their approval. You won’t earn that approval. This is me, showing my parents that I don’t care what they think. I date who I wanna date, I will be who I wanna be!”

“How do you know they don’t like me?” Harry asked, taking a seat on a bench, with me following in suit.

“I saw the look on my mother’s face when you said you were in a band. That’s when I knew. And to tell you the truth, my cousin thinks I’m incapable of pulling in attractive guys like you—“

“You think I’m attractive?” Harry, smugly, said, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Her words, not mine,” I told him, even though I was lying. Of course, he’s attractive, he knows that. “
Anyways, she thinks a guy like you wouldn’t be interested in a girl like.”

“That’s rubbish,” Harry said, after a few moments of silence.

“What?” I asked him.

“You’re a great girl, Kat. You’re blunt, and you don’t care what people think. Believe it or not, guys find that extremely attractive. And you’ve also pretty fit,” Harry said, a genuine smile on his face.

“Thanks, Harry. Means a lot,” I told him, pulling him in for a hug. “You’re a great friend.”

“What are friends for,” Harry said, and the look on his face showed disappointment, but I shook it off.

“So, you sing?” Harry asked, after we sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the little kids chase each other around the backyard with water guns.

“I dabble,” I told him.

“Can I hear you sometime?” He asked, and I looked at him, and he looked genuinely interested in the fact that I could sing.

“Sure,” I told him.

“Hey lovebirds!! Quit your flirting and come finish the game!” Todd yelled from his spot where we last left them before I introduced Harry to my mom.

“Come on, let’s go kick some ass!” Harry said as he stood up and held his hand out to me.

“Just don’t fuck up anymore,” I, jokingly, told him before we ran back over to where Todd and Ashlyn were waiting on us.

Notes

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Kat's Outfit