No one infuriates me quite like you do


Harry


“Shh, Violet. Can you stop complaining for like two seconds? I'm on the goddamn phone.” I hushed her as I brought the device up to my ear.


After my car broke down, little red tried to make the rest of the journey by foot, but of course, the bus didn't wait for her and kept on moving. To be fair, I did warn her that she wouldn't be able to get there in time. Violet scoffed back at me, diverting her attention to the view outside of her window. She could be impossibly difficult sometimes.

The line rang once before I was connected to an automatic voice machine asking me to dial certain numbers if I needed help. I clicked the number three, and my call ended up being forwarded to a live operator.


“Hello, good afternoon. How may I be of service to you?” The lady on the phone asked me.

“Excuse me,” I began, “but I'd like to know how long it would take for triple A service to come pick up my car. You see, it broke down near Kindred Street and–”

“I'm so sorry to hear that, sir. I truly am, but I have an important call on the other line,” she interrupted me to say, “Please hold.”

“What?–the hell I will–Listen here miss. I need you to–” I stopped in the middle of my sentence, cut off by the sound of the dial tone. “Hello?” I spoke into the speaker. Once I realized the woman had rudely hung up on me, I sucked my teeth, and put my phone away. “Fuck.”

“For christ sake, Harry. What the heck are we going to do now? Please tell me you carry a spare tire in the back of your trunk.”

“I do, but I only have one, and two of my fucking tires need to be fucking changed. I need to find an auto shop or something so I can buy another,” I grumbled as I opened the car door to get out, “Stay put, alright?”

“No, don't go anywhere!” Violet quickly grabbed ahold of my arm, causing me to jerk back into my seat. I stared at her with my eyebrows raised in shock, taken aback by her daring actions.

Her green eyes widened at the sight of my own, and she loosened her grip around my arm until her hand fell limply by her side. “Uh–I mean, that's just going to take up too much time. Maybe one of your friends has an extra tire they can lend you. Try calling one of them instead,” Violet suggested.

“Hmm,” I said after a moment of consideration, “that may be the smartest thing you've said all day.” I chuckled, pulling out my phone once more.

“Shut up, Harry.” She gave my chest a playful shove, trying to fight the smile that was taking over the shape of her cherry lips.

---

Not long after our conversation ended, Ashton arrived on the scene, carrying that wooden toolbox I told him to bring along in his right hand. Beads of sweat pricked my forehead as I bit my bottom lip in concentration, trying to figure out the quickest way to change my flat tires, when a memory of a teenaged boy working on a car with his step father crept into my thoughts.


Flashback


“Harry!” My step-father yelled my name for the third time. I swore that I could feel my stomach drop at the sound.

I rolled my eyes and looked up from my phone to meet his cold gaze with a scowl. “What do you want?” I snapped, making no effort to disguise my annoyance.

“Watch your tone, boy. I'm not one of your mates.” Yeah, well you aren't my father either. I wanted to say back to him. “Now where's the goddamn wrench?” he asked, scoping the floors of our garage to find the tool.


I watched his eyes scan every corner the old fluorescent light shined upon except for the obvious location the wrench would most likely be in. The fucking toolbox. I shook my head from side to side as a deep chuckle caused me to part my lips.


“Oh, so you think this is funny, Harold?” Robin inquired in a serious tone as he stood back on his feet; my laughter immediately ceased.

I coughed into my arm before nodding my head. “Um, yeah. Yeah, actually, I do think it's pretty damn funny that you forgot to check the toolbox when the wrench has been there the whole time.” I tried not to laugh again whilst pointing at the case where he kept all of his gadgets. And sure enough, the red handle of the wrench was dangling off the edge of the box.

“I don't know what you did, Harry, but this–this wasn't there the last time I checked,” he said after grabbing the wrench from the pile, “Quit playing these fucking games because I'm not in the mood to put up with any of your bullshit today.”


I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from saying something regrettably stupid to the man whom I couldn't despise any less. I still don't know what my mum saw in him when they married all of those interminable years ago.


“Can you just fix my car already so I can leave?” I groaned.

“Why don't you c'mere, so I can show you how to do it yourself?”


End of Flashback


I briefly shut my eyes before releasing a deep sigh and running a hand through my curls. The memory of my late step father teaching me how to repair a flat tire was one of the few decent recollections I had of him. However, instead of wasting more time by reflecting on my past, I lifted my gaze up from the floor only to frown upon seeing Ashton whispering something into Violet's ear as she stuck her head out of the window, making me scoff.


“Hey, Ashton. Would you lay off of my friend and hand me the goddamn wrench, mate.” I huffed while using the jack to elevate the car.

“Easy, Hazzy. I was only making her acquaintance,” Ashton assured me as he walked over to where I was standing to pass me the wrench, “here you go,” He said to me before sending a wink to Violet.


I snatched the wrench from him and used it to loosen the lug nuts. Once the bolts were unscrewed, I was finally able to remove one of the flat tires. I used the back of my hand to wipe away any evidence of perspiration on my forehead before adding on the new tire.


“Do you need some help with that?” A soft voice whispered in my ear. I craned my neck around to get a glimpse of the person next to me and smiled when I discovered it was Violet.

I shifted my attention back unto the tire, nodding my head. “Yeah, just hand me the bolts as I screw them back in, okay?” I told her while taking one of the lug nuts and twisting it back in place.

Violet happily obliged, handing me each of the necessary parts when I held out my hand. I was able to reassemble the new tire in its place within the next several minutes and moved on to the next one.

---

I released an exasperated sigh once the grueling task was fully completed and rose to my feet. A considerable amount of time had passed from when my car broke down to when I finally finished patching it up; there was no denying that. But a promise is still a promise, and I was going to drive little red to wherever she needed to go even if it meant putting up with her nagging for an hour.

I watched Violet as she leaned against the hood of my car, shielding her green eyes from the harsh sunlight with her hand while engaging in what appeared to be a friendly conversation with Ashton. The two were too distracted to even realize I was finished with everything so I packed up the car equipment on my own and gathered all the tools before approaching them.


“Thanks for the help, Ash, but I think I've got it from here,” I said to him, pushing the toolbox against his chest while taking his spot next to Violet.

“Oh, well, you're welcome. It's the least I could do since you covered for me that time with my father. No one's ever stood up to him in that way before. By the way, he told me to tell you that–”

“So sorry to interrupt Ashton. I really don't mean to be rude, but I kind of have somewhere to be, and curly here is my ride,” Violet suddenly spoke up, “you can tell him whatever it is you were going to later, right?”

“I–uh, yeah. I g-guess so.” I witnessed Ashton's muscles visibly tense up, probably because little red's abrupt interruption caught him off guard, as he stammered out the rest of his thoughts. “Well, I'll s-see you around, mate. Bye Violet,” Ashton said to us both before walking in the direction he came from.


I pinched my bottom lip in between my fingertips while glaring at the woman with the pale green eyes and rose petal lips whose words protruded like poison from her venomous tip. As much as I might have wanted Ashton gone, what she just did was completely rude and unnecessary. Two, not to mention his father happens to be my fucking boss.


“You do realize that what his father had to tell me could've been important, right?” I said through gritted teeth.

To my dismay, Violet seemed to be unfazed by my angry comment and continued to gaze out ahead before opening her mouth to let out a scoff, “Give me a break, Harry. If only you knew what he had said about you, you'd be thanking me right now.”

“Really? Tell me what he could've possibly said that would make me desperate enough to thank you.”

Notes

Sorry for the long wait guys. Please be patient with me. My co author was supposed to do this chapter, but I ended up writing it myself. She's been busy with a new story called Headmaster Styles, and I recommend you all check it out. I hear it's pretty amazing so you shouldn't be disappointed <3

Shout out to @One Direction 101 for explaining to me how to repair a flat tire. She's a true lifesaver~

Your comments are highly appreciated so please don't be afraid to leave your thoughts. I don't bite, I promise :) and I'm always looking for ways to improve this story (i,e: Do you guys want to see more drama between Harry and Violet?)

Question Time:

What do you think about Harry's attitude and Violet's behavior in this chapter?

Love
-M