Stars in Your Eyes

Shay threw open her bedroom door feeling nothing but annoyance toward her brother who had his music so loud she could barely think, let alone study for the test she needed to take tomorrow in bio.

“Louis! Turn it down!” Shay grumbled from her doorway.

She waited a moment before she stalked down the hallway toward the stairway where she knew she’d find her mother, Johannah. She knew it would be futile to go straight to Louis and tell him to turn it down without having her mother backing her up.

“Mom! Can you tell Louis to turn down his music?” Shat whined from the top of the stairs.

“Have you asked him to turn it down?” She called up to her from the kitchen.

“I tried, but his music is so loud he didn’t hear me,” Shay told her.

“Well, then knock on his door and ask him to turn it down,” she said, sending Shay an exasperated look before she made a shooing gesture with her hands.

“What if he won’t listen to me? I have a test—” Shay said with a huff.

“Shaylynn, if you can’t do this one simple thing without whining…” her mother grumbled and Shay knew she was getting on her nerves.

“Fine!” Shay snapped, turning down the hallway to go knock on her brother’s door.

Shay knocked as loudly as she could, hurting her knuckles in the process.

“Stupid jerk,” she grumbled under her breath, rubbing at her sore fingers.

“WHAT!?” She heard Louis yell through the closed door, the music turning down momentarily. Shay rolled her eyes as she turned the knob to open the door.

“Mom says—” she started to say until her words dried up when she saw the boy sitting on the floor, leaning against Louis’ bed.

Harry Styles.

He was a senior, like her brother. He had also been Louis’ best friend since they were little kids. They all grew up together, including Harry’s older sister Gemma and his younger siblings Damien and Jaqueline. But lately… Shay couldn’t really put her finger on it. Harry just… he wasn’t as annoying as he used to be and well, he got super hot.

“What, Shay?” Louis snapped impatiently. Shay looked up at her brother as her face heated up.

“Uh, turn it down. I have to study,” she stammered, trying not to sound like a bitch in front of Harry.

“Fine,” Louis grumbled, turning back toward his computer. Shay was mildly surprised that her request didn’t turn into an argument.

“Thanks,” Shay said taking a step back.

“Hi, Shay,” Harry said, smiling at her.

“Uh, hi,” she said awkwardly, turning her attention back to the curly-haired boy as she grabbed onto the door handle to close it.

“Bye, Shay,” he said, smirking wildly at her.

“Bye, Harry,” she said, closing the door.

As she walked back to her room, her heart beat hard in her chest as her face burned with blush. She bit her lip as a smile turned up her mouth. Yeah, Harry Styles was a babe.

“How hard was that?” Shay heard her mom’s voice, which startled the visions of Harry’s smile out of her brain.

“Huh, what?” Shay asked, looking up to see her mom walking down the hallway toward her.

“Jeez, Shay. Where’s your head?” She laughed, shaking her head at her.

“Uh, I’ve gotta go study,” Shay stammered as she moved through the doorway into her bedroom.

“Yeah. Go,” she said, chuckling and shaking her head.

Shay closed her door behind her, trying to shake the awkward feeling out of her system. Harry was just a boy. A boy she used to think was annoying. Why should she feel any differently about him?

As Shay walked home from school the next day, she couldn’t help but think about how horribly she must have done on her bio test. She didn’t get a whole lot of studying done the night before and she hated herself for it. She hated doing poorly in school. She could only hope that what she did study stuck with her long enough to help her skate by with a passing grade.

“SHAY!” She heard someone yell as a car approached from behind her.

She turned to see her brother’s Honda Civic drive up next to her with Harry Styles hanging out the window calling her name.

“What?” She said awkwardly, looking at the curly-haired boy with the green eyes and silly smirk.

“Get in!” Harry told her as Louis pulled the car up next to her.

“I’m almost home,” she said, pointing ahead. The house was just at the end of the road about five houses down.

“Shay, get in,” Harry said more sternly, giving her a look to match.

Shay furrowed her eyebrows at him, wondering what they were up to and whether or not she could trust them. If Louis was behind whatever they were doing, she was quite skeptical. Harry laughed out loud, watching Shay debate with herself in her head.

“She’s more stubborn than you, man,” Harry said, looking back at Louis.

“Shay, just get in the fucking car,” Louis snapped, leaning over Harry to yell at her through the window.

“What are you guys up to?” She asked, narrowing her eyes at them.

“Get in the fucking car,” Louis yelled and she scoffed.

“Fine,” Shay snapped, moving toward the passenger door.

“Ha,” Harry said, smirking as he got out of the car to let her into the backseat.

Shay looked up at him as she got closer to the car. He stood about a foot taller than her, so she had to tilt her head a little to look into his eyes. He was standing right in her way. How was she supposed to get in the car if he didn’t move?

“Hi, Shay,” Harry said, smiling down at her.

“Hi, Harry,” she said, feeling exceptionally awkward.

He kept smiling at her, slightly cocking his eyebrow. And she wondered what exactly was going on. She felt a wave of uncertainty about what she was getting into if she were to get in the car with them. But Harry’s presence was so inviting. She knew she was on board the moment he told her to get in the car the first time.

“Do you want me to get in, or…?” She said awkwardly, looking up at him.

“By all means…” He said, finally stepping out of the way to let her in.

Shay crawled into the backseat and watched as Harry piled back in the passenger seat.

“I seriously could have walked. I’d probably be home by now,” she told the two of them.

“We’re not going home, Shay,” Harry said, turning in the front seat to look back at her. A feeling of uncertainty shot through her.

“Where are we going?” She asked, looking at Louis through the rear-view mirror.

“Put your seatbelt on, Shay!” Louis said, gunning the engine so the car rocketed down the road.

“Oh my god. Slow down, you ass!” Shay yelped, buckling her seatbelt quickly.

Louis stepped on the brakes quickly at the stop sign by their house and she nearly hit her head on the seat in front of her. Harry just let out a laugh and held onto the handle above the door as Louis took off down the next street.

“I didn’t plan on dying today!” Shay snapped, smacking Louis’ arm, causing him to laugh menacingly.

“Are you hungry, Shay?” Harry asked as he looked back at her.

“I don’t know. I guess,” she said with a shrug, keeping her eye on the road Louis was speeding down.

Louis blew right through a crosswalk where there were some kids getting ready to cross. Shay’s heart sank and then sped up again as a screech nearly left her mouth.

“Louis! You’re going to kill someone. Seriously, slow down. I just…” Shay whined from the back seat.

“God, shut up! You sound like mom,” Louis laughed as he slowed down significantly in the school zone by the elementary school.

“Do you know the death toll of teen drivers? Seriously, it’s ridiculous,” Shay asked, trying to talk some sense into her brother. Louis and Harry both just laughed out loud.

“You think I’m joking,” she growled at them.

“Are you even a teenager or are you an old lady trapped in a teenager’s body?” Louis laughed.

“I am a teenager that wants to live to be an old lady,” she quipped, sending him a glare through the rear-view mirror.

“She’s got a point,” Harry laughed.

Moments later, Louis took a sharp turn into the McDonald’s parking lot. Shay let out a huff.

“Seriously? McDonald’s? I risked my life for McDonald’s?” She asked as Louis parked the car.

“Shut up and appreciate the McGoodness,” Louis laughed as he got out of the car.

Harry got out of the car and pulled the seat up for Shay to get out. When she started to crawl out of the back seat, he held his hand out to help her out. She looked up at him before hesitantly placing her hand in his. He was looking at her with a cute little smirk that nearly killed her. Why was she suddenly feeling weird around him? He was being charming and it was weird.

“Come on. I’ll buy you a cheeseburger,” he told her as she stood on her feet in front of him. She smirked at him and nodded her head. When they got into the restaurant, Louis was already ordering his food, not bothering to wait for them.

As they waited for their food to be prepared, Louis was just getting his. Shay laughed as the McDonald’s employee stacked five cheeseburgers and a water cup on Louis’ tray.

“What the hell?” Shay laughed, looking at her brother oddly.

“I’ve gotta bulk up for football,” Louis smirked at her.

“I’m not sure if that’s the correct way to do it,” Harry laughed as Louis shrugged and moved over to the soda machine.

As they sat and ate, Shay looked up at Louis who was almost inhaling the pile of cheeseburgers in front of him. She literally wanted to barf watching him, instantly losing her appetite for the one cheeseburger she had – that Harry got for her.

“Can you even taste them or is this a contest to see how many you can eat in thirty seconds?” Shay quipped, looking at him with a disgusted face.

“Shut up,” he said with a mouthful of chewed up burger.

“Attractive. It’s a wonder that you get girlfriends,” she said, setting her burger down on the wrapper. Harry chuckled through his more modest mouthful.

“Girls love me,” Louis said after he swallowed.

“I don’t know why,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m a babe-magnet,” he laughed.

“Gross,” she scoffed.

“So Shay, are we gonna have a sleepover tonight?” Harry asked, nudging her with his elbow.

“Huh, what?” She asked, looking at him wide-eyed, confusing spreading through her.

“I’m sleeping over. Are we gonna have a slumber party?” He asked, smirking wildly at her.

“Uh, probably not,” she said truthfully.

“Ugh, why not?” Harry whined playfully.

“We can all see who’s not the babe-magnet here,” Louis laughed at Harry.

“You’re not going to strut around in cute little jammies and have a pillow fight with me?” Harry asked her with a smirk, cocking an eyebrow at her. Was he flirting?

“Harry! That’s my little sister!” Louis growled.

She bit her lip and held back a laugh as her brother yelled at his best friend. It was quite amusing.

“So what? I’ve known her practically all her life. She’s like a little sister to me too,” Harry countered, throwing his arm around Shay’s shoulder pulling her head tightly to his chest.

“Harry! Get off!” Shay grumbled, pushing his arm off of her. He just laughed as she straightened her hair out.

“Aw, you still look as beautiful as ever, Shay. I didn’t mess up your hair too bad,” Harry chuckled, swiping his fingers across the front of her hair.

“Stop!” Shay protested as she fixed her hair again.

“Come on. Let’s go,” Louis said as he stood up, grabbing his tray, heading for the garbage.

“Let’s go, Shay,” Harry said standing up, messing up her hair purposely with his hand.

“Harry! Ugh. Screw you!” Shay yelled as she flattened out her air once again.

“LET’S GO, SHAY!” Louis yelled as he exited the restaurant.

God. She knew she needed to go because she wouldn’t put it passed Louis to leave her there.She stood up quickly, throwing her half eaten burger in the trash on her way out.

Louis and Harry were being as obnoxious as ever when it came to their music blaring throughout the house once they got home. Shay didn’t have any big tests to study for or even homework at all, so she decided to just leave it alone and watch some TV in the living room. She sat mindlessly flipping channels as Harry walked out and sat down next to her.

“What are you doing?” She asked, looking over at him skeptically.

“What?” He asked, looking at her oddly

“Why are you out here?” She questioned, feeling a bit uncomfortable in his presence.

“Jeeeeez,” he laughed, feigning offense.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant… where’s Louis?” She corrected herself. She wasn’t trying to make him feel bad.

“Danielle called,” Harry said, rolling his eyes.

“Ah. What happened to ‘bros before hoes’?” Shay joked.

“I know, right?” Harry laughed, shaking his head.

“There’s nothing on,” Shay said, letting the channel stop on Dr. Phil.

“Dr. Phil, really?” He laughed.

“There’s nothing on!” She protested.

“Mm-hmm,” he said, giving her a skeptical look.

“You find something, then,” Shay said, tossing the remote in his lap.

“No. Dr. Phil’s fine,” he said, smirking at her as he set the remote down between them on the sofa.

“I swear, there’s nothing on,” Shay laughed trying to get him to believe her. Dr. Phil wasn’t something she usually watched.

“Whatever, you nerd. Who comes home and actually watches Dr. Phil? Oh that’s right, Shay Tomlinson does,” Harry laughed, poking fun at her

“Shut up, ass. There’s nothing on,” she said again, punching him in the arm. He just laughed and caught her wrist before she could punch him a second time.

“Let go,” she whined, trying to pull her arm back.

“Not when you’re hitting me,” he laughed, looking at her wide-eyed.

“I’ve got a whole other arm and two legs to do some damage with,” Shay laughed, playfully kicking at him.

Harry immediately threw his leg over hers, pinning it between his legs. He was on quick alert to grab any other flying appendages that came his way.

“Fucker,” Shay grumbled.

“Potty mouth. What now, Shay?” He laughed, holding her tightly.

“Let go! Dr. Phil’s just getting good,” Shay joked, squirming in his arms.

“You can watch and listen without your arms and legs,” he laughed, not budging a bit.

“I’m going to hurt you in your sleep,” Shay threatened, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Is that a promise?” He asked with a huge smirk on his face.

“Yes! Let go!” She snapped, wiggled as hard as she could to get out of his grasp.

“Fuck, Shay!” Harry croaked, letting go of her completely.

She didn’t realize what she did to him until he grabbed his junk in his hands, groaning to himself.

“Oh my god. I’m sorry!” Shay said, and couldn’t help but laugh at his misfortune – even though she felt really bad for kicking him in his man parts.

“Jesus,” he grumbled, letting out a huge breath.

“Dude, I’m sorry. But you shouldn’t have held onto my leg like that,” she told him, trying to stifle a laugh.

“You’re vicious,” he said, looking up at her, his face entirely red.

“I didn’t mean to!” She laughed.

“You don’t seem too sorry about it,” he said, letting out a strained chuckled through his pain.

“You have no idea. Harry, I’m sorry. Really, I am,” she told him, biting her lip to stifle her giggles. Why was other people’s pain so funny? She couldn’t help it.

“What’s going on?” Louis asked as he walked into the living room to find them on the couch.

“Your sister just kicked me in the balls,” Harry groaned, still holding on to his crotch.

“Why was her foot anywhere near your balls?” Louis asked, sitting down in the recliner, looking over at the TV.

“Cause Harry was being an ass,” Shay said matter-of-factly.

“Was not. Your sister’s just a man-eater,” Harry said, letting out a laugh.

“Yeah right,” she said, smacking him again.

“See!” Harry laughed.

Louis looked over giving them a really odd look, before he looked back at the TV again, ignoring them completely.

“Why the fuck are we watching Dr. Phil?” Louis scoffed.

“Yeah, Shay. Why are we watching Dr. Phil?” Harry asked with a little laugh.

“I hate you. Change the channel. I don’t care,” Shay scoffed, getting up from the couch, heading toward her bedroom.

“Oh, Shaylynn! I was joking!” Harry called after her.

After dinner, Shay stayed in her room ignoring everyone on purpose. She went to bed early, feeling tired from being up early for school that morning. At around two am, she woke up needing to use the toilet. Just as she was about to turn into the bathroom, the door opened and she ran smack dab into Harry.

“Holy shit!” She yelped, before covering her mouth with her hand.

“Jesus,” Harry said as they peeled themselves away from each other.

That was when she noticed Harry wasn’t wearing a shirt and his pajama pants were hanging dangerously low on his hips. Her whole body heated up with awkwardness and embarrassment.

“Shaylynn, what are you doing awake?” He asked, positively purring her name as a smirk formed on his lips.

“What are you doing awake?” She retorted quickly, not having a ready response prepared.

“Apparently doing the same thing you are,” he said, nudging his head toward the bathroom, his smirk ever-present on his face.

“I guess,” she said quietly, avoiding his glare. She didn’t want him to think of her using the bathroom.

“Where’s your pillow?” He asked vaguely, smirking wildly at her.

“What?” She asked as confusion spread through her. Where did he think her pillow was? In the bathroom?

“You’re wearing your cute little jammies. Where’s your pillow… for our pillow fight?” He clarified, bringing up their conversation from previously in the day.

“Shut up!” She laughed, shoving his chest with her hand.

He let out a laugh as he moved out of the way so she could go into the bathroom. His smirk as she was closing the door had her feeling weird. She couldn’t put her finger on why his eyes sparkled as he watched her, but it made her feel uncomfortable and elated at the same time.

Shay took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She didn’t really remember putting on the tank top and shorts she was wearing. Usually she wore a raggedy over-sized t-shirt.Did her unconscious mind dress that way for him? She shook her head, expelling the thought. She didn’t even plan on coming out of her room all night, why would she dress for him?

She quickly did her business and made her way out of the bathroom. When she looked up, she was startled by Harry leaning against the wall in front of her, still smirking.

“Wh-what are you doing?” She asked, looking at him wide-eyed.

“Did I upset you earlier?” He asked, concern growing on his face.

“When?” She asked, knitting her eyebrows together in confusion, not sure what he was talking about.

“With the Dr. Phil comment?” He asked.

“Uh… no,” she said, leaning her side against the wall, facing him.

“You just… I don’t know. You didn’t say anything at dinner and you’ve been in your room all night. I kind of missed seeing you around,” he said, smirking at her. Shay gave him an odd look. He missed seeing her around?

“What?” He laughed lightly.

“You missed seeing me?” She questioned, looking at him funny, not totally believing his words.

“What?” He laughed again.

“Nice line,” she scoffed, shoving him lightly in the shoulder.

“Not a line,” he chuckled, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, yeah. I bet you use it on all the girls,” she laughed quietly, rolling her eyes at him.

“Hmm,” he hummed, staring straight at her, making her feel even more uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her.

“Shay…” He said quietly.

“What?” She giggled out a scoff, trying to dispel the awkwardness she felt.

Seconds later he leaned in, connecting his lips to hers. She felt his hand gently grip onto the side of her face. Holy shit. Her heart sped up significantly as she realized anyone could walk out at any moment.

“Jesus, Harry,” Shay said, pushing him away with her hands in his bare chest. She cataloged how warm and soft his skin was.

“What?” He asked, furrowing his brow in question.

“Louis will kill you if he saw you kissing me,” she told him in a loud whisper.

“So what?” He shrugged, pulling a face.

“You’re willing to get killed by your best friend, just so you can kiss his little sister?” She asked, eyeing him skeptically.

“Maybe,” he said, shrugging his shoulders with a sideways smirk on his face.

Shay’s whole body tingled with his answer. She sucked in both of her lips, biting them in place as she looked at him.

“What?” He chuckled.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, shaking her head slightly.

“You didn’t like it?” He asked, quirking his head.

“I didn’t say that,” she said quietly.

His smile widened again seconds before he leaned in, kissing her again. Well, alright then.

As she finally kissed him back, his body pressed her against the wall, his hands cupping her face. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, so she just rested them against his chest. Shay couldn’t believe what was happening. She’d never been kissed like that before. She’d only ever have one serious boyfriend before and he was kind of a dipshit.

Suddenly the house made a noise like it was settling and it scared Shay, making her think that someone was coming out of their bedroom. She broke the kiss and pressed her hands firmly against his chest.

“It was just the house,” Harry whispered.

“We should stop though,” she told him, looking down the hallway to her parent’s room.

“How come?” He asked.

“Because my dad will kill you worse if he’s the one that catches us,” she told him.

“I’d almost believe you if Mark didn’t love me as much as he does,” Harry said with a smirk.

“Well, then he’ll kill me,” Shay countered, sending him a playful glare.

“Now that’s more likely,” Harry chuckled, gripping onto her hips, pulling her close again.

“Harry…” She breathed, pressing her hands against his chest again.

“One more kiss,” he whispered against her lips. Shay let out a sigh, but obliged.

When Harry pulled back from the kiss, he didn’t let her go and he didn’t move away. He just kept her pinned with his hands on her hips. Shay’s breathing was wavering as her heart beat out of control in her chest. She was so nervous to be sneaking around in the dead of night, kissing boys who she really had no business kissing. But for some reason she liked it. She liked it a lot. And she didn’t want to stop, but knew they should.

Harry leaned down leaving a few pecks against her lips before he finally pulled his body away from hers.

“We should get some sleep,” he told her, like it was his idea to stop all along.

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, pulling herself away from the wall.

“Goodnight, Shaylynn,” Harry breathed, his tone seductive and pleasing.

“Goodnight, Harry,” she whispered before she tip-toed back to her bedroom.

“Shay,” Harry said quickly, stopping her in her tracks.

“Hmm?” she replied, turning to face him again.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” he told her.

Shay bit back a smile and her heart flip-flopped in her chest. Oh, that boy.

“Goodnight, Harry,” she said again.

“Night,” he said, smiling back at her. She watched him open Louis’ bedroom door and slip inside.

There was literally nothing better than what just happened between the two of them, and Shay knew it.

Notes