Stars in Your Eyes

For the next two days, Shay stayed holed up in her room, tucked between her blankets, letting only her mother into her room – not that Louis or her father would even want to try to come in. Louis was probably overjoyed because Harry broke up with her. And knowing her father, he was probably satisfied because it meant that she wouldn’t be having anymore sex.

Shay’s tears only subsided for sleep that first night. Saturday morning, she was barren – completely dried up. A pain wrapped around the inside of her skull from the hours of crying the night before and she just lay there paralyzed in her bed, staring up at the ceiling wondering why it had come to this. It couldn’t be real. Maybe she just dreamt it. But her puffy eyes, clogged sinuses, and the ache in her head and chest told her differently. All proof that Harry did in fact break her heart last night, whether he meant to or not.

How could this be happening? They loved each other. Love was supposed to conquer all. Suddenly Shay found herself cursing all those stupid, sappy love movies that always ended in happiness. That almost never happened in real life. Romeo’s and Prince Charming’s didn’t exist. It was all just a fabrication of Hollywood to make the hollowness of reality a little less painful. But in fact it just made it more painful, because in real life nobody got their happy ending. And if in some freak occurrence that one does get their happy ending, there was always someone out there willing to ruin it. In Shay’s happy ending, she had Louis making the happy part of the ending non-existent.

How could they let Louis dictate whether or not they should be together? Shay felt a sense of anger crash over her in waves. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. She wanted to punch and kick and claw at anything and everything. And she let imaginary images of her clawing at Louis’ face calm her down. When she realized that plotting her brother’s death probably wasn’t the best plan, she buried her head in the pillow and tried like hell to will herself back to sleep.

Johannah woke her up to eat a little while later. She hadn’t eaten all day. She refused to leave her room, so her mother brought her a bowl of soup.

“You need to eat, Shay. Don’t do this to yourself,” she said, looking at her sympathetically.

“Do this to myself? I did not do this to myself. Louis did this to me,” Shay shot at her.

“Louis and Harry,” she said quietly.

“Louis did this, mom. Harry only broke up with me because of Louis. He told me he still wanted to be with me but couldn’t because of Louis,” Shay corrected her angrily.

“Louis feels really bad,” Jay told her.

“I don’t care how Louis feels. He should feel bad. He ruined everything,” Shay spat out.

“Shay…” Her mother sighed, her eyes looking pained that her children were fighting.

“No. Do not defend him. He knows what he’s doing is wrong,” Shay growled as she shook her head.

“Keeping it from him was kind of wrong too. Harry was his friend first,” Jay countered, defending Louis anyway.

“How was it wrong? Why can’t Harry and I have a private life?” Shay yelped as the anger boiled up inside of her.

“There’s a difference between having a private life and lying to everyone that is in your life,” Jay reminded her, making Shay even angrier.

“Just… just leave me alone if all you’re going to do is make me feel worse! The bottom line is I had Harry and now I don’t – and it’s all Louis’s fault,” Shay snapped, narrowing her eyes at her mother.

“I understand that your anger is making it hard to see reason right now, but if you continue to take that tone with me...” Johanna said as calmly as ever, but in that warning tone that all mother’s seemed to have.

“Punish me then. Nothing can make me feel worse than I already do,” Shay snapped, throwing herself back onto her bed.

“Bring your dishes down to the kitchen when you’re done,” Jay told her firmly and walked out of the room without another word.

Shay ate the soup, but left the dishes sit atop her nightstand as she quickly tried to find refuge in the dream world once again. She slept until dinner when her mother asked her in her nicest tone to come down for dinner. Shay refused. She refused to even look at Louis let alone spend a whole family meal in his presence.

On Sunday morning, Shay couldn’t be bothered to get up for church. Her father even sternly told her to get out of bed and get dressed or he would make her do it. He never did and her family left without her. She didn’t care how despondent she was being. She didn’t care much of anything. That morning she cried again thinking about Harry. Once her tears started it almost felt like they were never going to end. She just wanted him back. She promised God that if he sent Harry back to her that she would do anything just so she could have him back with her. Anything. And then when she realized that it wasn’t that easy, she cried some more. Feeling defeated and worthless, Shay closed her eyes tightly and wait for sleep once again.

Jay periodically brought Shay food and checked in on her, but by dinner time she wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer when Shay refused once again to come down to join the family. Jay physically pulled her by the arm down to the dinner table. Shay could have fought kicking and screaming, but knew that with behavior like that it would have been proof that she wasn’t grown-up enough to be in a relationship with Harry in the first place. Plus, she just didn’t have the energy to fight anymore.

Shay sat in her seat across from her brother, picking at the spaghetti her mother made. Spaghetti was one of her favorite meals, but for whatever reason, she could not stomach it.

She felt Louis’ eyes burning through her from across the table and looked up to find just that.

“Stop. Staring. At. Me,” Shay growled out slowly.

“I’m not,” he snapped, deterring his eyes.

“Don’t look at me. Don’t talk to me—” Shay started.

“Shaylynn Johannah – that is enough,” Mark said sharply.

Shay closed her lips tightly glaring into Louis’ eyes. She just really hated him for what he did, for what he was currently doing.

After dinner, Jay insisted that Shay help clear the table and she did so without a word, figuring it was fruitless to argue.

“Load the dishwasher and you can go back up to your cave,” Jay told her. Shay didn’t find her remark very funny, but she kept her mouth shut and did what was asked. Better to just do it and get it over with than to waste the energy on an argument that she would lose in the end.

As she loaded the dishwasher, Louis came in the kitchen carrying the salt and pepper shakers from the table.

“Shay, I know you’re hurting…” He started and her jaw immediately clenched at his words, feeling infuriated that he was even speaking to her, even acknowledging her.

“But just imagine how I felt when I found out, how I still feel. I feel betrayed by my best friend and my own sister,” Louis continued, twisting the knife in her back.

“Fuck you,” Shay growled.

“Shay…” He sighed.

“You don’t give a shit about me or Harry. Because if you did, you wouldn’t be acting the way you are,” she spat at him.

“You’re stealing my best friend!” He yelled back at her.

“I AM NOT! Just because we like each other doesn’t mean he’s not going to still hang out with you. Even though I don’t know why he would still want to hang out with you after your betrayal,” Shay said angrily.

“My betrayal!?” He laughed a menacing laugh.

“Yes! You betrayed him when you turned your back on him! You betrayed him when you tried to get your other friends to turn on him too. You’ve been friends for ten years and you can’t just get past this?” Shay said, feeling herself get choked up.

“YOU’RE SLEEPING WITH MY BEST FRIEND! MY BEST FRIEND IS SLEEPING WITH MY SISTER!” He shouted.

“Not anymore. You saw to that, didn’t you?” She shot at him.

“I didn’t say anything to him,” Louis yelled back.

“That’s the point, Louis! You’re not saying anything to him. You’re supposed to be his friend. He wants his friend back!” Shay screamed at him, but all Louis did was shake his head stubbornly, which entirely pissed Shay off because if Louis wasn’t going to bother with fixing their friendship, then it was pointless for Harry to even break things off with her in the first place.

But knowing what kind of person Harry was, Shay knew he was going to try as hard and as long as it took to make things right with his best friend. It was just too bad her brother wasn’t going to put forth the same effort.

“Why did you even come in here to talk to me? I don’t even want to look at you!” Shay said, slamming the dishwasher shut, grateful that she just put the last dish in.

“You’re so stubborn!” Louis growled.

“So are you, you asshole!” Shay screamed at him before she took off to her bedroom.

.

.

On Monday morning, Shay tried to convince her mother to let her stay home from school, but she absolutely refused. Shay was so angry when she had to get up and get ready, but she was also sick to her stomach over the fact that she had to go anywhere that Harry would be. A week passed since Louis found out about her and Harry. A week where nothing was as it used to be. A week where nothing but misery and heartache consumed Shay every second of the day.

She walked to school by herself, braving the below zero temperatures just so she wouldn’t have to get a ride from Louis. Walking through the doors, a ripple of terror went through her realizing that Harry could be lurking anywhere. That he could, without a moment’s notice, show up in front of her and leave her to fall apart all over again. She spent the better part of the day avoiding all of his normal hang outs around school and prayed that he would have the decency to do the same. But as she was leaving school that afternoon she saw him. He was across the quad talking to some of his friends, but turned around just in time to see her eyes glued to him. His entire face fell as he stared back at her. Shay felt paralyzed once again, but knew she couldn’t stand there like an idiot staring at him. She regained her movement, turning sharply away from him.

She cried the entire walk home from school. She couldn’t stop. It was so much easier to pretend like they weren’t together when they were, than having to pretend like nothing happened between them when it did – when the only thing she could feel in her heart was him.

Every morning Shay asked her mother if she could stay home from school, to no avail. She was not compromising in the least and it made Shay wonder if she’d ever felt the crippling pain of a broken heart. And it made her resent her just a little bit.

By Friday, Jay was entirely fed up with Shay and her attitude.

“You need to get out of this house, Shaylynn. I am sick of you moping around here,” Jay shot at her after Shay grumbled about having to help make dinner when she wasn’t planning on eating it anyway.

“What do you want me to do? How about I call up my boyfriend… oh, wait. Louis took that away from me,” Shay said sarcastically.

“Knock it off,” Jay snapped, pointing at her with her finger, her tone serious. Shay shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Call Rachel. I say this lovingly, but you need to get out of my face. You’re driving me nuts,” Jay said.

“Thanks, Mom,” Shay grumbled.

“It’s the truth. Call Rachel and get out of here,” she said with a light chuckle.

“What if I don’t want to?” Shay countered.

“Do it,” she said firmly. Shay rolled her eyes again and abandoned helping in the kitchen, figuring that’s what she meant when she told her to get out of her face.

Shay went straight up to her room and crumpled up on the bed. She didn’t want to call Rachel and for about a half an hour she avoided it altogether. But then she realized she was sick of the four walls in her bedroom – the four walls that held so many memories of Harry. Her bed and the sheets that he laid in as she kissed him and loved him, the painting hanging on her wall that Harry made her for Christmas. She really needed to get out of there.

“Rach,” Shay whined over the phone.

“Shayyy…” She whined back playfully.

“Hang out with me, please. I’m dying,” Shay whined.

Rachel heard all about the Louis/Harry situation over the past week, so she was entirely clued in on all of Shay’s woes.

“Well, I’m going to this party with Ryan…” Rachel told her. Ryan was her newest crush.

“Like on a date?” Shay asked, feeling almost grief-stricken that she was going to be forced to stay in this god-forsaken room because the only friend she wanted to hang out with had plans already.

“No, nothing like that. He’s just going to be there. We’re meeting there,” Rachel told her.

“Oh,” Shay said quietly.

“Come with,” Rachel offered.

“Nah, you’re going to be with Ryan,” Shay sighed, even though she really wanted to come.

“No, Shay. Come. I want you to come with. You can get drunk and forget about all of your problems,” Rachel laughed.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Shay scoffed playfully.

“Well, just get drunk and make out with a lot of hot random dudes,” Rachel laughed, causing Shay to roll her eyes.

“Maybe,” she joked, knowing full-well she never would.

“Sweet! I’ll pick you up in like a half hour,” Rachel told her.

Shay didn’t even tell her mother she was leaving until she was halfway out the door. Jay looked relieved, which kind of annoyed Shay a little bit. Rachel was as bubbly as ever, trying to keep Shay’s mind on anything but her situation.

“Okay, the rule of tonight is…” Rachel started to explain.

“Wait. There’s rules?” Shay said, cutting her off.

“Yes. The rule of tonight is that we don’t talk about Louis or Harry…” She said as she drove down the highway.

“Starting now?” Shay asked.

“Starting now. And… you have to at least act like you’re having fun even if you’re not. I want you to have fun though. It’s a party. I want you to have fun,” Rachel told her.

“These rules are too hard,” Shay frowned.

“Those are the rules, Shay. You must abide!” Rachel laughed.

“But can’t you just like… can’t you just have sex with Louis so that Harry and I could be together?” Shay joked, surprised at herself that a part of her actually wanted her to. Rachel let out a loud boisterous laugh.

“Yes. Yes, that is the plan,” Rachel said firmly, but Shay knew she was joking.

“If you were any kind of best friend, you would,” Shay told her.

“I’ll take one for the team,” Rachel laughed, but again, Shay knew she was only joking. Still she smiled, trying to abide by rule number two.

“Alright. No, Louis or Harry. Got it,” Shay said with a nod, reminding herself of rule number one.

“And have fun,” Rachel reminded.

“I’m having fun already,” Shay smiled at her, even though she only half meant it.

“GOOD! I’m glad!” Rachel laughed.

When the two of them arrived at the party, Rachel managed to get them drinks right away. She had that allure about her. She could get any guy to get her anything at any time.

“Drink it. It will make you feel better,” Rachel told her.

“Why? Does it have roofies in it?” Shay asked, smirking devilishly at her.

“Oh, you’re funny,” Rachel said sarcastically. Shay smiled, fulfilling rule number two for the moment.

“Come on, let’s mingle,” Rachel giggled, grabbing onto her hand, leading her out of the kitchen.

As Shay continued to drink and the alcohol worked through her system, it began relaxing her and she actually started opening up. She was playing an intense game of beer pong with some guys in Louis’ grade. They were pretty cool and one of the dudes, Zayn, kept flirting with Shay the whole time. With her luck though, he was friends with Louis and shit would hit the fan again if she set her sights on him.

“Hey,” a girl said to Shay as she walked up to observe the game of beer pong.

“Hey,” Shay said back, wondering why the senior girl was even acknowledging her.

The girl said hi to the guys Shay was hanging out with, but she kept noticing her watching her throughout the game. It made her uncomfortable. When the game ended and the two losing guys were congratulating Shay and her teammate, the girl decided to talk to her.

“Is it true you dated Harry Styles?” She asked. Shay’s entire body clenched with her words. How did she know?

“Uh…” Shay stammered.

“I mean, that’s what I heard anyway – that your brother freaked out cause you were sleeping with him,” she said.

Shay’s entire face was beet red and she felt like she was going to puke. By now, with the mention of sex, all three senior boys were practically salivating as they listened to see if it were true.

“Harry and I were friends,” Shay managed to say.

“Like friends with benefits?” She asked. Shay felt cornered, like she couldn’t get out of the conversation even if she tried.

“I mean, you don’t have to tell me. I was just curious. Your brother is like telling everyone that he and Harry aren’t friends anymore because Harry was sleeping with you,” the girl told her.

Of course there would be rumors, but Shay never thought they would be spread by her own brother. And unfortunately for her, the rumors were entirely true from a reliable source. Shay could feel her reputation changing almost immediately.

“I’m not nearly drunk enough to have this conversation,” Shay said, shaking her empty cup in her hand. They all laughed at her remark and Shay let out an awkward laugh too.

“Need another?” Zayn asked.

“Yes, please,” Shay said and followed him to the kitchen.

She was already feeling the buzz throughout her system as Zayn filled her another cup of beer from the keg. As she was taking a sip from it, following Zayn out of the kitchen, Shay looked up to see Harry walking into the party with his friend Liam. Fuck her fucking life.

Shay stopped dead in her tracks, not caring that Zayn was lost in the crowd already. Harry’s eyes met with hers and his smile faded almost immediately. Shay ripped her eyes away from his and pushed her way through the people, needing to find Rachel immediately.

“Harry’s here,” Shay heard the senior girl from before say to her as she passed.

“Yeah, I see that,” Shay grumbled and kept on going.

Rachel was in the dining room of the house watching a bunch of guys, including Ryan, playing Texas Hold ‘Em. Rachel perked up when she saw Shay.

“Are you having fun?” Rachel asked, smiling widely.

“Rule number two has been successful,” Shay told her.

“What about rule number one?” She asked.

“He’s here,” Shay said, swallowing hard.

“What? Who?” Rachel asked, looking around the room.

“What do you mean ‘who’? Harry! Harry is here,” Shay said impatiently.

“Oh, shit,” she gasped, widening her eyes.

“Yeah!” Shay said, feeling a slight panic attack working its way through her system.

Rachel stood on her feet and told Ryan she’d be back in a while and he gave her a nod and a smile. She took Shay by the hand and led her to the kitchen.

“What are we doing?” Shay asked, furrowing her brow at her friend.

“A situation like this calls for lots and lots of alcohol,” Rachel informed her, grabbing a bottle of tequila from the counter, along with two shot glasses.

“Doesn’t that stuff make girls clothes come off?” Shay joked, causing Rachel to laugh out loud.

“This is not a country song, Shay. Drink the happy, happy liquid and go make out with like fifteen guys, okay,” she giggled, drunkly.

“Yeah, just what my reputation needs,” Shay grumbled as she watched Rachel pour the shots.

Rachel made her take three shots consecutively, which she was kind of iffy about. But Rachel had her fair share of coping with heartbreak over the years, so Shay didn’t argue.

“I don’t even feel drunk,” Shay told her.

“Just wait. In about ten minutes you’ll be too shitfaced to care about anything,” she laughed.

And she was right. Shay started hanging out with Zayn and his friends Niall and Josh again – the same three she played beer pong with earlier. She was drunk and loving it. And Harry was on the other side of the house, so she really didn’t care. When Shay ventured off to get another beer for Zayn, she ran smack dab into Harry in the kitchen, quite literally.

“Holy shit!” Shay shouted as their bodies collided.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked, grabbing her wrists to steady her.

“I’m fine,” she said, ripping them out of his grasp.

“Hi, Shay,” he said in his unbelievably deep voice, giving her a small smile.

“Hi, Harry,” she said through clenched teeth.

“H-how have you been?” He asked.

“I don’t want to have this conversation,” Shay said, scooting passed him toward the keg.

“Okay,” he said quietly.

Shay tried her best to ignore his presence as she filled up a cup and silently prayed that he would just leave her alone, but when she turned around he was still standing there staring at her.

“How am I supposed to follow rule number one with you staring at me like that?” Shay snapped at him.

“Rule number one?” He asked, looking confused.

“Never mind,” Shay grumbled.

“Listen, Shay. I just want to say that I’m sorry,” he told her.

“Oh my god,” Shay scoffed dramatically, being too drunk to let his words affect her.

“You’re drunk,” he pointed out.

“Obviously. Because I couldn’t sit in my bedroom anymore and cry over you, okay. I needed something else to pass the time,” she shot at him.

His face scrunched up as if he heard something that hurt him. But Shay was convinced he was doing just fine without her. There weren’t bags under his eyes from crying himself to sleep over her, not like hers. In fact, he didn’t look sad at all. Here he was at a god damn party.

“So, here we are. Me with a broken heart and you having fun at a party,” Shay scoffed.

“You’re here too, Shay,” he pointed out.

“My mother kicked me out of the house. She can’t stand mopey fucked-up Shay anymore, okay. Nobody wants me around, so here I am,” Shay snapped.

“Shay…” He said softly.

“You don’t want me, that’s cool. I’m going to go find someone that does,” Shay said, making her way toward the kitchen doorway.

“Shay – God. That’s not it,” he said, grabbing onto her arm.

“I don’t care what it is anymore. You’re not with me anymore and that was the only thing that mattered to me, Harry,” she told him sadly.

“Don’t… don’t go and do something just to get back at me. I don’t want this, Shay. Just don’t do something stupid,” he told her.

“You don’t get to make those decisions for me,” she shot at him.

“So you’re just going to let the alcohol make your decisions for you? Because I know you, Shay. You’re not like this,” he said firmly.

“You don’t really know me, Harry,” she said, shaking her head.

“I’ve known you for ten years,” he retorted.

“Too bad my friendship with you doesn’t mean shit compared to my brother’s,” Shay scoffed and made her way out of the kitchen.

Shay found Rachel moments later and didn’t even bother to tell her about her run in with Harry. She just told her she needed more tequila. And Rachel obliged like any good friend would. When Rachel pulled her back in the kitchen, Harry already vacated it, for which Shay was grateful. They only did two more shots, but it was enough to push Shay completely over the edge. She was out of her mind, really. She was dancing with Rachel and a bunch of other girls, then Zayn, Josh, and Niall all started dancing with them. Zayn put his hands on Shay’s waist and she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as they danced to the rhythm of the music. When he kissed her, she kissed back, but only for a moment before she casually broke the kiss. Even in her inebriated state, she knew she didn’t want to kiss anyone but Harry. Zayn’s lips trailed down her neck as they danced and she let it happen, but not for long. Shay grabbed Rachel’s arm and told her she needed more to drink.

“Already!?” She laughed.

“Yes,” Shay said and pulled her away.

“Lush!” She laughed.

“Okay, I don’t really need more, but that dude is like, trying to make out with me,” Shay told her once they were back in the kitchen.

“THEN MAKE OUT WITH HIM! He’s super hot!” Rachel laughed.

“He’s not Harry,” Shay said sadly.

“RULE NUMBER ONE!” Rachel laughed, holding up her index finger.

“I don’t give a shit about rule fucking number one!” Shay spat drunkly, swatting at her hand, stumbling forward when she found she was standing further away than she aimed.

“You’re drunk,” Rachel laughed out loud.

“You’re stupid,” Shay laughed.

“Make out with Zayn. Go fuck him. Get Harry out of your system,” Rachel said, giving her exceptionally horrid advice.

“Not in a million… not in a million fucking years,” Shay slurred.

“Fine! Where’s Louis? I need to fuck Louis Tomlinson so my best friend can have her boyfriend back!” Rachel screamed, startling the few people that were in their vicinity.

“Shhhhh! Jesus!” Shay giggled, slapping her hand to Rachel’s mouth, looking around embarrassed.

“What!?” Rachel laughed, prying Shay’s hand away.

“People are going to hear you!” Shay told her.

“Pretty much everyone in the senior class knows that Harry Styles put his penis in you, okay. It’s not a big deal,” Rachel stated matter-of-factly.

“Because of Louis!” Shay growled.

“So, why don’t you go find Harry and fuck him then?” Rachel asked.

“Fuck Harry?” Shay asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I mean, Louis’ not here. You’re drunk, Harry’s drunk. Just bring him into one of the rooms and sleep with him,” Rachel shrugged.

And that got every gear in Shay’s brain to start turning. Sleep with Harry, huh? Shay bit at her lip, contemplating it.

“Go find him,” Rachel told her.

Shay hesitated for a moment, but found herself standing in the kitchen doorway searching the crowd for Harry’s face. When she spotted it, she made her way over, determined to not let her mind think the plan over because she knew deep down she would talk herself out of it. Harry and Liam were talking to some other friends when Shay walked up. Harry’s eyes locked on hers and without a word she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her. He let himself be guided through the crowd without saying a word and Shay was thinking to herself how perfect her plan was.

When they headed down the deserted hallway toward the bedrooms, Shay felt him tug his arm back. She stopped and turned toward him.

“Shay, what are you doing?” He asked.

“Going for what I want,” Shay said, pressing her body against his.

“Shay, we can’t,” he said, grabbing onto her arms, pulling back a little, which only brought his back up against the wall.

“Nobody has to know, Harry,” Shay said, breathing against his lips.

“Shay, you’re drunk,” he pointed out again, as if she wasn’t aware of her intoxication level.

“And I love you,” she said before she kissed him.

He let himself kiss her back for a moment before he pushed her away.

“Shay, I can’t,” Harry said quietly.

“I hate you and I hate Louis!” Shay erupted immediately, feeling his rejection like a knife to the heart.

“Shay, don’t,” he said sadly.

“Why can’t you just be with me like we both want and need? Why does Louis matter so much?” Shay snapped as her tears began to fall.

“He’s my best friend,” Harry said, sounding like a broken record.

“Well, fuck you and fuck him!” Shay yelled angrily.

“Stop, Shay. Just…” He said, grabbing her wrist.

“Don’t touch me!” She snapped, ripping it out of his grasp.

“Please, Shay,” he pleaded as his brow knit together, looking pained.

“Why are you doing this to me? I can’t… I can’t even breathe without you. I-I feel like I’m drowning. Why are you doing this?” Shay sobbed.

“I’m sorry, Shay. I’m sorry,” he said and she could hear the emotion in his voice as she pressed the heels of her palms firmly into her eye sockets to try and stop the heavy flow of tears.

“Please, Shay,” he said, grabbing onto her wrists again.

“Just don’t do this to me,” she cried, falling into his arms. He immediately wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest. He let her cry in his arms until she calmed down.

“Let me take you home,” he told her. Shay nodded and let him lead her out of the party, not caring who saw them together.

“Aren’t you drunk?” She asked once she was sitting in his passenger seat.

“I had two beers as opposed to your eight shots of tequila,” he told her. Shay’s head shot to look over at him.

“You were watching me?” She asked.

“Somebody’s got to look out for you,” he told her as he took off down the road. She didn’t know whether to been happy or angry.

Shay pulled down the visor to look at herself in the lit up mirror, fixing her makeup, which wasn’t quite running down her face, but was not flattering in the least. Harry looked over at her giving her a small smile.

“What?” She asked, turning to look at him.

“Nothing,” he smirked as he focused back on the road. Shay rolled her eyes and slapped the visor shut, leaning back in the seat.

By the time Harry was pulling up in her driveway, Shay was feeling drunker than ever. She didn’t know if it was because of the motion of the car or the movement of the scenery passing by, but she was not doing so well. Harry helped her out of the car and she stumbled against him, trying to find her footing as her head spun.

“Shay, you shouldn’t drink so much. You’re tiny,” he told her.

“You shouldn’t care so much,” she shot back at him.

“I’ll always care,” he said quietly.

“New rule! Rule number three. You do not get to say stuff like that to me, okay,” Shay said, tacking it onto hers and Rachel’s first two rules.

“What’s rules one and two?” He asked curiously.

“Psssssh. Wouldn’t you like to know?” Shay scoffed as he maneuvered her toward the front door.

“Do you have your key?” He asked.

“No,” she said snottily, even though it was in her pocket. She watched as Harry put the code into the key box by the front door, retrieving the key out of it.

“I’m making mom change that code,” Shay stated and he shook his head at her.

Harry unlocked the door and got Shay inside, but she stumbled over all the shoes in the entryway and she was laughing as Harry helped her up the stairs.

“Shay, you’ve got to be quiet. You’re going to wake up your parents,” Harry whispered, trying to shush her.

“This is what mom wanted,” Shay giggled.

“I highly doubt that,” he said under his breath as he got her into her room and flipped on the light.

“Look where we are,” Shay giggled.

“Your room,” Harry stated plainly, his eyes focusing on the painting hanging above her bed that he made for her.

“My room where you used to kiss me and turn me on so much,” Shay said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Shay…” He said softly.

“Don’t you miss it?” She asked.

“I do,” he said, nodding lightly, avoiding her eyes.

“Don’t miss it anymore. I’m right here,” Shay said and pressed her lips to his. And again he let himself kiss her back.

“What the fuck?” They heard Louis grumble and they immediately pulled apart from each other.

Shay stumbled back into the wall and giggled loudly while Harry stood staring at Louis, wide-eyed and shocked.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Louis shot at Harry.

“Shut the hell up, Louis,” Shay snapped, peeling herself away from the wall.

“I… uh… I brought her home from a party,” Harry stammered.

“Screw you, Louis. Stop ruining my life!” Shay said, poking him repeatedly in the chest.

“Are you drunk? You got her drunk? She’s sixteen!” Louis yelled at Harry.

“Shut up,” Shay scoffed at her brother.

“I did not get her drunk. She was already drunk when I got to the party,” Harry said.

“But that didn’t stop you from bringing her back here to take advantage of her,” Louis scoffed, rolling his eyes at his ex-best friend.

“I hate you, Louis! You’re going to scare him away! I hate you! Why can’t you just leave us alone!?” Shay yelled loudly, forgetting that their parents were just down the hall.

“SHAY!” Jay’s voice rang out from down the hallway.

Shay stopped to stare at her in her bathrobe, standing behind Louis, having just come out of her bedroom, where she was obviously sleeping.

“Oh, God,” Shay grumbled under her breath.

“What is going on?” Jay asked as her eyes worked over the three of them standing in the doorway of Shay’s room.

“Nothing,” Louis grumbled.

“Obviously that’s why I am being woken up at 1:30 in the morning to loud shouting,” she said sarcastically. None of them said anything as they stared in her direction.

“Harry, what are you doing here?” Jay asked, knowing she wouldn’t get a straight answer out of her own children.

“Uh… I just… I brought Shay home from… from a party,” he stammered.

“Oh,” she said with a nod.

None of them were willingly volunteering her any information as they stood there silently.

“Tell me why you were shouting,” Jay asked, looking straight at Shay.

“I hate Louis,” Shay said with as much attitude as she could muster.

“Are you drunk?” She asked confused.

“She’s wasted, Mom,” Louis told her.

“Screw you!” Shay said, punching him as hard as she could in the arm.

“Ow!” He yelled, holding his arm.

“Shaylynn! Knock it off!” Jay growled at her. Shay stopped and glared at Louis instead.

“How much have you had to drink?” Jay asked her. Shay crossed her arms and refused to tell her.

“Harry, how much has she had?” Jay asked, going to the only other source that would know.

“A lot,” Harry told her.

“Screw… you…” Shay breathed under my breath at Harry. He gave her a look of sympathy.

“Louis, go back to bed. Harry, go home. And Shay, you’re grounded,” Jay told them all.

“YOU TOLD ME TO GO OUT! YOU TOLD ME! AND NOW YOU WANT TO PUNISH ME!?” Shay screamed at her.

“You better watch it, young lady,” Jay growled at her.

“This is bullshit!” Shay said, throwing her hands up in defeat.

“Shay…” Harry warned.

“Shaylynn Johannah Tomlinson, you better calm yourself down right now,” Jay warned her. Shay crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips together like a child.

Harry took the opportunity to move passed Shay out of the doorway of her room.

“Harry, don’t go,” Shay whimpered, grabbing onto his arm.

“He’s leaving, Shay,” Jay said sternly.

“He’s been drinking. He can’t,” Shay spat out, knowing her mother wouldn’t let him leave.

“Shay, I’m not…” Harry said as his eyes awkwardly fell to Jay.

“Harry, have you been drinking?” She asked.

“I-I had two beers… but that was hours ago…” he stammered.

“You can sleep on the couch,” Jay said finally.

“What?” Louis shouted.

“I’m fine. I can drive,” Harry told her.

“It’s 1:30 in the morning. You’re not driving whether you’ve had two beers or twenty beers. Frankly, the fact that you drove the two of you here does not sit well with me,” Jay lectured him.

“But I’m fine,” he argued.

“Louis, get your friend a pillow and blanket,” Jay told her son firmly.

Harry sent Shay an unhappy glare, but she was ecstatic. Harry would be sleeping under the same roof again.

“Shaylynn, get in your room,” Jay growled.

“You can’t be serious about this, Mom. They’re just going sneak to see each other in the middle of the night,” Louis protest.

“Believe me, it’s not going to happen,” Harry said angrily, glaring at Shay, but she shrugged it off.

“I’m sleeping out there too then,” Louis said finally, causing Shay to scoff.

“Shaylynn, get in your room and don’t you dare come out until morning,” Jay snapped, shaking her finger at her.

Shay gave Harry one last look before she stomped into her room and slammed the door. Harry was sleeping at her house again and she was so happy.

Shay waited as long as she could before she swiftly snuck out of bed and opened her bedroom door. The entire house was silent and she was sure everyone was asleep, but she needed to see Harry. She needed to sneak passed Louis, who was passed out on the recliner and get to Harry who was sleeping on the couch.

Harry was as hard as ever to wake up and Shay had to do it as quietly as possible as to not wake Louis.

“Shay, go back to your room,” Harry whispered.

“Only if you’re coming with me,” she told him.

“No. Absolutely not,” he said stubbornly.

“Why not?” She whined.

“I’m sorry, Shay. It’s… it’s not happening… not anymore,” he said as he shook his head.

Shay immediately felt a wave of tears hit her. Rejection was the worst possible feeling and Harry just slapped her with a big old heaping shitbag full of it.

“Go back to bed, Shay,” Harry told her.

“I… I…” Shay stammered, but couldn’t find the words to say.

“Please,” Harry added.

With that Shay stumbled to her feet and didn’t look back as she found her way back to her room as the tears fell. Harry was gone in the morning when she woke up and her world was entirely empty because she knew she messed up almost everything in her life in one night.

Notes