Steal my Heart.

62

"Howard!" I shriek as I see him emerging out of his car. I run up to him and hug him.
"How I've missed you Gracie." He mutters into my hair.
I move an arm's distance away from him and look at him in his green eyes. Still the boyish charm and and spiked up hair.

I remembered Alastair suddenly. "Howard, I want you to meet..." I turned around to point my finger at Alastair to see that he wasn't there. Shit, is he gone? I turned around the streets to see if he was there but there was no sign of him.

"Grace, come let's head inside." Howards motioned me from behind.
I smiled feebly at him and we entered the house. Mom was glad to see him. She hugged him and kissed him a lot. She kisses people all over the face quite often. Howard was totally flushed. Vanessa also greeted him.

Admist all this, I was disturbed. Why had Alastair suddenly left? That was so unlike him. Had I offended him in some way? I knew I had just rushed up to Howard, but that was because I was seeing him after almost five years. I might have been caught up in that moment but I as soon as I realized, I did turn to Alastair, only to see him gone. So abrupt. I'll call him at night. For now Howard was calling me. Oh yes, Howard was my cousin brother. He was mom's brother's only son, who lived in California. He was born and studied there, but here he was, visiting us, after five long years. I was looking forward to introduce Alastair to him. They just might hit it off.

"So how come you're here?" I asked Howard as he settled on my bed.
"Just for visiting you Gree, can't I come all the way just for you?" He said. I smiled at the mention of an old nickname he had given me.

"Ofcourse. So how long are you here?" I asked.
"Well, I'm here till the start of December. And yes, I have come for some work here. There are some properties that need to be taken care of, for which dad has sent me here."
"Why can't you stay for Christmas?"
"Mom wants me back by then. She insists that I celebrate Christmas with my family."

"She's always been very protective of you."
"Very. She still is. How's life Grace?" He asks, his big eyes boring into mine.
"Great." I smile contented, a niggling thought still at the back of my mind regarding Alastair.

"Have you found anyone?" He asked me.
"There is someone." I say.
"What's his name? I'm glad, you know. But if he's the wrong guy for you, I won't try to control my big brother protectiveness." He says jokingly.
"Actually you don't need to. He smashes people up even if they look at me for a little while longer." I reply, tongue in cheek.

"Seems like he's serious about you. But who is he? Show me a picture? Or say his name?" He asks.
"First tell me, have you found someone?" I ask, grinning at him.
He scratches his head goofily. "There is a girl."
I clutch my pillow tightly. "Aaha! Who's she?"
He grinned sheepishly at me. It was a wonder that even boys could blush like that.

"Her name is Jenna." He said, staring off in the distance, with a smile on his face, probably thinking about her. Howard has always been very boyish. He is charming and has a childlike quality to him. He wasn't like those typical bad boys you find, he wasn't even much of a muscular stud. Oh, he wasn't even a total geek. He was somewhere in the middle. The kind of guy who's goofy, nice and really popular amongst girls. He was however involved in some sort of a rivalry with a guy back in my freshman year. I pushed my train of thoughts away and concentrated on Howard.

"So yeah, how did you meet her?" I asked him, pasting a smile on my face.
"She was the new girl at our school. Outgoing, nice, friendly. I approached her and we got talking. And now I like her." He said goofily.

"Aww that's sweet." I said. I loved listening to love stories. All love stories are great, but mine is my favourite.
"Is she your girlfriend then?" I continued.

"Not yet. She might be having an idea but I don't plan on letting her know so soon." He said.
"Oh."
"Who was that person you were going to introduce me to while we were down?"
"Oh, he was my boyfriend."

"Whoa Grace! You didn't even tell me that you've started dating before! Seriously? Tell me everything." He said, stretching further down on the bed and talking to me with his eyes wide open.

I flushed. "We met at the start of senior year. Became friends, conversation flowed, numbers exchanged, smiles given, and shit, I'm in love." I said, recollecting the memories and smiling at how far we had come since June.

"Amazing. You're really in love huh? I haven't seen you this smitten ever before." He said.
"Yeah. First love, first chance." I said.
"What's his name though?" He asked.
"Alastair." I said, liking how his name felt on my lips.
Howard blinked. "What's his last name?"

"Alastair Kerr." I said, biting my lip nervously. Am I the only one who can feel the tension in the air?
Howard turned red. He closed his eyes as if counting up till ten and his jaw clenched. He opened his eyes and said,"Break up with him."

I laughed nervously. "Chill Howard, what's wrong? You haven't even met him? Or wait, have you?"
"Just leave him Grace. He's not good for you." He said.

I frowned. Now that was one thing I hated. People telling me what I should do. And considering that Alastair was a choice I made, I wasn't liking this at all.
"Howard, I love him. I'm not leaving him for anyone."

Probably it was the expression on my face that his features softened.
"Grace, I've known him since freshman year. You remember Nicole? The girl I loved? My first girlfriend?" He asked, his fingers on my knuckles.
"Yeah. The one who left you for someone else." I said.
"Well, your Alastair Kerr is the one who stole her from me."