Quiet || hs

29

Brennen and I just got to my house after practice. We've been talking and hanging out a lot this past month. My parents like him because he helps my mom cook and he has interest in the same football team as my dad.

"Brennen darling." my mom chirps when we enter the house.

"Georgie, how are you today?" he smiles with a nod.

"I'm great now that you're here." she winks and I groan.

"Really mom?"

She laughs. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"If it's alright with you."

"Of course," she pats his arm as I lead him to the stairs. "I'll cook myself this time. I'll call you down when it's done."

"Thank you, Georgie." Brennen says and I drag him up the stairs with me.

"Why do you encourage my mom to be so embarrassing?" I sigh, sitting on my bed.

"It's fun to see you all bothered." he teases. "I'm kidding, your mom isn't embarrassing as my mom."

"I like your mom."

"Let's switch then." he offers and I take it. "Never mind, I love my mom too much to switch her."

"Whatever," I giggle. "Let's just start our homework before she interrupts with a plate of cookies and tries to start a conversation."

Brennen sits at my desk and I stay distant at my bed. We sit in silence for about an hour. I get up to help him with his math and he helps me with my essay for english class.

"You're really good at this." he tells me, then does the next problem. "Coach Styles must be really good at teaching. Maybe I should switch to his class because Mrs.White teaches us nothing, but how to get angry with other students." he jokes.

I laugh softly. "It's not necessary to switch."

"I can switch next semester and maybe to your period." he says excitingly. "We'll finally have a class together and have some fun before we graduate." he pokes my side and I slightly jump away. "Are you ticklish?"

"No." I say in a serious tone, but he tickles me again. I burst out laughing, falling onto his lap. "Stop!" I cry out.

The laughter was interrupted when my mom calls us. I fight my way out of his arms and race down the stairs. Brennen follows closely behind me and wraps his arms around me to twirl me around. Our laughs stop when we realize someone new was here.

"Coach Styles," Brennen coughs softly, keeping an arm around my waist. He reaches forward and shakes his hand. "It's nice to see you."

"You too," he flashes a smile then looks down at me.

I remove Brennen's hand that stuck to my stomach then went to the kitchen. My mom was standing by the stove, stirring up the beef stew.

"Wh-what is my coach doing here?" I whisper.

"Well, he recently opened up about a situation with his wife and I thought it would be nice if he had company instead of staying in alone at that motel a few blocks away." she explains then she looks at me for my reaction. My nose was scrunched up at the thought of that hotel. "Yeah, that old beat up one that should be shut down. Do you want to send him back to that place?"

"No no, I was just wondering." I tell her, helping her set up the table.

The four of us gather at the table and I sit across from Harry. He listened to the stories Brennen told about our last weekend with Monique. It was funny, but Harry was the only one that didn't laugh. He stared down at his stew, stirring it around.

"Monique doesn't want to come play soccer with us anymore." Brennen laughs out. "She-"

"She is a volleyball player." Harry interrupts. "Not a soccer player."

"Well Ry here his a volleyball player too, but she sure knows how to dribble a ball." Brennen argues.

"Oh is that right, Ry?" Harry mocks and raises his eyebrows and I shrug.

"We were just playing for fun. I wasn't sure if I was doing it right anyway." I clarify and he looks at me. The table becomes silent and Harry keeps his eyes on me, making me uneasy. I look away and change the subject. "So where's dad?"

"Where else?" she scoffs. "Work, he's always at work."

"Well, we do need the money." I point out.

"Rylee, we're not going to discuss our financial situation right now." she says sternly. "But your dad should consider his family more often. I at least come home and make sure you're doing alright."

"Yes you do," I nod. "Thank you for that."

"I-I should go before my mom has a fit." Brennen says, standing up with his dish.

"No it's okay," my mom stops him. "I'll get it for you."

Brennen nods and I lead him out. I stay by my door, leaning against it. He was about to walk away, but he turns around. He shifts forward and I turn my head so his kiss lands on my cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow." he says awkwardly before walking to his car.

I walk back to the kitchen to see Harry doing the dishes. My mom was no where to be seen, so I ask about her. He looks over his shoulder then back down at the sink.

"I let her go take a shower." he tells me. "She looked very stressed, I thought she could use the time to relax."

I lift myself onto the counter, snacking on some cookies my mom made for me and Brennen.

"My dad is gone a lot." I sigh. "She has always been trying to make sure I'm not left alone too much and taken care of since the Zayn thing."

Harry stops his movements from washing a dish then drops it. He turns around with a baffled expression.

"I just can't believe you let Zayn do what he did to you when you were fifteen." he says softly. "He was a grown man while you were just a young girl figuring out the real world."

"Well, I saw a part of the real world at an early age." I shrug. "It's a good thing."

"No, it's not Rylee." he slowly walks closer to me. "Your perspective on men is completely shattered."

"You're right," I agree with him and nod. "Maybe I should switch to women then." I joke.

Harry chuckles, lightly hitting my knee. "I know what I've done with you was wrong and I understand that, which is why I backed off when you asked me to." he says, looking me in the eyes. "I won't be like Zayn and become a drunken man over this situation I'm going through. I also won't let you blame yourself for my divorce."

"Harry, think about it. If I had never kissed you that night, you wouldn't be getting a divorce, I wouldn't be dodging Brennen's kiss because you're in the next room, and everything would just be normal."

"You dodged his kiss?" he laughs.

"That's not the point." I nudge his shoulder. "You wouldn't be getting a divorce because you wouldn't have been cheating on her with me."

He sighs, not speaking then he was about to rest his hands on my knees, but pulls away. He walks back to the sink, scrubbing the dishes again.

"I'm sorry for putting that on you." he apologizes. "I didn't really think it would– this was supposed to be for me and my happiness. Restarting was a great idea because it's something I need."

"Good," I jump off the counter. "That's something we actually agree on." I stand next to him and start helping him clean.