Start All Over (On Hold)

23. Dick of the House

I felt so bad for Niall the entire car ride to my house. The nearly four hour drive mostly consisted of my mother asking him nosy questions about his life back in Ireland. He answered each one with a huge grin on his face.

Instead of sitting up front next to my mom, I sat in the backseat with him. I wasn't sure if that's what people usually did if they brought a friend along for the ride, but it felt right to do it. 

During the moments that would fall silent, he would send me a dumb text that said "I see you" or he would pass me his phone to me so we could play tic tac toe, or some other silly game he had on it. He kept me entertained the entire time.

Usually during long car rides, I would fall asleep to pass the time, but I didn't need to this time. When we reached my neighborhood, I let out a deep breath of relief. "Finally!" I happily exclaimed as I stared out the window with a grin. None of the houses were anything fancy, just the right size for a family of four.

"Which one is yours?" Niall asked me as he followed my gaze outside of the car. 

I waited until my house came into view before pointing at it. The white house with the red door and matching red shutters was where I lived all my life, and I had missed my home beyond words. "That one!"

"Very nice," he chuckled and I smiled at him. I felt bad that he hadn't gone home for the long weekend, if I was this elated to go home after three months, then I could only imagine how happy he felt going home for winter break. I hoped that my family's Thanksgiving would live up to his expectations and he wouldn't regret coming here for the holiday.

After my mom parked the car in the driveway, I nearly jumped out of the car before stretching. I hadn't realized how many of my body parts had gone numb from sitting in the backseat for hours. "Ah, fresh air," I giggled.

Niall laughed with me as he got out of the car and mimicked my stretching, making me stick my tongue out at him.

"The air in the car is fresh," my mom defended as she got out as well before moving to the trunk which she had just popped open. She grabbed Niall's bag and pulled it out, and he quickly moved over to her.

"Ms. Miller, please, let me," he smiled charmingly at her as he unloaded the trunk for her.

"Niall, please, call me Charlotte," she corrected him and laughed softly, "Or Charlee." I rolled my eyes and went to grab my things from the driveway.

"No one calls you Charlee," I said, giving my mother a knowing look as I slung my bags over my shoulders, Niall doing the same with his.

"Party pooper," she teased back before going towards the house to unlock the front door for us.

The boy laughed and shook his head. "What?" I asked him with my brows slightly raised.

"Nothing, I just like your banter," he responded with a small smile and a shrug.

Not sure of how to reply to the compliment, I simply returned the smile and followed him and my mom into the house.

"We're home!" The older woman called out as Niall and I set our things down by the door. 

My eyebrows furrowed, "who are you-

"We're in here!" I heard a female voice call out, immediately recognizing it as my sister's and my jaw nearly hit the floor.

What the flying fuck was going on?!

I was supposed to have at least one full day of being the only child in the house, and now I had to deal with them while trying to make sure Niall had a good time.