Nothing [Harry Styles AU] - DISCONTINUED

thirty three

Eve's POV

Thankful, that was the only word I could think of once I had opened my front door, closed it behind me, and pressed my back against it. Relief flooded through my entire body once I had stepped through the door, my shift at the restaurant one of the worst I had ever encountered.

The Saturday lunch rush was absolutely manic, my feet were aching and a dull pain had settled across my lower back. All I really wanted to do was take a hot shower to soothe my tight muscles and curl up in bed for the rest of the day. I wanted to be well rested for tonight anyways, because I was going to be staying over at Harry's.

My stomach fluttered in remembrance of what happened yesterday, how Harry showed up on my doorstep and ended up tangled with me on my bed, peppering kisses to my lips and forehead after sharing such an intimate time together.

It was something that was kind of hard to forget about, considering how flushed my cheeks had gotten when it popped into my mind at work, and how I made the stupid mistake of telling Zayn about it, rendering him unstoppable with this new information and reminding me nearly every second he saw me with a wiggle of his eyebrows and smirk plastered on his face.

I figured I ought to tell Dad about tonight, my best excuse for not being here would be that I was going to Niall's. I was hardly around on the weekends anyway, so much that I probably wouldn't even have to inform my parents that I was going out for them to notice. Even though half the time my Mum talked to me was to yell at me for not being home enough, she didn't really try and stop me from making plans or leaving the house.

There was a small amount of chatter coming from the living room, which was strange considering Mum and Dad rarely talked anymore. I furrowed my brows at the thought of who could be here, Dad having friends over was highly unlikely, because, well, it's never really happened before.

I walked through the hallway and into the living room, the voices stopping as soon as I stepped into the doorframe. All heads turned to me, but eyes were only focused on one. I could feel my chest heaving for oxygen that was escaping my lungs in the rush of skepticism, the familiar burning sensation tingling the back of my nose and causing my eyes to water. My limbs went weak, my bag dropping from my shoulder and landing on the carpet with a soft thud, because there he was, the boy who I hadn't seen in 2 years.

My brother.

"Liam," I whispered, shaking my head in utter disbelief. He looked so different, his hair so much shorter than how It used to be, and a thick layer of stubble growing along his jaw and across his upper lip. His familiar smile stretched at his lips as he rose from the couch, and my feet carried me towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face into his chest.

Nothing else mattered right now, not the fact that I was sore and tired from my shift, not the fact that there were other people in the room who I had yet to acknowledge, and not the fact that the tears streaming from my eyes were surely dampening his shirt. But he was here. My Mum drove him away 2 years ago, but he was here, he was back.

"Evie," he mumbled back, the quivering in his voice noticeable despite how quietly he said my name.

"It's you Li, it's really you," I rambled, tightening my grip around him when he tried to pull away. He only chuckled at my attempts to keep him with me a little longer, lifting me off the ground and kissing my wet cheek.

"Yes, kiddo, it's me. I'm here." He reassured, placing me back down on the floor. His thumbs moved to wipe under my eyes, a gentle smirk quirking at his mouth as he took in my clearly distraught state, "You really missed me, didn't you?"

Liam was the only one who knew how upset I was once he left. He was the only one who knew that I cried myself to sleep nearly every night for weeks after his departure, that I despised my Mum for kicking him out and that I didn't talk to her for months once he had left, and that I slept in his empty bed whenever I missed him.