Cease to Begin

Laughter rang through the house, accompanying the clang of dishes and the thud of a knife against a cutting board.

"It's so nice to have you home love, it just hasn't been the same around here," her mother smiled, looking over at Kate from the stove.

The girls were taking care of dinner, Katie's Nan (her mother's mother) took charge, assigning everyone with a job while she stood by and watched, downing glass after glass of wine.

"Yeah we really missed having you shouting," Matt teased, dramatically rolling his eyes.

"Do you even live here? I could have sworn mum turned your room into an office," Kate wondered sarcastically, tapping her chin with her finger.

"Keep cutting Cinderella, or i'll sick your evil step-mother on your ass," he said, pointing towards their mum.

"Watch your tongue young man, or i'll cut it out," Nan warned with a raised eyebrow, downing the rest of her wine before she refilled her glass.

Sticking her tongue out at her brother, Kate returned to what she was doing.

It felt good to laugh after the afternoon she had, neglecting to go visit the blatantly drunk woman in her kitchen dictating to her. Running into his sister had sucked the life she was trying to restore right out of her, she had to go home, she had to bury her nose in the television.

"Nan!" Jessica shouted, ripping Kate out of her blissful state when she flew by, practically falling on her behind as she was pushed aside.

"You don't know what you're doing, it's painful to watch Jessica."

"Oh shit," Matt coughed in the background, his reaction gaining him a smack on the arm.

"Seriously why are you here?" His younger sister snapped, plopping down in one of the chairs with a huff.

"Mum!" Matt shrieked, on the verge of throwing a fit.

This caused Kate to burst into a fit of laughter, astounded that nothing had changed while she was gone. It was then that her father walked into the kitchen, a cheeky grin spreading across his face.

"Are my daughters arguing again?" He asked, walking right to his wife to say hello.

"Katie isn't…" Matt trailed off when he finally understood what his father had meant, turning bright red as the teasing began. "Shut up," he told them with a huff of his own, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you can't dish it love," his mother shrugged.

Once dinner was prepared after the teasing continued, the entire family packed around the dinning room table, passing dishes to one another.

"So Katie," he Nan smiled, passing over the potatoes. "How was Los Angeles?"

"It was good."

"Did you meet any celebrities?"

Eating quietly, she shook her head. "I was focused more on my studies."

"No sightseeing?" Nan asked, surprised.

"She was a boring, bump on a log Nan. I can't believe she didn't even go see the walk of fame," Jessica chimed in, gaining a glare from her sister.

"Sorry I wa-"

"Was more worried about my grades," they all cut her off.

"We know," Matt said with another dramatic roll of his eyes.

"That's all we heard about," Jessica added.

Nan looked at Kate sympathetically. "Don't worry pet, it's very noble to be concerned about your studies." Stopping to take a large gulp of wine, a small smirk came to her lips. "So you didn't meet any celebrities?"

Kate looked at her oddly, wondering why she was pushing this issue so hard, in the process missing her brother's snickers. "No, why?"

"How's Harry?"

Blindsided, she almost choked on what she was eating. She looked at the woman with wide eyes, why was she asking about him?

"What?"

"He's done so well for himself, I was just wondering if you had spoken to him," she shrugged, explaining it away.

This was suspicious, she didn't believe her. Kate's senses were now on high alert.

"You know," Nan continued. "Maybe sent him a, whatever, on that face thing you're all using these days. Rang him, sent him a text."

When she emphasized the last word, Kate knew.

Slamming her fork down, she thrust her finger at her brother in an accusing manner. "You rat! You told her."

He looked around like he had no idea who, or what she was talking about.

"I can't believe you told her," she seethed, turning her attention to her sister. "And i'm sure you had something to do with it as well."

"What's she on about?" Their father questioned.

"Who knows dad, I think she's lost her mind," Matt smirked, throwing her a wink.

Snarling at him, she stood. "The only thing i've lost is my appetite, excuse me."

Retreating to her room, Kate threw herself face first into her mattress. Her Nan had always loved Harry, so when they broke up she mourned worse than Kate had it seemed. With the information of the now infamous, recent text message he had sent, the old woman could rekindle some kind of hope, a hope that had died out too long ago.

After a few hours alone, Kate's phone rang. She scrambled to get it, suddenly protective over this small device. She checked the number, sighing in relief.

"Thank god it's you."

"Who else would it be? Do you have a secret admirer I don't know about?"

"Please Charlotte, i've sworn off boys forever."

"Tom hasn't called you to beg you to speak to him?"

Kate chuckled. "I think he got the hint at that dinner Char."

"Oh yeah, he knows all about the little heartthrob too. I doubt his pretentious ass will be heartbroken or pine over you this summer."

She only responded with a sigh, somewhat relieved that Tom wouldn't be clogging up her mind or her inbox anymore.

"Speaking of the heartthrob," Charlotte slyly threw in. "Have you heard from him?"

The girls hadn't spoken since they said good-bye back in California, missing one another's calls by mere minutes over these past few days.

Kate played with a loose string on her blanket, flashing back to that moment two years ago. Shaking her head to rid the memory, she sighed again. "He uh, he came to see me at the airport."

"No way."

"Yeah, we had this…moment, and I told him good-bye, for good."

"What kind of moment?"

"We kissed," she muttered, low enough so Charlotte wouldn't pick up on what she had said.

How she underestimated the range of her best-friend's ears.

"You kissed!?" She shrieked. "Who kissed who? Tell me everything."

"Charlotte," Kate whined.

"Spill!"

"It was mutual, I guess. There isn't really much detail." She shifted uncomfortably, wanting to crawl out of her skin at the thought of his lips against her own.

Closing her eyes, she ran her fingers together, swearing that she could feel the strands of his curls between them. She allowed herself to teeter on the line of listening to the girl on the other end of the phone, and getting lost in her own mind with the boy she wanted to forget.

"So you kiss and then tell him good-bye, 'for good'. What is wrong with you?"

"Oh whatever," Kate scoffed, pulling herself right back to the present by opening her eyes. "it isn't like he listened anyway, he sent me a text a couple of days ago."

"Saying what? Baby, you don't know you're beautiful, it's gotta be you?"

"Ha, ha," she responded dryly. "No, just typical Harry type stuff."

"I have no idea what this is."

Before she could explain, a small noise interrupted her, signalling that she had another call.

"Charlotte, i've got someone on the other line i'll call you back." Switching over without looking she said "hello", patiently waiting for a response.

"Don't hang up," the voice said immediately. "We need to talk Katie."

A rush of emotion came over her, the sound of his voice making her stomach turn. She was going to be sick.

"No we don't," she managed to get out, her heart beginning to pound wildly in her ears.

"Kate," he said sternly, the hint of desperation creeping in at the edges.

"Harry, I can't do this now," she told him quickly, hanging up on him without another thought.

Silence rang, her shallow breathing barely making a dent. She wasn't ready to face him, she wanted to bury this and forget her past with Harry Styles. She had said her final good-bye, she had meant it, but evidently he wasn't concerned with that.

She felt like someone had paused the tape, those few days to herself that stood still. Now it felt as if they had rewound, looping back to the day his letter came.

Let the games begin.