Ignite.

It was Christmas Eve when I finally got around to seeing Bri. It turned out that instead of going to the Hamptons right after midterms, her family wanted to stay in town for Christmas before heading there. So I stepped through the doors of the little diner in our town, immediately spotting Bri at the back booth that we had claimed as ours. She spotted me at roughly the same time and hopped up to give me a huge hug when I reached her.

“Hi, darling!” she chirped, holding me tightly before we sat.

“How are you?” I asked with a grin just as two milkshakes were placed on the table. Thank you, Bri.

“Oh, you know, the usual. But how are you, missy? How’s your boy?” Her eyes were wide and excited and there was a small smirk on her lips as she stared across the table at me.

“Mm, depends. Which one?” She immediately deadpanned.

“Why is there more than one, Judith?”

“Let’s be honest, there’s always been more than one.” She rolled her eyes and let out a scoff as I took a long sip of my milkshake.

“Okay, well how’s your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She took a sharp breath, clearly getting aggravated with my answers, but I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face.

“Damnit, you know what I mean! How are things with Lucas?”

“Nonexistent.”

The table was silent for a few seconds after that and you could’ve heard a pin drop.

“Since when? What happened?” Bri’s brow immediately furrowed, her face and tone immediately becoming concerned.

“Well, for starters, he tried to rape me,” I muttered bluntly as I played with my ring. I watched as Bri’s shoulders dropped and she rolled her eyes.

“Oh, come on, Jude. You’re not still on that, are you? He gets grabby, I get it. Can we not be so dramatic about it, though?” A sharp breath escaped my nose as I sat a little straighter.

“Bri, I don’t think you get it. He had me pinned to a bed and was trying to undress me.” She swallowed loudly, trying to collect herself.

“Jude, I- I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have- oh my god, Jude. Are you okay? What did you do?”

“I got the hell out of there.”

“Where did you go?”

“Well, I meant to go to Alex’s, since I knew you were there, but...I ended up at Harry’s.” She threw me a look, trying to figure out how this all played out.

“And?”

“And he took care of me. He made sure I was okay, he let me take a shower, he made me a fucking grilled cheese.”

“Well, that was very lovely of him, but-”

“No, why can’t you just see that he’s a good person? Maybe everything you’ve heard about him is fictional. Did you think about that?” She stared silently at me like a child being scolded. But at that point, I was pretty pissed off. “Yeah, I get it, he’s got a temper. But you don’t see how amazingly sweet he is eighty percent of the time. I wish you could see what I see.”

“Maybe someday.”

It wasn’t exactly the answer I was looking for, but I would take it. Thankfully our food came then, and we decided to switch topics.

“So, since you won’t be spending New Year’s with Lucas, does this mean you can come to the Hamptons?” she asked with a wide grin on her face, begging me to say yes.

“I don’t see why not!” I chirped, popping a french fry into my mouth. She gave a small happy squeal and then we just talked about this and that, just enjoying each other’s company.

--

“Can we have a smiggie?” I asked as we stepped into the cold air. Bri agreed, but said she wanted to start warming up her car. So we traipsed over to her Volkswagen and she started it up. The stereo immediately started blaring The Fray, which was a-okay with me, as they were one of my favorite bands.

“She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted,” I sang at Bri, twirling around before taking a drag from my cigarette. We continued to dance like imbeciles, singing the lyrics at one another and giggling like a bunch of thirteen year olds. But I lived for moments like this with Bri. One song faded into another and soon there was clapping coming from behind us. We both immediately spun around, and I couldn’t tell if was actually surprised when I saw Harry leaning against his Range Rover just a few spots away.

“Harry? What’re you doing here?” I called, practically skipping over to him. There was a small smile on his face as I neared, but then his eyes drifted to my hand.

“Still smoking, I see?” he asked, his eyebrows raised and a slight grimace on his lips. Clearly he wasn’t a fan of my habit.

“Still stalking me, I see?” I retorted, a cheeky grin on my face. Because we both knew I was starting to like it when he randomly showed up places.

“Actually, I’m getting lunch with a friend from high school. Would you ladies care to join us?” His hand came out to tangle with my free one, but I sent him a small pout.

“We actually just finished up. Plus I’ve gotta get home to get ready for dinner and services.”

“That’s too bad. I’d love to spend some more time with you,” he muttered, his eyes dancing to mine.

“Well we can hang out soon! I mean, I have to be home tomorrow obviously, but maybe I could get out later in the evening?”

“That would be-”

“Hello, Harold,” Bri finally called, prompting the two of us to turn to her. Her hand was on her hip and her leg was cocked as she almost glared over at the boy. She sure knew how to get her point across.

“Hello, Brianne,” Harry called back, not at all bothered by her distaste. She rolled her eyes at his quick response before checking her phone and then typing away on it. No one ever called her by her full name, and she absolutely hated it when it came up. I rolled my eyes as well before turning back to Harry.

“So tomorrow,” I confirmed, squeezing his hand a bit. He nodded a little too eagerly, his dimples coming out to play.

“I’ll call you.” He leaned down, quickly capturing my lips with his own, before spinning me around and sending me back toward Bri. “Those were some nice moves, by the way!” he called to my retreating form, and I could just hear the smirk in his voice. This, of course, gave me no other option but to flip him off, not even sparing him a glance. “So you like The Fray, then?” he called again, and this time I spun to face him, walking backwards to Bri.

“Like is an understatement!” I called back, and he nodded, more so to himself.

“Good to know!” And then he was turning and heading inside the diner, and I was left to shake my head and climb into Bri’s car.

“Still not sure what you see in him,” she muttered quietly as she put the car in Drive and we headed to my house.

“Alex thinks he’s a nice guy.”

“Yeah, well Alex likes to see the good in people.”

“Ooh, what a novel concept, Bri!” I teased, prompting her to quickly shoot a hand out to smack my arm. “Hey, ten and two, missy!” I cried, sending the two of us into a fit of giggles.

--

It was close to seven, and I was just putting the finishing touches on my outfit when a quick knock sounded on my bedroom door.

“Come in!” I called from the closet, slipping into a pair of pumps and then putting on a splash of perfume. I barely made it two steps into my room when I stopped, my mouth falling open. “Henry!” I cried, practically running to him and throwing myself into his arms. He let out a loud laugh as he caught me, hugging me tightly and spinning me around.

“Hey, kiddo! How are you?” he asked, setting me down and holding me at arm’s length.

“Uhm, amazing now that you’re home!” I squealed, pulling him into another hug. Henry and I had always been super close, and I felt pretty bad for not visiting him more. I mean, I was in Philly all the time anymore thanks to Harry. Though Henry didn’t know that. He laughed again and then said that dinner was ready, so we headed downstairs to find the immaculate spread that Margot had prepared.

Dinner was lovely, as it was every year since Margot never disappointed. And church was boring and lasted too long, as it did every year since I didn’t care too much for going to church. But soon we were back home and drinking eggnog, trying to be a normal family by the abnormally large tree that Margot and I had spent hours decorating.

“How’s school going, Henry?” my father asked, glancing over at my brother.

“It’s going well. I aced all my finals,” Henry answered promptly, because my father did not like to wait.

“Well, I’d expect nothing less from you. Have you got yourself a girlfriend this year?”

“Oh, Byron, leave the boy alone,” my mother chided, but my father waved her off.

“It’s a fair question, Doris. Just curious about the boy’s life,” my father grumbled, and Henry took that as his cue to clear his throat.

“I have been seeing a girl recently, but we’re not serious yet.”

“Well you’ll have to bring her around some time.”

“Idunno, Dad, things are still really new.”

“Well, we’ll see. Your sister was seeing Lucas Andrews. I don’t know if she told you.” I held back the loud sigh I wanted to release as Henry looked over at me curiously. He knew I was never Lucas’ biggest fan.

“No, she didn’t mention it. Are you two still seeing each other?”

“No-”

“They’ve decided that they’re better off as friends. Shame, though. He’s a rather remarkable gentleman.” Henry and I shared a glance that clearly disagreed, but we kept quiet. Suddenly my phone buzzed from beside me on the love seat, and I was thankful that no one was sitting next to me.

can you come outside?

What.

I quickly jumped up from my seat, not even thinking of how it would look to my family. Of course, they all immediately turned in my direction.

“Judith, are you alright?” my mother asked, her eyebrows knitting together.

“Uhm, y-yeah! It’s just a little stuffy in here. I’m gonna pop outside real quick,” I answered quickly, heading for the foyer.

“Make sure you put on a coat, dear! It’s freezing out there!” she called, and I chirped back a quick ‘okay!’ as I grabbed my coat from the closet in the foyer. Then I was yanking the door open and there, at the end of the driveway, was Harry Styles, leaning against that stupid Range Rover of his. Despite the fact that I was still in my dress from earlier and it was horrifically cold, I darted across the driveway and over to him.

“What on earth are you doing?” I whispered harshly, letting him pull me into his body and place a deep kiss on my mouth.

“Mm, I wanted to see you,” he groaned as our lips pulled apart. His forehead came to rest on mine and I gave a slight chuckle.

“You’re crazy, Styles. My whole family is home.”

“Good, I can meet everyone else then.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He pulled away then, his eyebrows furrowing.

“And why not?”

“Henry’s here.” He seemed to freeze, blinking a few times to compose himself.

“Well then. We will stay out here. You look absolutely beautiful, by the way.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, a blush taking over my cheeks. He smiled at that, leaning down to kiss me again.

“You’re very welcome,” he whispered back, his thumbs rubbing gently along my spine as he held me. My hands came up to run across his cheekbones as I sort of held his face.

“So why did you need to see me at one in the morning on Christmas?” I murmured, my eyes locking with his. A bashful smile took over his face as he kissed at the closest part of my hand that he could find.

“I just wanted you to be the last person I spoke to before I woke up on Christmas,” he mumbled, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve heard. But they made these nifty things called phones and-”

“But I can’t hold you through the phone, or kiss you, or-”

“Jude, what’re you doing out here?” Henry suddenly called through the silent night air. My body felt like it had been drenched in ice water, every fiber freezing up. I quickly pulled from Harry and spun to face my older brother, fear coursing through me.

“Henry-”

“Harry? What the fuck are you doing here?” Henry’s pace quickened considerably as he closed the distance between us and I felt Harry almost immediately try to move past me. But I shoved my body hard against his, trying to keep him behind me.

“Henry, please-”

“What the hell is this, Jude?” my brother spat, a hard glare on his features.

“He just stopped by to-”

“You’re friends with this scum?”

“Henry!”

“Don’t, Jude. You don’t know him.” Henry’s hand came down hard on my forearm as he pulled me away from Harry. “You’ve got some balls coming here. She’s my sister, you prick,” he growled as he slammed Harry’s body back against the car. I tried to pull him away, but he just shoved me off.

“Don’t touch her,” Harry barked, pushing himself off the car to move toward me, but Henry was quick to shove him back.

“No, you don’t get to tell me what to do. Now I want you to get the fuck off my property and leave my sister alone. She’s not going to be another one of your pawns, do you hear me?” Henry was practically shouting in Harry’s face then and I was surprised that my parents were rushing out to see what the commotion was about.

“Henry, please-”

“Judith, stop!” He turned on me briefly before whipping back to Harry and giving him a menacing glare, telling him to go away. Green orbs took one last longing glance at me before the tall boy threw himself into the driver’s seat and peeled away from the house. He was furious, that much was clear. But I wasn’t sure who I should more afraid of at that point. “Let’s go,” Henry growled, ushering me back toward the house.

“What the hell was that?” I cried, ripping my body away from his.

“Jude, you don’t know him-”

“Yes I do! God, why is everyone so quick to put him down?”

“So this is like a thing? This has been happening for a while?”

“Henry, I don’t need you to tell me who I can and can’t be friends with,” I snarled, brushing past him and storming into the house. However, he was quick to follow me and stayed right on my heels as I reached my room.

“Well maybe I need to step in when I see you making a huge mistake-”

“Stop! Just stop, okay? There is nothing wrong with him!”

“Jude-”

“Just go away,” I muttered, running my fingers through my hair in an attempt to calm down.

“I just-”

“Go. Away.”

So with one final sigh, Henry turned on his heel and stormed from the room, slamming the door shut behind him. I pulled my phone from my coat pocket, immediately dialing Harry’s number, but his phone was turned off. Son of a bitch. I quickly typed out a text then, knowing he would see it when he finally decided to turn it back on.

please, please call me when you can. I’m so sorry about all of that, please ignore him. goodnight, harry. x

Well Merry fucking Christmas.