The Boy Next Door

“You look a little flushed, darling, are you sure you’re okay?” Clive spoke from the sofa he was nestled in, reading the daily paper. He was reading the sports section and tutting to himself when he read an article on some football player.

Ella stopped and stared at her dad who was looking at her with a worried expression. She knew she was working herself up, but who wouldn’t. Harry would be here soon and she had to make sure everything was perfect. He was a famous pop star, he would probably turn his nose up at anything that wasn’t faultless.

Ella finally collapsed onto the sofa and calmed her breathing. Harry was the most down to earth famous face she had met (and she had met her fair few) and so she didn’t have to worry about him caring about the pillow alignment or dust on the fireplace. But then, when a knock was finally heard against the door, panic mode kicked in again and this time it was for her. What if her parent’s embarrassed her? Made her out to be someone she wasn’t without realising it.

“Ella?” His deep, soft voice broke her from her inner battle and when she saw him standing there with that smile on his face, she forgot everything. Her brain became clouded as she stood to her feet and smiled at him.

“Hey Harry,” She greeted, holding her hand out, but Harry just chuckled and pulled her in for a hug. It wasn’t anything personal or groping, just a typical friendly embrace. Ella felt herself relax in that moment she was flush against his chest, and carried that calmness when they parted.

Ella helped her mum set up the table, whilst they all waited patiently for the arrival of their final guest. Kye was back tonight and had text a moment ago announcing his ten minute distance from the house. Although Ella had been worried about having Harry here, it hadn’t vanquished the excitement of seeing her brother again.

Harry was already sat at a chair at the table, speaking to Clive about something to do with music. Sammy, her very loyal Alsatian, was sat by Harry’s feet as he gently petted the dog on the head.

And then the door was heard again, but this time, Ella didn’t panic. She ran straight for the front door as it was opening. Kye stood with his overnight bag, his gorgeous face breaking into a smile when he set his eyes on his younger sister.

“Kye,” She cried out, running into a warm embrace as her brother lifted her up and gave her a little twirl.

“Hey squirt,” he laughed, putting Ella down and patting down her blonde hair. “Something smells good!”

“Mum made your favourite,” Ella smiled, linking her arm through her older brothers as they walked towards the kitchen. When they entered, Kye went straight to work at greeting their parents, before he stopped before a now standing Harry.

“Is this the new boyfriend?” Kye asked, a little confused.

“No, no!” Ella blurted out, turning a deep shade of red, “This is Harry, he’s our new neighbour and mum thought it would be nice to invite him over for dinner.”

“Oh, hey mate, I’m Kye.” Kye held his hand out and smiled. “You’re in that big boy band, right?”

“Nice to meet you! And yeah, I am.” Harry smiled a little, scratching the back of his neck.

“Don’t be embarrassed, mate. I may be a guy, but I rate your music and you all seem like sound guys.” Kye always had a laid back way to his talking and being. His fashion mimicked a lot of Harry’s, so Ella wasn’t surprised when the guys were straight into conversation through dinner. Ella sat back and watched them interact, with a few interjections from her parents, but she stayed quiet and just listened.

“What about you, El? How are things going with school?” Kye asked, taking a healthy sip from his lemonade.

“School is okay. Grades are still up there, teachers are still annoying- not much changes.” Ella replied, stabbing at her pasta.

“What about boys? Is that Oscar finally pressured you into getting serious?” Kye always asked this question, but in front of Harry was a different story.

“I don’t see Oscar as anything more than a friend!”

“Is that the guy I met yesterday?” Harry spoke, his eyes looking at her with hidden curiosity.

Ella nodded, staring down at her plate and pushing the food around with the back of her fork.

“He’s been bugging her for two years to get serious. Poor guy just isn’t getting the hint.” Kye laughed so Ella threw a piece of pasta at him.

“Oscar is a lovely guy; I’m just not interested in him.” By now, everyone was clearing the table and putting things away. Both Ella’s parents told them to go and they would deal with the kitchen. So Harry, Kye and Ella headed into the garden. The night was mild, so the three took a seat on the loungers by the pool and carried on talking about Ella, much to her dismay.

“Why is this Oscar so caught up on you if you’ve always turned him down?” Harry wondered, taking a sip of the beer Kye brought out with them.

Ella stared at her hands, wondering if she should say something. But she knew if she didn’t, then Kye was close too; he always had a big mouth and because she confided in him about everything, sometimes more than she hoped came out about her.

“We’ve been sleeping together on and off for a while now. I called it off a while back when I realised he still had feelings for me. He had always made out he was over me, but then things got heavy and I couldn’t do that too him.” Ella looked up at Harry and noticed a small smile on his lips. “What?”

“And here I was, thinking you were so innocent.” Harry laughed. Kye was now dismissing himself, taking a call inside the house. Ella sat up and looked at Harry with an amused smile.

“What gave you that impression?” She smirked, lifting an eyebrow in question.

Harry shrugged, the smile on his lips tugging wider.

“You’re sweet and compared to your friend, so much more reserved. I’m not saying sleeping with a friend is bad, because I guess it’s better than some stranger at a bar, but I never pegged you as that sort of person. I could see you waiting till marriage or something innocent like that.” There was laughter in his voice and it spurred a new side of Ella that she hadn’t shown Harry before.

“You’ve only seen a small part of me, Harry.” She said, embarrassed by the flirty edge her voice was taking.

“Well I look forward to seeing more.” He said, barely above a whisper, his face wiped clean of any humour and replaced with a serious, and what Ella could only describe as a sexy look.