Harry Styles

I felt conflicted about the situation I was put in. What I wanted to do was not something Renleigh was cool with, she didn't see it as the right thing to do whereas I did. It made so much sense to me to talk to that man, to tell him straight that what he had been doing was not OK. It genuinely did my head-in and angered me so much that my hands balled into fists and my nails imprinted little half moons into my palms.

"You don't look too happy," came the comment from the side. At first, I thought I imagined it then I turned my head and found Brandon there. He had a drink in his hand, a playful look in his eyes.

"Yeah, well... tell me about it," I scoffed as I folded my arms over my chest and let out a heavy sigh.

"Listen, I know we kind of brushed over the topic about me not telling you I was Ren's brother and stuff, so..."

"Don't bother, it's fine," I told him. "It doesn't bother me. At the end of the day, you were just looking out for her and I'm sure she appreciated that."

"Renleigh? Appreciating someone looking out for her?" he laughed. "Please."

"What makes you say that?" I questioned.

"Don't tell me she thanks you for the things you do for her," he rolled his eyes. It was hard to believe they were siblings from the way he spoke about her. He made her sound horrible although there was some truth to what he said. "Or maybe she does. Maybe she acts more like a human being when she gets more than necessary out of people."

"Come again?"

"My sister is cold and reckless. She doesn't do anything for others, unless there is something in it for her. I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be just some casual hook-up who she will get rid of in the near future," he shrugged with a smirk. At this point, I was more than confused. "You did deny there was anything between you two that time in the car park but we both know that was utter bullshit."

"I'm not sure what you are trying to say."

"Don't get your hopes up too much, mate," he patted me on the shoulder. "Unless you are ready to mend your own broken heart."

"I'm not sure if you are trying to protect your sister from me or if you are trying to protect me from her."

"Both, I guess," he nodded. "You are bad news from what I have heard and she's ruthless. You like the attention you get from women, you thrive off of it although it seems like you also enjoy a challenge. Which is exactly what you may view my sister as. She is not stupid, I'm sure she'll figure it out in no time – if she hadn't already – and if that is your motive to be with and around her. But then I am also aware my sister likes playing games, especially this one."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You've been around for a while, pal. I'm not sure what you are doing to her, but she usually fucks everyone off by now. Don't be too surprised if she'll get bored."

"Not to discuss her private life behind her back, but as far as I am aware, she has only ever had hook-ups since her last relationship. Between you and me, Renleigh and I are definitely not in it for the sex-,"

"Ew," he commented.

"So, I'm not sure if you are trying to tell me that I am nothing but a quick ride in the bed or something else that I just cannot seem to work out, but it is not putting me off of her," I admitted it to him. Maybe that was what he wanted. The truth from me, my intentions with regards to his sister. "She is different than anyone else I have ever been with and yes, in a way, she is challenging me. I did look at her as a challenge when I first started seeing her-,"

"You both are such liars!" he interrupted me again. "I knew you two were going out."

"-but that has changed over time. Not her challenging me but me not seeing her as a challenge. I see her as an opportunity for something great in life – someone great in life. Someone to spend my time with and talk to and cherish. Someone who needs care, attention and love..."

"Hold up, mate," he laughed. "Are you asking me for my blessing or something?"

"What?" I shrieked. I suddenly felt embarrassed and wanted to crawl under my covers at home.

"You are going on about her as if you are in love with her or something and had been seeing her for years. The route you are going down on sounds very much like you have a massive diamond ring hidden in your pocket, ready to pull out and show it to me for approval."

"I- n-no, I don't have one... what even made you- you think that?" I laughed nervously.

"Yikes, why did you go all soft on me?" he teased as he took a sip of his drink. He kept his eyes on me as he waited for a reaction but I was too stunned. Brandon was definitely witty and didn't have a problem with saying whatever was on his mind. Him and Kensington had that in common. "Look. If you want my sister, you're either in it with both of your feet or none at all. She is not to be messed around with. I'm not sure what happened with her last man but it was not pretty. He was lucky to never show his fucking face again because trust me, I would have twatted him."

"I've heard things about him and I'm with you on that one," I agreed. Brandon hummed as he stared at me. He really was so much like his sister. Then it seemed like something clicked in his brain as he tilted his head to the side a little bit, one of his arms rested below his elbow as he moved his glass a little that he held in his right hand.

"What kind of things have you heard about him?" he asked me seriously. His voice dropped and eyes looked determined to get information out of me. I recalled Kensington telling me I was the only one who knew about the ex and I wasn't sure if that was the case, but I decided not to be a backstabbing bitch by spilling her secrets.

"Not the good kind," I kept it short and sweet. He didn't seem satisfied but it was clear he knew he wouldn't get much else out of me.

"Hmm... so, she did talk to you about him?"

"Amongst many other things, sure," I nodded. He cocked one of his eyebrows as he moved his lips downwards and nodded a few times. It seemed like he was impressed or something. I couldn't quite figure out what went through his head because I wasn't a mind reader. "What about you? Have you ever known this ex?"

"Amongst many other people, sure," he copied my answer and I couldn't help it when my eyes rolled around by themselves. I scoffed as he smirked at me, the gesture already oh-so familiar. "He seemed cool at first and I didn't have a problem with him. He seemed to be head over heels for my sister and although it did make me want to be sick, I was fine with it because he seemed to treat her right."

"So, only their breakup made you dislike him?"

"Mostly. It affected Renleigh badly. I never knew the details – what went down and why or how – but their breakup was bad. It was enough to make me want to strangle the man."

"Interesting," I nodded as I quietly replied.

"You do know more than you let on, that's clear to me. You know things probably no one else does and that is honestly shocking," he began. "It seems like my sister trusts you a lot more than she trusts anyone else and although I have no idea how that happened, I don't want to see you break that bond."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're not... neither was Husky, but look where we are."

I couldn't help but laugh at his comment. His lips twitched at my reaction and he covered it with his glass as he took another sip.

"I understand you are protective of her, it is only right if you are. I would be pretty shocked if you weren't, to be honest," I told him. "You are right – I do know more than I let on and I am planning on keeping it that way. Unless she decides to tell people about what she told me, I won't be repeating it any time soon. Like I told you, she is someone I feel like I have been waiting for without even knowing. She was right there, in front of me, the whole time and it took me this long to realise. Getting her to warm up to me was not easy so if you think I'm going to fuck it up by playing with her or letting you talk me out of seeing her, you are wrong."

"I'm glad to hear that. Just like I was with the last man. Words are just empty promises."

"Yeah, well, I intend to keep them," I replied, a bit offended. He had preconceived notions about me, which was fine and also kind of expected, yet it still made me feel annoyed. "I understand you may dislike me for the things you have heard about me in the media or what goes around between your friends, but you also need to understand that rumours are just that –rumours. At the end of the day, I'm here to keep her happy and not the people around her."

He was about to say something when his eyes moved from mine to whoever stood next to me. He closed his mouth and smiled which caused me to turn around and find Kensington there. She looked at us with furrowed eyebrows, confusion clear on her face.

"Who do you want to keep happy and why?" she asked curiously.

"Ooh, they brought out more food. Gotta dip," Brandon said before he literally ran off. I shook my head a little before I turned back to his sister.

She waited for me to reply with her eyebrows raised.

"You," I gave in. She didn't seem surprised by my answer although her face relaxed a bit. I watched as she licked her lips and pinched one of the strands near her face between her index and middle finger and pushed it behind her shoulder.

"Why were you two talking about me?" she asked with a grimace on her face. "I'm not sure if I like having you around my family."

"Oh," I breathed, a little caught off guard at the comment. The way she said it, with so much distaste in her mouth, made my chest pang a little bit.

"I meant like you talking to them about me. I don't know if I like the idea of that," she corrected herself. "But anyway. Um. My dad's brother's family is staying with us and they have just arrived. I guess I'm going to need to introduce you to them since we'll be staying under the same roof for one night..."

"Yeah, okay," I nodded. "Anything I gotta know?"

"Um, my uncle's called Lucas, his wife is Nicole and they have a nineteen-year-old daughter."

"How many cousins do you have?" the question was genuine and it made her chuckle. I felt surrounded by so many strangers and I felt a little backed in the corner as I knew no one.

"A lot."

"Do you talk to them all or is it just when you see them at parties and stuff?"

"Yeah... just parties and stuff," she replied. "I'm not the best at keeping in contact with people but then again, they don't reach out to me, either."

I hummed and nodded a little as she had a point. It was a two-way street. Plus, I also knew Kensington very well to be aware of the fact that unless someone reached out first, she didn't bother. It was rare to see her act first which was why it shocked me so much when she texted me a few days ago about this party.

"Renleigh, hello," the man said when we reached him and the woman he stood around with. I assumed that was the wife.

"Hey," she smiled at him and they hugged quickly. She hugged the woman, too before she stood back to me. "Um, this is Harry Styles and, um, this is Lucas, my uncle and his wife, Nicole."

"It's very nice to meet you," I said as I shook hands with Lucas and then turned to Nicole and did the same.

"So, you finally found yourself a boyfriend, then," he joked and I could tell it was going to piss Kensington off. As far as I knew, she despised this specific topic and especially the fact that her family only seemed to want to discuss this with her.

"We're actually not together, like that," I spoke up. "I'm just here as a friend."

"Ah," Lucas nodded with a knowing smile on his face. "Well, that is very nice of you, Harry. I'm assuming you are going around, meeting everyone then?" he questioned.

"Yeah," I smiled. "I'm getting around, I suppose."

"Way to make it sound bad," Kensington nudged me and I couldn't help but laugh at her comment. That was the first sentence in about an hour that didn't make me feel like she had plans of beheading me as soon as we got back to her house.

Her smile seemed to fade away as soon as it came, my head lifted a little as a plus person came to stand in our circle. A whiff of strong cologne hit my nose and crawled up my nostrils and also a few fingers caught my attention around Kensington's waist. She visibly stiffened at the touch, her face even seemed to have paled a little bit and her eyes widened in fear.

"Jack!" Lucas exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in ages, mate! How have you been?" as he pulled the man in a hug, he let go of Kensington and she shifted closer to me. Her arm and feet touched mine and I felt her body warmth radiate off of her – that's how close she stood next to me.

"Are you OK?" I asked the stupidest question but it still seemed to grab her attention. She opened her mouth and closed it instantly, gulped and her fingers slowly slipped between mine as she held onto me tightly. "Ren, baby... oh, god," I mumbled as the realisation hit me.

This was the man.

Jack.

And he touched her. Just now.

"It's OK," she forced a smile on her face as she looked at me. I watched as she inhaled deeply and stood even closer to me.

"So, who do we have here?" the man asked with a large grin on his face. He had perfect, pearl white teeth, icing blue eyes and a confident attitude. The way his gaze dropped down then crawled back up Kensington's body, right in front of everyone, caused the urge in me to punch him square in the face to grow rapidly. I assumed Renleigh felt me tense up because her grip on my side was all that held me back from launching myself at the fucker.

The rage I felt, was insane. I had never been angrier.

"If you could keep your wandering eyes off of my girlfriend, I would appreciate that," I said tensely. There was no other emotion behind my words than disgust. And probably anger. But that was kind of a given.

His eyes travelled over to mine as he gave me a disapproving look. It was crystal clear to me that he did not like the tone of my voice or the words that left my mouth and made up the warning sentence.

"Excuse me?" he laughed in my face. Well, chuckled. But it was still irritating.

"I will excuse you if you won't keep your hands to yourself and your eyes on your wife," I remarked. Our harsh conversation attracted attention but it didn't matter. My mind was too focused on putting the man in front of me in his place. Even if Kensington didn't want me to.

"Listen here, kid," he crossed his arms in front of his chest as he tried to play it off cool. It was so obvious that no one had ever called him out, he was cocky but the way I spoke to him, probably made him feel embarrassed.

And I was so glad if that was the case.

He deserved to be humiliated.

"I have no idea who you are but if I were you, I would keep my mouth shut."

"Only if you were anything like me, this world would have one less shitty person ruining it."

"Who do you think you are?" he questioned angrily. His face turned a little redder than it was before, he even shoved his finger in my face as he stepped closer. I wanted to laugh in his face, tell him he was a useless piece of shit, a sorry excuse of a human being, a waste of space.

But I had class.

And a reputation to keep up.

Plus, everything would have reflected back onto Kensington and I couldn't embarrass her like that.

"I'm just a concerned boyfriend, sir," I stated. "I didn't like the way you touched my girl when you came over or the way your eyes looked her body up and down. I understand she's gorgeous but you must see how wrong your actions are, right? I wouldn't want this repeated back to her parents, who are also your friends, if I were you, would you?"

As the words jumped off of my tongue and they sank in his mind, I caught his jaw tighten in irritation. He knew I caught him and he knew I knew everything else he had done in the past. His eyes never left mine and his fingers never uncurled from the fists they balled into. I only saw that from the corner of my eyes because there was no way I would have ended the eye-contact.

"I am not sure what you are talking about," he spat eventually and inside my mind, it meant I won. For now.

"Maybe some alone time will help you figure it out," I suggested. "Now, if you'll excuse us," I smiled as sweetly as it was humanly possible whilst I pulled Kensington after me.

As we walked past people, my eyes met Sam's and his gaze didn't exactly encourage me or made me feel like what I had done was good. If he didn't like it then it was going to be no surprise that Oscar wouldn't like it, either.

That was two Kensingtons against me.

Since I was aware that Renleigh didn't want me to interfere with her situation but I had done, regardless of that knowledge, that just meant one thing.

I had three Kensingtons against me.

Brandon was highly unlikely to know about anything going on, so maybe, the youngest of the family would side with me if it came down to it. Surely, he wanted the best for his sister and that was my genuine aim with this, too. Therefore, I hoped that he would see through it once explained and give me the backing up I needed.

• • •

a.n.

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