Sugar (Harry Styles)

14.

After breakfast and a good half hour calming Harry down after he saw the damage that was done to Daphne’s body, the pair got ready to go to Runcorn. The first stop was at Daphne’s house, only for a few minutes so she could change out of her clothes from the night before and into something fresh. 

Harry waited patiently in Daphne’s bedroom, looking around the small space as she went to change in the bathroom down the hall. He knew that Daphne said she moved a lot and it showed in the lack of material things she actually had in her room. The space was blank, leaving very little to give him insight on his storyteller.

The tall suitcase that sat in the corner of her room was one. He could tell it was empty but used. It was a deep purple color, tattered around the corners and covered in patches of different places or sayings.

There was her bed sheets that lay tossed underneath him and as he expected, they were hearts.

Finally there was one picture sitting on her bed stand. It was of a man and a woman; it wasn’t recent from what he could tell. Harry was intrigued most by this photo out of her whole room. He moved over to it, grabbing the silver frame and his eyes traced over the picture.

The male had dark-reddish hair and dark eyes; he was tall and held a lot of his weight in his upper body. He had strong arms that were wrapped around a woman who looked strikingly similar to Daphne except for her long blond hair that fell in beautiful waves around her shoulders. She was absolutely stunning. Harry wasn’t sure if ever seen a woman so beautiful aside from Daphne before. Harry looked into the eyes of the woman and the epiphany came to him suddenly: these were her parents.

Harry had only remembered Daphne telling him of her strained relationship with her father and that her mother died when she was just a baby. This was the only thing she had of them in her life, a single photo that traveled with her wherever she went. He sighed deeply and thought about Daphne, so sweet, so pure, and still open to love even after all her hardships.

Daphne came back into the room a few minutes later, dressed in a long sweater and leggings. She had managed to fix her hair in a way that covered some her bruises and used make up to lighten their tone. When she saw Harry on her bed with her photo of her parents she felt her throat tighten.

“It’s the only photo they took together.” Daphne said quietly as she moved into the room to throw her dirty clothes in a wash basket before she stood in front of him. She crossed her arms and looked down at his eyes as he looked up at her.

“This is it?” Harry asked as he held the silver frame in his one large hand. “They never got married or took pictures of them with you when you were born?”

Daphne frowned slightly; sure that Harry had tons of pictures of his mother, father, and stepfather. She used to be jealous of people like Harry, the ones who had both parents still, and even more so of the ones who had step-parents. She just wanted a mother and a father. Now it felt like she had no one.

“They were only together for a year. They dated for 3 months and it took 9 for me to come along. She died the day after she had me.” Daphne felt bad for lying to Harry. She wanted to tell him the truth but it would come out slowly over time. The last part wasn’t a lie; she left the day after she was born.

“I’m sorry,” Harry said quietly as he set the photo down on the bed and his hands reached out to pull Daphne to him by her hips.

“It’s okay, Harry.” Daphne replied as she dropped her hands to his hair and gently threaded her fingers through it before she leaned down to kiss his lips.

“Let’s go.” Daphne said as she stroked his hair. “I need a bit of time at the water.”

Harry agreed and got to his feet, taking Daphne’s hand in his and lacing it as she grabbed her purse and the pair headed downstairs and out. Harry opened the car door for Daphne before he moved to the other side and climbed in himself.