Baby Doll (Harry Styles)

Chapter 24 - Shock

"I... I had no idea." I really didn't. I knew that Harry's mother went through some rough patches after her divorce but her resorting to prostitution had never once crossed my mind. This explained a lot of things. I figured that this was the reason why Harry didn't want to go through with that stupid tradition. This was the reason he showed some sort of sympathy towards me.


"Are you going to just look at me like that?" Harry asked as a faint smile took over his lips. I noticed that I'd been blankly staring at him with an open mouth for the past minute. "Come over here." He took my hands in his, leading me to lay beside him. Something about his revelation had made me feel closer to him.

"She kept saying that all she wanted to do was keep me in school, that she had to work extra hard because she wanted to give me the best of things even under the given circumstances." Harry continued.

"When did you find out?" I asked him as he gazed up at the ceiling.

"When I was 13. My dad blurted it out to me out of rage. I found out that she initially fell sick because of an STD. They told me it was a cold." The glisten in his eyes showed his vulnerability. I was seeing Harry under a different light. "I actually don't like talking about it. But I thought you should know."

"I'm sorry." I let him know before gently lacing my fingers through his, an attempt to somehow ease his grief. He turned his body to me and angled his elbow to prop his head up. He glanced at our intertwined hands, seemingly surprised by my action.

Harry was handsome, but not in a traditional way. He took care of his appearance on his own terms. But I had grown to like the scruffy, messy hair that I knew my mother would cringe looking at, and how he wore jeans that occasionally had tears on the knees.


His tattoos were the only things I hadn't gotten used to. I liked his eyes the most, because they weren't like any other I'd seen. I felt that they held so many things that were mysteries to me. Sigh, I'd do anything to get rid of this deep-rooted crush I had on Harry. I had suddenly become this sad girl, so engrossed in a boy she can never be with. This was the last thing I expected of myself.

"Do you want me to shut up or keep going?" He asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"If you're comfortable with it..." I actually wanted to know more about Harry's past, the things that shaped him to become the person he was today.

"So I went to stay with Samuels, this old guy who was supposed to be my guardian until my dad was ready to take me in. That was when I met Mrs Briffen. She worked there as a part time maid, and was practically my babysitter as well since Samuels wasn't even home most of the time, so she had to look after me. She used to help me with my multiplication tables. I grew attached to her so I got my dad to hire her later on." He laughed. "But whenever she wasn't there, Samuels got an actual babysitter to take care of me. If I'm not mistaken, I think her name was Julia. She was this love struck girl with nasty headgear - your typical teenager."

"Let me guess, your first crush." I chuckled.

"Far from it. This one time, she threw a party in Samuels' house when she was supposed to be babysitting me. She had all her friends over and they had booze. I got my first taste of it then."

"And you were like... nine then." I widened my eyes.

"Almost ten, actually. And I actually grew quite fond of parties after that. People paid so much attention to me,"

"Because you were a little kid at an alcohol fueled party." I figured.

"Well, yeah. But I liked the atmosphere. I liked not being alone. And I was pissed when the babysitter forced me to my room." So he was negatively influenced by his babysitter?