Wrong Direction

Chapter 21: Lillian

I could feel Harry's body warmth on my back as he stuck close behind me, there if I needed him. And thank God he was, because the scene unfolding before us wasn't exactly easy on the stress level.

"-moron attitude to the whole situation!" My mum cursed at my dad as they stood in the lounge room fighting - the coffee table the only thing keeping them apart.

"Moron attitude? That's bullshit, Jules!" My dad threw his hands in the air. "All I want is for our daughter to know the truth!"

"And when were you planning on telling me about this plan?" She roared back at him. "Olivia is psychotic! That's why we took on Lil in the first place!"

"Don't talk about Olivia that way!"

"How dare you defend-"

Harry cleared his throat loudly. My mum and dad's heads snapped up at us, their faces dropping when they realised that we'd been standing there a while.

"Candice!" Mum gasped.

I swallowed hard, and remembered what Harry had said. Don't start kicking and screaming, be calm.

"I need to speak with you both." I surprised myself at how well the words rolled off my tongue and then slowly made my way over to the couch to take a seat.

Mum and Dad remained wide-eyed and still in shock by my presence, but proceeded to slowly lower themsleves onto their own respective couches. I glanced up at Harry who was leaning against the archway which lead into the room - he was watching my dad's every move with narrowed eyes. He looked to me then, and I gave a small smile. He shot a look back to my father before pushing off the wall and disappearing into the house.

"I'm not sure if you know," I began as confidently as I could manage, "but I know about Lillian and that Olivia is her biological mother."

Their faces showed that this was definitely news to them.

"Olivia contacted me-"

"She what!" Mum shouted.

"Let her speak," Dad cut in, giving me an apologetic smile. He was full of guilt - it was plastered all over his face.

I took a deep breath. "Olivia contacted me tonight, and told me about Lillian."

An eery silence lingered around us as I glanced to Mum who looked as though she'd aged ten years in a day.

"What happened in the past, is the past, and it changes nothing," I continued, using up every brave cell in my body. "You can explai the details to me later, but right now, Lil is my sister and I won't let you hurt her."

Mum's features softened as she gave a half smile, it not touching her eyes. I refused to look at Dad but could tell that he wanted to say his part.

"Uncle Paul told me about your plan to tell Lil this week." I gulped hard as my sister's face filled my mind. "But I won't let you. Not tomorrow."

"That's what I said." Mum looked to Dad with raised eyebrows.

"Look," Dad ran his hands down his face, "the only reason I want to do this soon is because I'm worried that Olivia might try to tell Lillian herself and make contact. Just like she did with you, Candice."

I looked to Dad then, still seeing nothing but guilt in his eyes. "Well, we'll just have to make sure that she doesn't - it's only for a few more days," I tried to explain. "Going to a One Direction concert has been Lil's dream for the past three years, there's no way that we can take that away from her. You should have told her years ago, but you're not telling her before the concert."

"Candice is right." Mum sighed. "We've kept this horrible secret for fourteen years, what's another few days?"

I leaned back on the couch and felt mildly satisfied. The end of Lillian's world, crashing and burning, would be held off for a little while longer - that slight peace of mind was enough for now.

"I just can't believe Olivia called you about this, and you didn't have the guts to tell me," Mum spoke to Dad, forgetting that I was sitting there again.

"Called you?" I frowned at Dad.

"Yes, she called me when I was in the city." He widened his eyes at me in warning - Mum was oblivious. Why was he lying? He was sitting in our cafe with Olivia, talking with her face to face only hours ago. "We chatted over the phone and I told her that we'd tell Lillian this week and find out if she would ever want to meet Olivia."

"God, she's not in town is she?" Mum scoffed, rolling her eyes. I could sense the hate she felt for this Olivia woman.

"Of course not," Dad shot back, a little too quickly, but Mum wasn't in the state of mind to notice.

"Well, that's that then," Mum announced as she stood up. "Lillian will be back from Stacey's tomorrow and hopefully have a normal school day, then oshe'll be off to the concert with you, Candice. I hope that this is a good idea?"

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Of course it is, why wouldn't it be." I forced a smile and Mum bought it.

"Well I'm not cooking tonight, I'll order Thai." Mum pulled out her phone. "Is Harry staying?"

"Actually..." I stood up. "I'm not staying."

Mum's expression fell while Dad stood up from his chair as if worried that I was about to blurt out his dark secrets and make a run for it.

"It's not because of what's happened, I just need to go speak with Tia," I replied, so convincingly that I almost convinced myself.

"Okay," Mum said softly. "But make sure you call tonight, let me know you're safe."

I gave a small smile in reply as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Candice-"

"Save it Dad," I cut him off without a single look. "I don't give a shit what excuse you have for lying. If you don't tell Mum the truth, I will."

And with that, I left the house.

I scurried down the porch stairs and wrapped my arms around myself as if about to fall apart. I tried to suck in some air as if I'd been suffocating the whole time that I'd been in the house. I'd been putting on such a strong front for my parents, that I hadn't considered the consequences.

I dropped to my knees under the large oak tree and tried to catch my breath. My dad was lying to my mum about Olivia being in town and seeing her. He was holding hands with her! He was being unfaithful.

An arm was instantaneously around my waist and my feet left the ground. I ducked my head against his chest as he carried me to the end of the path where our car pulled up just in time. The driver opened the door and I was placed inside.

The whole car ride I hadn't spoken a word. The only sounds being Harry answering and making calls as I glanced out the tinted window to see the familiar dimmed city lights. I put down the window to see the true brightness of them and let the cool Sydney air whip my face. I didn't feel like talking about what had just happened, so I was glad that Harry was catching up on calls that he'd obviously been ignoring all day.

As we drove in silence, it wasn't long before I realised that something wasn't right.