Just The Way I'm Not (Prince Harry Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine

“What?” I spit down the phone. It’s early morning and can only be a few hours since Harry walked me back to my room. I must have had barely any sleep. I’m exhausted and it takes me a few moments to register where I am. “Holly!” my mother’s voice comes down the phone “Where are you?!” I slap my face, shit I forgot to phone them. “Have you only just noticed I’m gone?” I say moodily. My mother pauses and sighs “Well we’ve only just got back” she defends “I had my therapy group today.”

“Yeah whatever Mum” I yawn.

“Well?!” she persists “Where are you?”

“In London” I throw myself back in bed, praying I don’t have to tell her the whole story, I’m too tired. “What?! Why?”

“Look, I’m sorting all the press stuff out with Harry” I moan “Seriously can I go now?”

“Harry?” she snorts “You mean the Prince?!”

“Yeah Mum who else? It was his idea, seriously I fine. In fact, I’m having a great time.”

“You mean to say...” she sounds faint “You’re staying with Prince Harry of Wales.”

I don’t respond, I know she gets it. “Listen, I don’t care if you’re staying with the entire royal family, it doesn’t mean you can take off without telling me!” Typical, now she acts like she cares. “Okay, okay I’ll tell you next time.”

“So” she says in her best calm voice “When are you coming home?”

“In a few weeks” I hold my breath, waiting for the lecture, but it doesn’t come. My mother sounds distant, annoyed. “Then I’ll see you, whenever you decide to show up.” I think she’s hung up, but then she adds “I’m very disappointed in you Holly.” After she’s put the phone down I don’t really know what to think of what happened. She definitely made me feel guilty about leaving, but another part of me is angry, she doesn’t have any right, she never pays me a speck of attention. When I check my clock, I’m surprised to see its 9am. My blackout curtains made it feel like it was still the middle of the night. I shove on my jeans and a white long sleeved top, readjusting the ‘H’ necklace I never took off. I make my way down the plush red corridors, until I reach the grand staircase which I walk down and enter the breakfast hall. Harry pointed this out to me last night, he told me to come down here every morning and the kitchen staff will cook me whatever I want. Even though I saw it in the pitch dark it looked grand, there was a massive oak table which could’ve seated at least 40 people. When I walk in there’s a man standing by the door. He obviously works for the family, but he’s not dressed like all the others I’ve seen, he’s in a more casual suit, standing in the corner, trying to be invisible. To my surprise, there’s someone else in there, eating their breakfast. She’s hunched over, reading a book. Her long silky, brown hair covers her face and it takes her a few seconds to register I’ve walked into the room. “Oh hello” she says when she spots me, her green eyes bore into me. “You must be Holly. I’m Kate.” Catherine Middleton. I gulp, my mind taking me back to how I watched in awe when she married Prince William last year. If I thought this experience seemed surreal, never more than now. I remember Harry saying they were staying here for a few days, which makes sense; I knew they lived in a house in Wales. It’s funny, I’m meeting all these celebrities at the moment but I don’t feel star struck. Underneath all the makeup and media, it’s obvious she and Harry are normal people.  Shakily, I reply “H-hi.” She smiles, obviously nowhere near as nervous as I am “Harry told us about you” she comes over and shakes my hand “Don’t worry; I was as nervous as you were at one time.” Wow, she’s lovely. She takes me over to the table and I sit next to her whilst I eat my breakfast. “Harry’s out at the moment” she says “He’s at a meeting, securing when he’s going back to the army. I think he’s stopping by his house too, but he’ll be back in the afternoon.” Quite a few thoughts conflict in my head at this point. One part of me catches onto the fact he’s going back to the army. I always knew he was a pilot but I never thought about him leaving, what would that mean for us? Another part of me thinks he’s avoiding me, it just seems to convenient that he’s disappeared the morning after our kiss, but then I remember he kissed me, not the other way round. He’s also the one who bought me too the palace, he wouldn’t of done these things if he didn’t like me. Kate notices my frowning face and says “This is all a bit overwhelming, huh?” I nod.