A Meadow Full Of Oak Trees

Chapter Nine: Everything's Better With You

Oakley's PoV

I enter Harley's room and see immediately his favourite colour is blue. His walls are deep blue, his bed spread is deep blue, his carpet is white and his chair is a sky blue along with his ceiling.
I open his wardrobe and find it rather well organised. I choose a grey sweater that's too large for me But is super comfy and smells of Harley, then I pull on a pair of black sweatpants and text the house phone to ask them to bring me a pair of shorts, along with my weekend suitcase that's always packed from my room, and my slippers. They reply within seconds that Leo will bring them in the morning and I thank them before heading out to see who this visitor is.
"Harley, Leo's bringing me some stuff over if I'm staying the night. So he'll be here in the morning."
I say when I enter the kitchen quickly attaching myself to him.
He hugs me close and then says "Toffee-pop, this is my dad, Bradley. Bradley meet Oakley."
Dad? He looks nothing like Harley.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Oxford." I say.
He doesn't reply which I take as a little bit rude.
"Why are you here dad?" Harley asks harshly.
"I came to see my son."
"It's been five years since you cut me off. You disowned me, publicly. So what's wrong? Who died? Or what happened to make you need to come and see me."
"No reason. Everyone's okay and nothing's happened. I promise."
"Your promises mean nothing. Remember the one you made to Lena? And how that worked out."
My mind flits to who Lena is but decide now isn't the best time to ask.
Harley runs his hand through his hair before saying "Well you'd better start explaining." Then two seconds later "We can sit in the living room."
He leads us into the living room sitting down with his legs stretched out leaving no room for his dad to sit near him and then pulling me into his lap, my legs instantly curling up and my head resting on his chest, one of his arms around my waist and the other entwined with my own.
His dad sits down slowly on the armchair, resting his suitcase on the floor. He looks at us and clears his throat, "Why don't we do this in the morning?"
"Nope. We do it now so I can send you home as soon as possible."
Feeling ever so sorry for Bradley I say "You know we could do it in the morning. It's only a few hours from now and wouldn't you like Tom and Kal here as well." I say with a yawn.
He seems to take note of my yawn and my eyes dropping more and more with every second and then says "Fine. The spare room is to the end of the corridor and on the left."

Harley's PoV

I can't believe he has the audacity to turn up in the middle of the night with a suitcase and practically demand to stag. He cut me off five years ago for no reason and now he thinks he can just turn up and be my dad again. Not a chance.
I sit on the sofa with Oakley curled in my lap, if she wasn't here I would have punched him by now, but she's the only person keeping me from doing exactly that, so I'm keeping her close to me and also she just makes everything better.
"You know we could do it in the morning. It's only a few hours from now and wouldn't you like Tom and Kal here as well." Oakley says yawning.
It's only then that I notice her eyelids drooping more and more and head resting on my chest.
"Fine. The spare room is to the end of the corridor and on the left." I bite out at my father before picking Oakley up bridal style and carrying her to my room.
I place her down on my bed and then change into my sleeping shirt and a pair of shorts before climbing into bed and pulling her into me.
She responds by rolling over and wrapping her arms around my waist, her head resting in the crook of my neck.
I drift off to sleep with my girl in my arms and no thoughts of my father whatsoever.

"WHO THE HELL?!" Someone screams from the kitchen and I jolt awake, Oakley still asleep in my arms.
I smile at her before wriggling free of her grasp, pulling on some clothes and going to see what Tom was screaming at.
I walk into the kitchen and see my dad stood at the counter and then last night comes back into my memory.
"Tom it's fine. He arrived last night and stayed in the spare room." I explain to a shocked Tom.
Then Kal comes out and sees him and just goes "Great, the asshole is back."
And I smile at him.
Then before anyone can say anything else we hear Oakley scream "It wasn't my fault. It wasn't. It wasn't."
I run back into my room to see her shaking and covered in sweat. I wake her up and she good my arms before fully comprehending who I am and breaking down into sobs.
Then she goes "Harley can you text Leo to bring Petro over please?"
"Of course. What's your password?"
She gives me the password and then says "Can we go into the kitchen? I'm really hungry."
"Of course."
Then I take her hand and lead her slowly through the house into the kitchen and sit her down on one of the bar stools.
"Oakley are you okay?" Tom asks.
"I'm fine Tom, this happens sometimes."
Just then there's a knock on the door and Tom opens it saying "Oakley, do you know a Leo?"
She smiles for an instant before it disappears and she shouts back "Yes, let him in he won't be long."
Then Leo walks in with Petro on his leash straining to get to Oakley and a small weekend suitcase, "Here you go Miss. Would you like me to tell your parents that you'll be staying here for a little while?"
"Yes please Leo, and can you bring my Audi up as well."
"Of course Miss." Leo says before giving her a quick hug and leaving.
"Toffee-pop, what would you like to eat?" I ask.
"You decide." She says.
"Okay, one you decide coming up." I say and I see a flicker of a smile flutter across her face.
"So Har, why's asshole here?" Kal asks completely ignoring the fact that my father is in the room.
"I don't know, he's going to tell us all right now." I reply and my father sighs.
"We're having a family reunion and your mother would very much like to see you. So would your siblings."
"When?"
"Next Sunday at my house. It starts at 12 noon and ends at midnight. People are welcome to leave at any point. The dress code is red carpet."
"I'll think about it." I say.
"Wouldn't you like to see your mother?" He says.
"I would love to see mum but I don't want to see you. I would also love to see my sisters and my brothers, to catch up and find out what's going on with their lives but you would be there."
"I promise I won't even talk to you." He says.
"I'll think about it. Could I bring a plus one?" I ask, if I can't take Oakley then it's a definite no.
"Yes. You can."
"Very well, I promise I will think about it. And I keep my promises." I say glaring at him.
He looks at me and says "Well, I'll go and find a hotel. I have a business meeting Mr. Herrera this afternoon so I want to get ready."
At this Oakley sits up and says "He has a meeting with you? I doubt that. He'll probably cancel in about, what time is it, nine o'clock, two minutes."
"And why would he do that?" My father asks.
"Because he always cancels things at 2 minutes past the hour. It's a thing and he's busy today."
"And how exactly do you know that?"
"Because my dad always cancels stuff and so I know his habits. Plus I've lived with him for 16 years."
"He's your dad? You're the heir to Herrera?"
Before Oakley can reply father's phone rings and he picks it up, "Oh. I see. Very well. Thank you."
He looks at Oakley and says "It seems you were right. He has just cancelled and he will call to rearrange another time."
Oakley just shrugs before saying to me "So I'm staying here for a while and my parents know and Leo is bringing my car and obviously he brought my clothes and stuff. Also what is for breakfast?"
"Breakfast Toffee-pop is pancakes." As soon as I've said this Kal and Tom go "Yes. We haven't had Harley's pancakes in ages."
"Are they good?" Oakley asks.
"They are the best pancakes ever made in the history of man." Tom says exaggerating slightly but I just go with it.
"Well I'll be off. Thank you for thinking about the reunion." My father says before grabbing his suitcase and leaving just as he came.
"Well were all glad the assholes gone." Kal says with a laugh but Oakley says "He's hurting. His eyes were tired and his hands kept clenching and his neck was sweating slightly along with the fact that he's only got black in his suitcase and the fact that the only pair of shoes he brought were the ones he was wearing. All signs of a person in pain."
"How do you know that?" I ask.
"Last night, he was unpacking and I heard him only place on pair of shoes down. And if there is colour in the suitcase he would have fibres from the clothes somewhere on him and I was observing him since he arrived. He looked sketchy and I was intrigued."
I nod my head surprised she knows how to do that but nevertheless get out the ingredients for pancakes and start the process of magic.
Oakley moves herself to the floor to play with Petro and Tom and Kal chat to me about various things until Tom says "So Oakley, how come Petro has a guide dog collar?"
She tenses up and I immediately glare at Tom before moving to crouch next to Oakley and whispering "You don't have to tell him. You're not obliged to."
She grabs my hand, takes a deep breath and then says "When I go through an episode, most times it causes temporary blindness. So Petro is trained to help me."
For some reason Tom seems oblivious to her obvious discomfort and pushes "An episode of what? A tv series?"
The joke at the end seems to be the end of Oakley's patience and she stands up, turns around and shouts at Tom "You think my mental health is a joke? Do you? You think because your mind is perfectly okay and you don't have to deal with any of these issues that your above them and that they don't exist? You think just because you're so sure of yourself up on that pedestal that it can't be chopped down? Well here's a reality check for you, things exist outside of your pretty little perfect world. And people suffer. Mainly because of people like you. The people who think they're above everyone else and who think things like depression and anxiety don't exist. Well they do."
Tom just looks down and says the last thing he should have said "What happened to you? Win a prize for hero of the unstable?"
"No I did not win a prize for being a hero. I watched my girlfriend die because of it."
This time Tom whips his head to look at Oakley who just looks broken, "I watched her die in my arms whispering my hero. So you think about that next time you say something."
Then she grabs her suitcase and walks off into her room, slamming the door on the way.
"Well done Tom. Well done." I say shaking my head.
"I can't believe you Tom." Kal says with a shake of his head and a disapproving look.
I finish the pancakes.