Daddy issues // Harry Styles

Chapter 15

You furrowed your brows "Huh? Drive all the way to California? That would've taken us... I'm not even sure. That's almost across country, Harry"

"I know, but it would've been better than to send you off to first class on your own. Since I asked you to join me here last minute, that was the only available ticket option, and I was sure you'd enjoy it, it made perfect sense at the time when I booked it. But I had no clue you'd never flown before, never even thought to ask. That was inconsiderate of me, and I'm sorry I put you through that" he looked up at you then and you leaned over so that you could tilt his chin up towards you even further

"You did ask me right before we boarded if I was scared of flying. I could've told you then that I had no clue whether I was or wasn't since I'd never done it before, but I didn't want you to think that was weird... I dunno what I was thinking, honestly. So it's my fault as much as yours. You'd meant it as a surprise, and by the way. I'm paying you back for the ticket"

He pulled back, his expression morphing to a stern one "No, you are not. I don't want to have this discussion again, Y/N. Please. You came here as my guest, you're not paying for anything. End of story"

You sighed exasperatedly through your nose "I'll drop it just because I don't want to get into another argument with you. For now..." he raised his eyebrow and you once again mirrored his expression "Ok. So aside from you kicking yourself over surprising me with a first class ticket" you rolled your eyes exasperatedly for effect "... what else?"

"I wasn't there for you. You were scared. You had to hold that prick's hand..."

You searched his eyes "Are you mad at me about that?" you asked in a small voice

"Of course not"

"Are you mad at him?"

"I wanna say no, but... yes? Mad 'cause he was there to do it, and I wasn't. Mad that he assumed you were alone, because why wouldn't he. What man would just leave his girlfriend alone on her first flight, all by herself? I'm mad at myself. Mad that I hadn't even thought about this"

"Harry, it's alright. Yeah, I was a bit pissed off, you could've told me we wouldn't be seated together, but I get that you wanted it to be a surprise. I was fucking terrified, not gonna lie to you. I hadn't realized it would be like that. Never really gave it much thought before. And I squeezed the crap out his hand in pure terror. So, aside from his dislocated jaw, he wasn't joking about those fingers I'd crushed"

After a long pause in which he just stared at you and kept clenching and unclenching his jaw, he muttered "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that. I hate that you saw me like that"

You sighed deeply. What could you say to that? He was right, he shouldn't have "I just... I mean. Was it the fact that..." you winced "That he assumed you were my father, do you think?"

"That was just the icing on the cake" he scoffed "That's a different matter altogether... I'm not even sure at this point what set me off. A mix of both that and him just asking you out right under my nose like that" he clicked his tongue and looked at you intently and finally said, gravely "There's... there's something you should know. If we're going to do this right, you have the right to know. I don't want any secrets between us"

You nodded, bracing yourself for what he was about to say. He looked dead serious and you had a feeling this was something he'd thought about while you'd been sleeping. He looked tired, he looked like he'd gone over this in his mind time and time again before you woke up, and he was reluctant to talk to you about it. But you knew that he was right. Whatever he had to tell you, you too wanted no secrets between the two of you, and if you were being honest with yourself, you had a thing or two to tell him, yourself...