This Love

Chapter 21

HARRY STYLES

"Baby, we gotta go!" I call out to Scarlett from her front door. "Seth and the Uber just got here!"

"Help me, H!" She whines from her bedroom, crawling over to the railing to let me see her pout. "Please?"

Laughing at her cute puppy expression, I jog up to see her trying to sit on her suitcase to close it. "Jesus, are we moving to Venice or just visiting?"

"Watch it," she narrows her eyes, "half of this shit is lingerie and very tiny little bikinis."

"What's the other half?" I grunt as I kneel and put all my weight on the hardshell material to get the zipper to budge.

"Shoes," she smiles proudly as I yank the zipper closed and huff dramatically.

"Alright, let's go," I stand the suitcase upright with me. "Hailey is meeting us there, right? At the airport?"

"Yes," she mutters with the world's most dramatic eye roll. "Fucking kill me."

"Hey," I hold her face in my hands despite Seth calling for us outside, and Scarlett's pout turns more solemn than cute. "Don't let her ruin your birthday, okay? I know you're not a fan of her, but just remember who her actual father is. He's not yours, but he is hers, yeah?"

She looks like she's debating whether or not she wants to push the argument, but instead, she nods and lets me kiss her lips as Seth yells for us to hurry it up again. "Let's just go."

"That's the spirit," I chuckle and squeeze her shoulders before taking her suitcase downstairs while she carries her oversized weekend bag. I guess the girl didn't learn how to pack appropriately in the time we spent apart.

Once I get her suitcase in the car, I let her sit in the back with Seth and take the front seat so we're not all crowded together in the Uber. While the driver keeps me busy answering his questions about where we're going and why, I can hear Seth trying to convince Scarlett that the trip is going to be fun regardless of Hailey coming along. I sincerely hope she believes him if my argument wasn't enough but I know firsthand how stubborn she can be.

My guess is that she's not happy she had to do something for her mother. The issue is most likely less about Hailey and more about Amber.

We're making great time as we walk into the Heathrow airport to see Niall and Emma are already there waiting for us, but so are Amber and Hailey with about ten feet of space between the two pairs. I swear to God the air feels colder as soon as I see that woman with her fake blonde hair in a slick bun and her outfit of a black dress and stilettos. Who the fuck wears that just to drop their kid off at the airport?

Without saying a word just yet, Scarlett walks up to Amber and holds her palm out until she places the keys to the villa in it. Seeing them standing beside each other never fails to make me sick to my stomach.

"Well, what a...group," she inspects us all as she keeps petting Hailey's hair. Meanwhile, the teenage brat is texting on her phone and actively frowning as if she's not about to go on holiday.

"Okay, say goodbye to your mommy now," Scarlett snaps her fingers in front of Hailey's face to catch her attention. They don't even look remotely alike, but they seem to know how to put on an irritated expression the same way.

"Be good, darling," Amber kisses Hailey's head before she smoothes down her long and pin-straight blonde hair one last time. Hailey gives her a hug, and that pretty much tells me everything I need to know about their relationship. Scarlett wouldn't hug her mother if doing so would save the world.

But to Scarlett, Amber simply reminds her that the groundskeepers already filled the fridge with what we'll need for a week and tells her not to burn the villa down or let Hailey get hurt. She doesn't even look at Seth, and she certainly doesn't wish either of her twin children a happy birthday, but maybe the sad thing is that I don't think they're disappointed in the slightest. I think they would have both been shocked if she even cracked a smile for them.