Serendipity - Haylor A.U.

Chapter 17

"I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you. They try to pull me away, but they don't know the truth." - Leona Lewis

Taylor

"How many times am I going to tell you?! It's like you're asking for more trouble!" my mom yelled straight into my face as I stood there flabbergasted. "Stay. Away. From him!" she roared and sunk into the leather sofa. Her energy clearly drained out and she wore a tiresome, exhausted expression on her face.

Not able to withstand there being clueless, I barked back, "Why? What is wrong? I can be with him and I will and I don't care what you or dad have to say!"

She let out a short laugh of disbelief and answered, "If you could only hear how stupid you sound right now."

"Just like all the lies that came out of your mouth?" I retorted. She opened her mouth as if she was to say something but shut it and clenched her jaw, recalling the incident that occurred not too long ago.

*Flashback*

"Who is he?" I asked angrily through gritted teeth.

"No one who is of your concern. Now you need to keep your mouth shut. You cannot tell anyone. You don't want to ruin our family, now would you?" my mother warned.

"I hate him. Get away from him," I spoke every word with hostility and loathe for this unknown man.

"You cannot tell me what to do. Do I need to remind you that you're not my mom? Mind your own damn business," she replied, agitated.

"But my family is my business!" I nearly shouted at her, enraged at what she's done.

"Just keep quiet!" my mom yelled. "Or this will be all your fault," she finalized.

And that was enough to silence me.

*End of flashback*

Lowering my voice a bit, I asked, "Mom, can you at least please tell me why? Why is it Harry who I cannot be with?"

She let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed her temples, her features softening as she started recalling the memories stored in the back of her mind. "Your father and I were close friends with Harry's parents a while ago back college," she began. Letting out a small chuckle, she added, "Oh, all the fun, crazy nights we all had together at parties." My mom continued on, "Anne and I were like best friends. We were always together and stuck by each other through a very good solid five years. I thought I knew her, turns out I didn't."

Harry's parents were close friends with mine? No, this isn't bizarre at all, I thought.

"Anyway, after graduating from college, we both went on with our lives, got married, had children. We still sometimes had reunions and get together's but we weren't close like before," she explained. "I met Harry, actually we both met Harry," my mom corrected herself and looked up at me with a small, tight smile on her face.

I met fetus Harry?

"Quite a charming little one he was. Big green eyes," she commented. "Back to the point," she said and straightened herself up before continuing. "One day, I got a call from her..." My mom looked down at her hands and fiddled with her rings, twisting them around. "All I heard was crying in the background and I--I panicked because I was so confused." Her hands visibly trembled slightly as she took a deep breath and said, "Anne revealed her dirty secret."

"Well, what was it?" I asked, riveted by the story and was on the edge of my seat.

"Taylor, she...killed her own husband," my mom half-whispered so low that I barely even heard her. The information couldn't quite sink into my brain correctly and I had to allow a minute or so in order to process what I just heard.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Clearly, I was in shock and did not expect any outcome like this. "How?"

"I have to admit, Taylor, I don't know. And I don't think I even want to know," my mom confessed with a sullen expression. "Then, Anne went on about how she needed to leave the country as soon as possible before anyone found out. I told her that what she did was despicable and that she left me no choice but to turn her over to the authorities." My mother let out a long sigh. "But I didn't. And I now regret it."

"Why is that?" I questioned, astonished by her decision.

"Because she offered me a large portion of money to keep my mouth shut about everything she told me. She said if I didn't and words got out, I was going to pay for it one day. Also, during that period, our family was going through rough times and with having you, a new addition to the family, it was a challenge to pay for all the expenses," she explained.

I sat there frozen still on the couch, overwhelmed and shocked by this new found information. "And how does this relate to Harry?" I inquired, skeptically.

"Well, now that you know what his mom is capable of, you never know what he also might be capable of doing," she pointed out.

"Just because his mom is that way, it definitely doesn't mean he is," I argued. "It's not his fault he has to put up with someone like her," I added defensively.

"Taylor, you're acting very child-like right now," she said in a warning tone. Can't you see? He and his scheming family aren't good to be around with," my mom attempted to reason.

"No. Why can't you see that he's a great, kindhearted and caring person, inside and out? Why can't you just give him a chance!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air in frustration.

Stomping out of the house, my pace quickened and I heard my mom call out, "Taylor!" But, I did not look back. Her voice already sounded too distant and before I knew it, I entered the woods.

The chili, frosted air bit into my skin, sending chills and eliciting goosebumps all over my body. I could've been smart enough to at least grab a sweater as I made a dramatic exit, I thought in regret. I wrapped my arms around myself and kept myself from shivering. The only noise heard was the crunching of my heels on top of the fallen leaves and debris on the trail. Out of the blue, strange eerie sounds came from among the thick woods and trees. My head rapidly switched from side to side at every single noise and quite often, I paused for a moment in fear that I was being followed by an ax murderer. That's okay, Taylor. It's all right, I kept reminding myself. At this point, my hair loosened from its braid and became undone, with the stray curls flying around my face. Then, everything went downhill--or more like I went downhill. Walking through the dark, I was like a blind bat and couldn't discern anything, especially the giant log laying in front of me. Unfortunately, I tripped over the log and let out a shriek as a sharp pain went striking through my ankle. Losing my balance, I collapsed onto the cold, hard ground. As I was lying on the dank earth, my vision began to shift out of focus and blur as I felt the world spinning around me. Then, everything went pitch black.