The Other One {Harry Styles AU}

43. Then

My fifth birthday was filled with people. So many people. So many grown ups. Other than me and Matty, there were no kids at all.

But there was a big pink cake covered with red hearts. That's what I get for being born the day after Valentines Day. Red hearts all over the family room and patio. Pink and red and white streamers. Pink and red and white wine.

My father was drunk. He told Matty to shoot a basketball into the hoop in our backyard over and over again. "Not enough mustard," my father rumbled at him, throwing the ball at him. I wondered how a condiment would help his jump shot. Did he even know what he was saying?

"Hey, Maddie Fatty," my dad's friend Paul rested his arm on my head, messing up my curls. I could smell the booze on his breath too. "I'm going to hang you upside down by your toes."

My heart pounded in my chest. I ran. I ran through the family room, through the kitchen, along the side yard, and into the laundry room attached to the garage. I tucked my small body into the back of my dad's pottery wheel, unused and forgotten in the dark corner of the small space. My pale pink dress, my mother's choice, was coated in dust and spiderwebs. My arms shook as I cuddled my legs to my body. I think that was my first panic attack.

I don't know how long I was in there. Hours. Definitely hours. I know because of how the light seeping through the crack in the door changed, fading to a hazy glow. I heard them calling my name. But I didn't move.

Matty found me in there, poking his head around the lip of the shelf. I shook my head at him. "She's not out here," he called, grinning at me. And then he was gone, and I was alone. I finally came out after all the people were gone. My mother yelled how selfish I was. My father was passed out, as if nothing happened. Matty was eating cake, as if nothing happened.

I opened my presents. The one from my parents was empty. An empty box. The card said, Maddie, we'll take you shopping. We love you, Mom and Dad. It was an empty box of empty promises.