48 Hours || Harry Styles

Chapter 21

“Are you ready?” I asked Harry as we both walked up my parents’ front steps, side by side. Collin’s car was already in the driveway, and I was glad we weren’t the first to arrive. I hadn’t told my family that Harry would be joining us, and I knew what we were about to be up against.

“I guess I have to be.” He held out his hand with a friendly smile on his face, and I grabbed it in mine. We stood there together while I rang the doorbell. I could hear the grand sound echo throughout the house even through the barrier of the solid front door.

Moments later Collin appeared, worry and surprise etched across his face.

“Andy, what the hell is he doing here?” he whispered so our parents wouldn’t hear.

“Collin, you remember my boyfriend Harry, don’t you?” I replied, a smile on my face to hide the panic I was really feeling.

“Good to see you again,” Harry said, following my lead.

“Andy, seriously, what’s going on? Mum and Dad are going to-“

“Andrea!” my father’s voice boomed from the top of the steps. Moments later, he stood in the doorway behind Collin, who was already giving me warning looks. “Your mother’s in the kitchen, but come on in. Who’s this?”

The last two words were full of distaste, and my heart pounded in my chest. I tried to hide my nerves, but Harry only gripped my shaking hand tighter which indicated I wasn’t doing such a bang up job.

Before I could reply, my mother emerged from the kitchen. Her face held the same expression my father’s did, and all eyes were on me.

“Mum, dad…um, this is Harry. My boyfriend.”

“Harry,” my mother repeated, looking over his ripped jeans and casual t-shirt. “As in Harry Styles, yes?”

“The one and only,” he beamed, a smirk fixed on his face. This was a disaster, I could already tell. I wanted to abort mission, but the night had just begun.

“Yes, the one and only who dragged my daughter to prison with him,” my mother continued.

“Mum,” Collin said, trying to calm the storm that was bound to come at some point tonight.

She took a deep breath, probably counting to ten in her head, and then called everyone to the living room for appetizers. We made small talk, beating around the bush for a good half an hour until dinner was finally done. The main course. The real test. This is where they yell at me, I knew. This is where it all goes downhill.

“So, Andy, why is it that you couldn’t make it last night?” my dad questioned, attempting to sound casual.

 “I had an essay due today that I needed to work on, and I’m afraid it took all night.”

“Waiting till the last minute on such an important assignment isn’t like the daughter I raised. I see that college you chose has had a wonderful impact on you,” he said, a bitterly fake smile creeping its way onto his face.

The sarcasm was overwhelming.

“I know, it’s not like me, but I’ve had a lot going on lately,” I explained.

“Care to share?” my mother chimed in.

“Um…I recently got a job, so I’ve been busy with that.”

“A job? Well damn, sis, you’re more responsible than I was at your age,” Collin tried to back me up. I offered him a grateful smile.

“Where?” my mum pressed

“A restaurant. I’m a waitress.”

“An incredible waitress, for what it’s worth. She waited on me and I must admit, the service was great,” Harry commented.

“A waitress…Well I only hope you don’t stay at such a job forever,” my dad said to me, completely overlooking Harry’s effort as if he didn’t speak a word.

“No, of course not. Um, this student teacher program is starting up soon,” I said.

“Oh, sweetie,” my mother scoffed. “I’m sorry to be the one to break this to you, but to work with children you’ll need a background check and I don’t think yours is as spotless as it was.”

All eyes were on her, and even my father looked a little surprised by her maliciously condescending tone. Like she was entirely against me and had finally found a weakness to attack.

“Right,” I said, now barely fighting to get the words out. “Um-“

“Why don’t we cut right to it then, yeah? I’ve found out about your little arrest you failed to mention, and we all know there’s absolutely no way that it will be overlooked through this process. But now, I have to say this must be a new low for you darling, to bring this criminal into my home. In fact, the same criminal that put you in such a compromising situation in the first place. Andrea, I do hope you realize that your entire future could be sabotaged because of this boy-“

“Mum, stop,” Collin dared to interrupt. Tears were clouding my vision as I tried to blink them away, but it was no use. I wasn’t as strong as I thought I would be, and I couldn’t handle this. I couldn’t handle my family’s judgment no matter how much I told myself that I could.

“He’s not a criminal,” I managed to say.

“Like hell he isn’t! Just look at him!”

“He didn’t do anything! It was me! I love him, and I dragged him into this mess.”

“Love,” she sneered, mocking me with laughter. “You don’t know the first thing about love. You’re not in love, you stupid girl, you’re in lust. And trust me, he is not worth it.”

Harry stayed remarkably quiet throughout the argument, but just as he began to defend himself I lost it.

I rose from my seat, tearing my hand from his, and walked out the front door. I couldn’t leave. Harry had been the one to drive here, and we took his car. He had the keys and I didn’t want to leave when things were like this, but I needed to get out of there just for a little bit.

I had never seen my mother so passively pissed off in my life. Her words actually hurt, and half of them weren’t even about me. Hearing her talk of harry so lowly, in such a way that I used to speak of him, it didn’t feel right and it tore something up inside me. I hated it. I hated her in that moment. How dare she assume things about him when she’d hardly spoken a word to him? Who did she think she was?

And the terrible thing was the truth to her words. At the beginning at least. I’ll never be able to teach children, be a real educator, without a clean background check. For as long as I could remember, despite my parents’ penitence, I’d wanted to be a teacher and now because of this mess it seems like I never will be.

And the way she looked down on me, like a stupid little girl. It was repulsing. Sure, she’s always been condescending and slightly bitter, but she’d always been a somewhat decent mother. Tonight she didn’t seem like the woman who raised me. The lady sitting in that dining room was far worse.

AUTHORS NOTE

okay so i was going to make this chapter a lot longer, but I already had this part written so far and I know its been awhile since I last updated so I posted it anyway. I know I'm the worst updater around, but i really appreciate your patience and understanding. I do have about 5 other books i'm currently writing and this one is probably the least fun to work on. sorry. thank you so much for reading and i love you so much! x