The Other One {Harry Styles AU}

54. Then

(A/N: The 1D shows were amazing. Got to sing happy birthday to Niall... Pic from Rose Bowl 9-13-14)

"Maddie, sit down. You're driving me crazy." My grandmother patted the green vinyl chair with her gnarled hand, her fingers bent at odd angles from arthritis.

I paced the hallway of the hospital, shaking and annoyed. "Why do I have to be here again?" I folded my arms over my chest. It had been almost a year since I last saw my father. I really had no desire to see him ever again, but my grandmother manipulated my mother, and there I was, waiting for him to come out of the delivery room.

She shook her head, disapproving. "He's your brother."

I leaned my forehead against the cool mint green wall. Just hearing the word made my stomach clench. Brother. No, my brother was dead. I turned and slid down the wall, resting my arms on my knees and my face on my arms. Tears pooled on my wrists.

I watched people's feet as they walked by. Heels clip clopping. Boots thudding. Sneakers squeaking. A pair of white orthopedic shoes stopped beside me.

"Are you okay, hon?"

I looked up at the petite nurse. No. No, I wasn't o-fucking-kay. I couldn't remember what okay felt like, if I had ever really felt it in the first place. I doubted whether I would ever be okay. I nodded, "Yeah."

"Can I get you to go sit in the waiting area, hon? We need the hallways clear."

Fine. Fuck. "Sure. I'm sorry." I got to my feet awkwardly, wiping my face, and plopped into an empty chair across the way.

The nurse froze, staring at me. "Oh my gosh, you're that girl. From that show. And those movies." I plastered on a fake smile. Fuck my fucking life. "Margie? Maggie?"

"Maddie," I said, trying not to sound as irritated as I felt. There I was just barely fucking surviving, and she was just trying to figure out why I was famous. Fuck you.

"Yes!" She extended the s, hissing through her teeth. "My nieces love you."

"Thank you." I smiled tiredly at her. A flash of recognition passed over her face, and her smile dissolved. Ah, yes. She remembered where she knew me. From the fucking news. The nurse scurried away, her stupid chunky white shoes making her legs look like q-tips.

"Maddie, come on in," my father called from the doorway down the hall. "Come meet your brother." He disappeared back inside.

I plodded down the hall, hesitating at the door. My stepmother lay on the bed, her top half barely covered, her hair stuck to her sweaty face. My father now held a tiny bundled blue blanket in his arms, which he gazed at with an expression I had rarely seen. He moved closer, reaching the bundle out toward me. I cradled the little creature in my arms.

"What's his name?" I stared down at his purple face. His tiny fingers were scrunched closed like talons, like claws. My heart began to pound, my breathing shallow.

My stepmother called from across the room, "We're going to call him Matthias. Matt." My head snapped up, and I glared at my father. The baby started to cry. "Gentle now, Maddie."

I shoved the baby against my father's chest. "Fuck you," I fumed.

Fuck you and fuck you and fuck you.