CHAPTER 2

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2—Harry Styles

Tonight, was going to be nice. I haven't seen my brother since Christmas and it was now almost February so it really was due to catch up. We had this dinner planned for about a week now, our schedules always clashed and at some point, I really thought this was not going to happen at all. However, we managed to work it out and now, I was not only going to see Mason again but also whoever he wanted me and Renleigh to meet.

He was very suspicious about the whole thing, as if he wasn't sure it was a good idea or not. I didn't know why he was hesitant or perhaps not that open about the situation but then I ended up looking at it as nerves. He never brought anyone home before so I assumed, they were pretty serious. I never took anyone home because I just didn't feel like it was important. Plus, our parents are pretty fucking difficult to impress, mostly because of my mother and her interesting hobby of finding a problem with everyone and everything. That was something I never had the desire to showcase to anyone, not that I had any serious relationships before Renleigh came around. Introducing Celia just to ease the apparent tension I felt whenever my parents would ask about my private life just didn't feel right and like I said, it was never something that crossed my mind.

It was around five in the afternoon when Renleigh got home in the worst mood possible. I don't mean that in a sense that she was angry—she seemed upset. But she gave no emotion. Which was very much like her so it didn't surprise me. But I did wonder what happened at work.

I busied myself with getting the meal ready for tonight whilst she was upstairs. I imagined she went for a bath which was very new. She hated baths and so it shocked me when she took one every night instead of showering. I assumed it was because of the pregnancy just like everything else that she changed up.

A little later, I got a FaceTime call from Mason as he laid in his bed and I could only really see his eyes, forehead and hair.

"I think we'll just get the bus or maybe an Uber. I don't know," he said when I asked how they would come. Earlier, I offered to go pick them up but he declined. "Oh, I forgot to tell you and I guess I could fill you in later tonight but while it's in my mind—I think I want to do a placement year."

"Really?" I questioned as I stepped away from my phone to grab the spices from the cupboard. "How come?"

"I just think it would make more sense for me to do one. I'm not in any rush," he explained. "It's a bit away because I still have to finish this year and then get my head around the second year and finding something but I just think it'll be good for me. Especially because lecturers are on my arse about getting a job and stuff... maybe if I do a placement, I could sort that out and make myself feel better about not having any experience."

"Yeah that makes sense," I agreed. "But also, don't feel like you have to do that. Just because you don't have experience, doesn't mean you will never be successful. You're still a kid, you have all the time in the world to do whatever you want to do, you get me? I know there is a lot of pressure on you but don't let that control you."

"No, it's not controlling me. That's not why I want to do a placement," he said. "Like, remember when I did a week with Ren? That was so cool. It was so much fun to be in that environment and I just think that if I worked somewhere like that for a whole year it would also help me figure out what I want to do at the end of my degree. See if I want to get my Master's or go straight into a job."

"Hm, that's fair," I mumbled. "I don't know... I don't want to say I regret what I did, the route I decided to take because I'm in a very fortunate position at my age. But sometimes, I wonder if I did things too quick. The pressure I'm talking about is what made me do what I am doing now. It came from mum and dad, their success that the media constantly represented and then the push from teachers."

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