Firewall {One Direction a.u.}

Chapter 24

As the phone rings, I pace back and forth in my living room in front of my TV that is on mute. If the sound was on, I would be too distracted, but if the TV was completely off, I would lose my mind. The quiet television is a good enough distraction without having me give up on the phone call all together.

My breathing has become much more labored than it was earlier today. The anticipation of what is going to be said over the phone is a level of panic I never thought I would experience.

"Hello?"

"Charlie." I greet my brother. If I wasn't so panicked with what was going on, I probably could have cried because of the voice I haven't heard in so long. It sounds like my childhood. "What is going on? Why are you calling so often?"

"Nothing gets past you."

"I don't have time to joke around right now, please, just tell me."

I hear a long sigh from the other end of the phone. "Dad wants you home and he's going to call soon. I tried to give you a few weeks warning, but you never answered."

"You could have left a voicemail." I point out to him.

"Then you wouldn't have talked to me and I couldn't hear your voice. I miss you, sis."

It's my turn to sigh. I stop my movements to sit on the couch. "I miss you too, Charlie. Now, what the fuck is going on? Why is dad going to tell me to come home? How can I avoid coming home?"

"You can't avoid it, Morgan. Dad is serious about this. I was told not to tell you anything, but you need to be prepared to come home when he calls."

"Why? What happened?" I practically plead to him. "Is grandma okay?"

Charlie groans and I can feel his frustration. "Morgan, I can't tell you. It's late there, go to bed."

This prompts me to look at the clock. I realize I put off calling him back for a few hours, it's now 10pm. "I'm not going to be able to sleep until you tell me grandma is okay."

"She's okay enough."

"What does that mean?!" I yell at him. "I swear to God Charlie, if you don't tell me-"

I hear the line go dead. "Fuck!" I scream at no one in particular.

For the next five hours, I lay in bed just staring at the ceiling. There's no good reason why my dad would want me home that doesn't have to do with my grandma. I want to call her just to make sure she's okay, but I'm also afraid of the real answer.

Around three am, I decided that I should start packing my things if I had to go home. I take out my laptop and start looking into flights home and storage lockers. If my grandma is sick, she will get better soon and I will be back to my normal life. I don't book a flight because if I know my dad, he'll have one already booked for me.

I pull out all my suitcases and start putting clothes in them, leaving my work clothes on hangers. Charlie didn't give me a specific day my father was going to call, so I have to put clothes aside for work.

My mind eventually led me to think of Harry and what I would tell him. This troubled me more than I thought it would. If this is a short trip, like I have been planning for, this shouldn't be a problem. However, we are not in a serious relationship so I'm not sure if he wants to continue what we're doing long distance. I groan and roll onto my stomach, burying my head in my pillow.

At 7am, my alarm goes off, making me jolt up, not realizing I had fallen asleep. I have to get ready for work and on top of that, questions Harry is going to ask about the phone call.