Olivia's POV
"Hey Mom and Dad..." I speak quietly, my eyes wide with fear as I look at my two parents staring at Harry and I with anger in their eyes.
Uh-oh.
This isn't good.
This isn't good at all.
I've seen my parents this angry only a few times in my lifetime. Once, when I was little and I decided to try out their new paper shredder and shredded all of their important business documents. The other time was when they walked in on Tate and I making out in my bedroom. Both incidents did not end well and I learned quickly to do my best to keep my parents from exploding.
"You've got about ten seconds to explain everything to us, Olly." My father speaks sternly, using the voice he uses with the business partners that piss him off.
How do I even explain it all, when I don't understand it myself?
"This is my boyfriend, Harry," I state, knowing better than to try and lie to them.
Harry stares at them with fearful eyes, seeing them as two vicious dogs, waiting to devour him at any second. My parents aren't the most friendly people you'll ever meet. I don't blame him.
"Hey, Olivia, the boys and I were wondering if we could get some - " Tea bursts into the house, but abruptly stops when she sees my parents, "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Watson," She stands up straight and gives them a forced smile.
" 'The boys'?" My mother questions me, her voice raising even more.
"Harry's in a boyband?" I reply, but it comes out more like a question.
My parents look at me like I'm asking to be admitted into an insane asylum. Harry gives my hand a tight squeeze as I feel his eyes on my face. I don't dare look back at him, knowing that'll just add fuel to the fire.
"Harry, could we have a word with our daughter, please?" My dad addresses Harry with an edgy tone.
"Yes, sir," Harry nods and gives my hand one last squeeze before letting it go and following Tea back outside to the backyard.
My parents turn around, expecting me to follow them into the dining room. Once in awhile, when my parents want to feel as if they're actually doing something, they'll have little 'family meetings'. It usually ends with the two of them remembering something they have to finish for work and leaving me alone at the dinner table.
I can only pray that will happen again.
"I just don't understand, Olivia. You're dating this boy? You haven't even mentioned him to us - " My mother sighs, rubbing her temples as if I'm causing her the biggest migraine in the world.
"Even if I had, it's not like you would have listened," I mutter, my attitude taking control of my better judgement.
My mother lets out a gasp as if I had just sworn in church. I keep my eyes down as my lips pull tight in a firm line. I clench my jaw to keep myself in check.
"Olivia!" My father scolds me, "You act like we don't care about you. Everything we do is -" He continues and I feel something inside me burst.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... Everything you do is so I can have a good life. I've heard it a million times. It doesn't change that you're never here. It's pretty sad that I've had a boyfriend for awhile now and you haven't even noticed!" I raise my voice, something I never do to my parents.
They stare at me, realizing I'm no longer the little girl who used to practice her piano lessons all day long and bring home straight A's. Perhaps the Olivia they thought existed never really did.
At this moment, I realize that the three of us are complete strangers. I can't remember the last time my mom hugged me and told me she loved me, or the last time my dad checked my room for monsters.
"I've literally been on the cover of magazines everywhere and you didn't notice. You don't notice anything! But you'd notice if the smallest detail went wrong in your business, wouldn't you? Why'd you have me if you had no intention to be there for me." I continue yelling, tears starting to well up in my eyes, making everything blurry.
I do everything in my power to keep the tears from spilling over.
"Olly, we do love you. We really do. We're busy people and it's always been that way. You were such a mature little girl that we didn't think we ever had to sit you down and explain that to you," My father tells me, turning it around on me and making me look like I'm the bad person.
I just stare at him blankly. No apology? No promises to be more involved? Why am I not surprised? This is the exact reason I've never brought it up before. It wouldn't matter.
This day - it's hard to believe it's been a single day - has been the most extreme roller-coaster I've ever been on. Just this morning I was reading Tate's lovely article, then I had the time of my life with the boys, and now this. There's a reason I never liked Soap Operas; I've never been a fan of drama.
"So don't try and change the topic. We're still angry that you've kept this Harry boy behind our back. Although you're legally an adult, you're still living under our roof, so our rules still abide. And if I do remember, we have a strict 'no boy' rule." My mother tells me sternly, not looking guilty or sympathetic in the slightest.
I can't help but to let out a laugh of disbelief. Are you kidding me?
"You have no right to tell me what to do. You weren't there for any of my concerts; you weren't there when I broke my leg and had to spend the night in the hospital; you weren't there for my graduation; you weren't there for me when Tate and I broke up; You're never there. I don't have to listen to anything you say." I stand up and spit out words in their faces, the tears spilling over my cheeks now.
My parents look at me with a face full of hurt, as if I had slapped them across the face. If there wasn't a large table between us, then that'd be true as well.
"Olivia Watson!" My father stands up and shouts, slamming his fist on the table.
"I'm staying at Tea's tonight. Don't bother calling," I say, wiping my tears and turning around to stomp out of the dining room.
I wait to hear my parents footsteps following me to yell at me for my disrespect, but that doesn't happen. They don't bother chasing after me. It makes the hurt sting a little bit more.
Slamming the backdoor behind me, everyone stops talking and stares at me as I cry.
"Tea, can I spend the night at your house?" I sniffle and wipe my eyes.
Harry wraps his arms around me and lets me let it all out into his chest. The boys all get the hose and put out the fire in the fireplace.
"Of course," Tea pats my back, "Let me get my things from your room. I'll pack you a bag as well," She tells me, knowing very well I don't want to step another foot in my house.
Niall, Liam, Zayn and Louis all give me a kiss on the forehead before leaving Harry and I alone. I try to apologize for ruining their day with all my drama, but they wouldn't allow it.
"Are you okay, love?" Harry whispers to me, holding my chin in his hands and forcing me to look up at him with mascara running down my face.
No. I'm not. I've been holding in all this frustration at my parents for too long. It's not fair to Harry that it all had to happen while he's in the middle of it all.
Unable to actually speak any words, I just nod my head, lying completely. He sees right through it somehow and gives me a look full of pain, as if he felt the hurt too. He leans down and gives me a gentle kiss.
"You've already become this amazing girl without them. You don't need them now any more than you did then. It's their loss," He tells me, speaking quietly into my ear.
I squeeze him tightly in my arms, so overwhelmed with so many emotions. Somehow Harry always seems to know exactly what to say to make it better.
"What did I do to get so lucky to have the best boyfriend in the world? I don't know why you put up with all my crap," I whisper quietly, my voice sounding scratchy and gross.
But Harry doesn't say anything in return. He just holds onto me tightly.
"Ready to go, Olivia?" Tea asks, speaking softly as if she didn't want to startle the two of us.
I give Harry one last squeeze before untangling myself from him. He looks at me with sad eyes as he walks Tea and I to her car. When Tea isn't looking, he steals one last kiss from me before jogging to his own familiar black SUV.
I give him a wave as he pulls out of my driveway.
Tea turns down her 'Florence + The Machine' CD that was blasting extremely loudly, resuming where she had left it before.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks me as we drive away, taking the streets to her house that I know by heart.
I glance over to her with a raised eyebrow, knowing very well that Tea isn't a big fan of playing the role of therapist.
"Nope." I reply, not even lying. It's not worth getting myself all worked up about it.
"Good." She cracks a smile, causing me to do the same.
Phew. For a minute there, I didn't recognize her.
Louis' POV
The lads and I all head back to our flats, retiring for the night. It's been on hell of a day, that's for sure. Props to Harry; Olivia's a lot to handle. She may seem like she's all chill and relaxed, but really she's just as immature and energetic as we are. I liked seeing this side of her.
Driving back home and laughing over the things that happened today, I think we all realized that Olivia's settling herself in our lives as well, not just Harry's. Seeing her cry made me more upset than I thought it would.
It's such a shame that Harry has to break up with her soon. I know Harry won't want anything to do with her after all this - he never stays in contacts with his exes, he says that's just dumb - but I hope that the rest of us can hang out with her like we did today.
After nearly carrying Niall into his flat, I head back to my own. Knowing Harry probably stuck around for a bit after we left, I decide to postpone going straight to bed.
Suddenly my phone goes off, blaring The Fray loudly from inside my pants pocket. I dig it out and look at the screen:
JULIET CALLING...
I hesitate before answering. We haven't been getting along lately. It seems we're fighting more than usual. She's always been a spitfire and I love her passion, but it's getting more and more extreme to the point that I can barely handle it.
Knowing I can't avoid our problems forever, I pick up the phone.
"Hey, Jules," I answer, flopping down on the couch and kicking off my Toms.
"You were busy today, weren't you?" She says, already the hint of attitude in her voice. I can't help but to let out an exhausted groan.
I should have never answered the phone.
"Yeah, Olivia was feeling down so Niall, Liam, Zayn and I took her to Disneyland." I explain calmly, trying to keep the fighting at a minimum.
Since when have I had to explain myself to her? Not even Tyler makes me give him my day's details and it's his job to know what I'm up to.
"Trust me, I know. You'd have to be living under a rock to not see those pictures everywhere," She snorts, sounding irritated.
"Is there a reason you called then?" My irritation starts to show as if hers was contagious.
"I'm taking it Olivia read the article in People magazine?" She asks, which makes me furrow my eyebrows.
"Yeah, she did. Why?" I ask, confused as to why Juliet cares. The public is always meddling in our love lives. Juliet should know that.
Juliet just laughs loudly as if I had said something funny. My confusion continues to grow at the girl I used to know so well, but now I'm literally guessing every second of the day with her.
"Bet she wasn't expecting that, was she?" She says, sounding as if she were smiling.
"What do you have to do with that interview?" I ask, my voice full of suspicion.
I know Juliet and Olivia didn't really get along. That's what really started all our fights. I saw how mean she really was to a girl that didn't do anything to her. I tried to talk to her about it, but she just yelled at me for being on Olivia's side over her's.
"You think People magazine get all their insider's on their own?" She laughs, making my stomach drop.
Juliet was behind it all? She was the actual reason behind all of Olivia's tears today? I can't believe it.
"How could you do that? Why do you have to involve yourself in someone else's life?" I raise my voice slightly, sitting up straight on the couch.
"Oh, c'mon Lou. It's kind of funny, you have to admit it." She tries to laugh it off as if it was nothing.
"No, Juliet. Actually it isn't funny at all. It was mean and I can't believe you would do that. What has Olivia done to you?" I can't believe I'm having to even have this conversation with her.
If Harry finds out that it was Juliet who told People magazine to contact Tate, I'm sure he won't be too happy with me. He's already talked to me several times about Juliet's immature behavior and I promised I'd keep her in check.
"Look at you, siding with Olivia once again!" She shouts into the phone.
"Yes, I am siding with her because what you did was awful. I don't even recognize you anymore. What happened to the funny, sassy girl I fell in love with?" I sigh, running my fingers through my hair.
I can feel deep down in the pit of my stomach that I've known this for awhile. I've just been choosing to ignore the fact that Juliet has changed. It happens to a lot of people when they become famous. The media takes away all their morals and they become this new person.
The old Juliet I knew would never have done this.
"She's still here, but you're just choosing some dumb, quirky girl that just showed up over her." She spits out angrily.
"You aren't honestly jealous of Olivia, are you?" I groan, not believing that I'm even having this argument.
"You read the interview, you saw what her ex said. He said to watch out for the other members of the boyband. Then I see pictures all over of you giving her a piggy-back ride and stuff. I don't feel bad in the slightest!" She goes off once again, causing me to pull the phone away from my ear in order to protect my ear drums.
My blood continues to boil in my veins. I grip my free hand tightly into a fist. I don't think I've ever been so mad at her before.
"Please don't tell me that you actually just said that," I bitterly respond.
"Well, I'm just saying, Lou. Things aren't the same ever since she walked into the picture. You can't be mad at me for being paranoid."
"Yes I can be mad at you, and I am." I shake my head as if she could actually see me, "Let's talk about this another day when you cool down." I do my best to simmer it all down, knowing exactly where this conversation is headed.
Then the front door opens and Harry walks in. He says something, but I put my finger to my lips and point to the phone. He nods and closes the door quietly behind him.
"I don't want to talk about it another day! I want to talk about it now!" She erupts, screaming loudly.
Normally I wouldn't argue in front of Harry, but my anger takes over all my usual judgements. I can't even control myself.
"Okay, then let's talk about it!" I throw my hands in the air, "I don't know who you are anymore. You sure as hell aren't the girl I fell in love with. You're just like every other jealous, mean girl out there in this world!" I shout into the phone, unable to hold back.
I've never said anything mean to a girl before, knowing how insecure and sensitive they are, but Juliet's crossed the line.
"So what're you saying?" She shouts in a shrill voice.
"Maybe we are both two different people now." I speak boldly, feeling the tension in every part of my brain.
"Are you breaking up with me, Louis?" She asks, a new tone of hurt in her voice.
I never wanted to do this. I never saw myself ever doing this. I used to be so crazy about her. I ignored it every time Harry would tell me how mean she was because I was blind to it all. Perhaps she's always been this mean person, but I just couldn't see it.
But now she's gone and hurt my friends and I'm not going to make up excuses for her anymore. She's done enough damage.
"I think it's our only option..." I speak softly, hurt in my voice as well.
Just because I'm breaking up with her, doesn't mean that I'm not sad. Memories come rushing back of all the fun times we've had, of all the sensual times we've had... That moment of panic takes over my heart where I wonder if I'm making a big mistake. We could work through this, right?
Then I look across the living room at my best mate and see him watching me with concern and worry.
This is the only option.
"You're... I can't... We..." She stutters over her words, but I can't bare to let her try to persuade me. I know if I sit here and listen to her words, I'll just end up crawling back to her and letting her infect my life even more.
"Bye, Jules," I call her by her nickname one last time before hanging up.
I throw my phone on the ground, watching it bounce off the carpet before I start to feel my chin quivering. The feeling of tears feel so foreign in my eyes. I try to wipe them away, but it's no use.
I feel the couch sink down as Harry sits down beside me. He puts a comforting arm around my shoulder.
"You did the right thing, mate."
"I know."
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AN: I don't like seeing Louis cry, something about it just feels... wrong </3 Sorry about the sad chapter. Things from here on are going to be very drama-filled! That much I can promise you! I was just looking at my outline and getting all excited to start dropping all the bombs!
So, I'm finishing up my interview and I'll have it posted either later tonight or tomorrow! So be sure to head over to my profile and check it out, leaving more questions or your responses! :)
Also, a big thanks to @LaniLuvsLous for this awesome banner! :) It's beeeeeyooooutiful! :)
Thanks again for all your love with this book! <3 Keep the comments coming!
Love always,
-Never_Let_Me_Go