Chapter 7
Grace's POV
I looked over at my older brother Austin after explaining my situation to him.
"So wait a second Grace, you like Liam? Like the same Liam we grew up with? Liam Payne?"
I bit my lip, not knowing exactly how to respond.
"No...maybe. I don't think so."
"But you're going on a date with him?"
"Yes." I said, nodding.
He looked at me like I was crazy and shook his head. Austin had been with the same girl, Sarah for two years so he seemed to be the prime person to get relationship advice from.
"I just don't know...you with Liam? That just seems really weird."
"Well I've been talking to this guy Harry and I really like him...he's pretty amazing."
"Wow you whore."
I slapped his arm hard and he winced, being overly dramatic.
"I think you should pick Liam! He's an awesome video gamer!" my little brother Zander yelled, barging into my room.
Zander was always getting on my last nerve and we were the two that always fought. He was the cutest kid ever but also the most annoying. I had a theory that all kids were annoying while they were going through that pre-teen stage. Zander came over to my bed and collapsed onto it, his body halfway on top of mine.
"Zander get off of me! Why do you smell like peanut butter?"
Austin laughed and thumped Zander on his head, causing him to roll off of me but not get off the bed. For some reason Zander always listened to Austin but not me. He seemed to think I wasn't old enough to tell him what to do. Whatever.
"I just ate a spoonful....well a few spoonful's of peanut butter."
I rolled my eyes, messing with his long hair. All three of us talked for a while until I ordered them out of my room, wanting to get some sleep. Before I shut my phone off, I pulled up Harry's contact and sent him a message.
Me: I'm really glad you opened up to me today.
Harry: Yeah.
I sighed, wondering if I'd said something wrong. He just seemed so short.
Me: Okay well goodnight :)
Harry: You too.
I shook my head, immediately getting a text from Liam.
Liam: Goodnight beautiful. I hope you sleep well.
Me: Awww thank you Liam. You too! See you tomorrow.
I wondered if Harry was just having a bad day or didn't really like talking to me. Was Liam my prince charming after all?
Harry's POV
I couldn't sleep at all that night. As soon as I got home, shit went down. I had been having such a good day. I had talked to Grace and had lunch with her but I wasn't thinking about any of that when I walked into my house. I walked inside finding my dad sitting on the couch. My whole body went numb and I felt like something was clamping around my throat, blocking my airway. Even worse, my mum was standing close to him, her hands shaking. I cringed when I took sight of the bottle of vodka in his hand. He looked even worse than I'd seen him in the past.
"Aww Haz, look who's home from school Anne." He said with a sinister smile that haunted my dreams.
My mother looked terrified, making this whole thing a bit worse. So much for my damn improvement because I knew I was about to come unglued at any moment. I looked behind me to find our phone off the hook. I reached into my pocket for my cell but didn't get to it before his fist connected with my jaw, causing me to double over in pain.
"Mum, call the cops."
I just hoped he hadn't touched my mom. I would go ballistic if he had.
"No don't you fucking touch that phone."
I bit my lip, trying to think. I had to do something. I had to do something fast. I couldn't just let him come into our house and treat us like shit. How did he even find us? I hadn't seen or heard from him in years. What did he want from us now? Money I suspected.
"Okay, this is how this is going to go down. You're both going to give me all of the cash you have and then we are going to go down to the bank and you're going to empty out your bank account. I want every bit of it and if you don't cooperate..."
He stifled a laugh making me cringe.
"I will make you regret it."
I thought about throwing a punch but I knew it would do absolutely no good. He was stronger than I was and I would probably end up in the hospital again. When everything went down the first time, my father ended up behind bars for a few years and served with a lousy restraining order that he was breaking for the second time now. It was easier to just give him what he wanted. I stood in front of my mum, shielding her body with my own. No way was I letting him put a finger on her. I was just glad that he had no clue where Gem was going to uni at. But then again, how did he find us? Did he find her too? Shit.
"We'll give you what you want." I said, nodding.
"Good. It's about time you cooperated son."
I cringed, hating that he just called me son. As far as I was concerned, he'd lost the right to be my father. I despised him.
I pulled out my wallet and retrieved my mother's purse, gathering up all of our cash. I knew she had a few hundred stashed in her bedroom but I didn't dare mention that. As we all three walked outside, my father motioned to my car.
"You drive. Now get into the fucking car and drive straight to the ATM."
"Fine but mum stays here."
"Both of you get into the fucking car! How do I know she won't call the police as soon as we leave? I'm not a fucking idiot." He screamed in my face.
My blood was boiling and my hands were shaking but I just didn't know what to do anymore. I climbed behind the wheel, my father getting into the passenger seat.
My father waited on my mum to get into the back before he screamed at me to 'fucking drive.' I did exactly as he said and he emptied our bank account, taking all of our money. My mum cried as she gave him all of the account information as we pulled up to the ATM.
"I swear to God if either one of you goes to the cops I will fucking kill you and don't think I don't know where Gem is." He threatened, making my mum sob even more.
"You son of a..."
I reached out, clamping my arms around his neck before he pried me off and punched the side of my face again. I wiped my lips, tasting blood in my mouth. I couldn't think about anything but how I was letting this shit happen again. Even drunk, my father was so damn strong. I felt relieved when we got back to my house. He jumped out of the car and got into his piece of shit truck before speeding down the street, the tires screeching the whole way. I sighed, holding my mother's trembling body.
"Harry he took all of it. How are we going to pay bills? How are we...?"
I let her cry into my shoulder while I attempted to soothe her by rubbing her back.
"Shh... it's okay. I'll get a job. I'll get a good job that pays a bunch of money. We can figure this out mum."
"Harry...I don't want you to have to worry about this...God, we were doing so good. It's your senior year and I just don't want it to be stressful. He hurt you." She cried, gently turning my face with her fingertips to observe my jaw.
"It's starting to bruise."
"It's okay mum. I'm going to call Gem."
As soon as she picked up the phone, I immediately asked her if she was okay.
"Yeah Haz I'm great. What's wrong? You sound a bit shaken up."
"You could say that."
When I told her about everything that happened, she literally flipped out. When she started crying, I sighed. It was hard having emotional women in my life. My nerves were shot to hell by now. I felt bad, wondering if I had done the right thing. I wish I could've just beat the shit out of him.
"Oh my god Harry. Mum must be flipping out. I'm coming next weekend."
"No Gem. You don't need to miss classes. We will be fine."
"Harry, I'm coming."
I nodded even though I knew she couldn't see me.
"Okay Gem. I'll see you in a week."
"I love you Haz. Tell mum I love her."
"Love you too and I will."
I hung up the phone. I felt worse about the situation mentally cursing the situation. I didn't want Gem to be dragged into this. She deserved to be having the time of her life at college.
..........
That night, I laid awake not able to sleep at all. When my phone vibrated on my nightstand, I picked it up viewing a new message from Grace. I sighed, pretty much blowing her off. I wasn't feeling very positive about the idea of Grace and I anymore. She didn't need to be with a guy like me, a guy that had so much baggage and bad shit in his life. I was stupid to believe that I was ready to be in a relationship again. What was I thinking? She deserved to be with a guy like Liam. He could give her more than I could. He could love her.
A/N
Poor Harry! Well can you guys guess what's going to happen next? There will be a lot happening in the upcoming chapters. Sorry if the beginning was slow/boring. Do you guys ship Grace and Harry or Grace and Liam. What should their ship names be? Their names don't really go good together so let me know what you think. Please comment!
-Faith