Chapter 15

21.9K 500 85
By boomerluke

Samantha

"Mumma! I have ice cweam?" I sighed, balancing Catherine on my hip as I unlocked the door with my free hand.

"Not right now baby, you have to eat dinner first!" She pouted as I set her down and grabbed the grocery bags from the hallway. My phone chimed in my pocket and I pulled it out to glance briefly at the message.

New Message

From Lou:

Hey babe! Sorry we couldn't stop by yesterday, El came down with a stomach bug:( Please let Caty Cat know I'm sorry & that we're still on for the park Saturday! <3

I couldn't help the smile that overtook my face as I read Louis's message. Since meeting Lou and El, they had made it their mission to come visit us at least once a week. I told them they didn't have to since it was such a trip, but they wouldn't have any of that. They had been so wonderful to me and Catherine, Louis often taking Catherine to the park while El and I chatted over a cuppa at the local coffee shop.

I quickly typed out a response before stepping into the flat.

To Lou:

Sorry to hear about El! Hope she's feeling better soon <3 See you Saturday, love!

"Bu Mumma I want ice cweam!" She whined, starting a meltdown. I sighed, sliding my phone back into my pocket after pressing send. It had been a long day and I was not in the mood to fight with my daughter right now.

"Okay sweetie, you know what? I'll get you some ice cream if you go in your room and clean up all of your toys. Deal?"

"Yay!" She squealed as she grabbed her pink cheetah print backpack and ran into her room. Boy did that girl love her cheetah print. I threw my purse on the couch and bounced into the kitchen, my hands full of grocery bags, to get the ice cream ready for Catherine. I was rummaging around in the freezer below the fridge when I felt strong hands grasp my waist. I shrieked and my body immediately tensed.

"Sam, calm down. It's just me." I felt anger boil up in me as I heard his deep, raspy voice.

"Don't you dare touch me." I spat.

I turned around stiffly as he released his grip from my waist unwillingly, as if he was afraid I would run away.

"How did you get in here, Harry?" He held up a key to my flat guiltily.

"You really need to get a better hiding place for your spare key than in that plant next to your door. I know you too well, Sami." A smile played on the corners of his lips and I just crossed my arms.

"What do you want, Harry." I asked him blankly, turning back to the freezer to get Catherine her ice cream.

"I want to talk." I rolled my eyes and pushed past him into the living room that I had left a mess. I grabbed Catherine's toy basket and began filling it with the toys that lay askew on the floor, her ice cream long forgotten sitting on the kitchen counter.

"I think you said enough when you walked out on us last month." I know I didn't have much room to be mad with him, after all, if anyone had the right to be mad, it was still him.

"Oh come on Sami! I had just learned that I had a daughter! Cut me some slack will ya? It's not like it was your life that got flipped upside down in one afternoon." I rolled my eyes and stopped picking up the toys.

"Harry, I'm not mad, okay? I understand. I get that you're not ready for this and I'm not pushing you. If you don't want to be a part of her life I won't be mad, I just think that Catherine-" I was silenced by Harry's soft pink lips connecting with mine. It was the most incredible feeling in the whole world. I never thought I'd feel this again, that rapid beating of my heart. I kissed him back and the kiss deepened. Harry slid his tongue along my bottom lip and I jerked away, slapping him roughly across the face. He cupped his reddening cheek and looked at me with anger blazing in his eyes.

"What the fuck was that for?" He snapped at me, his breath ragged as he tried to control his anger.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Harry! You stroll right in here after going MIA for a month and think you can just, just-" I stared at him, at a loss for words. Fury was painted plainly on my face as I tried to make sense of what was going on between us. The silence hung heavily in the room.

"Sam," he started carefully. "remember when I said I loved you in the airport?" I nodded and felt that same flutter in my stomach that I felt that day in the airport.

"Yes.." He grabbed my hands in both of his, and as much as I wanted to pull away, I was frozen to the spot.

"I was telling the truth, Samantha. I truly loved you, and even after you broke my heart, I still love you. As mad I want to be at you for lying to me all of this time, I just... can't. Because as hard as it is for me to believe that you made the right decision by keeping Catherine away from me, I understand why you did it. I've had some time to think, and- and I've decided I want to be a part of our daughter's life. It just took me a while to figure out what I wanted. But I realized something this last month, I don't want to miss anymore of her life than I already have. I want to be a family. Samantha, I love you, I already love our daughter. Please, just let me.." I felt tears pricking my eyes but I wiped them away quickly. I had waited years to hear these words from Harry, but a part of me was still scared to open up to him after all of this time.

"Harry... I-I don't know..." He took his chance, swooping in to press his lips to mine again and I could taste the saltiness of his tears mixed with my own. He pulled away and cupped my face with his hands and I flinched.

"Please..." He whispered. "You can't tell me that you don't love me too. I know you were sparing my feelings Sami, I knew it wasn't the truth when you said you didn't feel the same. You love me Samantha Evans, and I love you. " He looked deep into my eyes as if searching for answers.

It was true, I did love him, and in all honesty I had never stopped loving him. But I just didn't think it was a good idea for us to start things up, not when he had just recently been deemed one of "Britain's top 30 hottest bachelors under 30". Harry was living his dream, was I really ready to hop into the spotlight with him? To throw Catherine into the spotlight? I grabbed his face in my hands and stroked my thumb along his jaw as I stared into those beautiful jade eyes, the spitting image of our daughter's.

"Harry, I've always loved you. But I..." The smile that had been slowly forming on his face began to dissipate as fast as it formed. "I just don't know if it's the best idea..." the tears began to form in his eyes once again.

"Sam, please." I shook my head slowly and nuzzled into the hand that cradled my face.

"I want Catherine to know her dad... B-but I don't want her to be thrust into the spotlight. She's only a little girl! And I- well, I've seen what the media has said about you, and I don't want that for her." Harry's head dropped and he began toying with the sleeve of his black long sleeve shirt. As he played with the sleeve and it inched up his wrist, I caught sight of the scarred, pink skin that cut across his skin, and I had to swallow the gasp that built up in my throat. I blinked away the tears that pooled in my eyes and quickly looked away before he could see that I had noticed. Oh Harry, what have you done to yourself? I wanted to say something. I wanted to grab his wrists and kiss every inch of damaged skin. I knew that Harry was hurting, but after all of these years, I no longer knew how to comfort him. I made a mental note to myself to ask him about his scars at a later time, I time when we weren't still dancing around each other.

"So... um, then where do we go from here?" H whispered quietly, refusing to meet my eyes. I sighed and sat down on the couch, gesturing for him to join me.

"I think I apologize for the way I treated you at the airport and for keeping such a big secret from you," I said quietly as I looked up to meet his eyes apologetically. "Then I think we go wherever the hell we want to with whatever it is that's between us, because I do love you, Curly," He smiled as I used his old nickname. "I always have, I just, I don't know if I'm ready to label it so fast..." I trailed off with embarrassment, but quickly rushed out what I was thinking before he could respond, "and, I want you to have a relationship with Catherine, she desperately wants to know her father. So, would you please stick around and give it a chance?"

He smiled softly and threw his arm around my shoulder, kissing the side of my head.

"If you can accept my apology for walking out on you, I'd love to get to know her, Sami. And-and I want to get to know you again too." I felt the blush rising up my neck.

"Please... just-just promise me you won't leave us again, you won't leave me." He rested his chin on my head as I buried my face in his chest, breathing in that familiar cologne I loved so much.

"I promise, babe. I'm not going anywhere. Friends or whatever?" I pulled away and kissed him hesitantly again, soft and sweet.

"Friends or whatever."

"I love you, Sami." He threw me that cheeky grin and I just laughed, shaking my head.

"I love you too, Curly."

"So..." He said putting his hands in his pockets. "C-can I go meet her? I mean, officially meet her?" I hesitated for a moment before I decided that it was better for H to meet her as her father right away rather than confuse her by telling her after she'd gotten to know him as another 'uncle'. I smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Of course." I led him down the hallway to Catherine's room. I knocked on the door and opened it.

"Hey, Baby, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Catherine turned around from playing with her dolls and looked up at me and Harry. I led Harry to the edge of her bed and had him sit as I grabbed Catherine and hoisted her on to my lap next to Harry. "Catherine, this is Harry, an old friend of Mummy's." Her eyes widened.

"Mummy! He has cuwly haiw like me! " I saw Harry smile and I squeezed his hand.

"Yeah he does baby girl! And he has the most beautiful green eyes, just like yours. Harry, this is the light of my life, Catherine Anne." I grinned as I watched Harry's eyes widen in shock.

"A-Anne?" I heard him whisper quietly to himself with a hint of a smile ghosting his lips.

"Yeah, Anne." I confirmed as I placed my hand over his own larger one again, squeezing lightly in support.

"Hi Hay-wie!" He chuckled as she wrapped on of his curls around her finger and tugged softly, letting it roll off of her finger and bounce back to its place framing his neck. "Why is yous Haiw so long Hay-wie? You look like a giwl!" She giggled as she began playing with more of his curls. I could help but chuckle as well as I looked over at Harry's goofy smile. Before he could respond, Catherine jumped into his lap and laced her small arms around his neck. I could see Harry tense up, but I once again squeezed his hand in reassurance and he began to relax as he looped an arm around her back to make sure she didn't fall. "You like kitties Hay-wie?" He laughed again, that adorably goofy smile lighting up his face.

"I love kitties!" She gasped and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Me too!" She hopped off of his lap and she pulled on my pant leg, wanting me to bend down so that she could whisper in my ear.

"I like Hay-wie" She spoke in a mock whisper and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Is Hay-wie fwiends wit Daddy like Uncle Lou-ie?"

"Oh yes baby Harry knows daddy very well, in fact, why don't you go play your CD for Harry I know he'd love to hear your favorite song. And maybe if you're lucky, he'll tell you a super special secret about daddy! " Her eyes lit up at the idea of finding out more about her father and she nodded vigorously, quickly scampering over to the CD player on her small wooden dresser. The cheeky girl threw a quick mischievous smile Harry's way as she reached up on tiptoes to press the play button on her compact Hello Kitty CD player. She pressed the skip button again and again until it finally landed on track number ten, her favorite. Her toothy smile stretched across her face as the opening chords of the guitar filled the room.

Harry gasped as he recognized what song it was and turned to me with an incredulous glint in his eyes.

"Said I'd never leave her cuz her hands fit like my tshirt, tongue tied over three words..."

"Hay-wie did you knows my Daddy sing dis song! Uncle Lou-ie too!" She babbled on as Liam's voice melted into Niall's, and Niall's melted into the chorus. Harry turned to me with a wide smile adorning his plump lips, "Oh I know they are sweetie, I know this song very well. In fact, it's one of my favorites."

"Really?" Catherine gasped in disbelief, running over to pull herself up onto Harry's lap. H just nodded as they sat there with matching dimply smiles plastering their faces.

"Again we take the same road, two days in the same clothes and I know just what she'll say if I can make all this pain go..." Catherine gasped and jumped up and down in his lap.

"U-uncle Lou say dat's my daddy!" She squealed, pointing to the CD player as Harry's velvety smooth voice rang through the speakers. I saw the tears collecting in his eyes as she started to hum along. I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned in to rest my head in the crook of his shoulder so I could whisper in his ear.

"Go ahead and tell her, I know you want to." I smiled and kissed his shoulder lightly. He turned to me, pulling me tighter against his side and giving me a one sided hug before turning back to Catherine, hugging her tighter against his chest and leaning his head down to rest on the top of hers. He stroked through her curls with one hand cautiously as he tried to think of how he could possibly break the news to our daughter. I saw the cogs working in his head, eyes flickering back and forth as he chewed at the inside of his cheek before taking a deep breath. Still staring at the pink wall across the room, he slowly opened his mouth, waiting once again for that familiar chorus to roll around.

"If you're pretending from the start, like this, with a tight grip, then my kiss can mend your broken heart, I might miss everything you said to me," The sound of Harry's voice carried across the room as it stood out against the pixelated version playing through the speakers. I smiled, grateful to once again be able to hear that voice that I loved so dearly in person. I heard Catherine's intake of breath as she heard Harry sing for the first time. She might have only been three, but she was smart beyond her years. That coupled with the fact that she had been listening to his CD nonstop since Louis had sent her a copy a couple weeks before, made for a quick recognition of the familiar voice that she had previously known as that belonging to her father.

"And I can mend your broken parts, that might fit, like this, and I will give you all my heart..."

"So we can start it all over again." He finished with a smile as he locked eyes with his daughter. Catherine's eyes were as wide as saucers as she turned to look between me and Harry and back again. I could see the excitement overtaking her features as she attempted to process this new information. I smiled in encouragement as Catherine studied Harry's features, running her hand first along his dimpled cheek to his lengthy curls that so resembled her own.

"Daddy?

Continue Reading

You'll Also Like

1K 123 41
Go through Sam's life of lost and broken love. She's been waiting so long for the guy of her dreams and one day he finally asks the question but not...
240K 4.3K 45
Harry Styles, a quite cheeky and charming lad, was living the dream with his fellow band mates. But on one unfortunate day, he had to make the most h...
3.3K 75 21
Sequel to Never Tear Us Apart- Harry Styles Harry's gone, Aprils alone. She has her baby in her belly but is that enough to keep April grounded? Aft...
48.3K 860 11
" but its no true" louis cries out "how could you lie to me" harry yells out "but i never cheated you have to believe me" louis says as tears run do...