Harry and I arrived at the lake where we grabbed our belongings from the car and walked over to a spot underneath a tree. I gently pulled out the beach towels and took my camera out from in between them before gently setting the valuable object onto the ground. I grabbed a towel and spread it out as Harry followed in suit. I then pulled out a bottle of sunscreen,

“Lather me up?” I asked Harry and he nodded his head. I peeled off my tank top and threw it down on the bag then went to slip my shoes off and placed them in the bag. As I continued to take my shorts off I could feel a pair of eyes following my every eye and I just knew Harry was taking in my half naked body. I decided to tease him a bit and bent down to put all my things away and when I glanced behind me his eyes were dead center on my butt. I couldn’t help but laugh at him as he continued to stare at me.
“Like what you’re looking at?” I asked as I stepped closer to him, my fingers coming in contact with his shirt and fumbling with the hem. I heard Harry gulp and nod his head. “Well now I wanna see what’s underneath your shirt, Styles,” I said as I began to lift his shirt over his head, my lips just inches away from his. Just as I was about to complete taking his shirt off I dropped it back down and he gave her a confused look.

“Meet you in the water!” I yelled and took off running for the dock. Harry caught up to me and picked me up by my waist before jumping into the icy cold water. Once we surfaced after the plunge into the water Harry had a huge smirk on his face.

“Thank you for joining me!” I exclaimed as I held onto his neck and pushed his flat curls out of his face. “I love your hair,” I mindlessly said to Harry as I played with a curl.

“And why is that?” He asked as he spun us around and watched the smile on my face grow.

“I don’t know. It’s so you and it’s fun to play with,” I said, as my blue eyes stared into his emerald ones.

“I like your eyes,” He told me with a smile etched onto his face.

“Why?” I said as a blush crept its way onto my cheeks.

“They’re so blue, like an ocean. I can’t help but get lost in them,” He told me as our lips inched closer to one another’s. We were just about to kiss when I heard a loud shriek, I looked to the shore and saw a petite blonde standing on the dock pointing at us. “Uh oh,” I heard Harry whisper to me, but a smile took over my face as I recognized the girl
“Is that Abby Grimes?!” The blonde yelled as she jumped up and down. Harry shot a confused glance at me as I peeled myself away from him and swam to the dock and climbed on top of it enveloping the blonde in a hug. Once I pulled away from the hug with the blonde I pulled Harry next to me to introduce to him to my long time best friend, Charlotte.

“Harry this is my best friend Charlotte. Charlotte this is my boyfriend Harry,” I introduced them and Harry stuck his hand out.

“Pleasure to meet you Charlotte,” Harry said and Charlotte’s eyes went wide.

“You really are dating Harry from One Direction! Oh my gosh,” Charlotte gushed as she stared at me and shook Harry’s hand.

“Yeah,” I said with laughter. “So I take it you’re on summer break from school?”

“Yeah, so I’m visiting the fam. Sorry to hear about your gramps, how’s he doing?” Charlotte asked

“He’s doing good for having a stroke! He’s getting a lot of tests done today so that’s why Harry and I are here.”

“That’s good, how’s London and photography going?” Charlotte asked as she followed us back to our spot under the tree.

“Wonderful, I love every second of everything there!” I exclaimed to her and I couldn’t help but gush about every single thing I loved about London and my passion; photography.

“So Harry are you excited for tour?” Charlotte asked the boy next to me.

“Oh yeah! I’m completely stoked!” He replied and I smiled at him, he loved singing and traveling.

“I bought tickets for the concert here and I cannot wait to attend! I stayed up all night until the clock struck midnight,” Charlotte exclaimed and I laughed shaking my head at her.

“So how long have you two known each other?” Harry us in which we both just smiled at one another.

“We’ve known each other since we were 4, our dad’s grew up together,” I said as I hugged Charlotte.

“Wow, that’s an awfully long time!”

“Yeah, we were going to go to college together at Ohio State but her parents chose for her to go to Stanford, THEN she drops out and moves to freakin’ England!” Charlotte exclaimed jokingly.

“Okay, you and I both know that we would have just gotten under each other’s hair if we lived together! We are too alike you nut ball!” I joked as I threw some grass at her.

“Yeah whatever! Guess what though?!” Charlotte said, as if she remembered something.

“What?” I asked with a smile on my face at the excitement of my best friend.

“I applied to study abroad in London for a semester!!” Charlotte yelled as she threw her hands in the air.

“Really?! Did you get approved!!” I screamed just as loud.

“Yes! In the fall of 2012 I will be studying in London!” Charlotte exclaimed and I lunged over and wrapped Charlotte in a hug that knocked us over, while both of us shrieked in excitement. Once we settled down we continued to chat for a bit when I grabbed my camera and began snapping pictures of the surroundings and allowing Charlotte to take a few photos as well.

“Harry, Abby let me take a picture for you two,” Charlotte said as she aimed the camera at us. I threw my legs over Harry’s legs and scooted closer to him before throwing my arm over his neck and bringing him closer. I saw Harry look at me out of the corner of my eye and Charlotte snapped the photo.
“Hey I wasn’t ready,” Harry said and Charlotte waved him off as she looked at the photo she took.

“That’s the whole point, it looks more real, see?” Charlotte said as she showed us the photo and I nodded my head in agreement. In the photo I was smiling happily at the camera while Harry was looking at me with a smile on his face.

“We’re cute,” I said to Harry before pressing my lips against his.

“So what are you two love birds doing tonight? Wanna go on a double date with Jake and I?” Charlotte suggested and I was quick to answer.

“As much as I would LOVE to hang out with you, Harry and I are going to dinner with my dad once he lands,” I sadly said.

“Woah there, did I just hear that you’re going to dinner with your dad? Did you two patch things up?” Charlotte asked with disbelief written on her face.

“Meeeh. We’re working things out I guess you could say. My gramps wants my dad and I on good terms before he kicks the bucket,” I nonchalantly said.

“Makes sense, I’m glad you two are going to work things out. What about your mom?” Charlotte said and I took a sharp intake of breath.

“I don’t think that will be happening. Apparently dad is the only one wanting to reach out to me,” I said and Harry started to rub my back comfortingly.

“One step at a time right?” Charlotte said and huge smile broke out on my face.

“You still use that?” I said and Charlotte nodded her head.

“Use what?” Harry asked, confused.

“The saying ‘one step at a time’ that was our saying for one another growing up,” I told him and he nodded his head in understanding.

“Oh shit! I gotta go, I didn’t realize the time and I’m supposed to pick Jake up from work! I’ll see you around right Abby?” Charlotte said as she jumped up and started to walk away. Harry and I lounged around at the lake for a little bit longer so I could take some more photos of the landscape when we decided to head back to the house to shower and wait around. While he showered I brought chips upstairs, popcorn and some sodas so we could watch a movie in the game room.

“Hungry?” Harry asked as he sat next to me and pulled me in his lap.

“Starving,” I said as I ate a handful of popcorn. “What movie do you want to watch?” I asked Harry as I pointed to the collection of DVDs.

“A funny one,” He told me as he popped a chip into his mouth.

“White Chicks?” I questioned, pointing to the DVD.

“Never seen it before so sure,” He told me and I looked at him in disbelief.

“You’ve never seen White Chicks? Do you live under a rock!” I yelled as I got up to set the movie up on the TV.

“Says the girl that didn’t know who One Direction was,” He jokingly said and I flipped him off in response.

“This is my absolute FAVORITE movie, Harold, it is so funny. Just watch,” I said Harry as I walked back over to the couch. I laid down across the couch and pulled Harry down with me so we could cuddle. Before the movie was over I fell asleep to the steady beat of Harry’s heart. After a few hours of sleeping I woke up to my phone ringing, something that seemed to always happen to Harry and I as we slept. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was my gran.

“Hello?” I quietly said into the phone so I wouldn’t wake up Harry.

“Why are you whispering?” My gran asked.

“Harry is asleep, what’s up Gran?”

“Oh I was just calling to say I’m on my way from picking your dad up and he expects you to be ready when we get to the house so you three can leave. He said he sent you a text but got no response so I figured you were asleep,” Gran said and I quickly looked at a clock and noticed it was 6:30pm. Crap.

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get home. Love you!” I said into the phone and quickly hung up. I shook Harry awake and he groaned as his eyes fluttered open.

“What?” He whined as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Gran called, she said we need to be ready by the time my dad and her get here,” I told him and he looked at me in shock. “What?”

“Did you wake up to your phone ringing before me and answer it? I think I just saw a pig fly by the window,” Harry joked as he sat up and I slapped his shoulder. We walked into my bedroom where we grabbed clothes from our suitcases and quickly changed into them. Harry went to brush his teeth while I applied my makeup and slipped my jewelry on. By the time I brushed my teeth and we were both done getting ready Gran and dad had just pulled up. I grabbed my purse off the bed and ran down the stairs to meet Harry in the living room where he was waiting.

“I’m nervous,” Harry said once I plopped down next to him.

“Me too,” I told him as I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Gee thanks for making me feel better about meeting your dad babe,” Harry joked and I just know he playfully rolled his eyes.

“That’s not what I’m nervous about, you’ll do fine,” I told him as I pecked his lips as the door opened.

“Abby, Harry we’re here!” Gran yelled from the foyer and I hopped off the sofa and walked to where her voice was. Stood at the door was my dad with a suitcase in his hand, he was wearing jeans and a red polo. His brown hair was shorter from when I last saw him and his blue eyes shined as he looked at me with a smile on his face. He set his bag down and held his arms open to me, I hesitated at first but eventually walked over to my dad and hugged him.

“You haven’t changed one bit,” my dad said into my hair as he hugged me and I couldn’t help but smile because he did notice me when I lived at home.

“Only my age,” I told him once I pulled away from the hug, my dad was smiling. I don’t think I can remember a time where I saw him smile before today.

“Where’s this boyfriend of yours? I want to meet him,” my dad said as he walked around me and into the living room where Harry was pulling his shoes on. “You must be Harry!” My dad said as he approached the brit and I began to get nervous. I know I haven’t talked to my dad in three years but I still want him to like Harry.

“Yes sir, and you must be Mr. Grimes, Abby’s father?” Harry said as he stuck his hand out to shake my dad’s but my dad pushed it down and pulled Harry in to a hug. My mouth dropped open at the gesture because my dad NEVER hugged people he hasn’t met before.

“Please, call me Phil,” Dad said as he pulled away and looked at Harry up and down.

“It’s lovely to meet you…Phil,” Harry said and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He’s so awkward but it’s cute.

“So are you two ready to get out of here and grab a bite to eat?” Dad asked as he walked back over to his bag and brought it over to the stairs to set it down. Harry and I both responded with a yes and we said goodbye to Gran and climbed into my rental car, letting my dad drive, and headed to The Lakeside Grille, my dad’s favorite restaurant from when he was a kid. Once the waiter sat us in our booth my dad excused himself to the bathroom.

“He’s acting so strange!” I said to Harry once my dad was out of earshot.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked as he rested his hand on my thigh.

“He’s acting nice, he never acted like this before.”

“Well, he does want a father-daughter relationship with you, it’s called he’s trying love,” Harry smartly said to me and I rolled my eyes.

“I know that, it’s just weird,” I said to him as I rested my head on his shoulder. He brought his index finger under my chin and made me look at him.

“Don’t be so stubborn,” Harry said and brought his lips down on mine, I smiled into the kiss at the feeling that was erupting in my stomach. He makes me so happy. Just as we pulled apart my dad came and sat back down across from us. Our waiter came back over after a few minutes and took our drink orders along with our food orders and then left.

“So Harry, what’s it like being in a famous boyband?” Dad asked as he took a sip of his water. Here it comes, the questions.

“It’s really awesome. I’m traveling the world, doing what I love to do with my four best mates, I couldn’t ask for anything else,” Harry replied and I mentally patted him on the back, he was doing so well.

“That’s really good, as long as you take care of my daughter I like you,” my dad sternly told Harry and I was taken by surprise by how protective my dad was towards me.

“I promise to take care of her sir,” Harry said while he looked down at me with that adorable smirk on his face, I couldn’t help but blush.

“Abigail, how’s photography going?” Dad asked as he put his phone away, which again was weird because he normally never gets off of it.

“It’s actually going really good! I work for a company that has offices all over the world so if I ever get tired of London I could go to Sydney, or New York or wherever.”

“Now at this company is it just photography or is it like a modeling business?” He asked, genuinely interested in my career.

“Um well we have like regular models that we hire for shoots but it’s mainly photography with a little bit of videography as well,” I told him as a smile took over my face, this was actually nice. Having a good conversation with my dad, one he actually cared about.

“Now you know I’m gonna ask this, are you high up in this company?” He asked and I knew it, typical businessmen father always wanting him and his family to impress people.

“Actually I am, I get to pick the shoots I want to do and I even have people requesting me to do their shoots. I had this one lady agree to wait 2 months and pay extra until I was free to do a photo shoot. I get a lot of good reviews from all the designers, companies and models I work for.”

“Good, good, good! That makes me happy!” Dad exclaimed as he nodded his head at me. “You were always a people person as a child, she’d always talk to strangers!” My dad reminisced to Harry and a genuine smile overtook my father’s face as he spoke of me as a child.

“She still does talk to strangers,” Harry added, obviously talking about when I first met him and I pushed his shoulder.

“Whatever, you know that was the best day of your life!” I said to him and he nodded his head.

“What day might that be?” My dad asked as he leaned forward.

“The day he met me!” I told my dad as I giggled because Harry poked my side.

“Really? Tell me about it!” Dad exclaimed and Harry nudged my shoulder to tell me to go on.

“Well, I overslept one morning and I hurried around my apartment to get ready in time and one my way to work I stopped at a Starbucks to get some coffee and a muffin. After I got it I walked out the door and this rude man bumped into me, made me drop my muffin and all the contents of my purse spill out on the sidewalk, that’s when Harry comes out of nowhere and helps me pick my things up. Then as I was chatting with him another person bumped into me and made me spill my coffee! I don’t think I made a good first impression on Harry,” I bashfully said.

“I thought you were spunky! I’m just walking down the street and I hear a girl yelling obscenities at no one in sight and then I look down and see she dropped some things, then when she spills her coffee she lets out another long line of vulgar words! I don’t think I’ve ever met a girl that curses as much as she does,” Harry said with laughter and he stared down at me with admiration in his eyes.

“So you two met because Harry is a gentleman and my daughter is a crazy fool?” My dad pondered aloud with laughter.

“Pretty much,” I told him as I laced my fingers with Harry’s and laid our intertwined hands in my lap. As we continued to talk our food finally arrived and we quickly dug in. After eating my dad and Harry fought over who would pay and my dad ended up winning. When we got home my dad sent Harry inside and told me he wanted to take a walk with me and just talk, father and daughter.

“So Harry?” My dad asked once we got a block or two away from the house.

“Yeah.”

“You like him a lot?” My dad asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“You have no idea,” I told my dad with a small smile on my face.

“He seems good for you, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy before.”

“Dad, I know you didn’t want to go on this walk to talk about Harry, we may have barely communicated with one another when we lived under the same roof but I still know you,” I told him, trying to cut to the chase.

“Of course, you get that from your mother. Here take a seat,” My dad said as he pointed to a park bench and took a seat, I followed.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, truly concerned.

“First off, I’m sorry for not being there for you when you were growing up. I know you had it rough with wanting to pursue your dreams, I don’t blame you for leaving. I never wanted to feel like a controlling father, I wanted my kids to live their lives the way they wanted to that’s how I was when I was growing up but your mother convinced me we needed everything planned for you, to ‘help’ you. I knew she was wrong but I continued to push you away from having a father daughter relationship with me,” He told me as he stared in front of him.

“Why’d you do it though if you knew it was wrong?” I asked him.

“I still haven’t figured that part out. I wanted to be there for you, at every single one of your track meets or soccer games, I wanted to attend more than I did. I wanted to congratulate you on all your high test scores and on every single college you got accepted to but your mother was in the back of my mind telling me that if we continued to ignore you that you would work harder, she was wrong. You just stopped working, stubborn just like me,” He said with a chuckle and I couldn’t help but laugh too.

“Were you ever even proud of me?” I asked him, my voice cracking.

“All the time. When you would get first in your track meets I was so proud of you, when you would score in your games I was as ecstatic on the inside as you were on the outside, and with every test you got an A on I wanted to stick it on the fridge and show it off. I have copies of every single one of your acceptance letters framed and hanging in my office at work, all the boys at the firm envy your academics. I don’t think I could be more proud of you, I mean you are living in London, doing photography for a living and taking excellent care of yourself, I’m so proud of you,” he said as he threw an arm around my shoulder with a smile on his face.

“Every single acceptance letter is hanging in your office?” I asked and he nodded his head. “That’s a lot of frames,” I said, trailing off on the end.

“It’s a lot of wall space too but I wouldn’t have anything better to hang up.”

“Were you mad when I told you I was dropping out of Stanford?” I hesitantly asked.

“Hell no! I knew you would, I just thought it would be at the semester. I knew you hated Stanford and the idea of being a lawyer. You finally stood up to your mother and I. I saw my sister in you,” My dad said as he looked up at the sky as he mentioned his late sister.

“That’s what Gran told me,” I said to him as I, too, leaned my head back and stared at the stars. We sat in silence for a few minutes, taking in everything going on around us when I decided to break it. “So what else did you need to tell me?” I asked him. He turned his head to me and looked at me, serious taking over his face.

“I’m divorcing your mother,” He said and my mouth dropped open. Did he really just say that?

“What? Why?” I asked him, disbelief in my voice.

“I was never happy with her, and she made me push you away from me.”

“Why do I get the feeling that there is a deeper reason to why you two are separating?” I asked him.

“Okay, she’s been having an affair and she’s pregnant with the guys baby,” my dad said as he looked back up at the stars.

“I’m sorry dad,” I said to him, and I meant it. I was sorry for him, he may have given me a strict, distant childhood but he was still my dad and I always did get along better with him than my mother and I couldn’t see how my mom could cheat on my dad, he did everything for her.

“Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, we just aren’t happy with one another and I want to be happy.”

“You deserve to be happy,” I said to him with a reassuring smile on my face.

“I do. I haven’t been happy in a very long time, I haven’t been happy since the day you were born, 20 long years kiddo,” he said looking at me and tapping my nose. I couldn’t help but laugh, this man sitting beside…yeah he was my dad. I could see him coming to life right before my eyes.

"Speaking of which! I got you a present," my dad exclaimed as he dug in his pocket and pulled out a necklace with an owl pendant dangling from it. He placed it in the palm of my hand and I further examined it, I loved it.

"What's it mean?" I asked him as I slipped the necklace over my head and let it hit my chest.

"You're my little night owl, when you were a child it took us hours to put you to bed, your mother hated it. You just had too much energy, it was so bad your mother would crush up half a melatonin and slip it in your milk before bed."

"The sad part is I can see her doing that," I said to him as I played with my new necklace.

"She especially hated it when there would be a thunderstorm because you were so scared of them you would come in our room wanting to sleep with us and your mother hated that. She hated that I would let you too, she would check the weather for the day and if there was going to be a thunderstorm she'd send you to bed early with your melatonin spiked milk," he said to me with laughter in his voice. "She was so terrible."

"She really was, I'm still scared of thunderstorms! I can't stand them!"

"Yeah, as you got older and there was a thunderstorm I'd always creep out of my room and go check on you just to make sure you were okay," he said and I smiled at him knowing he secretly was a father to me behind my mom's back. We sat in silence as we reminisced on all the things I did as a child that would make my dad want to be a father to me.

“Hey dad?” I said into the silence of the night.

“Yeah?”

“Can you promise me something?” I asked him as I turned to look at him.

“Anything.”

“Can you promise to never push me away again?” I said to him and he turned his head to look at me. Tears began to well up in my eyes as I waited for his answer.

“I pinky promise,” he said as he stuck his pinky out and I looped mine with his. He pulled me into a hug, “I promise to never leave you kiddo,” he said into my hair, and I believed every word he said.

Finally, my life was piecing together.

Notes

This chapter is a bit choppy, don't wanna fix it. Enjoy.
Woo! Updated!
Leave me more comments for the next update!
Should be up by the end of the weekend since I have the weekend off from work/soccer!

xoxo-
Jade.