You Make it Real {A Harry Styles Fan Fiction}
Chapter 17
HARRY'S P.O.V.
When we left the dorms, everyone else seemed to still be sleeping and we were able to reach the two black SUV's parked out front without being seen. Liam, Riley, Piper, and I climbed into one and Louis, Zayn, and Niall climbed into the other. Liam and Riley climbed to the very back row and Piper and I took the middle. The driver pulled away as we put our seatbelts on. A security guard sitting in the front seat waved politely but returned to looking at his phone immediately. He didn't look familiar.
I snaked my arm around Piper's shoulders and gave her the cheesiest grin I could muster. We were going to Disney after all. She mirrored my action and leaned in to lay on my shoulder. I could hear Liam and Riley giggling and talking softly to each other in the back but I just ignored it.
I wished that Piper could just come with us on tour. It would be nice to have her around in between every show but I couldn't just drag her behind me as if she didn't have a life of her own. She was in University, for God's sake. She was just as busy as I was and actually had to put some focus into her work. I knew I wasn't helping with any of that already. Surely, she needed to study on the weekend but I hadn't seen her pick up one book since we had been there and today wouldn't be any different. I tried to think of something else besides the fact that I was already bringing her down. Why couldn't we have met at school, both just happening to be at the same University, and just have a normal relationship? We probably wouldn't have moved so quickly, but there would have been no need. I could have taken her on proper dates; at least 4 before sleeping with her. I couldn't complain about the pace of our relationship too much; I was just glad that we were on the same page.
My phone began to vibrate in my pocket, continually, so I knew it was a call. I pulled it out and the color from my face left as I saw the name on caller ID. Karen.
Why the fuck was she calling me? I got her emails and responded where needed but there could only be one reason she was calling me on tour. I looked nervously at Piper but she didn't seem to notice how frantic I was. She nodded at me to take the call so I slid my thumb across the screen to answer.
"Hello?"
"Harry. Look, I'm really sorry to bother you. It's just Andrea..."
"Is she okay? What happened? Tell me!" It's what I was afraid of when I saw her name. I was really hoping that she was just being a bitch and calling me for no reason.
"She's... She's alright. We're at the hospital, but don't panic. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation."
"What situation, Karen? Just fucking tell me!"
I felt Liam's hand meet my shoulder in concern but I shrugged it off. I hadn't meant to be rude to him, I was just overwhelmed and my heart was beating out of my chest.
"Harry, she's going to be okay! She just needed some stitches because she fell off the monkey bars at daycare. She cut her knee pretty badly but she's being very brave."
"Can you put her on the phone please?"
Piper looked at me sympathetically. and grabbed my free hand, squeezing it comfortingly. I appreciated her gesture and it calmed me down a little as I waited to talk to Andrea. I started to stroke her hand with my thumb. I was going to have to explain myself when we were alone.
"Hewwo?"
As soon as I heard her little voice, my heart stopped racing so much and I started to smile.
"Hi, sweetheart. How are you? Did you get hurt?"
"Yeah, but doctah says i'm okay."
"Yeah, you'll be alright. I'm sorry I'm not there with you but I'm so proud of you for being a brave girl."
"Thank you, dadda. Mummy get me ice cweam if i'm good. I want ice cweam."
I chuckled at her logic but had to admit to myself that it was a pretty good ultimatum.
"Well, call me later after you've had your ice cream, okay baby?"
I couldn't imagine what was running through Piper's mind right then but I hoped she could understand once I explained myself. I really hoped she could understand.
"Bye bye daddy. I wuv you!"
"I love you too, Andy, bye bye."
I immediately heard Karen's voice again.
"Harry, the doctor just walked in. I'll text you the details when he's done. Bye."
"Yeah, bye."
I ended the call and set the phone on my lap, resting my head against the window before looking at Piper anxiously.
"Piper, I'll explain when we get there, okay?"
She nodded and looked confused but never let go of my hand.
"Harry, is she alright?"
"Yeah, Liam, she's fine."
Liam sunk back into his chair, letting out a sigh of relief. I still felt bad for pushing him away when I was on the phone but he seemed to understand that I was just upset. I was really nervous for Piper's upcoming reaction and I thought about the best way to tell her.
____________________________________________
PIPER'S P.O.V.
When we arrived in the parking lot, the cars pulled up to the drop off point and Harry told Liam and Riley to go without us, that we'd catch up, and even had the driver and security guard step out of the car, locking it behind them. I was extremely nervous to hear what he had to say. What if he was in love with someone else? What if he was just using me while he was in America and now he had no choice but to tell me about his girlfriend? But, it sounded like he was talking to a child at one point. I saw the rest of the group walk toward the entrance, covered on both sides by guards that were in the other car on the way over.
"Harry, whatever it is, just tell me."
"I just don't want you to hate me or feel awkward or anything once I do. I want to be completely honest with you and I don't want you to be too upset with me for not already telling you, okay?"
"Of course, it'll be fine. I won't be angry with you, I promise."
He let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples with his thumb and index finger.
"Piper, before I went on the X-Factor, I had a girlfriend."
I was right. He has someone else back at home. He must have seen my stricken look.
"No, that's not what I'm telling you, don't worry." His face softened a little and he continued.
"Anyway, we broke up a few weeks before I tried out and we didn't speak for months. Our breakup was pretty nasty but we hadn't been together that long, and come on, we were 16; It wasn't serious. Anyway, when I returned to Holmes Chapel to see my family, she...she was pregnant."
He had a kid? My heart skipped a beat.
"She had told everyone that it was someone else's baby but I knew that it was mine based on the time frame. When, I confronted her about it, she told me that I was right but that I didn't need to worry about it. She said she would take care of it all. I didn't want that. It was my responsibility and I was going to take the consequences of my actions. Anyway, I talked to my mum about it and she was so great. She helped me work it all out in my head. To be honest, I didn't know what would happen with the band. I thought that maybe we would put out an album, do some local shows.... She had our daughter in February of 2011, right before we toured with X-Factor Live. When I first saw Andrea, I finally realized how life-changing this was going to be. Karen signed a contract, agreeing to not tell anyone that she was my daughter. We even had a plan to say it was my cousin's if someone happened to get a picture of me and her but we usually just stay home when I have her. It literally broke my heart to leave her there while I toured the country. I wanted nothing to do with Karen, which I know sounds awful, but she didn't want me either. She hadn't even wanted me to be involved. But, I couldn't let my daughter grow up not knowing me."
He paused and checked my expression. I tried to think of something to say but I was in complete shock.
"Piper, you're the first person besides close family and the lads that I've told about this. I just want to be honest with you. I never felt that it was necessary to tell any of my exes about her and I honestly didn't feel like they deserved to know. But, its different with you. You're just such a real, caring person and I want for you to be a part of all aspects of my life, even the ones that are a bit messy."
HARRY'S P.O.V.
She was never going to speak to me again. I could tell by her face that she didn't know what to say. She was still holding my hand which I was thankful for but, then again, she hadn't moved any part of her body. She stared blankly at me and just as I tried to think of something more to say, she began to speak.
"Harry, this is a lot... I'll admit, I'm shocked... But, I can't bring myself to be upset about it. I'm honestly just happy that you felt like you could share it with me. And you can. I won't tell anyone. I feel like I can get to know you better now. There's nothing you can change about the past and I admire the way you handled the situation, even though you were so young. So she's what, almost three?"
She was smiling. I let out the breath that I hadn't been able to release completely before. She chuckled at my reaction and I pulled her hand to me, kissing it softly before pulling her into my chest. I held her there for a while before she spoke again.
"Show me her. I want to see pictures."
I grinned and pulled my phone out. Surely, the lads were sick of seeing so many pictures of her, but who else was I supposed to show? Now, I had Piper, who would really appreciate it. I scrolled through my pictures and she cooed at the amount of pictures I had of Andrea alone. When I clicked on one of my favorites of her and I together, I saw a tear fall from Piper's eye.
"I'm sorry. You're upset, aren't you?"
"No! She's beautiful, Harry. She looks just like you! She's got your eyes. And that hair!"
It was uncanny, but she seemed really happy. Seeing how she looked at my daughter made me want them to meet. I was going to find a way. I scrolled through a few more pictures and I relayed the corresponding stories. She genuinely cared about every single one of them, I could tell.
"Piper, we should probably catch up with the group or we won't have any time to be at Disney."
"Alright. But, I want to hear more about her. And you should bring her here sometime! Has she ever been to Disney?"
"No, she hasn't but that sounds like a brilliant idea," I kissed the top of her head before we climbed out of the car to be escorted into the park.
I was the luckiest man in the world.
When we left the dorms, everyone else seemed to still be sleeping and we were able to reach the two black SUV's parked out front without being seen. Liam, Riley, Piper, and I climbed into one and Louis, Zayn, and Niall climbed into the other. Liam and Riley climbed to the very back row and Piper and I took the middle. The driver pulled away as we put our seatbelts on. A security guard sitting in the front seat waved politely but returned to looking at his phone immediately. He didn't look familiar.
I snaked my arm around Piper's shoulders and gave her the cheesiest grin I could muster. We were going to Disney after all. She mirrored my action and leaned in to lay on my shoulder. I could hear Liam and Riley giggling and talking softly to each other in the back but I just ignored it.
I wished that Piper could just come with us on tour. It would be nice to have her around in between every show but I couldn't just drag her behind me as if she didn't have a life of her own. She was in University, for God's sake. She was just as busy as I was and actually had to put some focus into her work. I knew I wasn't helping with any of that already. Surely, she needed to study on the weekend but I hadn't seen her pick up one book since we had been there and today wouldn't be any different. I tried to think of something else besides the fact that I was already bringing her down. Why couldn't we have met at school, both just happening to be at the same University, and just have a normal relationship? We probably wouldn't have moved so quickly, but there would have been no need. I could have taken her on proper dates; at least 4 before sleeping with her. I couldn't complain about the pace of our relationship too much; I was just glad that we were on the same page.
My phone began to vibrate in my pocket, continually, so I knew it was a call. I pulled it out and the color from my face left as I saw the name on caller ID. Karen.
Why the fuck was she calling me? I got her emails and responded where needed but there could only be one reason she was calling me on tour. I looked nervously at Piper but she didn't seem to notice how frantic I was. She nodded at me to take the call so I slid my thumb across the screen to answer.
"Hello?"
"Harry. Look, I'm really sorry to bother you. It's just Andrea..."
"Is she okay? What happened? Tell me!" It's what I was afraid of when I saw her name. I was really hoping that she was just being a bitch and calling me for no reason.
"She's... She's alright. We're at the hospital, but don't panic. I just wanted you to be aware of the situation."
"What situation, Karen? Just fucking tell me!"
I felt Liam's hand meet my shoulder in concern but I shrugged it off. I hadn't meant to be rude to him, I was just overwhelmed and my heart was beating out of my chest.
"Harry, she's going to be okay! She just needed some stitches because she fell off the monkey bars at daycare. She cut her knee pretty badly but she's being very brave."
"Can you put her on the phone please?"
Piper looked at me sympathetically. and grabbed my free hand, squeezing it comfortingly. I appreciated her gesture and it calmed me down a little as I waited to talk to Andrea. I started to stroke her hand with my thumb. I was going to have to explain myself when we were alone.
"Hewwo?"
As soon as I heard her little voice, my heart stopped racing so much and I started to smile.
"Hi, sweetheart. How are you? Did you get hurt?"
"Yeah, but doctah says i'm okay."
"Yeah, you'll be alright. I'm sorry I'm not there with you but I'm so proud of you for being a brave girl."
"Thank you, dadda. Mummy get me ice cweam if i'm good. I want ice cweam."
I chuckled at her logic but had to admit to myself that it was a pretty good ultimatum.
"Well, call me later after you've had your ice cream, okay baby?"
I couldn't imagine what was running through Piper's mind right then but I hoped she could understand once I explained myself. I really hoped she could understand.
"Bye bye daddy. I wuv you!"
"I love you too, Andy, bye bye."
I immediately heard Karen's voice again.
"Harry, the doctor just walked in. I'll text you the details when he's done. Bye."
"Yeah, bye."
I ended the call and set the phone on my lap, resting my head against the window before looking at Piper anxiously.
"Piper, I'll explain when we get there, okay?"
She nodded and looked confused but never let go of my hand.
"Harry, is she alright?"
"Yeah, Liam, she's fine."
Liam sunk back into his chair, letting out a sigh of relief. I still felt bad for pushing him away when I was on the phone but he seemed to understand that I was just upset. I was really nervous for Piper's upcoming reaction and I thought about the best way to tell her.
____________________________________________
PIPER'S P.O.V.
When we arrived in the parking lot, the cars pulled up to the drop off point and Harry told Liam and Riley to go without us, that we'd catch up, and even had the driver and security guard step out of the car, locking it behind them. I was extremely nervous to hear what he had to say. What if he was in love with someone else? What if he was just using me while he was in America and now he had no choice but to tell me about his girlfriend? But, it sounded like he was talking to a child at one point. I saw the rest of the group walk toward the entrance, covered on both sides by guards that were in the other car on the way over.
"Harry, whatever it is, just tell me."
"I just don't want you to hate me or feel awkward or anything once I do. I want to be completely honest with you and I don't want you to be too upset with me for not already telling you, okay?"
"Of course, it'll be fine. I won't be angry with you, I promise."
He let out a long sigh and rubbed his temples with his thumb and index finger.
"Piper, before I went on the X-Factor, I had a girlfriend."
I was right. He has someone else back at home. He must have seen my stricken look.
"No, that's not what I'm telling you, don't worry." His face softened a little and he continued.
"Anyway, we broke up a few weeks before I tried out and we didn't speak for months. Our breakup was pretty nasty but we hadn't been together that long, and come on, we were 16; It wasn't serious. Anyway, when I returned to Holmes Chapel to see my family, she...she was pregnant."
He had a kid? My heart skipped a beat.
"She had told everyone that it was someone else's baby but I knew that it was mine based on the time frame. When, I confronted her about it, she told me that I was right but that I didn't need to worry about it. She said she would take care of it all. I didn't want that. It was my responsibility and I was going to take the consequences of my actions. Anyway, I talked to my mum about it and she was so great. She helped me work it all out in my head. To be honest, I didn't know what would happen with the band. I thought that maybe we would put out an album, do some local shows.... She had our daughter in February of 2011, right before we toured with X-Factor Live. When I first saw Andrea, I finally realized how life-changing this was going to be. Karen signed a contract, agreeing to not tell anyone that she was my daughter. We even had a plan to say it was my cousin's if someone happened to get a picture of me and her but we usually just stay home when I have her. It literally broke my heart to leave her there while I toured the country. I wanted nothing to do with Karen, which I know sounds awful, but she didn't want me either. She hadn't even wanted me to be involved. But, I couldn't let my daughter grow up not knowing me."
He paused and checked my expression. I tried to think of something to say but I was in complete shock.
"Piper, you're the first person besides close family and the lads that I've told about this. I just want to be honest with you. I never felt that it was necessary to tell any of my exes about her and I honestly didn't feel like they deserved to know. But, its different with you. You're just such a real, caring person and I want for you to be a part of all aspects of my life, even the ones that are a bit messy."
HARRY'S P.O.V.
She was never going to speak to me again. I could tell by her face that she didn't know what to say. She was still holding my hand which I was thankful for but, then again, she hadn't moved any part of her body. She stared blankly at me and just as I tried to think of something more to say, she began to speak.
"Harry, this is a lot... I'll admit, I'm shocked... But, I can't bring myself to be upset about it. I'm honestly just happy that you felt like you could share it with me. And you can. I won't tell anyone. I feel like I can get to know you better now. There's nothing you can change about the past and I admire the way you handled the situation, even though you were so young. So she's what, almost three?"
She was smiling. I let out the breath that I hadn't been able to release completely before. She chuckled at my reaction and I pulled her hand to me, kissing it softly before pulling her into my chest. I held her there for a while before she spoke again.
"Show me her. I want to see pictures."
I grinned and pulled my phone out. Surely, the lads were sick of seeing so many pictures of her, but who else was I supposed to show? Now, I had Piper, who would really appreciate it. I scrolled through my pictures and she cooed at the amount of pictures I had of Andrea alone. When I clicked on one of my favorites of her and I together, I saw a tear fall from Piper's eye.
"I'm sorry. You're upset, aren't you?"
"No! She's beautiful, Harry. She looks just like you! She's got your eyes. And that hair!"
It was uncanny, but she seemed really happy. Seeing how she looked at my daughter made me want them to meet. I was going to find a way. I scrolled through a few more pictures and I relayed the corresponding stories. She genuinely cared about every single one of them, I could tell.
"Piper, we should probably catch up with the group or we won't have any time to be at Disney."
"Alright. But, I want to hear more about her. And you should bring her here sometime! Has she ever been to Disney?"
"No, she hasn't but that sounds like a brilliant idea," I kissed the top of her head before we climbed out of the car to be escorted into the park.
I was the luckiest man in the world.
Notes
REACTIONS?! :D Let me know what you think <3333 I was just too excited to post this chapter hehe. xx
@jasyjas18
awwww thank you so much! where is this awards nomination? lol I didn't know about it, but thank you so much!!!! :) I'm gonna start the sequel now ;) should be up today or tomorrow!
8/4/14