HANNAH’S P.O.V.


“Dad?”

I freeze the moment I see him and clutch onto Niall’s hand, silently begging him not to pull it away from my waist.

“It’s so crazy running into you here!”

The woman with dad speaks up and I know exactly who she is. This is the woman who is responsible for my family falling apart. She’s the one who’s taking my dad away from me. I want nothing more than to strangle her right now. I hardly glance at her before turning my attention back to dad.

“Totally crazy.”

My tone is flat and I can tell that dad feels a little uncomfortable. Surely, not as uncomfortable as Niall feels.

Speaking of Niall, how do I introduce him to my dad and his whore of a girlfriend?

“Anyway, dad, this is Niall. He’s my... boyfriend, I guess. He goes to school in the city and he’s
from Ireland.”

I don’t feel like lying. Especially because I wouldn’t mind getting a rise out of my dad. I’m just waiting for the flood of questions. Who are his family? Does he have prospects for the future? Why does he need to go to school?

Instead, dad extends his hand kindly to Niall, who reluctantly pulls away from me and meets him half-way.

“It’s nice to meet you, Niall.”

That’s it?

“Uh- you too, um- sir.”

He looks at me, stunned by my honesty in the first place.

“Please, call me Arthur.”

Niall nods awkwardly and pulls his hand back, slipping it around my waist again.

“Hannah, this is Fleurette... but I’m sure you already figured that out.”

She appears to be nervous as she grins at me, probably hoping desperately for me to return the sentiment. I can’t, though. I simply acknowledge her once again and stay as close to Niall as I can.

“Hannah, can I- can we talk for a moment privately?”

My dad glances between me, Niall, and Fleurette anxiously.

“Anything you need to say, you can say in front of him.”

Niall squeezes my side gently and strokes his thumb along my back.

“I- well, okay- what happened to Harry?”

“Oh, because you’re one to council me on being faithful.”

I shoot back without so much as a thought. Dad stands there, flabbergasted while Fleurette’s cheeks flush and turn bright pink.

“Even though it’s none of your business, Harry and I aren’t really together. I expect that you won’t
tell mom.”

His mouth is gaping in confusion and shock. At this point, I don’t quite care if he tells my mom. I’m about ready to run away and never come back to this god-awful society.

“Sure, if that's what you want. I think you underestimate your mother, though.”

I scoff and take a step toward him, feeling anger course through my blood.

“Really, dad? What am I underestimating? You wouldn’t even know how she acts toward me
since you haven’t been around for more than a few days at a time in years! You’ve been off fucking this slut!”

His voice is stern and he grabs my arm forcefully to gain my full attention.

“Hannah-“

Fleurette steps between us and pushes him away and I can’t help but to look around at the other people in the shop. They’re all staring at us.

“No, Arthur, it’s okay. I think Hannah and I should talk alone.”

He opens his mouth to speak, but she shakes her head, her thick french accent filling the room stiffly.

“Please, I would like to speak to her.”

Dad shrinks back and nods weakly.

“Okay, Niall, how about you and I go for a walk while they have a chat?”

Niall turns to me, mutely asking my permission and I can’t do anything but nod. I’m impressed by this woman’s ability to calm my dad so easily and I think I at least deserve her explanation for dating a married man, whom just so happens to be my father.

The next thing I know, Niall is following my dad out the door and Fleurette is finding a table for two in a secluded corner of the shop. She waves me over and I plop down in the chair across from her, clutching my purse in my lap.

“So, Hannah-“

She smiles sweetly and it makes me want to vomit.

“Look, I’m not happy to be here and I certainly didn’t plan on running into you guys. In case you
forgot, I’m here on a date with a guy who is now wandering around aimlessly with my partially estranged father. Can we just skip the decencies?”

She chuckles lightly and I’m entirely surprised by her cheerful attitude.

“I’m not trying to give you the run around. I plan on jumping straight to the subject at hand. I would just like to explain a few things first.”

She stares at me wide-eyed, looking like a school-teacher who is asking whether you understand
her or not.

“Okay, continue.”

I lean forward and rest my elbows on the table as she takes a bite of her frozen yogurt.

“First of all, I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time now. Your dad just never felt like the timing was right. Even when I met your mother, he just didn’t want to make you upset. Secondly, I don’t want you to think I’m after your dad for the money. I’m pretty successful on my own, just not in the way your grandfather would have liked.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes. How did she know Grandpapa? She’s just some slut that my dad
has been cheating on my mom with. Grandpapa died when I was thirteen.

“Lastly, I really am sorry about how this must all seem to you. From what your dad has told me, though, I think you might be a little more understanding when you hear the whole story.”

How could she expect me to be ‘understanding’ about any of this?

“I’m not making any promises, but I’ll listen because I am intrigued.”

“Okay, it all began when I was seventeen...”


NIALL’S P.O.V.


“So, Niall. Tell me a bit about yourself.”

He catches me off-guard because we’ve been walking in silence for a few minutes.

“Uh- sorry to say that my life is nothing impressive.”

He smiles and shoves his hands in the pockets of his sleek khaki pants.

“Look, Niall. I know what you must think of me, but I’m not like everyone else in that god-damned
town. In fact, I’m praying for you to tell me that you’re the exact opposite of that Harry fellow whom my wife seems to love so much.”

I chuckle as a million possible responses run through my head. I assume that with Hannah’s admittance of our relationship, I’m allowed to tell her dad about myself.

“Never met the guy, but I can guarantee that we don’t have much in common.”

Mr. Kensington- Arthur dramatically sighs in relief. He doesn’t realize quite how opposite Harry and I are, but I think that his sexuality is definitely something that is off-limits.

“Um- I guess there isn’t much to tell. I’m from a small town in Ireland and I moved here with my brother and his wife pretty recently. I’m friends with Louis and that’s how I met your daughter. Greg, my brother, actually- uh, kicked me out the other day, so I’ve been staying with Louis-”

I realize what I’ve said and think to myself, ‘fucking hell, he’s probably friends with Louis’ parents.’

“...secretly, though. His parents don’t know I’ve been there.”

Arthur laughs heartily and pats me on the back.

“That’s great. His dad, William, is a complete tool. Hannah said you go to school in the city, though. That’s a far way to travel every day.”

I shrug as we continue to walk down the empty sidewalk.

“I don’t really have a choice for now. My brother lives in Brooklyn and that was pretty close, but it still took a while by subway. I’m pretty used to it. I’ll figure something out.”

Arthur nods and stares at the ground.

“I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, but you know I own a few hotels in the city. You’re
always welcome to stay in one of the penthouses.”

“No, no. That’s way too much, sir.”

“I told you to call me Arthur. It really would be nothing, Niall. No one stays in those rooms.”

I shake my head frantically. I only just met this man and it isn’t like he even has a good relationship with Hannah, who is apparently my girlfriend. I still can’t believe she introduced me that way. I expected her to have some insane back story ready about how I’m Irish royalty or some shit like that.

“Thank you, but I can’t accept that. I’ll figure something out.”

Hannah’s dad shrugs in defeat and we continue to walk a bit more in silence.

“I really hope they’re getting along.”

His relaxed attitude toward it all is a bit unnerving.

“With all due respect, sir, do you even understand why Hannah is upset?”

His eyes widen in shock, but he appears almost... impressed? I can’t read this man; he’s so strange.

“I do, actually. I just hope that when she knows the whole story, she’ll understand.”

“Understand? How is she meant to understand?”

“Look, it’s not as fucked up as it might seem. Well, okay, it’s definitely fucked up, but...” he sighs and searches for the right words, “I’ll just give you the run-down. I think you’ll get it too.”

I shake my head in disbelief, but urge him to continue.

“Alright, when I was nineteen, my dad sent me to France for a summer businessman’s internship. I wasn’t too concerned with the actual internship. I knew I was getting my dad’s inheritance no matter what, but it was in Paris and I was really just thrilled to get out of Old Westbury for a change. I wasn’t much different than Hannah, in all honesty. She thinks that she puts on a good front, but it’s easy for me to see through that. I can tell how unhappy she is. I get it; she feels trapped.” He waves his hands around, realizing that he’s getting off track, “Anyway, long story short, Fleurette was seventeen and she was going to fashion school. She met my sister, Shelby, at a cafe when she came to visit me and we all went to dinner on the Champs-Élysée. After Shelby went home, it all happened pretty quickly from there. Two weeks into my trip, I was with her every moment we weren’t occupied with our prior engagements. That job and her school quickly turned into just more things that were keeping us apart. We were absolutely falling in love and there was no stopping it.”

His story has striking similarities to Hannah and I, which all scares me since it obviously doesn’t have a happy ending. Not until twenty years later, at least.

“How did you end up with Hannah’s mum then?”

“Well, after being in France for the summer, I prepared myself to come back and tell my parents that I met the love of my life. I knew that they wouldn’t be thrilled about her, but I figured they would be reasonable. The moment I told them, though, my dad refused to let me speak to her. We wrote each other letters in secret and we were both completely devastated. Well, not even a month later, my dad started forcing Charlotte onto me and basically he threatened to take me out of his will entirely if I didn’t marry her and forget about Fleurette. I saw her one last time before the wedding and we parted unwillingly, but neither of us ever imagined that we would see each other again. I never wanted to be an unfaithful husband, even though I didn’t love Charlotte in the same way I loved Fleurette. I learned to love her, but after Hannah’s brother, Max, died, I felt disdain toward Charlotte even though none of it was her fault. I was finally honest with her and told her about Fleurette. At first, she didn’t take it well. Then, she admitted that she was forced into our marriage just as much as I was. We agreed to keep up the charade, but we both dated other people under the radar with no intentions of making a permanent change. When my father died, though, we agreed that when one of us felt that we were so in love with another person that we wanted to marry them, we would divorce. Simple as that. It took me a while to contact Fleurette. She was in a relationship and I knew that because Shelby was still close friends with her. Then Shelby called me one day and told me how unhappy Fleurette was in her relationship. I didn’t even call her. I just flew to France and showed up on her doorstep with flowers. The rest is history. We’ve taken it slowly because Hannah means so much to me and even if it doesn’t seem like it to her, I’ve tried to keep her idea of a family strong as she grew up. I hope I didn’t ruin her completely. I wish I were as brave as she is when I was her age. I want her to know what real love is too, though, you know?”

I do know. I don’t know what to say, though. It makes a lot more sense now. I’m sure Hannah will have a harder time accepting it all, but I think she will think of her dad differently after her chat with Fleurette. Besides, Arthur said that this was the shortened version of the story and I assume Hannah is getting the full one with lots of female emotion and drama.

“Well, I can respect you a lot more now and I’m glad Hannah will know everything. She’s a really smart girl and I’m sure she’ll try her best to understand. Maybe you two can be closer now.”

“I sure hope so, Niall. I can’t be like my father. I won’t let Charlotte ruin love for Hannah. She has this mindset that the only way Hannah can be happy is if she lives the same life she’s so accustomed to but in all honesty, I don’t think Hannah will ever be happy until she lives a different life. I think you can help with that.”

He winks at me with a wide smile and I can’t help but to return it. It’s contagious.

“You know, Niall, if it goes well with them, we should all go to dinner together.”

I force a respectful smile and attempt to be completely amicable, even though I know I have
absolutely no say in the matter.

“I think that’ll be entirely up to Hannah. I’m fine with it, though. We were supposed to go to a
movie, but I don’t think that’s happening now.”

Arthur nods and we continue to make polite conversation as we walk through the streets of Hempstead, awaiting the OK to return to the two women who could be fighting ruthlessly or could be making amends. I just sincerely hope, for everyone’s sake, that it’s the latter.

“So, Niall. Tell me about your family.”

I know he isn’t asking to pry. This is a conversation that lots of people have with acquaintances. I feel like I can talk to him, though, especially after his shameless story from a few minutes ago.

“Well, brace yourself.”

He chuckles and waits kindly for me to continue. And I do. I tell him everything from my mum dying to my dad’s mental illness. I mention Greg and Allison, but leave out the self-incriminating facts that could make him hate me. If I tell him about what Allison and I did, he may never trust me with his daughter and she’s quickly becoming the most important person in my life.


HANNAH’S P.O.V.


I send Niall a text message that it is safe to come back before glancing back up to Fleurette in the now empty yogurt shop. She looks exhausted, probably from the tears that accompanied her story. I had put my pride aside and after hearing her side of the story, as well as how dad was affected, I couldn’t help but to feel sorry for them. No matter how badly I wanted to be the resentful daughter, I can easily understand why they have done what they have done.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier.”

She chuckles and reachers her hand across the table to gently touch my folded arms.

“It was completely warranted. Especially when you didn’t know everything. I don’t blame you in
the least, Hannah.”

“Thanks. I’m glad I get it now. I feel like I don’t have to be so angry now.”

She smiles and nods in agreement.

“I hope we can be friends. It would mean so much to me.”

I hesitantly nod because after hours of conversing with this woman, it’s still strange for me to think of her as my dad’s girlfriend and it will take some time to adjust to.

“Yeah, we should spend some more time together.”

Just then the bell on the door jingles and we both look up to find my dad and Niall laughing lightly about something unknown to us. I’m simply shocked by their friendly manner. I half expected them to return pouting or walking five feet away from each other. I didn’t foresee this.

“Hey girls. How is everything?”

Dad walks over and leaves a kiss on the top of my head before moving on to do the same to
Fleurette. He rests his hand on her shoulder and she leans into it lovingly. Niall pulls a chair up beside me and rests his hand, palm up, on his knee for me to take, which I willingly do.

“Everything’s great.”

I know he wanted to hear it from me, so I make sure to sound as peppy as possible.

“Fantastic. Maybe we can all get dinner together.”

I glance over at Niall and he appears indifferent to the offer, but I really don’t want our entire date to be ruined.

“Can we take a raincheck on that? This is meant to be our first proper date and so far, we’ve
hardly seen each other.”

Dad and Fleurette smile understandingly.

“Of course,” Dad seems to have an idea and the excitement on his face is easy to read, “How would you two like to join us and your Aunt Shelby for a dinner cruise on the yacht this weekend?”

I look to Niall and he shrugs in semi-interest.

“Aunt Shelby’s here?”

Dad nods and I really wouldn’t mind seeing her.

“I’d love that.”

Dad turns to Niall next and gives him a questioning expression.

“Sure, I think that would be fun.”

“Perfect. I’ll call you tomorrow, Hannah and we can talk about how to get you guys there.”

I nod and begin to stand up, creating a domino effect as everyone follows suit. We walk outside, waving to the exasperated cashier, who was probably supposed to kick us out long ago.

“Well, I think today was eye-opening and I’m really glad we ran into you.”

I choose my words wisely, but I mean every single one of them. Fleurette is the first to hug me and she buries her face in my shoulder.

“Thank you so much. You’re a brilliant, mature girl and I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

I smile and we exchange final goodbyes. I watch my dad pull Niall into a hug which should have
been much more awkward than it was before he turns to me.

“Bye, Hannie. I love you.”

I walk into his open arms and rest my head on his familiar chest.

“Love you too, dad.”

He ruffles my hair and we all wave one last time before parting ways. Niall intertwines our fingers as we walk on the dimly lit street and I rest my head on his shoulder.

“Today was... unexpected.”

“Entirely. Your dad’s great, though. I’m glad I met him.”

“What all did you guys talk about?”

Niall stops where we are, a few feet past the movie theater, and turns to face me. He releases my hand and places both of his on my hips.

“Let’s save that conversation for later, okay? Now it’s time for me and you.”

He leans forward and gently kisses the corner of my mouth.

“I have an idea.”

He pulls back and quirks an eyebrow at me. I grin and drag him down the sidewalk to the Chinese takeout restaurant a few shops down the strip. I pull the door open and wait for him to walk in.

“Why are we getting Chi-“

I lean forward and press my lips to his, silencing him.

“Just trust me.”

He shrugs and we walk into the empty lobby and stand at the counter. We order much more than we could possibly eat and Niall tricks me into letting him pay. We leave the restaurant and I lead the way down one of the side streets that I’m familiar with.

“I really have no idea where the hell you’re taking me.”

I roll my eyes and continue walking with his hand in mine. Finally, we come to a clearing by a pond. It’s dark besides the moon reflecting off of the water and it’s exactly like I remember it.

“I haven’t been here in years.”

We stop and stare at the empty park before Niall points out a bare spot of grass that looks perfect for a picnic. There are a few street lamps, but they’re all a bit far from the actual park so it’s actually easy to see the stars.

We settle in the grass and pull out our food, which Niall begins to eat immediately. I lay back in the grass, though, and stare at the twinkly sky. I think about everything that has hit me like a ton of bricks in the past week. My parents splitting, meeting Fleurette, screwing everything up with Louis. Niall. I’m beginning to believe that Niall is the most important. I look over and he’s devouring noodles like he hasn’t eaten in days. He must feel my eyes on him because he meets my stare and starts to laugh. I giggle and look back to the stars, my arms folded comfortably over my stomach. Suddenly there are a pair of bright blue eyes replacing the stars and strong arms planted sturdy in the ground on either side of me. Niall hovers over my body and sinks down to rest on his elbows. He kisses my forehead and brushes a piece of hair behind my ear.

“What are you thinking about, love?”

I grin dreamily and hoist my body up closer to his, leaning back on my forearms.

“You.”

Then he kisses my jaw, his tongue slipping out briefly.

“Hmm. What about me?”

Now, his lips are connected to my neck, his teeth nipping at my skin.

“Just how perfect you are.”

My words come out between heavy breaths and his hips lower down to meet mine, our bodies melding together perfectly.

He pulls his mouth away from my neck, blowing cool air on the bruise he surely left behind. I lay back down and he follows, his chest pressed tightly against mine. Finally, our lips are within centimeters of each other and I can feel his every breath. I lean up slightly until his parted lips are on mine and everything finally feels right in the world. I need this. This is what can make up for what Louis and I did. I have to balance it all out. We continue to kiss passionately, his tongue prodding mine gently. I roll my hips up slightly and feel him grind his hips back down. Niall pulls away, out of breath and eyes blown.

“Hey, we still have two dates before things get crazy. I’m determined to actually follow through with that.”

I sigh in exasperation, rolling my eyes playfully. He’s serious, though. I know he is.

“Fine, but the yacht with my dad will count as one and I’m pretty sure we can fit another in
between now and then.”

He chuckles and kisses the tip of my nose.

“You’re completely ruining the purpose.”

He moves off of me and lays down in the grass beside me. He lays out an arm and I cuddle up against his side.

“It’s not my fault that you’re so damn sexy.”

He laughs again and wraps his arm around my waist tightly, his hand sliding down to grab my ass.

“Trust me, it’ll all be worth the wait.”

Notes

Hello <3
I am in a crappy mood... so I don't really feel like saying much here...
but you guys deserve it, so don't feel like it's you xx lol

Anywho, I'll be posting again soon <3

This seems to be my least popular story though... probably because I'm holding off on a lot of the smut hahaha but that's because it's part of the story.. oh well, those of you who do read this are all wonderful and are always commenting. Besides, I love this story, so I don't want to stop writing it.

ily guys xx Please subscribe/rate if you haven't and always comment :)