“Chloe,” Dad sighs, running his hands through his hair.

I don’t even know what to say to this sorry excuse for a man standing a few feet away from me. I want to yell and scream at him for lying to me and my mother, but I also want to cry as the pain from the entire situation course through me. It’s not fair, I think to myself. Why me?

“Say something,” he prompts. “I’m sorry Chloe, I really am. I should’ve told you. Please… say something.”

“No,” I whisper as I shake my head.

“No, what?”

“No—no I won't say anything, and no you’re not sorry, and I’m not forgiving you.”

“Chloe—“ His voice is strained; he doesn’t no what else to say.

Honestly, there’s nothing left to say. I’ve finally heard the truth, and the fact that I had to find the truth from someone other than my dad plus the fast that he actually cheated on my mother and left us both for another woman leaves me completely disgusted and hurt. I’m done with this man; there’s nothing he can do or say to change that.

“It’s not what you think… Please, just give me a chance to explain the whole story."

“Don’t expect me to believe anything you say. You’re not sorry, you’re just sorry you got caught.” My words are surprisingly steady; I thought I’d be crying right now with all of the pain ripping through my chest.

I’ve been hurt so many times, why can’t I just catch a break?

“Let me explain, Chloe.” My dad’s voice becomes stern and his hand moves to grasp my wrist. “Please, it’s not what you think.”

I laugh. I actually throw my head back and laugh.

“You can’t be serious!” I look him in his brown eyes. “How could it not be what I think, Father? There’s no way you’re getting out of this now; there’s no more excuses for you to use.” My voice has unintentionally raised, and I feel my face heating up.

His grasp on my wrist only tightens as I try to pull away; I want to be nowhere near this man. I don't even want to call him my father anymore.

“You’re pathetic, you know that? You could’ve told me the truth in the first place, or just let me stay in Phoenix so I wouldn’t have to deal with your bullshit. I refuse to listen to you feed me your lies and excuses anymore.”

I begin pulling away from his hold on me again, but he won’t let me go. His other hand grabs my arm to keep me from getting away from him. I know he won’t hurt me, but I hate that he has this control over me.

“What the hell is going on?”

We both look over to the stairs where Harry is lazily rubbing the sleep from his eyes and walking slowly down the stairs.

“Let go of me,” I snap at my father and pull away.

This gets Harry’s full attention, and he’s down the stairs in the blink of an eye.

“The fuck are you doing?” He yells and pushes my father away from me. “Don’t ever put your hands on her like that again,” Harry grits out. He’s fuming; his face is only centimeters away from my father’s.

I breathe heavily as I lean against the wall. “Harry, please.” I whimper. I’m afraid that he’ll make this even worse. “I’m fine,” I half lie. I really am fine... physically that is.

Harry pins my father against the wall as he looks over his shoulder to me. “Go upstairs, Chlo, okay?”

I shake my head and my stomach turns. I’ve heard those words from Harry far too many times. I know he wants to make my father pay for putting his hands on me, but that’ll just make this whole situation ten times worse. I need Harry, and I need Harry without bloody, broken knuckles.

“Come with me,” I plead as the tears threaten to spill from my eyes. Please, I mouth.

A knowing look flashes through his eyes and I know he understands that I don’t want him to fight my father. He knows I need him right now, that I need him to be with me.

Harry nods towards me before looking back at my father. “You’re gonna pay for this David,” both of their jaws are clenched; Harry’s in anger, my father’s in fear. “Get the fuck out of here before you’re paying with a black eye.”

Harry shoves him away and remains standing between us as my father collects himself and leaves through the front door.

We both stay planted in our spots speechless until we hear my father’s car start and pull away.

A sob breaks through my throat, and Harry quickly rushes to me and wraps his arms around me.

“Are you okay, baby?” He asks and tries to look at my face, but it’s buried into his chest. “Look at me,” he demands softly.

I slowly lift my head and let him wipe my tears with his thumbs before taking his shirt to wipe my running nose.

I shake my head when the words don’t come out. Where do I begin, I want to say.

“Oh, Chloe,” he whispers and pulls me back to his chest. “Just tell me if you’re okay… physically. I mean, did he hurt you just now?”

I shake my head against his broad chest. I feel before I hear him release a sigh of relief.

“It’s okay, shhh,”

I don’t know how long we stand there, his arms wrapped protectively around me and swaying us back and forth to calm me down, but I appreciate his willingness to give me time to process this all.

“Do you want to go sit?”

I nod as he releases me. “I’ll go get you some tissues and a water. I’ll meet you in the living room, okay?”

I nod again and head towards the couch. He leaves for the kitchen, and during that time, I try to think of how I’m going to tell him I need to leave.

I can’t live here anymore… not with my ‘dad.’

Once Harry returns, he sets the bottle of water on the coffee table and hands me a few tissues. I thank him as I take them, and he sits down close to me.

“Will you tell me what happened?” He asks. I know he’s trying his best not to press me for answers, and I love him all the more for that.

I nod, but take a sip of the water before starting. I tell him everything from overhearing my father and Ruth’s conversation in his study earlier to the moment I found out he cheated on my mother and that was the real reason he left us.

His hands are firmly grasping mine, but I’m thankful for the contact. I need him.

“Baby,” he whispers and pulls me onto his lap. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I wish none of this happened.” His voice is so soft and meaningful it brings fresh tears to my eyes. “What can I do? I’m here, you know that, don’t you? I won’t go anywhere.”

“I know,” I assure hime. “I just don’t know what to do. Harry, I don’t know what to do. I can’t—“

Just as I was about to tell him I couldn’t stay here as long as my father was still living here, Anne walked in the living room in a track suit and wet hair. She must’ve just gotten out of the shower. Lucky her, I think. She got to miss that whole nightmare…

“What’s going on?” She frowns as she rushes to my side to assess the problem.

I don’t even have the strength or capacity in my brain to worry or care about her seeing Harry and I in an embrace with my head on his shoulder.

“Your fiancé is a jackass,” Harry explains to her in a cold voice. I would scold Harry for being so harsh, but it’s true.

“What are you talking about?” Anne asks him. “Are you all right, sweetheart? Where’s your dad?”

“I’m okay,” I whisper and force myself to pull away from Harry.

“The hell you are,” Harry says to me before looking at his mom. “That dick lied to her and her mum. Did you know he walked out on them when Chloe was nine because he was sleeping with some bitch? Then he has the audacity to tell Chloe that her mum was the one to kick him out! Then he puts his hands on her—“ Harry stops and forces himself to take a deep breath.

“What?” Anne’s eyes go wide with all of the information Harry just divulged.

“Yeah. You really need to rethink this douche bag, Mum.”

“Language, Harry.” Anne scolds. I can tell she’s processing what she’s just learned, and taking her frustration and confusion out on her son. Meanwhile, I stay quiet and try to get myself back together.

“I’m not kidding, Mum. He’s been feeding Chloe bullshit, so God knows what he’s keeping from you. And you should’ve seen him this morning. He wouldn’t let go of her.” A shudder runs through Harry as he recollects this morning’s events.

“Chloe, I’m so sorry.” Anne turns towards me and pulls me into a hug. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nod as I hug her back. “I’m going to go talk to him and see what’s going on.”

“I made him leave,” Harry announces. “He took his car somewhere.”

“I’ll find him. What he did was not okay, and I need to figure out what’s going on.” Anne squeezes her arms around me as she kisses me cheek. “Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Harry looks at me, and I nod. He and Anne leave for the kitchen, leaving me alone in my thoughts.

---

“Are you okay?” Harry asks me the question that I’ve heard too much of today upon his return to the living room.

Anne and Harry talked for a good twenty minutes before I heard the front door shut before hearing Anne’s car starting and pulling away from the house. Harry joined me again in the living room just a few minutes after that.

“No, Harry. I’m not fine,” I admit. “I feel confused, angry, sad, betrayed… I don’t know what to do. I’m still in shock. I can’t believe it.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Harry frowns and sits next to me, taking my hands and bringing them up to his mouth to kiss them. “Whatever you need though, I’m here. I love you, and you still have me.”

“I know, thank you.” I rest my head on his shoulder. “I love you, Harry. Thanks for this morning… for everything today, for everything ever.”

“You know I’d do anything for you, Chloe.”

We sit snuggled up on the couch for God knows how long. It’s comforting though: silence and support. Harry’s presence and the quiet is what I need right now.

Harry begins running his hands through my hair and massaging my scalp with his finger tips and my eyelids become heavy. I don’t know how long it’s been since I woke up, but I do know that I’m exhausted already.

“Go to sleep baby,” Harry whispers, and with his order, I drift off dreaming of a world where my mom wasn’t sick and still alive, and my father wasn’t a cheating, lying prick.



When I wake up, I’m laying alone on the couch with a fleece blanket laid on top of me, and there are voices coming from the kitchen.

My eyes adjust to the evening sun seeping through the blinds on the windows as I sit up. Once I’m standing, Harry enters the room.

“How long was I asleep?” I ask as I comb my unruly hair with my fingers.

“A few hours. How are you feeling?” Harry crosses the living room in five steps and he’s now standing in front of me, searching my eyes for an honest answer to how I feel.

“Better,” I shrug. “Who’s in the kitchen?”

“Our parents. Will you go upstairs with me?”

“He’s back?” I ask, referring to my father.

Harry nods. “Let’s go upstairs.”

I want to ask how long he’s been back and what they’re talking about, but I find myself still incredibly tired and worn out. I take the hand that he holds out for me and follow him upstairs. Once we get to the bottom of the steps, Harry pauses to place one arm around the back of my knees and the other around my waist to lift me. He carries me to his room and gently sets me on his bed.

“Thank you,” I smile. My smile quickly transforms into a frown when Harry covers me with his duvet, turns off the light and heads to the door. “You’re not staying?”

“I figured you’d want some alone time…”

I shake my head with the recognition that all I want, no all I need, is him. From day one he’s been my distraction, my support, my therapy… he’s been everything I want and need.

“Will you stay with me?” I ask and draw back the blankets as an invitation.

Harry nods and takes off his boots, jeans and T-shirt before climbing in next to me. “Do you want to talk?”

“Can we just lay?”

“Of course,” he whispers and pulls me into his arms. “But if you want to talk, just talk, okay?”

“Okay.”

Neither one of us fall asleep, but we lay awake in a comfortable silence. I know it would be beneficial for me to talk more about what I’m feeling instead of bottling it up, but it’s too hard.

“Will you tell me more about your dad?” I ask. I don’t think Harry was expecting the question, but he answers after taking a moment to think.

“I always looked up to him. He was always working, but I always thought I wanted to be like him: wearing suits and making important business decisions… He was a good dad, up until the end I guess, but we were never really that close. I was closer to my mum, honestly.”

The end. His words echo in my mind. I hate that we both have had to go through so much heartbreak in our families.

“Do you ever miss him?”

“Not really,” Harry shrugs. “The way things happened before me and my mum moved here made it easier. Once Gemma died, it was like he became a different person; he was never very affectionate, but he became so cold and distant, there really is nothing to miss.”

Maybe that’s how I’ll feel in a few years about my father…

“Why us?” I whisper, almost to myself.

“Why us, what?”

I sigh. “Why do we have to go through all of this? Why did we both have to lose someone we love too soon? And why do our fathers have to act like this?”

Harry sighed and shook his head. He didn’t know the answer to those questions either. He turned onto his back and looked up at the ceiling with his hands folded on his chest.

“I’d never treat our children like that. And I’d protect our family from everything bad. I’d never put you through this hurt again.”

My throat began to close with the swelling emotion. Our children? Our family? I didn’t know whether to feel happy or overwhelmed, so I remained silent. Thankfully Harry didn’t ask how I felt about what he said, because I wouldn’t have an answer.

I hear yelling downstairs before the front door slams shut. Harry sits up but doesn’t look at me or offer an explanation.

“What’s going on, Harry?”

“I don’t know,” he states. I know he’s telling the truth. “I’ll be right back.” Harry gets up and pulls on his jeans and a clean shirt.

“Wait,” I protest and follow behind him. Thankfully he doesn’t object.

He walks quickly down the stairs and stops when he sees Anne sitting with her head in her hands at the dining room table.

“What is it, Mum? Where’s David?” He asks her.

Anne looks up at her son, glances at me, then returns to Harry. “He’s gone… And he’s not coming back.”

It’s only then when I notice Anne’s engagement ring missing from her finger and sitting on the table in front of her.

Notes

Hey guys! Just letting you know that I plan on having only about 10 or so chapters left in this story... But don't worry, there's still a lot more unexpected things to come ;)

Please comment, rate & subscribe! I enjoy reading everyone's feedback.