Daddy issues || h.s

0.5

His feet were starting to hurt. He had been walking for hours, and darkness was falling quickly. Soon he wouldn’t be able to see the trees in front of him.

He had been walking here almost every day for months, and he could practically walk the way home with his eyes closed. It didn’t mean he wanted to though. He sped up, pulling his jacket closer around him, trying to savour some of the heat radiating from his body. But the cold wasn’t what was bothering him. That girl was. Because he knew that when he got home, he would have to see her again. He would have to look at her. He would have to feel her eyes on him. He would have to be close to her.

He hadn’t been able to think of anything else all day. Every time he closed his eyes he could see her. Every time he wanted to turn around and go home, he thought of her. She was like the sun, forcing flowers to grow in his mind. But even though they were beautiful, he didn’t want them there.

All he wanted was to walk in peace, but she wouldn’t let him.

“Harry, is that you?” he heard Abigail calling from the kitchen when he closed the door behind him. “Yeah, I was just taking a walk” he answered. Who else would he be? It wasn’t like there were many people living in this house.

“It´s so good you´re home, I was starting to worry.” She came out in the hallway and kissed his cheek. It made him feel like he was five years old.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I know how to get by in life” He said, and flashed her a cheeky smile. It felt forced and unnatural. “I know, I know. But I didn’t want to lose you.” Her face got a hint of red as she said it, as if she was embarrassed to admit she cared about him. He wished showing emotion didn’t embarrass her. He wished she could stand on top of a mountain and shout out his name, instead of moaning it in his ear at night. He wished she could hold his and in public, instead of scratching his back in the bedroom. He wished she wasn’t so cold. But he knew he could wish all he wanted, she was never going to change.

“I made some food, if you´d like” She sung and turned towards the kitchen, her high heels clicking against the hard wood floor. “Thank you so much, I'm starving.” And he was, he could feel stones moving around in his stomach, reminding him of how little he had eaten that day.

He was just starting to make his way towards the kitchen when the front door slammed open and a hurricane came sweeping in.  

The first thing he heard was her laughter, light and soft like drizzle on an early winter morning. She came dancing though the door, her golden hair like a crown on her head. There was a huge grin plastered on her face, and her hand was clutching a bottle of wine. She had spilled some of it in her blouse, and the white linen was dyed a deep red colour. It looked like blood.

“Oh, the world is such a cruel and beautiful place.” she sung, looking to her left. He followed her eyes, and saw a mop of dirty blonde hair, followed by a pair of hazel eyes. A boy.

Their hands were entwined and she pulled him closer, kissing his temple. She had yet to discover they were not alone. He debated whether he should make his presence clear or not, but before he could come to any kind of conclusion, her eyes snapped up and found his.

“Oh,” she said, and smiled, immediately pulling away from the boy. A tint of red reached her cheeks, she was blushing. Or at least that was what he thought she was doing, because a couple of seconds later, she let out a small giggle. She sounded like a schoolgirl.

“Adelaide, what the hell are you doing?” Abigail came out from the kitchen, her eyes blazing with anger. She ripped the bottle from her daughter’s hands and put it on the coffee table, spilling half of it on the floor. “Go home Leith.” Her words were directed towards the boy, who grinned and kissed Adelaide´s cheek before disappearing out the door he had just come in through.

That was when all hell broke loose.

Abigail grabbed Adelaide´s upper arm and dragged her towards the stairs. “Do you have any idea what you are doing? You are throwing away your life, and embarrassing me in the process.” The older woman screamed, her voice colder than steel. She was incapable of showing emotions even when she was mad.

“I put up with the so called “adventures” you and your friends go on every weekend, but seriously Adelaide, drinking on a weekday, you're seventeen for heavens sake. You´re throwing your life away, do you realise that? Or are you too stupid to see it?”

Adelaide struggled against her mothers grip, trying to break free. “Oh mom, loosen up a bit. Have a taste of life. God knows you need it.”

Harry was shocked by the encounter between the two women; he had never seen anything like if before. How one of them was colder than stone, while the other pulsated with a soft, red glow of passion. They didn’t resemble one another a bit, and to think they were mother and daughter was nearly impossible.

“That’s it, you’re going to bed” Abigail whispered intently, trying to keep Harry from hearing. A small part of him wanted to laugh, sending her daughter to bed without dinner? The cliché was almost comedic. Almost.

“But I want to give Harry a good night kiss first” Adelaide said, and the brown haired boy felt his blood run cold as their eyes met. She had so deep, blue eyes, he was almost certain there were stars hiding in them. To his big surprise, she wasn’t smiling while she said it, she looked more sincere than she had ever done, and that scared him a bit.

“No, you get the hell away from him, and me. And if you don’t pull yourself together, you have to find somewhere else to sleep until you turn eighteen.” Abigail shoved her daughter towards the stairs, and the slightly drunk girl almost fell by the force of the impact.

“Okay, mom” she sneered, her eyes showing the kind of dislike that could set fire to a whole forest in the blink of a second. Unfortunately, that forest grew in his green eyes.