Vienna {H.S}

Chapter Two

Harry had thoroughly searched two grocery stores, five ice cream shops and three malls. He knew his little girl barely knew any place outside of the long tower she called her home. Once a year, which was on her birthday, he would hesitantly take her out and treat her to some ice cream. The habit formed from a particular day, and since then it became a tradition for the inseparable two;

~~

Flashback:

She was perched on the swings, swaying back and forth, puffing out her chubby cheeks as she struggled to push herself and let herself go again and again. She was getting tired of hosting up her legs and sinking them into the sand and then letting them go since no one was there in the orphanage. Harry watched her from the window, and could not help but smile as he watched the little girl crunch up her tiny nose in annoyance.

"Who's that cutie pie?" He blurted out the word easily, it described her perfectly to him.

Miss Biggs smiled at him, "Oh, thats Veronica or Vanessa, I can't remember. She's the shyest girl of the bunch. She came here about a year ago.." Her wrinkled face had suddenly sunken, "Her parents died from a plane crash. Poor girl had no relatives, so even though she has a generous will attached to her name, she has to be at least 18 until she can get her hands on it. Poor girl, you know, I can't imagine-"

She blinked as she glanced around blankly, "Mr. Styles? Mr. Styles?!" She called out. Where had that funny man gone?

She finally spotted him from the window. He had taken long strides towards the girl, who hadn't seemed to notice him.

"Hello beautiful." He said softly and she looked up at him, blinking slowly up at the handsome man in front of her.

She gasped suddenly, her wide sky blue eyes absorbing his soft features into memory, "Are you a prince?"

He chuckled at her response and went behind her, pushing the swing gently. "Something like that." He responded, "Are you a princess?"

Suddenly the girl looked down, her small shoulders hunching down. "And would a princess be in a place like this?" Her words revealed her to be beyond her eight years.

He felt bad for the child; he related to her. His father left him when he was very little, but thankfully he had his uncle and butler to replace the hole in his life. He was bred into a long line of wealthy hotel heirs, and he was to inherit the company once he was of age. Now, at the age of merely 20, he was entitled to such a huge responsibility. He had a life of his own, a family, a company. He had made a name for himself. But even after all of this prestige, he still felt quite lonely. And looking down at the sad girl, he felt his heart squeeze with a sudden need to have her.

"Tell you what," he spoke up raspily, attracting the child's attention. "How about I take you home, and you become my little princess?" He was proposing that he adopt her, he wasn't thinking straight, forgetting all the responsibilities that came with it. But all of that did not matter; he wanted her. He may not have known just exactly what he was doing, but he knew he needed it and would not regret it. Perhaps the child would tame his soul, fight off his demons that never seemed to go away. He looked at her and saw himself in her, he knew he had to have her.

She scratched her chin, furrowing her eyebrows together as if in the process of deep thinking. "Lets say I do become your princess, would you get me mint chocolate chip ice cream?"

Harry smiled, his dimples indenting in his cheeks. "Absolutely."

She beamed, revealing her fallen front tooth and threw her arms around his neck, and she hugged him like no one ever had. "Then yes, I'll be your princess, my prince."

His eyes were wide and he stiffened at the strange act of affection. He could not remember the last time something just hugged him out of genuine kindness. In all his life, he had been exposed to his caring yet greedy uncle's scandals, dark unfathomable secrets, and nothing but ultimate death to everyone he had ever truly loved. It made him build walls of defense, made him think twice about trusting people. But there was something about this beautiful child, maybe it was her dimpled smile, her disheveled pigtails, or her wide eyed innocence, whatever it was, he knew that he would do anything to protect it, even if it meant that he had to keep her hidden.

And then he hugged her back.

~~

He smiled at the memory, barely focusing on the empty road ahead of him as he examined his surroundings slowly. He blinked a couple of times, trying to remember where he was again. Just the mere thought of his babygirl could do that to him.

He slowed down the car, he was nearby a small club located in the downtown area of the city. It was unsafe, he knew that from experience many years ago as a teenager. But that's another story.

There was only one streetlight present, so everything else surrounding it was casting a dark shadow. He saw something moving in the darkness and he squinted. As he got a clearer view of the moving creature, he realized they were two creatures. Two humans, locked in a heated kiss, the male had his fingertips wandering up her skirt, the girl's hands were tangled in his hair.

He rolled his eyes. Stupid horny teenagers, he thought to himself as he started to drive away.

He glanced back at the road and incidentally caught a second glance at the couple, only this time he had realized something that made his car screech to a halt.

The girl pressed up against the wall, was his innocent wide-eyed princess.

~~~~~~~~~

Just to clear things up, in the flashback she was in an orphanage and he adopted her. She was eight years old, and he was twenty. Now she's fifteen and he's twenty seven. Wow, I'm good at math. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the story so far, I got a lot planned for it.

((Plus can someone teach me how to italicize the text?😂))