Fighting Desires

32

⚠️Trigger warning⚠️
This chapter will mention topics such as alcoholism and domestic abuse.
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Harriet's POV

We've been at the fair for nearly two hours now. So far we've been on nearly all the rides, and Clayton even won me this cute little pineapple teddy.

"Where to now?" Clayton asked. "House of mirrors?" I ask and he nods.

We make our way over and step inside.

Unfortunately for us, we got stuck behind this mother and her three-year-old son who were walking at the speed of snails.

It was worth it though because a minute later the kid ran full speed into a mirror and basically flew back.

Long story short; The mother was a bitch and we ended up getting kicked out. For laughing.

Handy enough though, the fair was right beside the beach. So we got some food from a fast food truck and we were now sitting on a short wall, watching the sea.

It was dark outside, and a cool breeze flew through the air.

"Tell me something about you," I say. Clayton looks at me confused and I shrug. "I don't really know that much about you, that's all" I explain and he seems to get what I mean.

"Well my dad is American while my mam is Irish, so growing we'd go to Ireland for a month during the summer to visit my grandparents," Clayton tells me.

"Do you know any Irish?" I ask him and he nods. "My mam was determined for all of us to know the Irish language. Growing up she hired Irish tutors for all of us" He said and I smiled.

"Say something in Irish," I tell him and he laughs. "Tá mé i mo shuí in aice leat" He says and I smile. "What does that mean?" I ask. "I am sitting beside you," Clayton says and I laugh. "How poetic" I joke.

"How many siblings do you have?" I ask. "Seven" He chuckles. "Woah" I mumble.

"Jay is thirty-three. Sage, Alex and Leo, their triplets, by the way. They're twenty-four. Me and the twin are all eighteen and I have a younger sister, Charlotte whos thirteen"  He explains. "That's a lot" I chuckle and he hums.

"It was originally eight... I had um..a little brother Owen but he...he died when he was around two" Clayton says as he looks down at his hands.

I take hold of his hand. He looks up at me and smiles."Jay has two twin girls; Alora and Becca. You've met Alora" Clayton chuckles and I smile at the memory.

"What about you? You said you were an only child right?" Clayton asks and I nod.

"Yeah," I tell him and he nods. "If you don't mind me asking, why don't you like your birthday?" Clayton asks quietly.

"Well um...my mother was an alcoholic. She was also quite abusive to my father. She was a good person when sober, but when she wasn't sober she was horrible. And she was hardly ever sober so.." I say as I look at my hands "Despite all this, my dad never left.He believed she would change" I dryly laugh. She never changed.

"On my ninth birthday, we were sitting around the dinner table and my dad was singing happy birthday. We were living in England at the time. I blew out my candles and my dad was clapping. He was just about to cut the cake, and then my mother told me they were getting divorced.I was happy. I thought my dad would finally be happy now" I say, a lump beginning to form in my throat.

"They started arguing. My dad was pissed she told me on my birthday when they originally planned on telling me the day after. They started yelling. I can't even remember fully what happened, I just remember Dad being on the floor clutching his arm. She just kept kicking and kicking him until he wasn't moving. I was a crying mess. My mom finally stopped and left".

"Dad was unconscious. I didn't know what to do so I ran next door. Lilian was our neighbour at the time. She knew what was going on and tried to convince Dad to get help multiple times. She called an ambulance and stayed with me. We spent the night in the emergency room".

"The police got involved. Mam got arrested and I don't know what happened after that. Around four months later we moved to America to have a new start. A year later Lilian got offered a job there. That is how they started dating. But yeah, my birthday was never really that fun after that" I whisper.

My eyes were wet as tears rolled down my cheeks.

Clayton pulled me into a hug, and I immediately clung to him. One hand was wrapped around my waist and the other was holding the back of my head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't meant to get like this I just...I hate her so fucking much" I mumble as I cry into his chest.

Clayton didn't say a word which I was grateful for. I think he knew that I just wanted to cry.

After a few minutes, I calmed down. Clayton was rubbing my back which was probably the most relaxing thing I've ever felt.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our date" I mumble as I pull away from him. "You didn't ruin anything, Harriet" Clayton whispered. He kissed my forehead, before I leaned into him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you for taking me out for my birthday Clayton" I mumble. "Thank you for not leaving me to hang out with those teenagers in the woods" Clayton mumbles and I laugh.

"It was tempting not going to lie" I joke and he laughs. "I'm sure it was" He whispers.

"Do you get on with your parents?" I ask. "I get on with my mother. I love her. My dad on the other hand.." He trails off. "I despise him with every fibre in my body" Clayton mutters and I look at him curiously.

"He's a sick fucker. We all hate him. Apart from my mother of course. Don't ask me how my dad managed to make someone as sweet as my mother fall in love with him" He mutters.

"I don't really want to get into it right now. I'll tell you another time" Clayton says and I squeeze his hand.

We sat there in silence for the next few minutes. The cool breeze flowed through the air. The sound of waves crashing against the shore filled our ears as we sat together.

My eyes became heavy, and I drift off to sleep in Clayton's arms.