Sweetened || HS AU

• one •

| Jailen |

No.

No. No. No.

"Jai..." He whispered out, his hands falling to his sides as the corners of his lips twitched.

"Hi, Harry," I swallowed harshly. This couldn't be happening. This wasn't supposed to be happening.

Everything I did, all the precautions I took so that I wouldn't see him again and now here he is... standing in front of me and looking younger than he did four years ago.

Four years ago... It happened so fast, everything happened so quickly that I didn't really have time to register it. And when I left, I pushed those memories so far down and didn't think about them until... now. Not even when I had Hayden. She was my baby. As far as she was concerned, Harry didn't exist to either her or me.

And she didn't really ask about him, Maybe it was because I never talked about him. I had no reason to. I made sure to love her enough for the both of us because she didn't need him. I didn't need him.

A tug on my finger caught my attention and I looked down at the toddler. She grinned up at me before she turned her head and suddenly her attention was on Harry.

"Your dog is big," she said, "Like this big," She emphasized, stretching her arms out on the side of her.

Harry chuckled, "She used to be smaller. Like this small," He emphasized, bringing his hands together before he whistled. The golden retriever wiggled her way between Hayden and me and went to sit at Harry's feet.

Hayden quickly followed, her attention easily captured by the dog again. Harry's eyes lingered on her and he narrowed them. I could see the realization settling behind his eyes as I tried to find the right words to say, What was I supposed to say?

'Hey, Harry. Sorry I left without explanation like four, almost five, years ago. I found out I was pregnant the morning before and surprise, she's yours.'

I shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be here. I cleared my throat, catching his attention as I moved forward and grabbed Hayden's arm, "Come on, bug. Uncle Jason is waiting on us."

She pouted and Harry put his hand out to stop me. I avoided eye contact with him and kept my gaze on my daughter.

"What's the rush, Jai?" He asked, reaching up and running his hands through his long hair. He ducked his head a bit to get me to try and look at him but I just turned my head. He narrowed his eyes, "Don't do this, baby. Stay. Let's talk."

"We have nothing to talk about, Harry," I said, gently tugging on Hayden's arm and attempting to walk away.

Except this time, he moved to stand in front of me, towering over me and completely blocking me from leaving, "I wasn't asking, sweetie."

"Harry," I said through gritted teeth, finally looking up at him, "I'm not doing this."

He tilted his head back, eyes low as he hummed, "Don't you think I deserved to meet my daughter properly?"

"My daughter," I snapped just as quickly.

"Our daughter, Jailen. You didn't lay there by yourself, sweetie, did you?" He chuckled arrogantly, taking a step away from me and gesturing his head toward the open garage, "Let's talk."

I hesitated, my hand still on Hayden's arm as I stared at the man who ignited nothing but anger inside of me at the moment. I looked down at the confused toddler and guilt settled in my stomach. Harry smiled triumphantly as he watched any signs of hesitation slip from my facial features.

"Ten minutes, Harry," I said, walking by him and gently tugging my daughter.

"Mhm," was all he replied as he watched me intently. I looked back at him to see if he was following, and he was. In fact, he was too damn close but he didn't seem to have any intentions of moving. He nodded towards his house and licked his lips, "Go on."

just wanted to get the ball rolling, so it's a really short chapter...
thank god for double updates