Sweetened || HS AU

• twenty-eight •

no song because the song for the next chapter is heartbreaking, I think.
enjoy! :)

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| Jailen |

Three weeks.

It's been three weeks since my dad's funeral.

It's been three weeks since I promised my mom it'd be the last time she ever saw me.

It's been three weeks since I've seen and heard from Harry.

He dropped us off at home that day, said goodbye to Hayden, and drove off before we even got in the building. I was convinced he would come up and stay but he didn't, and I was grateful at the time because I just wanted some time alone with my daughter.

I figured he just needed time to cool off after what happened and that was fine.

But he didn't call or text to say goodnight to Hayden like he usually did when he wasn't with her and I figured he had just gotten busy. Until one day passed, and then another, and then another.

When I would call, it would ring a few times and then go to voicemail, as if he was declining them on purpose. My texts would get delivered and it would be hours and hours before he would read them, so I knew he wasn't dead or anything, which only pissed me off more.

As far as I was concerned, the only person in my life that was dead was my father and I got over that pretty quickly. Well, I wouldn't say I'm over it, I'm tremendously sad but I'm not... destroyed, if that makes sense. I mourn when I think of him but I don't cry. He just wasn't here. It's the same way it's been for the past four years and years before then.

It's just how my life has been.

I stared at my phone, a picture of Peyton and Harry out last night covering my screen. One of his arms was around her waist, the other was in front, his hand sprawled over her stomach and he was whispering something in her ear. Her smile was wide and when I zoomed in, I could see that he was also smiling. My heart skipped a beat.

Had he been with her this whole time?

I swallowed the lump in my throat and locked my phone. I wasn't even upset about him hanging out with Peyton, it's not like we were together. I was more upset that he seemed to have forgotten about his daughter.

Maybe I was just a little bit upset about him and Peyton. I didn't like her. Which only upset me more considering I had no reason to dislike her. It's not her fault Harry can't be trusted.

I paused. Trusted? I didn't have to trust him. We weren't together.

Frowning at myself, I stood up from the couch. I needed a drink. But just as I was making my way to the kitchen, a knock sounded at the door. I didn't think twice about who it could be as I absentmindedly walked over to the door and pulled it open.

"Mommy!" Hayden yelled the moment I came into view.

"Hey, pretty girl," Zayn grinned, waving one hand, the other still holding onto Hayden.

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused, "Why aren't you in school?" I asked, moving out of the way so that they could come in.

"We went to get ice cream," she said, showing me the cone that I hadn't noticed until now.

I looked at the time on my phone and then at Zayn, "She isn't supposed to get out of school until 3..." I scoffed and he shrugged. I turned my phone towards him, "It's 12!"

"It's 3 somewhere, Jai," he said, leaning in and placing a brief kiss on my lips, "You got vodka?"

He didn't wait for me to answer before he was making his way towards the kitchen. I was stuck, confused about everything that had just happened. I looked around me, surprised to see that Hayden had already occupied herself with the TV. She was watching a rerun season of Little Women: LA and I hummed. She laughed at one of the jokes and I blinked. Where the hell did she learn about this?