Worth The Risk {h.s}

Chapter 28.

Harry:

My mom walked inside my house with Laura following closely behind her. This trip was turning into a nightmare. Maybe I should have just let it go when Jess had refused my first offer of bringing her with me.

"Harry, just listen to me, okay?" My mum said.

I wasn't in any mood to listen to her after what she'd pulled at brunch. I stared at her, arms crossed over my chest. Jess came to stand beside me.

"There's a brand new hospital here and it has general practice offices available. You could start up a practice here. You'd be closer to the family and Laura is here. You two could work things out together." She said.

I scoffed, not believing she was saying these things when Jess was right next to me. Anger brewed in my veins but I kept myself calm and collected on the outsides. I wrapped my arm around Jess' waist protectively.

"Mum, you can't just expect me to drop everything back in America and start over here. I have a life there, a great job, a great house, and a really amazing girlfriend." I explained, pulling Jess even closer to me. I then focused on Laura who stood next to my mum. "Laura, I'm sorry things between us didn't work out but you have to know that my mum forcing us together wouldn't be right."

"Harry," my mum said before getting cut off by Laura.

"I loved you so much Harry. We could have had the perfect life together. You're going to choose that high school girl over me?"

I felt Jess stiffen up next to me. I couldn't even imagine what she was feeling at the moment. It must have seemed like the world was against her.

"Mum, Laura, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." I said. "Now."

My mum hesitated before actually making any moves to leave. I narrowed my gaze at her, giving her an extra push to go. After a long few seconds she turned and left without another word. Laura looked back at me over her shoulder as she walked out, winking.

A terrible feeling settled in my chest. Jess probably wanted to just go home more than anything after what all had happened. I wouldn't blame her if she did. My mum and Laura were the ones to blame.

"Jess," I said, moving to stand in front of her. I tilted her chin up, pressing my lips to hers. "Are you okay?"

She nodded but I couldn't be positive if it was the truth.

"I just don't want to be the reason that you fight with your mum. What if you two stop talking to each other? It would be all my fault." Jess said.

I pulled her tight against my chest, running my hands through her soft hair. "None of this is your fault, babe."

I felt her smile against my chest at what I'd called her. She really liked that, I'd noticed, so maybe I should do it more often. I felt the need to make it up to her for how bad our trip had been so far.

The rest of the day was spent with me showing her around London. We went sight seeing at the most popular places that tourists liked to go. I took her to see Big Ben, The Tower Bridge, The Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, and any other places I could think of. We'd grabbed lunch way earlier at a fast food place but now it was nearing dinner time. I was glad to see that Jess was happy.

"I want to take you somewhere nice for dinner. How does that sound?" I asked.

"Sounds great. Where are we going?"

"It's one of my favorite places called 'The Ivy'. You'll love it." I said as we climbed into my rental car.

We chatted idly during the twenty minute drive. All of our worries from before seemed to be long gone. We entered the building and stopped at the front desk.

"Reservation?" The lady asked.

"Styles."

Jess looked at me surprised, not knowing that I'd made reservations for us earlier in the day. The lady at the front desk led us through the restaurant to a table in the middle. The dim lights made the chandeliers above us shine even more beautifully.

"This place is amazing, Harry." Jess said as she took everything in. Her eyes wondered around the extravagant room, stopping on the table furnishings and the amazing architecture. Something took her attention way from the sights and she dug in her purse, pulling out her wallet and then placing it back inside. She dug through the other compartments of her purse and when she looked back up, her expression had changed dramatically.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"My phone is gone." She said. "I know I had it at brunch."

"Maybe you left it at my place."

"Yeah, maybe."

The waitress came to our table, taking our orders before walking away. I'd ordered Chicken Marinese and Jess ordered some kind of fancy salad. Her expression was still not back to normal and I guessed it was because she was afraid that she'd lost her phone.

"Relax. I'm sure it's at my house." I said, reaching across the table to take her hand in mine. I rubbed circles against the smooth skin of her hand with my thumb, earning me a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. I should be enjoying our time together. This is the most beautiful restaurant I've ever been to." She said. "And with my favorite man."

Her words warmed my heart, made it beat a little faster. It also felt nice to be out in public with her and not have to worry about someone we know catching us or seeing us. It could be like this all the time once she turned eighteen. We talked about what other plans we had for the week here in London as we waited for our food.

The waitress arrived back at our table, serving us our food and asking if we needed anything else. We politely declined and started in on our meals.

It's so good." Jess commented.

"It really is." I agreed.

About half way through our dinner my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out, ready to ignore the call, but frowned as I looked at the caller I.D. Whoever was calling me had Jess' phone. She caught on to my change in attitude.

"Who is it?" She asked.

I showed her my phone and she gasped. "It has to be Laura. I remember now laying my phone down on the table at brunch. I must have forgotten it there when I left for the bathroom and I guess Laura took it."

"Fück," I muttered under my breath. Why did people have to ruin everything?

I didn't answer the call. Jess and I finished our meals more quickly than I would have liked, paid, and headed back out to my rental car. I could tell the whole situation was stressing Jess out and I didn't blame her. I would be lucky if she even wanted to stay with me after this mess of a trip.

Once inside the car, I dialed Jess' number. Laura answered on the first ring. I put the phone on speaker so Jess could hear what was going on.

"Drop the phone off at my house. Leave it in the mail box." I demanded.

"Sure, no problem. I've already got done what I needed with it. By the way, Jessica should be expecting a call from her mother. I think she will be in a lot of trouble when she gets home from this little school trip." Laura said and then hung up the phone.

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