better now > sequel to neighbours. [HS]

THIRTY

After being discovered and dragged inside to El's kitchen, I was finally settling down. I gripped the warm cup of tea and watched Harry, who hasn't really spoken a word to anyone for the past twenty minutes.

His chest rose and fell and my own began to do the same as I watched him in fright.

"I am so mad right now." He simply stated.

I quirked my brow and looked to his eyes. His eyes always told me the truth, and right now, he was telling the truth. I gulped and squeezed my hands together. "I understand.-"

"No" he slammed his hand on the table, making each spoon and cup rattle and making El and I jump. It's been awhile since I've seen this side of Harry. 

He looked to me with tears in his eyes. "I have loved that child, watched her grow, my heart breaking that she didn't have a father to adore her like I did. I even asked you multiple times if you knew who he was and had me believe he was an asshole runaway dad."

"I hated him." He cried out. "I swore if I ever met him I'd kill him." He rested his eyes in the palm of his hands and cried. It was so awkward.

I felt my lip tremble and El reached her hand out for mine, the sounds of Annabel playing with Gracie and Avery not so comforting right now.

"I don't know what to say." I announced after an awkward silence. "I've never seen him cry like this," I whispered to her.

"When this blows over I'm gonna make fun of him for crying like a pussy." She whispered back. I sucked in my bottom lip to hold back a smile and turned my attention to Harry again. It wasn't the time for jokes but it also wasn't a time to pretend we were teens again; we needed to talk like adults and sort our shit out.

"Harry," I put a hand on his leg and he breathed in deep before looking at me as he wiped his eyes.

"Before this blows up, I want to tell you that I wanted to tell you- I tried to drop hints a lot of times, I really did. You walked back into my life unexpectedly which isn't an excuse but I think if you were shoved back in my life so quick, I would have eventually told you myself. Not like this, anyways." I scooted closer to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. He nodded silently and pushed his hair from his face.

"I'm not angry at you, Maelynn" he mumbled.

I sat back a bit, slightly taken aback. This is news.

"You're not?" I questioned.

"I'm not." He confirmed.

"I'm angry at myself," he began. Intrigued, I leaned in again.

"I cheated on you, I knew you were pregnant yet I still chose Aria. I knew you were getting an abortion and at the time..I was relieved." He choked out. "I feel like a bitch for crying but I am so disgusted with myself."

My brows furrowed as each confession rolled off his tongue. "And that's not even the worst of it." He sourly laughed.

He looked up at me with his red eyes and sighed. "I paid your mother to make sure you got the abortion; because Aria was pregnant too."