Homecoming

Harry's P.O.V

I woke up and looked down to see a sleeping Riley. I lifted her softly and placed her on the pillow I had been laying on and covering her with a blanket. I ran my hands through my hair. She looks so distraught even while she's sleeping. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I look to see my mum's picture on the screen.

"Hey mum." I answer sleepily.

"Hey love. Are you coming home anytime soon or have you decided to live at Riley's?" She says. She sounds a bit upset. I should have told her I was staying here.

"Sorry mum, it's just Riley's parents were away and I didn't want her to be alone." I tried to explain but I realize that was a mistake.

"You two were at her house alone?!" She yelled. She definitely was not impressed. "Harold Edward Styles please tell me you're joking? I looked past the fact that you were most likely sleeping at her house only because I thought her parents would be home." She sighed deeply.

I walked out of Riley's room quietly, taking a seat at the top of the stairs. "Mum relax. I needed to be here. Luckily I was. She had a panic attack." I said quietly. The other end went silent.

"Is she alright?" She asked.

"Not really." I sigh heavily. "I remember what it was like having that happen but this was on a whole different level. She was completely unresponsive, it was scary." I explained. I remember having an axiety attack when I was younger, it had been a few weeks after my dad had left. He hadn't spoken to us much and I was really torn up about it. It wasn't fun, but it was nothing like what Riley went through.

"Well as long as you were there. How is she now?" She asked. I looked back to Riley's room to see her still asleep.

"She's seeping now but she had a pretty rough night. A couple of nightmares, but I was able to calm her down." I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "I can't leave her mum." I told her.

She sighed "Alright Harry. I'll bring by a change of clothes for you. You have school tomorrow so you can't stay the night, understood?"

"But mum..." I tried to plead.

"Harold. You've been there the entire weekend and you'll be there all day today I'm sure. You're lucky I'm not making you come home now, it's only for Riley's sake that Im allowing you to stay." She said sternly. I knew better than to argue, my mother rarely gets angry and I knew she was serious.

"Alright. Love you mum." I said. She told me she loved me and then said she'd drop off my clothes in a few. After I hung up the phone I went back to check on Riley who was awake but still laying in the same position I left her. "Hey babe." I said lowering myself to sit on hone floor beside her. She continued to stare blankly. I sighed and moved a few stray hairs from her face.

Hours went by and Riley remained in bed. She would go in and out of sleep but still unresponsive. My mum came by and even came in to check on her. She told me to just stay close by but that she's going to need time. I didn't leave Riley's side, holding her close whenever she tensed up from a nightmare. At around 2 I heard the door open. I slowly placed Riley on the bed to go and check who was coming in.

"Harry?" Dawn said when I came down the stairs.

I forced a small smile as I looked at her and Tim. "Hi." I say awkwardly bringing my hand to the back of my neck.

"What are you doing in my house?" Tim asked rather angrily.

I shifted awkwardly. "Uh, I uh..." I didn't really want to admit that I'd stayed here the past couple of nights. "I was here last night when she got a call from Dawn..." I said shifting my gaze awkwardly between the two. Riley's mum's eyes went wide. "She uh... She didn't take what you said too well." I finished.

Tears ran down Dawn's face. "I didn't even think about that." She said shaking her head. Tim stood stiff. "Where is she?" She asked wiping her tears away.

"She's in her room sleeping. Pretty much been that way all day." I tell them. Dawn walks past me and goes up to her daughter's room leaving me alone with Tim.

He sighs heavily "I never meant for this to happen." He mutters. I stare at the man in front of me. He was always a great guy when I was a kid. Him and my father got along really well, he was like a second dad to me. It hurts to know that he would make the same mistakes as my father.

"You know, Mr.Starrke, you've really hurt them." I manage to say. "I know exactly how they're feeling and it's not a good feeling." I tell him suddenly becoming very angry. "They don't deserve to have this happen. Especially Riley!" I say, raising my voice at the end.

He stares at me in shock and then a flash of anger flows through him. He walks up to me keeping about a foot of distance. He's a few inches shorter than I am but he is a bit stockier. "You don't think I know that?! You think I wanted to hurt them?! Things happen Harry, sometimes you have a lapse in judgement and then things get out of control. I never wanted to hurt my girls! But I did, and now I'm paying for it because now I'm going to lose them." He says. After he finishes he sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"You know, you don't have to lose them. If you leave, don't stay away. Thats the mistake my father made and thats what crushed me the most. Give them space. I can see you regret what you've done, so if you fix it and show them how sorry you are then you can get them back." I tell him calmly.

He looks at me intently. He nods his head. "You're a wise kid Harry. Do me a favor and watch out for my girls will you? I won't be here all the time but I need to know that I have someone looking out for them." The look on his face is one of pain and I nod at the poor man's request. I feel bad for him in a way. He pats my shoulder and goes to collect his things.

I walk back up to Riley's room where her and her mum are. Riley is sitting up now, across from her mother. She still looks extremely fragile but the vacant look is gone. They seem to be chatting so I stand back giving them their privacy. As I'm walking away I hear Riley call for me. I walk to the doorway and lean against the door frame.

"You can come in darling." Dawn say. I walk in slowly, sitting at the edge of the bed near Riley. "Riley and I are done with our chat so I'll leave you two alone." She says standing. She kisses Riley's head and walks to me."Thank you Harry for being here for her." She says with a hand on my shoulder. I nod and give her a small smile. She smiles back and walks out of the room.

Once she's gone I look over to Riley who is still sitting with her knees pulled up close. She's got her arms hugged tightly around her legs and she's resting her chin on her knees. She's staring at me with cloudy grey eyes. Her eyebrows are pulled together and her soft pink lips are pulled into a frown. I slide closer to her and lean my forehead against hers. Her eyes flutter closed and I close mine for a moment as well. When I open my eyes she's staring back at me again. "Hi." She whispers.

"Hey." I whisper back with a small smile. A tear rolls down her cheek and I quickly wipe it away with my thumb. She sighs softly. "How you feeling?" I ask her quietly. She shrugs her shoulders. "Thats a great response." I tease. She pushes me with her forehead and I smile at her.

"I must look really attractive right now." She says moving away and trying to fix her hair.

"Definite model material." I say. She looks at me and rolls her eyes making me chuckle.

Once shes fixed herself up a bit she sits back down next to me. She grabs my hand and starts playing with my fingers. "I would have thought you'd be gone by now." She says.

I'm taken aback by her statement and it takes me a minute to respond. "What? Why?" I say trying not to let my emotions get the better of me.

She shrugs. "'Cuz I'm kind of crazy if you haven't noticed already." She answers.

I shake my head and use my free hand to turn her face towards me. "You're not crazy, don't ever say that about yourself you hear me." I say seriously. I scrunch my eyebrows together and shake my head "I thought you knew me better than to think I'd just leave you." I am actually a bit hurt that she would think that lowly of me. I would never do what my father did to me to anyone especially Riley.

She closes her eyes and shakes her head "I didn't mean to make you upset, I just.... You deserve someone better. Someone not so.... Screwed up." She says, another tear rolling down her face.

She wipes that one away and scoots away from me. I take a deep breath, I can't let myself lose control. "Riley. Stop, alright." I say a little too harshly. I run my hand through my hair and take another deep breath to relax myself. "How can you say stuff like that about yourself? You're amazing Ri. You make me feel things I can't even express. I need you don't you get it?" I tell her.

"No you don't. You just feel sorry for me. My own father doesn't want to deal with me because I'm screwed up, that's probably why he's leaving." She says. At this point I'm getting fed up with her words.

"Are you kidding me?! Can you not see that I actually really like you?! Sure I might feel bad that you have to go through the things that you do but that is NOT the reason I'm with you!" I yell making her look at me with worry. I run my hands through my hair trying to calm myself but it's not working. "Dammit Riley, how can you blame yourself for your father's actions? You don't always have to put yourself at fault you know." I tell her. I take a deep breath and close my eyes keeping my hands in my hair.

After a minute of quiet I hear the bed creak and feel Riley wrap her arms around my waist. I take another deep breath and wrap my arms around her. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad anymore please, I need you too." She says against my shirt. "I'm just not used to having someone other than my parents care about me. And even now, I'm not even sure if my dad does." She continues.

I shift our position so I can look her in the eyes "Hey, your dad cares about you okay, he's just made a. Really huge mistake alright? And I will always care about you okay? Even when you're done with me, I'll always be there." I tell her. The thought of her not needing me anymore makes me sick but eventually she will get tired of me and move on.

She shakes her head "I'll never be done with you." She says. She tilts her head so that our lips touch. She kisses me gently and I savor each moment. When she pulls away she smiles up at me.

"There's that smile I love." I say running my thumb along her bottom lip.

She giggles and pulls away, grabbing my hands and pulling me to her bed. We lay down together and just stare at each other. Just looking at her gives me butterflies. I hope I can keep her forever. I just need to make sure I don't do something to screw this up.

Notes

Here's another chapter for you all. Tell me what you think =].

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