School today was completely horrible, but thankfully my parents being here meant missing the afternoon. That also meant being able to avoid Harry completely like I wanted to since our fight yesterday. My parents wanted to take us somewhere, so Mason and I went home at the end of second period to get ready.

"Mom said to take comfortable clothes to change into after lunch," he informs me as we get upstairs. "We're going to the club for lunch and then they're taking us somewhere after that."

"Great," I say sarcastically. He laughs and we go to our separate bedrooms to get ready. After pulling my curly hair into a messy braid at the side of my head I change into a floral dress with red pumps and a black blazer to wear with it. I really am not in the mood to deal with my parents right now, but I guess I don't have a choice. Honestly sometimes I find myself missing my father; he has his moments where it seems like he actually does care about us. My mom, though, is the most superficial person I've ever met, and unless interacting with us benefits her somehow or is forced by my father she couldn't be bothered to speak to me or my brother.

The ride to the club is uncomfortable and I find myself getting more and more annoyed with each passing moment. Why are they making us go with them? Whatever they want to show us later, why does it even matter? Nothing has changed here.

When we're at the club we all plaster on our fake smiles and we're brought to our usual table with a view of the ocean. My mother takes out her phone and starts typing away, but my father sets his folded hands on the table in front of him and attempts to engage in conversation. I pull out my phone to read a text from Harry.

Hope you're still coming tonight. x

"How's school going?"

The anger I feel towards Harry slightly subsides when I read the words, but I can't think about that right now, not with my parents here. I shrug in response to my father's questions, setting my phone on the table and flipping open my menu. There are other, more important things I would rather be doing than being here with my parents. Harry and I are fighting and that's much more pressing than whatever it is we are doing here.

"It's fine," Mason says. "Not too busy yet since the semester just started."

"How are the AP classes? Not too hard, are they?"

"No, Dad. They're fine."

"Good. And uh, how are things with Kylie? You two are dating now, right?" he asks. The waiter brings our usual drink orders and I drop my menu down to glare at my father.

"They've been together for two months, Dad, how did you not know that?" I as rudely. Mason hits my leg under the table; we have different opinions when it comes to our parental interactions. He says we should try to talk to them, show them there's still the possibility of a relationship so that if they ever change their minds it could happen. But they won't change their minds, and my opinion is that we should treat them the way they treat us: like we don't matter at all.

"I did, I was just making sure I had it right," he says. I roll my eyes and look back down at the menu. My dad always tries harder with Mason than with me since I don't really let him have a normal conversation with me. "And? How is she?"

"Good, we're doing good."

"That's good. What about you, Savannah?"

"What about me?" I ask, boredom evident in my tone.

"Is there...Are you seeing anyone?"

"Yup," I reply simply.

"Well, who is he?"

"None of your damn business," I reply, smiling falsely at him. I have no interest in telling them anything about my love life, even if I wasn't dating my teacher. He doesn't have the right to know. He sighs and the waiter comes to take our orders. An uncomfortable silence falls and I pick at my nails, stealing a glance at my mother who hasn't looked up from her phone once.

"Tenley, put the phone away," Dad says. After a minute she slowly sets it down on the table, taking brief glances at me and Mason.

"Savannah, it's time you got your hair highlighted again," she says plainly.

"Mom I told you, I'm not doing that again. Your stupid stylist screwed up my hair last time. Besides, that was two years ago," I bite back.

"Don't you want it to be more blonde for the summer?"

"I don't really care."

"No need to get testy, I was just trying to help." I hate it when she's patronizing.

"No, mother. You were trying to tell me that I'm not good enough. That isn't helpful, it's just malicious."

"Savannah, can I talk to you for a sec?" Mason says, standing from the table. I roll my eyes and follow him to the back hall where the restrooms are. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" I ask innocently, leaning back against the wall. "I'm not doing anything."

"Can't you at least pretend to be civil?"

"No, Mason. I know you insist on trying with them, but I really don't care anymore. I don't want to be here."

"You're fighting with Mr. Styles, aren't you?"

"First of all, please call him Harry when you're speaking to me. It's just weird to call him Mr. Styles. Second, what does that have to do with anything?"

"It'd be weird for me to call him Harry," he argues. "And it has everything to do with this. No offence, but whenever something happens between you two you're a bitch to everyone else. The easier this goes the sooner we can go home and if you promise to be nice to them, I promise to cover for you so you can go see him tonight."

We make our deal and head back to the table, fake smile plastered on my face. I attempt to engage in conversations with my parents without being completely disrespectful, but sometimes it happens before I can control it. I have discovered that the meeting my father was supposed to have tonight was rescheduled for tomorrow and that we will be taking a trip of some kind this afternoon.

---

"We've been driving for like an hour, where the hell are we going?" I ask, taking out my earbuds.

"We'll be there in twenty minutes," my Dad says from behind the wheel. I look at Mason and he just shrugs.

After another twenty minutes we pass a sign that says 'Welcome to Santa Cruz!' and I'm beyond confused at this point. What are we doing here? Eventually we pull up to a gorgeous beach house and my parents both get out of the car. I have no idea what's happening at this point. Mason and I follow my parents up to the front door and they both turn around.

"What are we doing here?" Mason asks. "Whose house is this?"

"It's ours," my father announces. My mouth drops open and I take another look at the massive home. "Just got the keys this morning."

I put my hands up and shake my head a bit. "Wait, we're moving? No way in hell, I am not-"

"Relax, Savannah," my mother says, rolling her eyes. "We're not moving. This is going to be our summer house."

"Summer house? You guys are barely at our actual house, why do you need a summer one?"

"We're all going to spend this summer here. Why don't we go inside," Dad says. I stare at them for a minute before he unlocks the door and gestures for us to go inside. I look at Mason and he shrugs as he steps towards the house.

As soon as we get inside my mouth drops open. All the walls and furniture are white and there are splashes of light blue everywhere that makes it feel almost as if bits of the ocean were brought inside. Immediate when you walk in there is an expansive spread of living area, one grand open space with floor to ceiling windows along the back wall that looks into the backyard and onto the ocean. To the very right is the living room, white couches and chairs with pillows and blankets in different shades of blue. the dining room set in the middle is white as well, each chair adorned in blue fabric to give it interest. The kitchen is to the very left, which is very sleek, white and modern with simple lines and modern stainless steel appliances.

I step forward and walk through to the back wall slash window. To one side of the backyard there's just grass and sad that leads to the ocean. The other half in front of the living room is sectioned off and contains a pool, hot tub, fireplace and patio furnture that matches the tones of the inside. It's incredible. And it's literally right on the ocean.

"Wow." I laugh a little and turn around to see Mason's reaction. He's still looking around at everything and our parents come in behind him.

"Do you like it?" Dad asks.

"Yeah, it's amazing. I don't understand, though. why did you buy it?"

"Like I said, we're going to spend the summer here as a family. You two are about to go off to college and-"

"They're not going far, Charles," my mother says passively, sitting on one of the couches to give her feet a break from the stilettos she's wearing.

"Even if the don't," he continues. "We've all grown apart. We've been away from you two so much and we want to spend the summer here together where we can get to know each other again."

"What?" I ask, laughing incredulously. "Are you kidding me?"

"Sav," Mason warns.

"No," I scoff. "This is ridiculous! You've never been around for anything and now suddenly you want us to spend the summer away from our friends so you can try to learn something about us? It's not that simple!"

"I understand that you may be confused, but-"

"No, confused doesn't even begin to explain how I feel. What if we don't want to spend the summer with you? You don't get to waltz in and out of our lives whenever you feel like it, dad. The time to get to know us was when we were growing up, not when we're becoming adults. You lost your chance."

As a default I take off up the stairs. This may not be my home, but I'm sure one of these bedrooms was dedicated to me. I decide to guess that it's the same as at home, and for some reason I'm right. My name is written on the door in cursive so I push it open and step inside. My anger starts to fade when I see how beautiful the bedroom is. It has a four poster bed with white fabric falling down each post. There's a small sitting area in the far corner and both of the walls are completely made up of windows with a door out to a balcony that wraps around both sides. It's amazing. I two doors to my left, one of which I assume is a closet. The first one is a bathroom, though, that completely makes me forget that I don't want to be here. The tones match the rest of the house and I tear myself away before I get too attached. I head back downstairs and stand in the entryway.

"Can we go home?" I ask loudly. The three of them turn to look at me and my Dad sighs deeply as he nods his head. Mason gives me a pleading look but I turn and walk back outside to the car before he can guilt trip me.

---

After an painfully silent ride home I change into some ripped crop jeans and a loose grey t-shirt before heading off to Harry's. I don't care if Mason covers for me at this point. My head is spinning and I just need to see him. Our fight can be put on hold for a while. When I'm outside his door I hear people laughing and remember that he was having Liam and Sophia over for dinner tonight.

Seeing the house today only solidified what Harry insinuated earlier; I'm rich and spoiled and I have no right to assume to know what he's going through. That was foolish. I should have just let him tell me how he felt about it instead of trying to understand what he's going through. Because I can't.

I take a deep, calming breath before walking into the loft. They're all still sitting at the kitchen table with empty plates in front of them. I smile as I shut the door, my eyes locking last with Harry's. His stare remains impartial for a moment before he stands and walks over to me. Without a word he takes my face very gently between his hands and presses his lips to mine.

"Join us," he whispers against my lips. I nod and he takes my hand to lead me to the empty chair across from Liam and beside his own chair. "Do you want anything?"

"No, thank you." He nods and sits down. "Hi, guys. How are you?"

"We're good!" Sophia says excitedly. "We haven't seen you in ages, how are things?"

"Umm..I'm good," I say slowly, trying to make it sound convincing. Liam carries on with the conversation they must have been having when I walked in and Harry's hand slides over my knee, squeezing gently. He's not angry. That's a good sign.

Spending time with these people definitely lifts my mood, and by the time they're saying their goodbyes I'm actually sad to see them leave. They helped us clean everything up, so we don't have to do any dishes. As soon as Harry shuts the door and turns around I throw my arms around his neck, burying my face against the crook of his neck. His arms slowly wind around to my back.

"What happened?" he asks softly, stroking the back of my hair.

"I'm sorry, I was stupid last night," I say, my voice muffled against his shoulder.

"No, you were right. I was being an ass. I never talk about that stuff with anyone, so it's hard to discuss it still."

"I shouldn't have forced you," I continue. My throat tightens and for some stupid reason I start crying like a pathetic loser. Harry pulls my body away from his and wipes the tears from my cheeks. "Sorry, I'm so stupid."

"No, you're not. What happened today?" he asks again. "Something is wrong, I can tell."

"My parents..." When I think about everything that was said I suddenly break down for reasons unknown to me. Harry seems confused but he holds me tight against his chest, whispering soothing things in my ear to try to calm me down. When I finally do he kisses both my cheeks before walking around and turning the lights off. He then leads me to the stairs and up to his bed. I crawl in happily and pull the duvet around my body as he turns off the rest of the lights before he undresses to his boxers and crawls in next to me. Using the back of my hand I wipe my silly tears away and he puts an arm around me to hold me close.

"Tell me what happened," he requests gently. "You never cry like that."

"I...my dad was...he's trying to..." I close my eyes and take a deep breath, reaching under the covers for Harry's hand. Our fingers lace together and it calms me a bit more. "He's trying to fix things."

"What do you mean?"

"Today...he was suddenly acting like he actually cares about us. He was asking all these questions and then he brought us to Santa Cruz and showed us this beach house they bought."

"A beach house? As in a second home?" he asks incredulously. I nod and look away from his eyes, ashamed from the comments he made earlier. "Hey, don't do that. I didn't mean what I said earlier."

"It's true though," I argue quietly. He takes our still entwined fingers and tilts my face back up to his.

"It's not. You aren't spoiled and I don't think of you that way. Why did they buy a house in Santa Cruz?"

"So we could all spend the summer there. Apparently they realize that they screwed up and they want to get to know us or some shit like that."

"And that's not something you want?" he asks softly.

"It's not that simple. It doesn't matter what I want, they can't just decide to suddenly have a relationship with us. They deserted us for years, they can't just come back and expect us to be one happy family. I can't just forgive them, it doesn't work that way," I stammer, starting to cry again. Damn tears, I never cry.

"It's okay," he soothes. He pulls me closer and kisses my forehead. "You have every right to be angry. They hurt you and they need to know that."

"They'll never understand," I whisper. "They don't know what they did."

"Then make them," he says. "Tell them how angry you are and maybe they'll see."

"I don't know."

"It's late, love. Get some sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow." He kisses my forehead again and our bodies relax into each other's.

Harry's breathing slows and I pull back to look up at his sleeping form. I gently pry myself from his grip so I can change into something more comfortable, his t-shirt as always. I lift his arm back around my body and just watch him, my mind racing too much for me to be able to sleep yet. Harry doesn't move, seemingly sound asleep. I don't understand us; yesterday we were so angry with each other and tonight he's comforting me and holding me while I cry. It's insane, but I love it. It works for us.

"I love you," I whisper as quietly as I can. I smile to myself, a little ashamed that I can't say that to him when he's awake. Those three words hold so much meaning to me; I've never felt this way about anyone in my entire life.

I'm about to close my eyes and try to sleep, but my heart almost stops beating when I see the corner of Harry's mouth twitch up into a small, barely noticeable smile. It's there, though. He's awake. He heard me. I stare up at him in complete shock as his eyes slowly open. His lazy smile grows and my entire body freezes.




He doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything to make the moment even more terrifying for me. Instead his arm wraps tighter around my waist and he pulls me closer so my face is right next to his, noses brushing. The pounding in my ears is so loud I'm sure even Harry can hear it. He inhales deeply and gently presses his lips to mine before setting back in and closing his eyes. Mine eventually fall shut as well, and I'm overcome by an odd feeling of peace as I slip into slumber.

Notes

i couldnt resist putting that picture in. exactly how i imagined him looking at her no lie.
well he knows officially. she didnt do it on purpise, but how cute was that?!!? probably my favourite moment of the whole story. made me feel all happy inside :)

i hope you guys like that one. i did a double update since you guys have been so incredibly patient :)
please let me know what you think of it!!

I'd like to do a shoutout to @awaywithwords and her story Los Angeles to London. I LOVE it and i think you guys should all check it out!! here

please vote and subscribe!! means so much to me :) love you all!