Stephanie's Pov
"What on earth is going on?" Mum asks as my Dad has gone inside to get his car keys, before I answer her he rushes out and opens his car, quickly jumping in. "Be careful Ryan!" Mum calls as my Dad quickly drives off from our drive.

"God he's such an idiot!" I snap as I frustratedly run a hand through my hair. It's times like this that I wish I could drive. All of a sudden Jed pulls up on the drive, he's back from work.

"Hey, where's Dad going?" Jed asks as he gets out if his car, he shuts the door and locks it with his key.

"Harry's drove off and Dad has gone to find him." Mum says and she looks at me. "I think we need a chat don't we?" She adds and I roll my eyes as we make our way inside. Jed follows and shuts the door behind us. "Honey there's food in the microwave for you." Mum smiles to Jed, he nods and thanks her as he heads to the kitchen.

"Mum, I didn't mean to send him off in a mad rage.." I say as we walk into the living room, I sit on the sofa opposite her. She looks at me and takes a deep breath before she speaks, I try to think up what to say.

"What caused this mad rage?" She asks with a semi calm tone. I look at her and sit myself up straight. Here we go..

"It's my fault. I lied to you earlier and I know I shouldn't have. Harry wasn't sick.." I start and she looks at me closely and nods for me to continue. "We did go bowling, but Jason was there. I was really upset with him from the allegations that he cheated on me." I take a breath as I have to face the reality of this mess all over again. "So we got into a fight." I stop as my Mum looks at me confused.

"You got into a fight?" She repeats and I nod. "What kind of fight? He didn't hit you did he?" Mum asks as she frowns.

"No! God no." I shake my head. "It started as an argument, Jason got a little rough and he grabbed me. His hand wrapped round my wrist and then it got a little more aggressive." I say as the lies commence.

"How aggressive?" She asks as she leans forward with a worried look. I have to look away as it's hard enough to lie, let alone look her in the face.

"I hit him a few times, but that's when Harry jumped in and pulled me away. He took me out of the situation. I got so angry that Harry stopped me, we ended up arguing and he got upset with me. He didn't understand how I was so ungrateful. I said some things and the he stormed out." I say and my Mum looks away and falls silent. I watch her as I dread to think what's going on in her head right now.

"I didn't think I brought you up to be violent. I mean yes protect yourself, but to hit someone?" She asks as she looks at me ashamed. I look away as my heart sinks, my parents have tried so hard to teach us from right and wrong. I know how much this will affect them. But I can't let them know the truth, things are bad enough with Harry; I don't know what would happen to him if they knew. That's the problem with me, I'm too nice, I care too much about others. Although right now I never want to see Harry again, I know he needs this once chance.

"I'm sorry Mum, I was just upset and hurt. I wasn't thinking right." I say as I stare at the floor. I feel awful.

"Tomorrow, after you've done your Saturday job, I want you straight home. If I can't trust you to be mature when you're out then you need to stay in. Until you realise how to deal with issues and not use violenc understood?" She snaps and I look at her in shock, she can't 'ground' me I'm eighteen! But the look on her face doesn't make me argue, I just nod in defeat.

She stands up and leaves the room, I watch her close the door. I lean forward and let my head fall into my hands. After a few minutes of asking myself whether or not I've done the right thing, I stand up and I make my way to my room. I can hear Mum talking to Jed but I continue up the stairs and I walk into my room. I sit at my computer desk and I turn my laptop on. Once its loaded, I log into iChat. No one is online, except a few people that I don't even talk too. I log back off and I notice the file from college.
I open it and start to read but I'm not taking in any of the information. I stop as I hear the front door shut.
I stand up and grab my headphones from my bed side table and I plug them into my phone. I lay back on to my bed and I start to listen to some music. I close my eyes as I listen to the lyrics, but I can't seem to do that either. The words are just words, they have no meaning. I can't take anything in. I open my eyes and jump as Harry walks into my room. I quickly take my headphones out of my ears and I sit up.

"What are you doing?" I snap as my heart races from fright.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He says as he sits down on the edge of my bed. I look at him and try my best to give him a stern glare. "I just spoke to your Mum and she told me what you said, why did you lie?" He asks whilst frowning, I look away and shrug. I have no idea what he wants me to say. "Stephanie.."

"Why do you think Harry?" I snap as I stand up from my bed, I look at him. "How do you think it would have gone if I told them the truth? My parents are good people but are stupid to believe they can help someone like you. I saw your true colours tonight and it wasn't good Harry." I turn away from him frustrated that he is getting this reaction from me.

"You should have told them the truth, you can get rid of me then." Harry says as he shakes his head, he looks away from me.

"Because sending you back is the easy way out? Right?" I ask and he slowly looks at me. "What happened to you Harry?" I ask as he looks away again.

"Don't.." He says as he stands up and walks to my door. "It's hard enough hearing my Mum ask me that. I can't hear it from you." He says as he opens my door and leaves. I go to follow him but perhaps it's best to leave him tonight.

---

Harry's pov.
I wake up and turn onto my left side checking the time on my phone. 09:20am. I take my phone as I turn onto my back again and I unlock my phone screen. I've got 3 messages from Naomi. I don't bother to read them as I know at some point I have to face her. I put my phone down and begin to get dressed. I glance in the mirror and run my hand through my hair, trying to fix it as much as I can. Once satisfied, I head downstairs and I automatically look out for Stephanie.

"Hey!"Jed says as he's sat at the breakfast bar eating his cereals.

"Morning.." I say as I sit next to him. "Where is everyone?"I ask as I look a him.

"Mum is at work, Dad is in the studio and Stephanie is at work." Jed says as he has another mouthful of cereals. "Help yourself to food!" He says as he chews. I nod and stand up, I browse through the cereals and reach for the Cheerios.

"Bowls are in the bottom left cupboard." Jed says as he points over.

"Cheers.." I say as I grab a bowl and pour the cereals in. I open the fridge and take the milk out.

"So, have you and Steph made up?" Jed asks. I look over to him as I put the milk back and I grab a spoon from the cutlery draw. I sit back next to him.

"Think she's still mad at me." I say as I look away, taking large mouthful of Cheerios. It's been ages since I've sat down and ate cereals. I usually wake up too late for breakfast.

"She'll come round. Steph can never stay mad at anyone. That's her biggest weakness" He smirks as I look at him. Jed hasn't changed much, his facial features have obviously matured and he now has highlighted hair. But he's always been a happy person. Back as a kid he was full of life and so easy to be around, and he still is now.

"Besides, she can't stay mad at you Harry." Jed says as he stands up and starts to load the dishwasher with his bowl, spoon and a couple of plates that were left on the side.

"What do you mean?" I ask and Jed rolls his eyes.

"Come on mate, she's always had a soft spot for you. She was gutted when you moved away." He laughs an I look at him, I try not to smile as I don't know whether to take him seriously.

"We were good friends." I say and he shakes his head.

"You know what, you two are so alike. You're both stubborn!" He smirks. "Right, I've got to get moving. Got a match this afternoon." He says as he grabs a bottle of waterfron the fridge.

"Make sure you win.." I say as I try to block out what he previously has said. He looks at me.

"Why don't you come and watch?" He asks and I immediately want to say yes. But I feel I should speak to Stephanie first.

"What time?" I ask as I may be able to do both.

"Kick off is at 2. Dad's coming so if you wanna come along jump in with him! Catch you later!" He says as he pats me on the back as he walks past me. I nod and continue to eat my breakfast. My mind goes back to what Jed said 'she's always had a soft spot for you'. If only he knew.

"Morning Harry!" Ryan say as he walks into the kitchen. I snap out of my thoughts and look at him. I smile as I've got a mouth full of cereals. "Remember I have a band coming over tonight, so you can help and learn?" He checks and I nod.

"Yeah that's cool." I say as I watch him fill the kettle with water. He puts it's back onto the base and switches it on.

"I meant to ask you, do you play any instruments? Or sing?" He asks as he leans back on the counter waiting for the kettle to boil.

"I played a little bit of the guitar but not enough to show you. And I only sing in the shower." I smirk as I'm not really the sort of person to just start belting out a tune.

"Ah right. I remember your Mum telling me you were in a school band?" He smiles as he folds his arms. I frown as I look down at my cereals. Why the fuck did Mum tell them that?! I was sixteen when I was in a band with a group of my friends, we didn't take it serious it was supposed to be a bit of fun. I was the main singer because I was the one who couldn't play an instrument. It feels like that's a long time ago.

"It was a bit of fun.." I say as I look at Ryan who nods at me. It was fun until my friends thought I was changing too much. I started to hang out with girls more, and I kept forgetting to meet them to practice. That's how we fizzled out and our band was broke. Because of me..

"I'm sure it was! Did you like being in the band?" He asks and I suddenly feel like I'm being interviewed. Why are we even on this subject? I shrug as I finish off my cereals. "Harry.." Ryan says as he can feel my tension. I hate opening up to people, it gets harder when they start to learn about you.

"It was okay, but that was back then. Before I became who I am now." I say as I stand up and start to load the dishwasher. Ryan is making his coffee as he glances to me.

"You'll always have that talent in you." He says and that word sounds way too strong to be used on me. I look at him as he sips his coffee.

"I'm not talented.." I say as I shake my head. I'm far from it. Ryan smirks and scratches the back of his head.

"Well why don't we see about that?" He asks as he gestures me to leave the kitchen. "Come on." He grins as he makes his way out to the studio, I follow him and my heart starts to race. I can't sing. It brings to much back to me that I'm not ready to face.

"Ryan I appreciate you-" I start but Ryan rolls his eyes at me. I've not seen him like this before.

"Get in the booth Harry! Then we can go from there." He says as he puts his mug down on the desk and sits down. There's something about Ryan where I can't just turn around and shout at him. No matter how much I want to remind him that no one can tell me what to do, I remember he's put me up under his roof and I've become temporarily part of the family. I shake my head as I walk to the booth, I can't believe I'm about to do this!

I pick the big headphones up and place them on my head as I stand in front of the microphone. Suddenly Ryan's voice fills my ears,

"Okay Harry, sing anything that comes to mind." Ryan says as he looks at me, I look away as I think. What can I sing without any music? Man, this sucks.

"I'm not sure what to do.." I say as I look at Ryan through the glass. He looks away as if he's trying to think of a song. Then Stevie wonder comes to mind, we did a version of his song in the band. I can try and sing it like the original.

"How about-"Ryan starts but I quickly interrupt him.

"I've got something." I say and Ryan stops and nods at me. I shift my position a little so I can see his eyes glaring on to me. I clear my throat and take a deep breath. Fuck it. I start to sing.

"Isn't she lovely,
Isn't she wonderful,
Isn't she precious,
Less than one minute old.
I never thought through love we'd be,
Making one as lovely as she,
But isn't she lovely made from love.

I look down at the floor once I've finished. I jump a little as Ryan's voice once again fills my ears.

"Come back through Harry." Ryan says as I look up and take the headphones off andplace them on their stand. I open the door and I walk back into the room and sit next to Ryan.

"It's the only song that came to mind." I say as I look away feeling like a complete idiot.

"Well you are talented Harry. You've got a good voice. I recorded you so you can hear just how good you are!" Ryan grins proudly at me. "I was also surprised at your choice of song." He adds. Before I can say anything my voice suddenly fills the whole room. I cringe as I hate hearing my voice being played back to me. But as embarrassing as this seemed, I've surprised myself a little as I don't sound as bad as I thought.

---

Stephanie's Pov

"Hey you!" I look up from cleaning the bar and smile as Amy takes a seat on the stool. "How you doing?" She asks as she leans forward, she rests her elbow on the bar and cups her chin with the palm of her hand.

"I'm okay, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad to be at work." I laugh and Amy smiles sympathetically to me. "Want a drink?" I ask and she nods.

"Malibu and coke would go down a treat!" She smiles and sits up straight, she rests her hands on her lap. I start making her drink. "So what happened when you got home?" She asks.

"Harry and I had an argument, it was stupid and he stormed out. My dad drove after him and I had to explain to my Mum." I say as i place the drink down on the bar. "I told my parents that I got in a fight with Jason. Not Harry.." Amy's eyes widen and I stop.

"What? Why would you lie for him?" She asks as she slowly shakes her head in disbelief.

"Because he needs a break, this is a chance he has with us. To prove he's not the Harry that everyone thinks he is." I sigh as I lean on the bar.

"You shouldn't have lied. If he blows his chances then that's not your fault. An in my opinion, hes proving everyone right." Amy says as she takes a sip of her drink.

"The Harry I knew has gone, but there has to be a way to find him somewhere inside. I feel he needs a chance. He's always being Judged." I stop and I roll my eyes. "I know he's not perfect and right now I'm so pissed off with him, but I'm not the sort of person to sit back and not help." I add.

"No you're just too nice. That's why people take advantage of you Steph.." Amy's words make me feel so small but I know she's right.

"He's an idiot, I get that." I say as I hate the mixed emotions I get for Harry. Amy nods as she takes a sip of her drink. I walk away as I serve a couple of customers, I put a fake smile on as I pass them their drinks. I look back to Amy who finishes her drink off and places the glass down on the bar. I walk over to her.

"Thanks for the drink! do you wanna come to mine tonight?" She asks as she stands up. I bite my lip and shake my head.

"I can't. My Mum wants me home.." I say and she nods remembering. Sorry.."

"I'll give you a call later" She gives me a smile as she says bye, I wave as I watch her leave. Im gutted I have to stay in tonight, but perhaps I should try and talk to Harry.

Notes

I know this chapter isn't great, it's more of a build up of what's coming next between Harry and Stephanie. Some old feelings are going to creep back up on them.