Harry couldn't help the cold energy Bryan gave him mom. He wanted to ask him about him, but he put the thought away. Bryan was probably just a little bit angry at his mom and with time, he would come around. His behaviour manifested during dinner; he wasn't chatty as he used to be and he declined his mother's offer each time she tried to help to dish or pass him the sauce or whatever. If the help wasn't coming from Harry or their father, best believe he was going to decline it. Lauren tried to hide her pain beneath smiles and tried to act like it was nothing but deep down Harry could see through her and he knew she felt dejected. He decided not to talk about it because they both had a long overdue conversation and whatever attitudes Bryan was giving her was her fault for not being present and being away for so long without a plausible explanation. And the fact that she was rarely taking his calls made everything worse. For some reasons he believed that she stopped taking Bryan's cal
Every other person, including Harry himself through Brian's anger wasn't going to last long and soon he would crawl back to his mother's bosom. Little did they know that his behaviour towards her will worsen over time. Now during dinner time, he always ate as quickly as he could, whilst declining every offer of his mother to serve him and immediately he was done he'd run off to his room. He completely avoided contact with his mom and even after she apologized to him, he still didn't budge. He kept up with the cold as ice energy and each time her face would flatten. Harry was begining to wonder if the young man knew something he didn't know so he decided to ask one evening while he was mobile games in his room.Harry tapped on his laps, drawing his attention because his headphones were active.He glanced up at him, arching his brows. "Yes?""I just wanted to ask why you were being cold towards Mom?" Harry asked him."I don't want to talk about it." He replied."You should, you know.""
After Harry left Bryan's room, he went to his and slumped on the bed. The fear mixed with guilt that raged in his chest had still not let him check his phone to see if the buzz from the article had died down. He heaved a sigh and rested his head against the headboard when he heard a knock on his door. First, he paused. His eyes widened, he wasn't sure it was Bryan because they had just finished talking. His mother rarely knocked at his door to have a conversation with him. His father would rather call him and order him to meet him at his preferred location, be it the dinning table, his room or whatever.Yet, his possible guess was his mother. For some reasons, he just knew his mother was the one knocking and the thought of that filled him with apprehension as she shifted uncomfortably in his bed, altering his position from the slumped one to an upright posture.Harry cleared his throat. "Come in."The door pushed open, and his mother walked into the room with a dull expression."I was
"Nope.""Then how did you?""That isn't important at this point. Tell me what's happening?""I'm wondering because if you knew I saw him no matter how hard I tried to hide then you might as well have found out the reason why I was seeing him.""If I was aware already, I wouldn't have asked you about it.""Well, i guess it's a good thing you haven't found out about it just yet." She chuckled, then wiped the lome tear with the back of palm.Harry handed her the tissue from the bedside table. She grabbed it without staring at him, then wiped her tears."Mom, you're not going to tell me about this?""You don't have to be involved in all of this. I wouldn't want to do that to you. You don't deserve to be involved all of this.""Why?" Harry asked, not understanding the sense behind her decision. "You're practically alone with whatever that's going on with you. Why are you refusing to share with me what's going on?""Some of these things happened before you were born, it will be unfair to pu
"You are probably mad at me right now." She stated, tears gathered at her eyes and she wiped the ones falling down her cheeks."Yeah." Harry replied dryly."I'm sorry, please don't turn your back at me. You're the only aware ot what's happening and is geniuely concerned. Don't turn away from me." She pleaded and Harry's anger dissipated. Heck, what he felt for her was love. He realized that. She was the only woman that had hurt him the most but he couldn't bring himself to hate her."Then you have to tell me what's happening." Harry demanded, and patted the space next to him on the bed.She took the hint and walked lazily to the bed and sat on it. She was still sniffing, the aftermath of the tears when Harry held her hands."You just have to, you know he's dangerous and we're trying to hide all of these from father. You need a partner, don't you think so?"Lauren soft gaze met his. "I'll never be able to repay you for this, my son.""I don't want to be repaid. I just want to help you.
"Mom, it's alright." Harry rubbed her shoulders, tears forming in his eyes and he blinked them away."Everything became worse and then I continued seeing Lincoln who still didn't know I was married and at some point he was having issues and I secretly wished they'd divorce so he would marry him and get me out of Matteo's sight."Lauren continued narrating her story. "And then everything happened. His wife died and he asked me to marry him. I processed the divorce and told Matteo I wasn't going to Marry him anymore and secretly ran away from him and started a new life here."Harry squinted his eyes digesting the story. "But then, why do you have to go back to him?""About a year ago, he started blackmailing me that he knew about everything that happened and how I had lied to my husband that I wasn't married when I was seeing him. And he claimed you are his child even though I'm still married about whose child you really are because..."Everything in Harry's body moved to a screehing ha
Robert typed on his laptop as he adjusted himself on the headboard. His eyes Involuntarily darted to Aria who was lying on the bed, with a duvet pulled halfway. She was taking deep breaths, her chest heaving and calming with each succession. Robert admired how calm she looked, void of worries and he wished he could make the statement true even though it wasn't exactly true because he knew she was still haunted by her mother's death.These days she wasn't talking so much about her mother, she mostly just communicated in a few sentences, stating what she wanted and then went back to the room where she stayed all day. She wasn't still ready to have a conversation. Robert noticed how whenever he tried to talk to her, she communicated in monosyllables so he didn't push it. He just let her be and offered her help in the best way could. He hadn't seen her cry in a long time now but he could tell she wasn't over it yet she was just choosing to be calm about it. Her face still look pale but th
Her face fell as she held her chest. "I'm sorry about that, I mean tell her that please and tell her she shouldn't hesitate to call me to come over if she needs someone to talk to..." Elanne rapped, and then without waiting for a reply she left the office and made her way into the bathroom to cry her eyes. She remembered how the woman had smiled at her when she had brought the groceries and fruits Robert had sent her deliver thinking she was the one who bought it with her money and she promised to cook a special meal for her when she got out of the hospital but she could even get out of the hospital before she died. The short time she spent with the mother made her understand that she was a woman who was filled with light that the world had drained out of her. And Aria she knew how attached she was to her mother and she would probably be feeling depressed by now. She wished Aria hadn't taken the initiative to keep her phone before she really wished they could still communicated and
Aria tried to memorize all she had learnt for her final exams while she texted Robert who was keen on distracting her. She had herself to blame though, she was the one who kept on texting him like she wouldn't see him later when he came home.A: Can you let me study?R: Can you let yourself study? You keep responding to my text when you know you shouldn't.A: that's because I can't help it and I always want to talk to you.R: That sounds cute but I'm going to have to stop responding to you. Meaning I'm not going to reply to your texts if you send another one after this.Robert kept his word. The next messages she said afterwards to him were left unanswered as she brought her mind back to her books so she could study. When she finished studying, she texted him back that she was done and she was heading to the shelter where she now volunteered. The shelter was a safe place for people who suffered abusive relationships and grief who needed other people who could understand them. It also
Aria had been looking forward to this dinner just like her husband. She noticed how happier her husband seemed after his meeting with Harry. Robert didn't give her the details, he just told her they got to discuss at length and they were now on good terms. Aria asked Anna if she wanted to come alone with them but she refused, saying she wanted to watch cartoons at home. Aria sighed and nodded.Now she and Robert were prepared for the dinner. Robert was dressed casually but since hadn't gone out in a while, she took this as an opportunity to scan through her outfits and combine them aesthetically. She finally settled for a short chiffon, a piece of jewelry and silver heels."Now look at how I look like your bodyguard standing beside you," Robert joked while he held her waist from the side and kissed her hair. "You look beautiful my queen." He complimented."So do you so, my love." She blushed. His muscular arm was evident under the shirt he wore and his biceps rippled. Aria imagined ta
Harry couldn't bear the guilt of what he did and he kept thinking about whether to tell Robert about it or not. They've been getting along just fine and they've recently been texting online and it's been amazing. They mostly spoke about their father's health, work and just random stuff. It felt like they were in a talking stage, they were starting to know each other very well, something they would have done years ago, but it took this long to achieve which wasn't really bad. Lauren and her husband loved this new change and they supported it more by inviting Aria and Robert for dinner. They conveyed the information through Harry and Robert loved the idea and agreed to show up with his wife.Harry's mind kept bugging him, he couldn't act all friendly with Robert when in the past he had previously tried to sabotage his career. Now they were getting along, he didn't want anything to come between this new found friendship. He was going to tell Robert about all of it, he'd soon go back to s
Anna was getting better and she no longer cried about the death. She was starting to carry on without her life. She now ate, watched cartoons and giggled about funny things like she used to do before she heard about the news. Aria loved the change, it brought a smile to her lips that her sister had successfully escaped the confinement of grief.Aria felt like her life was worth more and she hadn't explored as she should have. She was too carried away with external factors and had forgotten to be the main character of her life. This was what her mother would have wanted for her, now that she was gone, she had the strong urge to pick up her life. Not that she hadn't been living before but he was ready to live as her capacity would allow. She wanted to go to therapy and then go back to school. Therapy first, because she wanted to unpack all that happened to her in the past month, heal and understand better in what direction her life should take. Aria realized she wasn't really okay and s
Harry had already resigned to his fate as soon as his mother told him about everything. He knew that one day, this would happen, now in the moment, he felt nothing at all. He just keenly watched the scene unfold. The only thing that troubled him was that the internal turmoil his mother felt was visible and he felt sorry for her."I said go on," his father said, growing impatient.Matteo stared at Lauren, hoping she would change her mind but he just looked scared without saying a word."Say whatever you have to say, you heard my dad." Harry added, looking at Matteo with disdain. The reaction Matteo got was different from what he expected. He smiled nervously, staring at all of them. Harry knew he was finding it difficult to comprehend with the way no one seemed to be grovelling at his feet not to spill like he expected. His face hardened again, "So your wife here lied to you.""About what?" His father instinctively touched Lauren and his eyes darted between her and Matteo."About a lo
As Robert drove them home, he felt a sense of relief that his father didn't have to stay at the hospital for more than a day. Robert hated the hospital, not in the strong sense of aversion kind of way, but he felt like the hospital wasn't really a place a sick person needed to be. He couldn't place a finger on why he thought that but he didn't think a sick person deserved to hear about more people dying and inhaling the weird antiseptic that dominated the air. And most people he knew who stayed in the hospital for months due to one illness or the other didn't make it alive, for example his mom and Aria's mom. So for that reason he was happy that his father didn't have to stay there longer than the day he was brought in.His father coughed and he briefly glanced back. Lauren was sitting next to him, holding his hands which moved to rub his arm.Harry who was near Robert stretched the water he held to his father. "I hope you're okay." He asked.His father nodded and for the rest of thei
"Dad!" Robert kept screaming as his father held his neck almost like he was getting constricted.He continued coughing as Robert tried to offer him the water. His hands become shaky as he contemplated running out to tell Lauren about what was happening to her husband. He blinked his eyes as he watched his father fight for air and then he sprang out of the room to inform Lauren."Lauren, the ambulance! Dad is dying," he said breathlessly. Her eyes widened in horror as she placed a call to the ambulance with shaky hands. "My husband -"Robert zone out, his mind conjuring the worst scenarios. Soon the ambulance arrived and lauren and Bryan accompanied his father while he was wheeled away. He grabbed his carkeys as he made his way to enter his when he saw Harry scratching his hair as walked closer to him."Can i go come along?" Robert watched him stutter before he nodded."Thank you," he said shyly before they both entered the car. They drove in silence before Robert's curiosity got the
Robert told him he couldn't continue thinking about his father without making the necessary move therefore he had to go to his house and have the conversation. He didn't even know he loved his father this much. The past months without hearing his voice made him feel like something was missing and he was tired of feeling that way. It was kind of feeling he had to end because it ruined him. Yeah, he didn't care nor think about the consequences or aftermath of the action he was going to take as he drove down there. He had told Bryan to inform him if Dad was at home and the little boy did it as soon as he could because he wanted his big family back. When Bryan told him he was now on talking terms with his mother, Lauren, a big smile spread across his face and he remembered how he wasn't talking to his own father and he knew he had to fix that as well.Robert got to the house bracing himself for the conversation they were going to have.He saw Lauren sitting in the sitting room like the pre
Anna has been moody since Aria told her about her mother's death. She had to tell her though, she couldn't stall it any longer. She wasn't crying anymore but she barely spoke nor showed excitement about anything as she would have before. Anna took that as a sign, she was grieving silently, which was okay. She had to express herself in whichever way she deem fit. As much as she wished Anna didn't have to feel this way, it was necessary and had to happen. Aria glanced across where Anna was lying on the sofa, covering herself with a duvet as her eyes darted between the TV where her favourite cartoon was flickering and her phone in her hands."You sure you're not hungry?" Aria asked again for the third time.She raised her gaze and shook her head."Why? Food is important." Aria asked, worried. "At this point, I'll have to force you to eat something even if you claim not to be hungry."Anna adjusted her lying posture to a sitting one, putting her foot on the floor. "Trust me, I'll eat when