The drive back to Harry's house was silent the entire way. Minus the sound of me constantly sniffling as quiet sobs erupted from my mouth, of course. The strength I managed to have at my aunt's house vanished the moment Harry and I climbed into the car. All my walls had broken down and I was crying like a baby, staring out through the windshield in dismay. It was pathetic and I hated that I was crying in front of Harry, or crying at all but I just felt so defeated. It was as if holding in all my emotions over the past few months were coming at me full force and I was beyond overwhelmed. I had zero strength in me and I was thankful that Harry hadn't tried to speak to me. He understood enough to know that right now, I didn't want to talk. But being the good guy he was, he still chose to hold my hand on the console between us just to still let me know that he was there.

It was only when we had pulled into Harry's driveway and he shut off the car, that he turned to look at me. My eyes were trained on the chipped white paint of the garage in front of us but I went physically stiff when Harry opened his mouth. "Em," he began and when I said nothing he continued. "Emmeline? Babe?" His hand wrapped around mine let go and then I felt his fingertips brushing my cheek. I blinked, and slowly turned my head to stare back at him blankly. His eyes were filled with worry and his lips turned down at the corners as he wiped away the wetness under my eyes. "I'm sorry that-,"

"Stop," I spoke quietly, throat hoarse. "I don't want to talk about it."

His eyebrows twitched and his frown deepened. "I don't want you to hold it in. You can talk to me, you know that don't you?"

"I know, Harry." I spoke and breathed in deeply before letting it out through my mouth. "But not now. I'm tired. So fucking tired, I just want to go to sleep." He didn't respond and part of me felt guilty for not opening up to him like he wanted me to. I knew I could depend on him, I just wanted to be left alone at the moment but I still loved him. And knowing I had to get him to see that, I grasped his hand still lingering on my cheek and pressed a kiss on the inside of his palm. "I appreciate you being here for me and also for what you said back there. I-," I paused, the words I love you almost slipping out but right now was not the appropriate time. "It means a lot to me, you have no idea. But right now I just want to be left alone. I'm not pushing you away, I'd really just like to call it a night."

He silently watched me for a long moment, green eyes searching my face before he sighed and nodded. "Okay, love. I respect that."

I tried to smile but I was sure it looked forced, not saying anything else as I opened the car door. Stepping out into the cold night, I grabbed my purse and sauntered tiredly up to the porch. Harry was a little slow so I waited for him at the door, my arms crossed as I tried to warm myself up. He gave me a hesitant smile once he did reach me and dug his keys out of his pocket before opening the door. I slipped inside, making a beeline for Harry's room when I was forced to hesitate when Anne's attention was ripped away from the TV. Her and Gemma were still sitting exactly where we had left them and Anne furrowed her eyebrows, looking down at her phone to clearly check the time. "Hey?" She asked in confusion and her gaze flickered back to Harry and I. A frown pulled at her mouth when she studied my appearance. "What happened?"

"Mum." Harry said warningly and I felt the ball in my throat forming again. Fuck, I needed to get out of here before I started balling my eyes out again. Not wanting to be totally rude to Anne though, I merely gave her a forced smile that didn't reach my now watering eyes and speedily walked towards Harry's room. I made it there seconds later and the moment I closed the door behind me, the tears spilled from my eyes and I angrily huffed that I couldn't seem to stop them. So I reluctantly welcomed them, kicking my shoes off by the door and practically ripping my clothes off. Moving around the room as I cried, I grabbed my sweats and Harry's Green Bay hoodie to change into. My earrings came off next and though I wanted nothing more then to flop into bed now, I dragged my way to the restroom to wash my face off.

The sight in the mirror was horrid when I got there. My makeup wasn't running the way you'd expect it to after all the crying I had been doing and I could thank waterproof mascara for that. No, what was horrendous was how bloodshot my eyes were and how swollen my lids had gotten. My nose was pink as well, along with snot practically oozing out of it. It was disgusting and it only made me cry more to see myself like this. How Harry hadn't been grossed out was beyond me.

Not wanting to look any longer, I turned on the faucet and bent over the sink before washing off my face and brushing my teeth. It took me longer then usual considering the waterproof mascara was nearly impossible to take off with out proper makeup remover. But I was too lazy to go grab it and I didn't care at the moment that the mascara now was smeared as if I'd had a hard partying night out. So once I was finished, I headed back to Harry's room and climbed into bed, curling on my side and pulling the covers up over my shoulders. I sighed shakily once I was comfortable, closing my eyes as another wave of emotions suddenly hit me. Disappointment, anger, relief, sadness, heartbreak. My insides felt heavy and it was squeezing my throat until I was forced to open my mouth and let a quiet sob out. I hated my parents for having this kind of affect on me. They didn't deserve to be cried over but I couldn't help it. My tears were a mixture of the hurt and relief I felt that I'd finally said what I'd been wanting to say for not only months, but years now. It felt good to get it off my chest after holding it in for so long.

But it also probably meant that there was no going back with my parents. What was said would probably change things for good. There was no way I could ever go back and pretend to be okay with the way they treated me. They could either take what I said and do something to fix it, or do nothing at all. Either way the situation was now held in their hands.

Knowing that they'll probably choose to continue on with their ways, made me cry a little harder and I curled my arm beneath the pillow before digging my face into it. I won't lie, it fucking hurt to know my parents cared very little. Maybe deep down they did love me in their own fucked up way but when I compared it to the love I saw Harry's family held for him, it seemed nonexistent. And it made me sad to know I won't ever have what every other family seems to have. I craved normality and a functional home life, and it killed me to know the little fantasy I conjured up about me having that with my parents was never going to happen.

The sound of the bedroom door suddenly opening behind me made my body tense and I sniffled quietly. "I don't want to talk, Harry."

"Its not Harry." I froze at the sound of Anne's soft voice hitting my ears and after a moment of hesitation, I rolled on back. Looking up, I found Anne walking towards the bed and she moved to sit at the edge of it. A sad expression covered her features and she frowned down at me, tentatively pushing my hair off my forehead in a motherly way. "Harry told me what happened," she began and before I could curse him for telling her, she was quick to defend him. "I kept hitting him with the pillow, I thought he might have done something to you. So I beat him with it and he accidentally let it slip." My mouth twitched against my will as I pictured Anne hitting him with the pillow and she gave me the tiniest smile when she noticed. "Needless to say, I interrogated him until he told me everything."

My face turned somber again and my eyes flickered down to the bed, unable to hold Anne's eye contact any longer. It was stupid but I felt almost ashamed of my parents. It was embarrassing how they treated me, especially when it was Anne, a loving and caring mother that knew about it. "I'm sorry, Emmeline." She said sadly.

"Its not your fault, Anne." I sighed and fiddled with the duvet. "My parents just really suck."

She didn't say anything after a moment, but then I was thoroughly surprised when she climbed properly up onto the bed and laid flatly on her back beside me. I turned my head to look at her with widened eyes as she gazed up at the ceiling and clasped her hands over her stomach. "Can I tell you a little secret?"

I furrowed my eyebrows but nodded anyways. "Yes."

Her eyes stayed glued to the ceiling and for a brief second I thought maybe she might have changed her mind about telling me what she was going to, when she opened her mouth. "Harry's father cheated on me." I froze at her words but she continued on before I could say anything. "Harry and Gemma don't know that, but he did. It's why him and I divorced to begin with. Des, their father, he confessed to me that he had been having an affair. He ended things with the woman before he could fall in too deep and begged me to forgive him. He promised he would be a better father and husband but I couldn't seem to get past what he did. I tried really hard to forgive him for it for the sake of my children but-, the thing is, when someone betrays your trust like that it's almost always impossible to ever fully trust them again." She paused and her chest rose and fell hard as if the weight of what she was saying was making it hard for her to breathe. "And I didn't trust him. Not after what he did. When he first told me what he did, I didn't really react. I was calm and accepted it with ease but it wasn't until I realized that I couldn't ever trust him again, that our marriage was pretty much over, did I lash out. I got angry, started yelling at him and screaming like a banshee. Starting fights over pointless things. I hated him.

"I kicked him out of the house and kept our kids from him," she admitted a little ashamedly. "I threatened to take him to court for full custody if he didn't stay away, knowing full well I'd probably win if I brought up the affair. He knew it too so he kept his distance and let me make the decisions when it came to how frequently he was allowed to see Harry and Gemma. It was like that for years, I hated him for a long time. I was so angry that I didn't even realize me forcing him away was not only hurting him, but my children. Harry was already eight when I came to terms with the fact I couldn't stay mad at him forever. We had children that would always tie us together and I had to accept that.

"So I forgave him. Took me a long time but I did it, and I allowed more and more frequent visits. Harry was too little when he left so he didn't seem quite affected with him reappearing in our lives but Gemma was overjoyed. I blame myself sometimes that Harry isn't as close to his father as he should be. Too much time went by for him to properly form a bond and I know Harry loves him and that he loves Harry, but they won't ever really be close." She stopped and I waited patiently for her to continue, knowing that there was a reason for her telling me this.

"Your parents won't be like this forever." She said quietly and finally turned her head to look at me, eyes similar to Harry's staring at me with care. "I know that there's a lot of anger amongst you three, especially in you that's aimed towards them but honey, it will get better. You'll find yourself not angry anymore one day and there's going to come a time where your parents will be able to be in the same room with out screaming at each other. Your mum will forgive him because she has to. Your father is a part of you, and she's going to have to accept him if she wants you in her life."

"My mom is cold," I told her in a small voice and shook my head. "And my dad doesn't see his mistakes. He's not really sorry. They both don't see that it's not just about the cheating or the divorce, it's so much more then that."

She nodded in understanding and reached a hand out to grasp mine. "I know. Harry told me what you said to them. And you know what?" She didn't wait for me to respond. "I'm proud of you. Good for you for standing up for yourself. It's what they needed to hear and I can honestly tell you that I'm sure what you said will have an impact on them. It'll take some time but they'll change, love. And when they do it'll be up to you on whether you want them in your life or not." She said softly and I nodded. "Until that happens, I want you to know that you've got people who love you Emmeline. You have friends, relatives, you have Harry and believe it or not, you've got me as well. You're an amazing girl and anyone would be lucky to call you their child. And as a mother, I know your parents know that. They love you, but give it time. Everything is going to work out."

I pressed my lips together, Anne's words lifting a heavy weight off my shoulders as I nodded. My chest was swelling out of love and appreciation towards her for caring enough to come in here and talk to me about it. I hadn't wanted to talk about my own feelings but just hearing her own story was comforting in a way. "Thank you, Anne."

She ran her hand over my head again then sat up, swiftly leaning down to kiss the top of my head. "No problem honey." She sighed and stood up from the bed, pausing to look over her shoulder at me. "Could you please not tell Harry what I told you? I lied to him and Gemma because deep down I didn't want them to hate their father for what he did."

"I won't tell him." I told her quietly, feeling honored that she even trusted me to tell me such a secret.

"Thank you." She smiled and with that, moved to walk out of the room. She left the door partially open and I stared at it for a long moment, the tears long gone by now. I zoned out for a few minutes as I thought about what she said, how eventually all this anger would fade. That'd it all work out in the end. I could only hope she was right.

A movement at the door tore me out of my. trance and I blinked several times, seeing Harry slip into the room and closing the door behind him. I pushed myself up on my elbows, eyes wide in surprise. How long had he been standing there?

"I heard what she said." He told me before I could ask, moving across the room and climbing into the bed beside me. He laid on his side, slinging his arm over my stomach as he rested his head on the pillow.

"Y-you're not mad?"

He shrugged and kissed the side of my head. "Surprised, yes. Mad? No. It was a long time ago and like she said, my dad and I aren't close enough for me to be angry at what he did. Maybe a little disappointed but..."

I pursed my lips and laid back on the bed, rolling onto my side to face him. "I'm sorry I told her I wouldn't tell you, she just shared a secret with me and-,"

"Babe, its okay." He assured me, lightly squeezing my waist. "I understand. And don't worry, I'm not going to tell her anything. She doesn't have to know that I know."

I stared at him for a moment then nodded, moving to rest my head over his bicep as he urged me to lay on him. "Okay."

"Are you feeling any better?"

"I think so," I sighed and closed my eyes. "Your mom helped a lot."

He hummed and wrapped his other arm around me, hugging me tightly to his chest as he pressed kisses to my forehead. "She loves you."

I love you.

I clung tighter to him, digging my face into the skin of his chest that was revealed by his half unbuttoned shirt. "I love her too," I mumbled and sighed, a small smile appearing on my lips when he visibly shuddered. "Can we go to sleep now?"

"It's still kind of early, I'm not really tired." He muttered, rolling away from me seconds later. "But I know you are so you can if you'd like. I'll put a movie on or a show to watch until I fall asleep."

"You're going to go watch a movie?" I frowned and I didn't even care at the moment that I sounded all whiney. I was vulnerable at the moment.

"In here, baby." His mouth quirked into an amused smile and he pointed across the room, to a large cabinet. "There's a TV in there."

"Oh."

He grinned and shook his head, unbuttoning his shirt and revealing his defined stomach to me. I laid there in exhaustion, silently watching him undress and pull a t-shirt over his head before going to go put a movie on. I was on the verge of falling asleep when he climbed back into bed, the mattress shifting under his weight. His arm went around me again as he drew me into his chest and I curled into him, sleepily placing a kiss over his shirt where his heart should be.

"I set the alarm for seven, Lila texted me and said she'd pick us up at eight in the morning to head back." Harry told me quietly and I nodded. "Are you falling asleep?"

"Mm."

"Okay, night love."

The last thing I heard was the opening music to the beginning of a Gossip Girl episode.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I woke up feeling groggy the next morning but with a new mindset that I was going to enjoy this Friendsgiving instead of dwelling over what happened last night. What's done is done and I was going to move on with my life and focus on being happy. So I tried to lift my own spirit up, smiling at Harry and his family as we ate breakfast. Harry seemed a little wary about my change in attitude but he grinned at me nonetheless.

"I'm going to miss you kids." Anne said after we had gathered our luggage and put it by the front door when we received a text from Lila telling us she'd be here in twenty minutes.

"I'll miss you too, I really like coming here." I told her honestly and she wrapped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed me into a side hug.

"Harry you make sure you bring Emmeline back for a visit some time soon." She told him in a scolding way and I suppressed a grin.

"Sure thing, mum." He rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. "Glad to see its not because you want to see me, your son."

"I'm sensing some jealousy." Gemma teased and snickered.

"I'm not jealous." Harry scoffed and I grinned at him in amusement, to which he narrowed his eyes at me for. "I'm not."

"Sure thing, babe." I winked and he shook his head but there was an amused smirk on his face. I turned to face Gemma and moved to give her a hug too. "I hope I see you again soon."

"You will! I'm staying here until January."

"What?" Harry said in surprise, eyes wide as he stared at his sister. "What about work?"

Gemma didn't answer and I could tell by the look on her face that it was a topic she didn't want to discuss at the moment. So I deflected Harry's question by asking one of my own. "What are you going to do this weekend?"

She sent me a look that seemed thankful. "Probably just hang around here, mum has work and then she's spending time with her friends."

"Girl's weekend." Anne cheered happily and I laughed.

"Well hey, why don't you come with us?" I ask Gemma and look at Harry. "That's cool with you right?"

He shrugged. "I don't mind."

I smiled and then looked back at Gemma excitedly. "Come with us!"

Gemma pursed her lips, a thoughtful look on her face. "Where is it you guys are going anyways?"

"The Hampton's. My friend Lila's dad owns the house so a bunch of us are going. You could meet our friends. I'm positive Lila won't mind if you join us."

She hesitated and ran her hand over her blonde hair, turning to look at her mom. "You'd be fine here by yourself?"

"You mean would I be okay getting drunk with my lady friends? Of course I would be!" Anne smiled and this time we all laughed in unison, Gemma rolling her eyes with a smile on her face.

"Okay," she said as she turned back to me. "I'll come with you guys."

"Well go pack then, Lila is going to be here soon." Harry told her and Gemma nodded quickly before rushing off to her room. Anne smile and patted my back before turning to the dishes in the sink, while Harry moved towards me. My brow arched at him questionably as he wrapped his arms loosely around my lower back, drawing me in until we were chest to chest. Gazing up at him, I watched him bend his head until his forehead was pressing against mine.

"You don't have a problem with her tagging along do you?" I asked again warily and he bit his lip, shaking his head.

"No, it could be fun. And she deserves to get out of the house." He told me and I almost yelped when his hand on my back suddenly slipped down and harshly cupped my ass. My eyes darted to Anne in horror but she had her back turned to us and Harry's frame was large enough to shield me from her view. Pressing my lips together, my gaze moved back to Harry as he squeezed my bum tighter and my hands shot up to hold his upper arms. Fingers digging into his skin in warning when he licked his lips, his mouth pulling into a dirty smirk. "But she better not fucking cock block me," he mumbled quietly and dipped his mouth until it hovered near my ear, hand now patting my ass twice. "Or you're the one who's going to pay for it."

He released me before I could even react or respond, stepping back entirely out of my reach. He looked so innocent and like sinful words hadn't just left his mouth. An adorable smile was etched on his face instead and I blinked repeatedly, unsure if I had imagined the whole thing or not. Even when there was a sound of a knock on the front door, I merely stared at Harry with a mixture of disbelief and excitement. Knowing I hadn't imagined it when Harry sends me a sultry smirk that held sensual promises. This was going to be one hell of a weekend.

* * * * * * * *

Thank you for all the nice comments on the last chapter!! Literally took me a full day to write so I'm glad you all liked it.

Questions:

Favorite part?

What do you think is going to happen on this Friendsgiving?

I was thinking of doing Bonus Chapters at the end of the book, of scenes that you might want to have read up on. Should I do that? What do you guys think? There's only about 15 chapters left and that's if I don't make the chapters extremely long. Let me know what you think about me doing that!

Vote + comment! Thanks for reading <3