Emmeline

Three hours after eating at the diner we had all been sitting at the club near campus, beers for Liam and Andy while the rest of us sipped on waters. The six of us were talking loudly over the loud music to be heard, shouting across the small table in the corner. Spending time with them had been fun, and though I did manage to forget maybe for a little while, my thoughts kept drifting to Harry. I wondered what it was he was doing. Why he looked at me with disappointment when he left? And why he felt he had to lie to me about hanging out with Cameron?

The fake laughs, the forced smiles were becoming exhausting and I wanted nothing more than to go home now, to crawl into bed and disappear under the covers. It was becoming more appealing the more I thought about it that once I downed the rest of my water, I slowly pushed the chair I sat in back.

It drew the attention of our group, Liam's gaze moving to me as I stood up and hauled the strap of my bag over my shoulder. "Well, this was fun guys but I think I'm going to head home."

There were whines all around the table in protest and the amused grin on my lips faltered when I saw Niall standing up as well. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, blue eyes gazing at me. "I'm going to head out too. I can walk you?"

"You don't need to leave just because I am, stay if you want to."

He shrugged. "Nah, it's okay. I'm feeling kind of tired anyways."

"Oh, okay. Well in that case sure." He grinned and I returned it before turning to look down at Lila who sat on my other side, catching her eye as I raised my eyebrows at her."You coming or staying?"

"Um..." Her gaze slid to Anthony and I watched as the two of them held eye contact, silently communicating back and forth before she looked back up at me. "I think I'm going to head to Anthony's for a bit tonight after we leave here, so just go on without me."

I try to suppress the knowing smirk threatening to pull at my lips when I catch her cheeks flush but decide to simply nod. I would tease her about it another time when we were alone. "Okay, let me know if you decide to come home so I don't think someone's breaking in."

"Got it. Text me when you get home."

"I will." She threw a quick 'love you' to me as I walked around the table to hug Liam, kissing the top of his head before I waved bye to the rest of the group. I headed towards the exit with Niall following close behind, my hands dug into the pockets of my jean jacket. We fell into step beside each other once reaching the sidewalk, the passing cars and the life of the city being the only thing we heard. My boots clicked against the pavement and Niall cleared his throat, pulling my attention to him. He was already looking at me, his expression curious as he pursed his lips.

"What's up with you and Harry?"

I almost reeled back at the mention of his name but I managed to contain myself, faking dumb instead. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why was he with that girl when he's with you?"

I frowned at this, anxiously moving to cross my arms as I shook my head and laughed humorlessly. "Um, him and I aren't together. He's not mine so he can do whatever he wants."

He shook his head, blonde strands of hair standing up on his head flattening themselves. "Well he seemed pretty upset to see me there with you so, I'd say otherwise."

"Harry's never said he had a problem with you so, I don't know. But even if he did he'd have to deal with it. Harry doesn't get to tell me who I can and can't be friends with."

Niall smiles so widely I was sure it was hurting him, cheeks tinged a light pink with the chill of the night. "That's good to know."

I laughed quietly shaking my head as we neared the steps of the subway. We were fairly quiet as we waited, a few words exchanged between the both of us but I think we were both too tired to keep a conversation going. He lightly pressed the palm of his hand to my lower back when the subway came to a halt in front of us, pushing me towards the opened doors. All the seats were taken and we moved to the pole in the middle, holding onto it as the subway lurched into motion again. There were a group of young boys sitting a few feet away, being loud and rowdy with girls as the topic of conversation. Niall and I shared a look of amusement when one of them teased his friend for getting a boner when the girl he had a crush on had simply touched his thigh. His face was red in embarrassment and he was quick to punch the shoulder of his friend, snickers leaving our mouths when he hissed and shut his mouth abruptly.

Soon we had reached my stop and we both moved to walk out, taking the steps up to the main street one by one lazily. The street wasn't as lively as the one near campus, a few cars driving down the street and dim lights flickering over the sidewalks. I wrapped my jacket closer to me, eyes flickering towards all the shadows in the dark alleys we passed. As much as I made it seem like I didn't mind walking home alone at night, in truth I hated it. The darkness always lead to my thoughts drifting to the nightmares I had at night, my paranoia heightening and my steps quickening along with it. I slowed this time though when I remembered I wasn't alone, glancing at Niall who was a little farther back behind me. Thankfully he hadn't noticed a difference in my mood, his attention on a store we passed instead.

I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally approached my building, my pace slowing as I turned to face Niall. His eyes drifted to the front entrance, realizing we had reached my stop before he looked back to me and stopped. "I guess we're here."

"Yep," I nod, stuffing my hands back into my jacket pockets. "Thanks for coming with me tonight. It was fun."

"Sure thing Emmy. We should do it again soon." He grinned and I nodded, returning his smile.

"Yeah, we will." He nodded, rocking back and forth on his feet as he glanced back at my building before looking to me with slight worry.

"You going to be okay by yourself?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." I waved him off and though he seemed like he wanted to say more he pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." He smiled and stepped forward, closing the distance between us to pull me into a tight hug. I hugged him back, padding his back before stepping out of his arms. I waved to him then pivoted on my heel, heading through the entrance and into the lobby. It was dead and eerily quiet but I sauntered my way to the elevators, pulling out my phone once inside. I briefly remembered it vibrating in my bag more than once over the past three hours and as I pressed the home button of my screen, I saw I had a missed call from my dad and two unread texts from Harry. My heart lurched in my chest at seeing his name and after taking a moment of hesitation, I unlocked the screen to open his messages.

Harry: Emmeline.

Harry: I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied.

I frowned as I shook my head and immediately closed out of his texts, slumping against the wall with a sigh. I was so tired and I couldn't wait to crawl in my bed. Too many emotions had run through me today and It was overwhelming.

The doors opened to my floor and I walked out into the hallway, immediately looking into my bag to dig for my keys. I felt them at the bottom, biting my lip as I grasped for them and ripped them out of my bag in triumph. I looked up then, expecting to see our floor's hallway empty like it usually was but my feet came to an abrupt stop. My first feeling was fear at seeing the outline of a tall man standing in front of my door, my hand curling around my key the way I would hold a knife. I hesitated, unsure If I should go ask what the man wanted or go back down to the lobby and call for security. But before I have the chance to make up my mind the man turns around, as if feeling my presence and my fear dissipates at seeing the familiar green eyes. Shock, disbelief, and annoyance replaces that fear at seeing my father, his mouth gaping open when he notices It's me. I swallow the lump in my throat, blinking several times before shaking my head and taking the last few steps to my door until I'm standing right in front of my dad.

"Emmy." He breathes, obviously relieved at seeing me.

I wish I could feel the same.

"What are you doing here?" I asked coldly, crossing my arms as I furrowed my eyebrows. He was always calling but I didn't actually expect him to show up here. "How did you even find me?"

"I spoke to Lila's father," He shared and I clenched my jaw, silently cursing Lila's dad for spilling where I was. He was the nicest man but I was a little annoyed he had told anything to my father, especially when he knew we weren't on great terms. I suppose I couldn't say anything though. He was letting me stay here for free after all. "Emmy, we need to talk."

I purse my lips, refusing to move until he leaves. "Okay fine, but this wasn't something you could have called me about?"

"You don't answer my calls."

"So send a text then." I retort and his face tightens, the vein in his forehead letting me know that he was growing impatient with me.

"This isn't something that should be discussed over the phone." He declares, tone full of authority as he said the next thing. "Now, open your door and let's talk. Five minutes is all I need and then I will leave."

I think about straight up telling him to go fuck himself, but the little girl who always listened to whatever her parents told her to do pushes me forward to open the door. I shove my key into the knob begrudgingly, a permanent frown on my face as I swung the door open and gestured him inside. Not even bothering to pretend I was happy about him being here because him and I both knew, I wasn't. He walks in with caution, eyes flickering around my dark apartment as he moved down the hallway. I paused to switch the lights on, blinking until my eyes adjusted to the change in lighting. When I look back to him, the first thing I notice is that gray streaks had begun to grow through his light brown hair, while wrinkles formed around his eyes. He looked as if the years of stress had finally caught up to him, his age more apparent that for a brief second I felt sad at the physical reminder that we were both only getting older. Yet growing apart.

"Nice place Rick has got set up for you girls." He comments as he looks around, his hand reaching for a picture frame that holds a photo of Lila and I from graduation day. He stares down at it, his face holding no expression until he sets it back down only to pick up another photo. This one was of Liam and I.

"What did you want to talk about dad?" I ask, tossing my bag to the floor and crossing my arms. I make it known that I was in no mood for patience. I wanted him out of here as soon as possible.

He's quiet for a moment as he stares at the photo before setting in down carefully. His lips are pressed together and he shoves his hands into his pockets when he turns back around to look at me. His eyes take in my appearance, studying me quietly before a tiny smile twitches on his face. It disappears just as quick and I wonder if I might have imagined it. "You look so much like your mother when she was your age."

I bite the inside of my cheek, forcing myself to stay invulnerable and ignore the clenching in my chest. "I don't know if that's supposed to be a compliment or an insult."

His forehead creases at my words, a frown etched on his lips as she shakes his head. "Despite my problems with your mom, I'm not blind. She's gorgeous and she always has been."

"Is that why you cheated on her?" The words come out before I can stop them, and I know they did the damage I had intended for them to do when I see him flinch. My stance is strong and when he leans back, hunching his shoulders like he wants to disappear, it feels as if I'm the one with the upper hand here. Yet I'm not sure if I like it.

He looks away, jaw clenched and eyes narrowing at the wall. He stares at it quietly, the wheels in his head obviously turning before he meets my gaze again. His face more determined. "There are things that go into a marriage you know nothing about, Emmeline."

"Right. Faithfulness being one of them." I shoot back and he breathes in through his nose, his shoulders rising and falling. My irritation for him grows and I glance at the clock on the wall, knowing his five minutes were nearly up. I tapped my foot against the floor impatiently and shook my head when he looked up at me. "What is it dad? What is so important that you had to come here?"

"I wanted you to hear it from me," He began and I stopped the tapping of my foot when he lifted his head and saw the seriousness in his eyes. Knowing whatever it was he was about to say was going to crush me. "Your mother and I tried to make things work but...we can't seem to get on the same page. So, I'm moving out."

I feel my heart slow in my chest and though my breath hitches in my throat, I keep my face expressionless. Only furrowing my eyebrows at him. "Moving out?" I try and fail to keep my voice strong but it comes out in a whisper instead. He notices, his face holding guilt as he opens and closes his mouth. He's struggling to say the next thing and I hold my breath, waiting for him to say whatever it is that is so hard.

He closes his eyes briefly, taking another deep breath and when he opens them, the determination is back. "Your mom and I are separating."

The weight of everything I had been holding on my shoulders, sinks and crashes into my chest.
The gate suppressing my emotions rattles, threatening to break but I fight to keep it closed. My eyes sting with tears that want to escape but I swallow my emotions down, keeping my stance rigid. Though it's impossible to keep my voice strong, and my words all come out in another whisper.

"Is it temporary?"

His throat bobs and he slowly shakes his head. "I don't know Emmy."

"Where are you going to go?"

This time, he can't hold my eye and he looks away again. He looks nervous and he bites his lip, closing his eyes as he says the next thing. "I'm staying with Jessica until I can find my own place."

And then the gate suppressing my emotions, splits.

"You're still seeing her?" My voice rises in volume, shaking with anger and the approaching tears. His head snaps in my direction when he hears it, his eyes wide and guilty. But I don't fucking care anymore about what he says. I finally see the situation for what it truly is. "You never stopped did you?"

"Emmy, you don't understand-,"

"Oh I understand alright," I'm laughing like a maniac, my eyes stinging uncrontrollably but somehow I've managed to hold off on the waterworks. He didn't deserve to see me cry about this. "You were still fucking her behind mom's back while you guys were trying to 'work it out'."

His face contorts into anger. "Hey! Language! You don't speak to me that way!"

The way he's talking to me, like he has the right to boss me around does it for me and I grab the closest thing to me, not thinking about what the hell I'm doing when I throw the picture frame at him. He dodges it last minute, eyes wide when the glass of it cracks, a few pieces falling to the floor.

"Fuck you!" I scream, my blood pulsing with rage at the very man I'm supposed to call my dad. I feel my lungs contracting, the sobs wanting to come out trying to make it's way up my throat. "You don't get to tell me what to do anymore! How can you say you tried to fix things with mom when you're too busy fucking your co-worker?" I shout incredulously and he flinches, reeling back as my words sink in. "For years I had to listen to you and mom fight with each other and you're telling me, you didn't bother to fix what you broke? That I had to sit there being miserable, for nothing?" My voice rises with volume, bouncing off the walls and I was sure my neighbors could hear me but I was past giving a shit. I shake my head, my thoughts coming at me all at once along with my emotions. Most of my childhood was spent listening to them argue back and forth whenever they were home and though at times I'd wish they would just divorce, that wasn't what I truly wanted. What I wanted was for them to try and fix their marriage. To make up, to show each other how much they really did love each other. Because at one point, I know they did. 

"You don't deserve mom," I choke out, the realization finally hitting me like a truck. My mom could be a cold hearted bitch and she was a workaholic, but in a way I admired her strive. How strong she always was in any situation she was put in. She didn't take shit from anyone, and regardless of the fact that she was always working, she was never unfaithful to my dad. She never broke the vows she made to him, even though he was at work just as much as she was. "I hate you. I hate you for what you did to her and for what you did to our family."

He sucked in a breath, his face crumbling as he steps forward to try and reach for me but I move back. "Emmeline, please, just listen-,"

"I want you to get the fuck out." I say, my voice the strongest it had been in the last few minutes. I know I sound unbelievably cold when he looks at me in surprise. "You said what you needed to, so get out. Message received."

He shakes his head vigorously, striding across the room with his arms outstretched but I slap his hands away. "Honey, I'm so sorry. I never wanted this I-,"

"Get out!" I scream, unable to hear another second of him talking. He jumps, ripping his arms away as if his touch will break me. It just might. "Leave, or I'm calling security." I threaten, eyes glaring at him and finger pointed to the door. His mouth hangs in disbelief, glassy eyes wide and slowly filling with tears. I'm unable to look at him any longer so I force my gaze to the floor, swallowing the large lump in my throat. "Please. Just go." I whisper and finally, he moves.

I don't look at him as he walks across the room but I hear the sound of his shoes moving further and further away from me. The sound of the door opening echoes down the hallway and I hold my breath, waiting to hear it close. And once it does, my shoulders sag, I close my eyes, and release my breath only to choke on the invasion of tears springing from my eyes. My chest caves in and my hand flies up to it, desperately trying to hold it together as I cry with my mouth partially open yet no sound comes out. It's scary, and I feel like I'm on the verge of a panic attack as I move quickly across the room to pick up my bag. I'm blindly searching for my phone, my breaths coming out faster until I finally grasp the device and drop the bag onto the floor. I can barely see my screen as I unlock my phone, not even thinking about my actions as I scroll through my contacts and click on the one person I need right now. I didn't care about what happened earlier, none of it seemed to matter in comparison to the bomb that was just dropped on me. I needed him.

"Em?" He asks slowly in confusion after answering on the second ring. But hearing the sound of his voice draws the suppressed sob from my lungs, and I'm suddenly crying loudly into the phone.

"Em?" He asks again but he sounds alert, panicked, and worried now. "Em, baby what's wrong? What is it?"

I can't talk, the sobs too hard that my breath begins to come out fast and I know if I don't calm down I'm going to pass out. "H-h-harry," Is the only thing I manage to say and it sounds like he's moving around, a door slamming loudly from the other end.

"I'm coming over right now."

And he does. He stays on the phone with me the whole time, trying his best to comfort me over the phone while I continuously sob. I've moved to the couch by now, balling while lying in the fetal position. I wasn't sure how I hadn't passed out yet but after a few minutes, my sobbing has turned into silent sniffles. Every limb in my body aches but I force myself up when Harry tells me through the phone he's here, and then I hear his knocking on the door. I don't bother to say anything to him before hanging up, leaving my phone on the couch as I dragged myself to the door. I feel my emotions getting the best of me again as I near the it and once I pull it open to see him standing there with his eyes frantic and worried, I break again.

Another sob comes bursting out of my mouth and he doesn't waste any time to catch me when I throw my arms around his neck. He wraps me up, one arm encircling my waist while the other cradled the back of my head. He walks inside, kicking the door closed with his foot before he picks me up to carry me like a child. My legs and arms wrapped around him while my face was buried into his shoulder, my cries muffled by it. He didn't say anything as he moved us into my bedroom, kicking the door closed before hurriedly walking across the room to set me down on the edge of my bed. He pulls back to kneel down in front of me, green eyes wide and worried as he pushed my hair away from my face.

"Em, tell me what's wrong? What happened?" He sounded so sad and his fingers moved to catch the single tear that slipped from my eye. I bit down on my lip, trying my best to stop the pathetic sounds from my mouth but it only causes me to whimper.

"M-my da-d," I try to say through my uneven breaths and Harry quickly shakes his head, hurriedly moving to draw me into his chest.

"Baby calm down." He says softly, lips kissing my forehead repeatedly. "Breathe Em."

"I can't." I whine into his chest and his hand rubs circles on my back. I hate that I'm crying, but I know this is better than not feeling anything. Crying was healthy and this was way overdue. I'd been holding in my emotions for far too long and it was only a matter of time before I broke down. Now was it.

"I'm worried," He confessed, his hands clutching me like he was afraid if he let go he'd lose me. "What happened? Please tell me."

My lips quivered and I closed my eyes, my arms moving to fold behind his neck. "I-I will." I breathed in, gathering enough strength to say the next words. "But I n-need to c-cry. Can you j-just hold me? Please?"

"For as long as you want me to." He said, moving from his knelt position on the floor to lightly push me back onto the bed. He laid over me, body covering mine like a blanket, arms wrapped around my waist and face buried into my hair. He turned his head, pressing kisses to my cheek repeatedly n comfort. Murmuring how special I was, how beautiful I was, as I cried into his shoulder and clung onto him for dear life. Yet, I probably didn't have to. Because not once did he let me go.

* * * * * *

Meh I got emotional writing this chapter. D;

Questions:

Did anyone cry? lol

Which part gave you the feels?

REMINDER: Make sure you're following me because I'm not sure if the chapters will turn private once I post smut. It's coming VERY soon so make sure you do it before then :)

I'll update again soon! Thanks for reading <3