A Shot of Reality [Harry Styles]

III. Naïve

A/N: So this chapter is pretty long, so I hope it's not too boring that you fall asleep on the keyboard! Thank you all so much for your support, it means a ton. You know the drill: Comment. Vote. Fan x

October 3rd, 2010

I knocked on the door, breathing heavily on each rap. My cheek stung, with both the aftermath of the slap and acidic tears that had skimmed over it. I could feel my cheek bruising in the process.

Never in my life had my father hit me, till now at least.

I couldn't even remember what I said to piss him off so bad. I knew the divorce had been hard on him, and the job market hadn't necessarily been kind since he was laid off. But my father, my own blood, had hit me. Given, ever since my mom had left he began to drink. She had decided to move in with her Italian lover, who modeled Calvin Klein underwear for a living. In the note she left me and father, a few words were scribbled hastily on the note.

It's been a good time.

- Claudia

The indifference I felt when I read the note shocked me.

My father loved my mother with everything in him; if she asked him to jump off a cliff he would gladly accept. Right after my father read the note, he broke open the nearest bottle of liquor and chugged it as he cried himself to sleep. At first it was once every week, twice at most.

But then Saturday's began to bleed into Sunday's and Sunday's bled into Monday's and so on. He was the type of drunk that became detached, the kind that would vomit on the carpet then pass out next to it. My morning routine included: cleaning up vomit, getting ready, and then go to school. It wasn't normal; I wasn't naïve enough to believe that. But I thought there was no way for it to get any worse.

As per usual, I was wrong.

The door opened, which revealed the usual happy and smiling Anne. I loved Anne; she was much more like a mother to me than my own one was. It wasn't that my mom was a bad mom; she just liked me rather than loved me.

Anne's radiant smile dissipated into an "o" shaped frown for she had noticed the big blotch of purple on my cheek. I wanted to cry, I hated upsetting people. But I didn't know where to go and that's exactly what I said.

"I didn't know where else to go," I murmured, surprising myself with how hoarse and quiet my voice sounded.

Anne wrapped her arms around me tight, with no hesitation. She rocked me back and forth, like a newborn baby. Nuzzling my head in her shoulder, I started to cry. Weep, actually. My bones vibrated with sobs; like an emotional lightning bolt struck me and the storm brewing in my stomach was quickly turning into hurricanes. I felt like my body was going to collapse into a forgotten pile of ash and skeleton.

"Oh love, it's okay, it's okay. Ssh..."  She rubbed my back in soothing circles, bringing one of her hands up to hold my head steady.

I could tell she felt the same pain as me because I felt the emotionally induced jerks of her shoulders against mine.

"You'll be okay, I promise."

Anne had ordered me to go up to Harry's room and take a nap while she made me my favorite dinner, gravy biscuits and peas. Harry was away at X- Factor, much to the dismay of the situation. Despite my reservations, my best friend was living his dream. That alone made me feel a little more content. I glanced around his room, the familiar sight surprisingly overwhelming me.

Posters of Frankie Sandford adorned the blue walls, while his bed sheets were perfectly messy like always. I tried to pull off my best bittersweet smile, but due to the bruise along the corner of my mouth my body decided that I couldn't show any sort of happiness, so I frowned.