Under One Roof: A Harry Styles Story

Chapter 3

Your eyes widened. You just saw a boy who is probably your age. You couldn’t guess what he was doing in your house, or why your mom wanted you to meet him. Seeing the person himself didn’t give you answers.

Not until your mom let go of your hand and held his, like a couple. OH. NO. I have a feeling this isn’t going to end well…, your heart started beating fast. They both walked towards you and your mom sat beside you. The guy smiled, and offered a hand shake. “I’m Harry.”, he introduced. He had this deep voice that teenagers usually go crazy for. But the difference is, your mom is 47. You doubtfully shook his hand. “And…?”, you were waiting for him to add details, specifically why was he holding your mom’s hand.  He didn’t answer and was looking over to your mom as if he was waiting for help. “He’s my…um…”, your mom was having second thoughts. You can sense she didn’t really want to say this, but she had to. You were waiting for either of them to continue on. “I’m her boyfriend.”, Harry finally broke the silence. That one simple sentence changed everything. The relief you had diminished. It’s been only three weeks and you mom already had a boyfriend. You tried to laugh but tears came down. “What?”, you asked. “I found a new love, Mia!”, your mom said as if it was great news. You stood up. “Mom, how long was dad gone? Three weeks. THREE WEEKS. It wasn’t even a month! And what is this?! MOM! Dad died and all you did was go and find a new boyfriend! That’s great! I mean, I’m not against you having a boyfriend, but dad was just gone after three weeks! Three weeks! And your boyfriend?! Did you like, see him at school and decided to replace dad?! What am I supposed to tell everyone?! That my stepdad has the same age as me!? That when I’m on public and people will actually think he’s my boyfriend because look! He’s 18 mom! You’re 47! Dad just died three weeks ago! What is this?!”, you got very angry. You walked away and ran to your room. You still couldn’t believe everything. My mom has a boyfriend. An 18-year-old boyfriend. Great.

“I guess she didn’t like me.”, Harry tried to laugh. But he can’t. He found what you said to him and your mom was really offensive. You peeked through the small crevice on your walls that revealed your mom’s room. You can see your mom crying on Harry’s lap. You found it funny because it looks like a son patting his mom’s back. But you still couldn’t percept what you just heard. Surreal. Then you peeked in to the hole again. He was still comforting her, trying to turn everything into a joke. You can see him giggle a bit, but his green eyes sparkled with tears as well. He was really hurt even though he was just the cougar bait in this case.

I was wrong. I was just overwhelmed with the sudden news. I mean, I understand that mom just wanted to get over and she couldn’t find it, so she got a boyfriend. But it’s just unfair with dad. And that Harry boy. He may be young to be my mom’s partner, but he seems nice for my mom. He’s faithful and loves my mom. He actually cried. And that’s the problem.

“Mia…”, your mom was peeking on your door the next morning. You can see she was pretty ashamed. You cried so hard last night that you got to sleep. Good thing that was a Friday or else you’d be lethargic at school—again. “What?”, you asked straight to the point as you removed the blanket covering your face. Your mom entered your room. “Honey, I’m sorry about yesterday…”, she explained. But you didn’t let her finish. “No, you don’t need to apologize. I’m the one who needs to. I totally understand you, mom. I’m sorry.”, you said. “Aww, thanks Mia!”, your mom hugged you in delight. “Starting Monday, I’ll be going to my old job. I’ll fly to LA later.”, she added. “That’s actually great mom!”, you said. “And Harry will be here with you until my day off. He’ll drive you to school and attend events for you. He’ll help you get in track again.”, she said. Sure, another major life-changing adjustment. You sighed. You had a long list of reasons to go against it, but you can see that your mom is really hoping this could work. And you want to try. After long silence, you finally said, “Okay, as long as I don’t call him ‘dad’ or ‘pop’ or anything because he’s 18. I’m 18.”, you joked. Your mom laughed and left you with a smile.