Falling Stars [h.s]

Chapter 6

Aurora

Hearing him say my name brought back too many unwanted memories. I was still in shock, unable to take my eyes off of him. "Harry?" Not only was I in shock, I was in disbelief. Many questions running through my head. What was he doing on my door steps? Why was he here? Why was he in Napa. How did he find me? Why wasn't he as surprised as I was?

After getting over my shocked phase, I was angry, "Who gave you my home address?"

"Odyssey did. Listen I'm just here to pick up my kids. I'll be gone as if I was never here." Why would Odyssey give him our address? Why was she even in contact with Harry? His kids? Is he referring to Layla?

"You must have the wrong house. There are no kids of yours here." As I went to closed the door, he stops it with his foot. Letting out a deep breath, I opened the door back up. "I can assure you they are. Harper and Oliver." As if on cue Harper comes running to the door, followed by Layla.

Harper runs towards Harry, attacking him in a hug. "Daddy!" Harry picked her up, pulling her close to him and hugging her tightly. "I missed you daddy."

"I missed you too munchkin." I looked up, quickly blinking away my tears before he had the chance to see me teary eyed. Seeing just how much Harry cared for Harper, his daughter, made me realize even more he didn't want anything to do with Layla. My heart ached at the thought. He looked down at Layla who was already smiling up at him. Harry showed no expression on his face as he looked away from my daughter. "Where's Oliver?"

"He's asleep. I'll bring him down. Close the door and wait inside." Doing as told, he stepped inside the house closing the door behind him. I left the area, going to Layla's bedroom where Oliver was sleeping. I closed the door behind me, taking a seat on the bed. I took deep breaths in and out in hopes to control my breathing. The tears were inevitable. They rolled down my face, quiet sobs leaving my mouth.

After taking some time to gather myself, I picked up Oliver from the bed and left the bedroom. Harry was seated on the couch chatting with Harper and Layla. I stopped in my tracks as Layla began to speak, "My name is Layla Alaska Styles, what is your name?"

"My name is Harry. It was nice meeting you Layla Alaska Styles."

"Oh that's so cool! My daddy's name is Harry." I walked in before Harry had the chance to respond. He stood up taking Oscar from my hands. Odyssey came down the stairs, looking between Harry and I in disbelief. She walked over to me with an apologetic look on her face before turning to Harry, "You weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow."

"My meeting ended early. Thank you for watching them, I'll be going now."

•

"Aurora please hear me out."

"You lied to me Odyssey. You were in contact with Harry, then you bring his children, his children with Priscilla, here to watch them and lie to me about it! How could you do this to me?"

"He was in desperate need of a babysitter and I didn't know what else to do. I'm sorry, you were never meant to find out. He said he was going to pick them up tomorrow while you were at work. I never planned on you finding out like this Aurora."

"How long have you been in contact with him?"

"You make it seem like I tracked him down and secretly befriended him. That is not at all what happened."

"Then what did happen Odyssey? How the hell did Harry Styles end up in my house after six years!"

She let out a deep sigh as she took a seat on the bed. "I had a divorce case four months ago. The couple was Harry and Priscilla. Along with the divorce case they had an open custody battle case, but before things escalated to the court room, a lot of things happened and Priscilla left Harry after signing divorce papers. She's been in rehabilitation ever since. I know this doesn't excuse what I did, but he had no one to watch his kids while he made a business trip down to Tallahassee."

"You could've said no."

"That's not fair Aurora. You know what it's like, the struggle of being a single parent and I was there for you when you needed me, why can't I do the same for someone else in need?"

"I'm not saying you can't help others in need, but after everything I've been through because of him I had hoped you'd understand when I said I want nothing to do with him. In order to learn a lesson some people are better left to fend for themselves. Where was Harry in my time of need?"

"Why are you being so harsh? Do you really want Harry to go through what you went through?"

"Just get out please. I want to be alone." She stood up from the bed, leaving the room. I closed my eyes and left out a deep breath. Of course I didn't want Harry to go through what I went through. I would never wish that on anybody, but why does he get to have the help I needed from him years ago?

I stood up from the bed going over to my closet. I reached onto the top shelf to retrieve a box. Sitting down on the floor, I opened the box going through the items inside. The first item that caught my eye was a piece of paper that had a lot of meaning to it for me years ago.

I held up the paper to read it. "This certificate proves that the star named Aurora with coordinates RA:14h16m30.2s DEC: +25°15'31.5'' was registered in the database of Star Registry. Registry date, March 24, constellation, Aries."

I admit, there were times where I spent the night looking for my star. Most nights It was harder to find than others. Other times I never had the luck in finding it.

Holding onto the things Harry gave me isn't one of my proudest decisions. I moved on from that part of my life, but sometimes having something to look back at to the good memories was refreshing. Even with all the bad, Harry and I did have some good memories that I cherished.