Songbird [H.S]

FOURTEEN

The sound of pretty giggles echoed throughout the house that was so wholesome it brought a smile to Harry's lips as soon as he stepped through the front door. The exhaustion that had been dragging him down all day suddenly evaporated at the beautiful sound of his joyful little girl playing with her Mum - he'd been counting down the hours until he could come back to this since he left for work that morning.

Quietly slipping off his trainers, he kept his footsteps light as he followed the sound of his daughter's squeals of happiness - trying to sneak up on the two girls. As he rounded the corner into the living room, Harry's smile widened while he watched Marley animatedly playing peekaboo with their daughter who was laid out on her soft baby blanket on the floor. Every time the teenager would uncover her eyes to pull a funny face, the baby girl would shriek in delight before bursting into heartwarming giggles when her belly was tickled lightly. Harry would never get tired of seeing his girlfriend looking after their daughter, she was a natural mother and there was something so magical just watching her interact with her baby.

"Sound's like somebody's having a lot of fun, aren't they flower?" Harry smirked, grabbing Marley's attention. She smiled at him, gently picking their daughter up from the blanket and sitting her up on her lap to face Harry. The baby's features lit up at the sight of her Daddy, instantly reaching out her hand to gesture to Harry.

"Look, bug! Daddy's home! You wanna play with Dada?"

Suddenly, Harry's dream was rudely interrupted by the persistent shaking of his shoulder, soon followed by his name being harshly whispered within the darkness of the room. A frustrated groan escaped the boy's lips as he desperately tried to cling onto the last of the deep sleep beginning to slip away too quickly for his liking. Harry had only been asleep for a short few hours and the thought of having to attend classes that day was enough to make him want to bury himself deeper into his pillow, let alone all the other stuff he needed to sort out before the day was over. There was so much he still needed to talk about with Marley, including the fact he had to somehow admit his feelings for her without ruining their friendship - something he definitely should be doing on a proper nights sleep.

As he grew more accustomed to his surroundings, Harry was aware that his brother was the one disturbing his peace so early in the morning. His sleepy eyes managed to focus on the clock hanging on his bedroom wall, making him sigh in frustration when he saw it was only seven in the morning.

"Leave me alone!" He grumbled, yanking the duvet over his head in an attempt to hide from his adamant brother. The images of his dream were still floating around his head and he was positive that if he tried hard enough he could try to sink back into the false reality he found so inviting.

"We need to talk." Niall's words were enough to make Harry's heart drop and snap him into reality. "Get up, I'm driving you to college."

Before Harry could even begin to protest, Niall had already left the room. Part of him thought he could get away with falling back asleep but really he knew he had no choice but to do what his brother wanted. He knew Niall would've found out at some point and he'd have to face the consequences of his decision sooner rather than later. He just hoped his brother wasn't going to spend the whole journey to college lecturing him on his stupidity because he was in no mood to tolerate it after only a few hours of sleep.

The teenager did his best to put off having to see Niall, taking an unnecessarily long amount of time to tame his messy curls and get dressed. Surprisingly, his brother hadn't come up to hurry him along. Dragging his feet, the teenager reluctantly slid into the passenger seat of his brother's beaten up car - refusing to speak in hopes of completely avoiding any form of socialising. For the first few minutes of the drive, everything was silent and Harry could feel the awkward tension thickening by the second. A strong breeze was billowing through the vehicle as Niall wound down the driver's side window, steadying the wheel with his elbows as he lit the cigarette perched between his lips. The strong scent of smoke filled the air as Niall silently smoked while speeding down the quiet streets. Even though he was dreading the conversation, Harry was glad when Niall finally spoke up.