Everything Has Changed

Ch. 4

~Harry~

"Who does he think he is?" Niall cries after I tell him what happened back at the cafe. After Louis left, I had to return to work, so I didn't have any time to catch him up. Now, in the car, Niall looks about ready to track him down and give him a piece of his mind. "I mean after two years he only talks to you and cares about you because you're bruised."

"I don't know, I don't forgive him or anything, but it's nice to know that may have cared this whole time. Plus, it's good to know that I can count on someone else if I really need it," I mumble while turning down our street. Niall doesn't say anything until I put the car in park.

"I trust that you know what's good for you, I just don't want him hurting you again," he assures before exiting the car and making his way into his house. I take a deep breath and sigh at the sight of Jack's truck before climbing out of the car and entering my own home.

I try to open and close the door as quietly as possible, but it doesn't do me any good. "Hey faggot, where've you been?" he slurs. Great, he's drunk.

"Work."

"Speak up you little bitch," he snaps.

"Work," I reiterate. He goes to say something else but is cut short at the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. I smile slightly in relief and hope that it's my mother. Gemma left for uni a few days after my first day of school, so she's my only hope to get out of this situation. The smile is wiped off my face as he grabs my hair and brings me closer to him.

"Don't look all smug you piece of shit. We both know she won't be here for too long and then it's just you and me again. I don't blame her, who would want to be around a little fag like you? I wouldn't be surprised if you're the reason she's never around," he sneers into my ear and I struggle to hold back tears from his words and his grip. There's the sound of the doorknob turning, and he quickly pulls me into a hug and releases his hand in my hair.

Once the door is opened, he pulls away and grins at my mother. "Hey darling, how was your shift?" he asks with open arms ready to embrace her. She easily slips into his embrace and welcomes him with a tired kiss.

"It was all right. What's up with you, hun? Is everything okay?" she asks, "I saw you two hugging when I got in and what happened to your face?" she asks while setting down all her stuff.

"Um," I catch Jack's threatening glare, "I slipped at work and hit my face on the counter as I went down, nothing serious," I lie. He nods in approval and the two of them go to their room as if the conversation never happened.

I slump back against the wall and take collect myself before making my way up the stairs to my room. I change out of my work clothes and into sweats and a t-shirt and settle down to complete my schoolwork. It's nothing too tedious, just a math sheet and a textbook reading that I need to have done for Monday.

When I'm finished, I put everything away and look around my room for something to do. There's not much to do and I eventually accept that I'll need to leave the house to entertain myself. I retrieve my wallet, phone, and inhaler and make my way out of the house into the dry August air. I take a right at the end of the driveway and just walk aimlessly to see where I end up. After a bit of walking, I text Zayn and tell him I'll be at his house in a couple of minutes and to be ready to go out by the time I get there. I just get a thumbs up in reply.

While walking the familiar streets, I put my phone away and shove my hands into my pockets. I stop at the end of the sidewalk and look both ways before crossing the road onto Zayn's street, but I pause when I catch sight of the familiar house down the street to my right with bikes lying around the front yard. The house always seemed so much farther away, when in reality, it was on the other side of the large neighborhood, so large that it was divided in half for school districting until high school years.