Regal [h.s]

Chapter Thirty Seven

"The rust that grew between telephones"

♔ ♔ ♔

Harry

I was willing for the day to be over. I was ready for it to end right now. Facing my mother and my sister in one day now seemed an impossible task. My social battery was drained and I'd rather just leave it at that.

My mother and I had seemed to have reached peace. I believe her motivations are innocent but I'm not so sure about Gemma's.

She was sitting across from me, just the positioning made me feel ridiculously awkward. This was my sister and I felt like I had just let a stranger into my home. This wasn't right. It felt so strange to have this physical and mental distance between us. But I think I'd feel more uncomfortable if she was sitting right next to me.

My mum claimed that Gemma had turned down a wrong path and got herself lost in love with Kian, the man that made everything worse for me. If it wasn't for him, perhaps I'd be part of a normal functioning family. My mum seems to think she's the same loving girl underneath all of that, but she just wants to please Kian and she wants to make him happy, even if it doesn't make the people around her happy.

My mum seemed genuine, my heart was telling me that she was speaking the truth, I had no reason to believe my mum was the one running to the press with photos and fake stories. She barely even knows how to send a text, let alone email the media.

"You're getting married" I state. The news didn't shock me, I saw it coming but it shocked me more that Gemma wanted me in attendance, especially when my mum had told me that it was going to be a small intimate wedding in the French countryside.

I was baffled why she wanted me, out of all people, to attend her wedding and play happy families.

"To Kian" she nods, like she was trying to rub it in my face that this man is going to be a part of our family whether I liked it or not.

"Good for you" I nod awkwardly, unsure of where this conversation was even going to take us. I felt unbearably awkward and there was nothing I wanted to do more than run upstairs and hide under the covers where the world couldn't get to me.

But I'm an adult, a father, I have responsibilities and roles to fulfil. I can't just hide when life gets tough. That's not how it works. No one ever got themselves out of trouble by hiding.

"Will you come to the wedding then?" Gemma sits there purposely twisting her engagement ring around.

"I don't know- I'll have to think about it and see what we're doing" I sigh. The short answer was no, but I didn't want to start an argument right now. I didn't have it in me to fight my corner.