"You can still be broken, even when nothing's wrong."
. . .
"I've taken care of myself for three years, I don't need someone to take care of me now. I'm eighteen in two years, mom." She believed her mom when she said that Liam was kind. But she did...
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"Well, it's just us then," Liam commented. Genevie moved a bright lock of hair from her eyes after Louis affectionately ruffling it. The awkwardness was palpable, at least for her, while she looked around the room, wondering what to say. Harry saved her from responding before she could think of something embarrassing to answer with.
"Want to watch a movie? Or play a game?" He asked, looking at Genevie with curious eyes, really caring for what she would choose. A movie would be less talking, which would be great, but they watched a movie yesterday, and she liked reading more than watching. In books she could imagine characters as she wanted them, she decided their looks, the voices, the environment. Sure, the author describes them, but much was often left up to the individual reader to create.
"Maybe play a game if that's alright with you? If you want to watch a movie that's fine as well," she started, still nervous around them. "Yeah, a game would be fun," Liam assured before her rambling could get any worse, Genevie's eyes seeming apologetic for her behavior. Liam in turn smiled gently, trying to ease her nerves a bit.
She always had trouble conversing and the problem became even more prominent around new people. The only one she could really relax around and have a normal discussion with was Mai. Maybe Holly, but they always talked about difficult things, like Charlie and feelings.
He still felt weird to think about, that she would never see his smile again, never see him painting his nails again, trying to persuade Mai into painting her nails in neon colors too. She never gave in, but he tried every time. She would never have one of their secret meetings again, never pass their gossip notebook between the three of them in class.
She was past the time where every memory, every thought of him made her cry. The sadness was still there though, every time she heard his name, and every time Mai and her paid for smoothies, always missing the tropical one with mango and passionfruit.
But she could now smile at photos of the three of them, laugh at the stories Mai and her remembered together. The salty tears didn't burn in her eyes as frequently anymore but sometimes, even two years later, she still curled up into a ball in bed and cried hysterically, blaming herself for not noticing sooner, for not doing enough. Telling herself how much of a shit friend she was.
Harry had gone to another room in search of games, Liam carefully watching the girl who looked deep in thought. "Want to go to the living room, Angel?" She nodded, still a bit distant from pondering.
A surprised squeal left her mouth as she was lifted in the air and gently placed on Liam's hip, walking into the attached living room. Harry returned from upstairs, joining them on the comfy rug on the floor with an arrangement of games such as Candy Land and Scrabble. They decided on the former before getting comfortable, Liam offering some sort of healthy snack made of vegetable goo along with a cup of juice.
An hour later, the house was filled with laughter, quiet music and a Genevie who was definitely losing. But it didn't really matter, because Harry and Liam were great company, and she had a good time playing with them. She could feel herself relax more, getting to know them helping her crack that thick shell of hers a bit.
After dubbing Liam king of Candy Land and Harry telling horrendous knock, knock jokes, they had moved on to asking each other questions on the very inviting couch. She had learnt that Niall loved sweets (including in his morning coffee, much to Liam's dismay), Harry had worked in a bakery (though Mai had already taught her that in many of her rants), Zayn had painted most of the art in their home including the beautiful piece over the sofa, Louis was a tea addict, which she could tell after the two mugs he had this morning and Liam was the health freak amongst them, but she had already guessed as much.
Liam had protested and stated that Harry was the health freak, doing yoga and running every morning. In the end, they had concluded that Harry, Liam and Zayn all liked working out, but Liam was the health freak.
They had in turn learnt more about her obsession with music. How she got excessively moody without food and easily irritable when sleep deprived.
They talked about their unusual career choice. Genevie curiously asking questions and Harry and Liam responding vaguely but honestly, her excitement amusing to them. It was also a sign of her getting more comfortable. Her nerves easing enough for her to be able to speak without her voice wavering, her attention at the person she was speaking with, though not directly in the eye, freely searching answers for her never resting head.
___
They moved outside, the air heavy with rain after the dull England weather from yesterday. Genevie was sitting on a swing with Harry besides her. They had tried to get her on by herself, but being the easily embarrassed self she is, Liam had ordered Harry to take the pink swing beside Genevie's lavender purple.
The swing set was specially ordered for their house, feeling the need to treat her as the princess she deserved to be. Genevie herself had also realized the thought they put into every detail around her, the decorations in both of her rooms, the furniture around the house with rounded corners, the colorful touches in every room bringing spots of life into everything.
She recognized the vast difference from her old house, where the pricey elements only complicated her life, from the tall shelves to the taps, taking ages to produce cold water. The photo frames hanging in the walls not holding a single memory from her own family, because they lacked moments to share.
It sounded harsh, and it probably was because they had memories together. Like the playground when she was seven and they got ice cream before they left for a conference. The adventure safely saved in her mind, one of three moments she got ice cream with her parents. The two others being after her first session with Holly and the third when she returned home from the hospital.
She thought she knew a lot about her parents. She knew their whole names and she knew that they worked as psychologist as well as teachers in some university. She knew that her grandmother was Christian, but her mother didn't believe which was how they lost contact. She had met her grandparents a handful of times, but other than that, she hadn't met many acquaintances of theirs, if they had any.
She didn't resent them in any way, she was happy they could do what they loved. If they dreamed of being workaholics, then she was glad they fulfilled that dream. She just wished that they hadn't forgot to include their child in the dream. When she was younger she hoped for her parents to come home for more than two weeks. That it would be them who dropped her off at school, that her mother would be in the kitchen cooking dinner when she returned home, teach her all the family recipes.
But instead, she came home to Danielle, which was not a bad thing at all. Her nanny was great and really kind, but she just wished for the normalcy other kids were granted.
Liam, Harry and Genevie ate dinner together, the three other husbands still not being home from work. And the girl felt like her childhood was starting all over again, but she tried not to jump to any conclusions, maybe this was just a really bad day.
Harry fed her a bottle in her room while reading to her, the position still feeling awkward. She was tired and easily succumbed to sleep when Harry hummed an unfamiliar melody.
He then gently lowered her into the crib, pulling the soft floral blanket over her short body before turning of the light, mumbling lyrics to go with the new music.
____
Hello again!
This was not where I thought this chapter would go when I started writing it, and it kind of turned into a filler chapter, but next chapter will have some action in it, okay?
So thoughts, any errors, any weird dreams we want to share?
I'm in desperate need of some new music to listen to, so if you have any tips, you're very welcome to share those!
Thank you for your sweet comments on the previous chapter and for reading this chapter, if you enjoyed this chapter then please vote, comment and keep on reading!
