Damaged Goods. (A Harry Styles Fanic)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Lola’s fist hadn’t even made contact with the front door before Jake had swung it open. Lola felt her heart swell at the sight of his excited face, bending down to embrace his small body in her arms.

“You’re back!” Jake beamed into her ear, clinging to her neck with his arms “I waited and waited from when you rang”

Lola didn’t have a chance to reply as John emerged from the front room into the hall, a suprised expression on his face. He hadn’t expected Lola’s arrival, or known that they were travelling back today. “Lola! Why didn’t you say you were on the way home?” he said, accepting her with a welcoming hug.

“I’m sorry” she said, ruffling her hand through Jake’s soft mop of sandy brown hair “I didn’t really know either, and it was a hassle getting home. “It…well, it didn’t really work out the way I was hoping. But I hope it’s okay for me to still stay?”

“Yea yea uh of course, you don’t even have to ask. Where’s Harry?”

Lola decided not to mention their argument and what happened in the past day. Or that he wasn’t actually back in the city yet. “He’s erm, just gone to stay at his Mums for a few days”

“Oh” John looked slightly disappointed “Well, it’s good to see you’re alright and not disheartened over it all. We can talk about it later on if you want, I suppose you would rather go and have some rest right now right?”

“Exactly” Lola laughed.

She was happy to feel to warm atmosphere of this place. She still felt uneasy calling it ‘home’, because she still felt like her stay was temporary. But it would have to do for now, and she was comfortable here now, compared to her vigilance when she first found out she’d be living with Harry.

The hot jets hitting her skin had never felt so good as she washed away the residue of tears from her cheeks and sand between her toes. Swirls of steam and the smell of coconut body wash filled the air of the bathroom as Lola indulged in all her taken for granted luxuries of having a home. The shower she had taken at her Dad’s house was lukewarm and she had to settle for a bar of soap that made her skin dry out.

Lola walked back through her room, brushing a comb through her wet hair and sinking back into the soft mattress. It was inevitable that she would fall asleep within minutes. She buried her face in the cushioned pillow, almost inhaling the scent of Harrys shower gel from a week ago, their last sleep in this bed. She loved the way he smelled, and the warmth of his body tangled with hers between the sheets. It was starting to make her feel lonely quickly again as she started to miss him. They’d spent 24 hours a day together since they set off to Cornwall, and now it was weird to be apart, almost like she didn’t quite know what to do with herself.

Lola was exhausted but her hopes to sleep were delayed as Jake wondered into her room and climbed onto the bed

”Are you tired?” he asked, seeing his sister buried beneath the duvet

“Yes, very. I missed you bro” she said, brushing the floppy hair back from his forehead

“So…” he began to grin excitedly, a gap in his youthful smile from where his tooth was missing “Did you find us a Daddy?”

Lola’s smile fell in disappointment as she sensed the hopeful tone in his voice. He was so unaware and vulnerable, not realising that it wasn’t easy to go and get a Dad.

“Sorry baby, I didn’t. But we have John for now and he’s just as good as a Daddy for you. It will be fine”

Jake suprisingly accepted it, and nodded, his lips turned down slightly in the corners. “Why doesn’t John have anyone to love?”