The Journey - The College Years [One Direction Fanfic]

19

I have only had about five hours of sleep when I wake up but I really want to make an appearance at that place Perrie works at so I place a light kiss on Harry's forehead and climb out of bed to get ready. It is almost noon when I leave the house and Harry is still sleeping. Someone's hungover, I think to myself. I text Perrie and ask her if I can come over. She sends me the location of the office and I start the car when I see the window of Harry's room open. He is shirtless and his hair sticks up in all directions, I let out a chuckle. "Leaving?" he asks with that puppy face he can pull off so damn good. "I have to" I shout back. He suddenly closes the window and leaves me sitting in the car confused when the front door of the house opens and he steps out in nothing but his boxers and slippers on. He rushes over to my car and I open the door. "Have you gone mental, Harry? It's ice-cold outside" I tell him when he gets inside and looks at me. "You're not going anywhere without giving me a proper kiss" he states and leans in to press his lips on mine. I answer the kiss and lean into his chest. It feels so good, I don't want to ever miss this feeling again. "Now go back inside" I say and he nods. "Good luck!" he whispers and runs back into the house. I give him a smile before pulling out of the parking lot.

"Hey there" Perrie greets me as soon as she spots me waiting for her at the entrance of the building. "I already talked to my chef, she's in a good mood and she just wants to talk to you, she'll give you some papers you'll have to fill in and that'll be it. I think you will get the job" she assures me. I am kinda nervous but I try to hide it. A few minutes later I find myself sitting in an empty office. I look around and see different certificates hung up all over the walls. "Oh hello! You must be Lindsay, I am Grace!" a tall skinny woman greets me. She looks incredibly pretty. "Uh, yeah I am. Nice to meet you" I say and attempt to shake her hand but she pulls me into a hug. We start talking about me studying law. I even tell her about dropping out which doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest. "You will have a proper lawyer help you, don't worry" she finally says. "So I got the job?" I ask. She shrugs. "If you want it, yeah." Wow, that was way to easy. It didn't even feel like a job interview, more like talking to a close friend. "Of course I do! Wow, thanks Grace!" "No worries, my assistant will mail you about all the important stuff like your pay and everything" she tells me and I leave the office, thanking her about a thousand times before finally closing the door behind me. I tell Perrie about it and she gets all excited. "That's lovely! We are colleagues now!" I hug her goodbye and leave to tell my mother about my new job. 

When I step inside the living room I hear my mother laughing, Jeremy is sitting next to her and telling her a story which is obviously funny. I am glad to see that they're not fighting anymore. One heartbreak is enough for my mother and I don't want anyone to hurt her like my father did by just leaving her. I remember the conversation I had with my father and decide to meet up with him. "Hey Lindsay" Jeremy greets me. I give him a smile and sit down next to them. "How did the job interview go?" my mother asks excited. I give her a huge smile which is enough of an answer because she jumps off her seat and engulfs me in a hug. My phone buzzes and I pull it out of my purse. It's Harry. "Hey Mr Hangover" I answer the call and make him chuckle. "Hey, how are you?" he asks. "Great and guess what?" "You got the job?!" "Yes indeed I did!" I answer. "Woah, that's great! I'm so proud, baby" he cheers. I don't think I've ever heard him call me baby. I could definitely get used to it. "So what are you up to today?" he asks. "I thought I'd give my dad a buzz." "Oh, okay. I could stop by in the evening?" he suggests. "Sounds good." "Alright, see you then." After hanging up I text my father asking if he's busy and if he'd like to grab a bite to eat. 

'I would love to! Let's meet up at the mall in an hour, yeah? Love, Dad!' he answers a few seconds later. I am so excited. I haven't seen him in years and we barely talked so I don't know how it will go but I will try to keep the conversation light. I really don't want to talk about his new wife and everything. I decide to not tell my mother about it because I don't want to interrupt her and Jeremy so I just get ready and tell her I'm meeting up with Vanessa. I arrive at the mall thirty minutes early and get a coffee and walk around bored. I decide to get something for Harry. A new record perhaps. I remember that concert I went to. I try to remember the band's name but it just doesn't come to my mind so I decide to get something different. The concert was in the same night Harry tried to kill himself so it wouldn't be a good present anyways. Just when I am about to enter a bookstore I spot someone familiar sitting in the restaurant in front of the shop. It's my father. "Dad, hey" I greet him and he turns around to face me. I almost forgot how alike we look. "Lindsay, wow!" he goggles. We hug each other really awkwardly and I sit down next to him. "How are you? You look amazing, wow. You've really grown up!" he babbles. It's so weird to sit here with him but it somehow feels as if he's always been there. He doesn't seem like a stranger like I thought he would. "I am fine, what about you?" He nods and smiles. "Grand, I'm grand." We remain silent for a while and I decide to order something to make it less awkward. "Uhm I'd like to have a spicy wrap with feta please. Dad, do you want something?" I turn to him. "The same, please" he says and gives the waitress a smile. "So what's your life like? Do you have a boyfriend, do you go to university?" he asks. He seems very interested. "I have a boyfriend. His name's Harry. I actually went to the Steven's uni for a few months but I dropped out because of personal problems" I answer. I don't want to tell him about every single detail. He nods in understanding and for some reason I know he is going to ask something about my mother. "How is your mother doing?" he almost mumbles and looks away. He is ashamed and I feel sorry, sort of. But I quickly remember the fact that he left here without calling again for six months and get angry. I feel like shoving my mother's luck down his throat and I know it's a mean thing to do but I don't care. "Mom, she is doing great! She married Jeremy and they're very happy together" I babble. He doesn't seem jealous at all. "That's good news. Give her my regards" he says. "I will" I lie. The food eventually arrives and we start talking about irrelevant things which I am very glad for because I don't want to talk about him leaving my mother and me or anything deep like that. I tell him about my friends and my job and he tells me about his new hobby, he is into photography. "I can show you some pictures I took" he says and gets his wallet out. I get scared that he's going to show me a picture of him and his wife walking down a sunset in Hawaii or something but he pulls out a polaroid picture of an old taverna with blue doors and battered windows. The picture is really pretty, it looks so calm. "I took this in Chios, that's one of Greek's largest islands" he explains. I enjoy talking to him a lot. "I had a lot of fun, Dad" I say. He smiles and we get up from our seats. "Me too" he says and hugs me. "We should repeat this sometime!" I say before leaving for the parking lot. He nods and starts walking in the opposite direction. I didn't expect him to be so nice and calm about everything. He didn't act like we hadn't seen each other for years, he didn't even talk about it, which was good. I get inside the car and progress everything that happened today before slowly driving back home.

When I got home I heard a familiar giggle out of the kitchen. Harry. He was sitting at the kitchen counter and talking to my mother. "Hey!" he said and kissed me when I entered the kitchen. "I'm sorry you had to wait" I say and sit down next to him. "Oh, Harry and I had a very fun conversation, didn't we?" my mother tells me and looks at Harry who is nodding. "How is Vanessa doing?" my mother now asks. "Uhm, good. We had fun" I lie and see Harry looking at me throughout the corner of my eye. "Jeremy and I are going out, you guys can come with us, if you want to" my mother offers. "Uh no, you two have a good time. We'll just stay at home" I say and look at Harry who is smirking.