You Make It Real (A Harry Styles Fan Fiction) {EDITING}

Chapter 43

HARRY’S P.O.V.

When Liam had calmed me down a little, I decided to just crash. It had been the longest day of my life and I wouldn’t get a break for a very long time. I needed sleep if I expected to have any chance of fighting for either of my girls. I showered and brushed my teeth, slipping on boxers and crawling into bed. My mind raced until the second I fell asleep.

*****

In the morning, I woke up with a pounding headache to loud noises coming from outside my room. I forced myself out of bed and opened the door to find an already full table of lawyers arguing. Great. Mark was the first to notice my presence and waved me over.

“Harry, good. You’re up. Please, join us.”

I walked over and sat down, feeling a bit childish, still in my boxers. I reached over piles of papers and grabbed a mug of tea.

“So, the date has been set. It’s the last Thursday of this month, when you guys have almost a week off.”

Great. When I was supposed to meet up with Piper. I knew I would have to tell her about my custody battle eventually, but I didn’t want to put more stress on her just yet. Now, it seemed to be inevitable.

“Be in London the day before and we’ll take care of everything else. Think of things that will help to make you look like a good father-“

“Oh, because I’m not. As if I even have a fucking choice.”

Mark didn’t even look shocked. He wasn’t a bad guy; he just seemed to be there for the worst of times and he was used to my frustrated tone.

“Harry, none of us are saying you aren’t the best father you can be. We just need to convince the judge. So, know what you want to say when they ask why you deserve to keep your daughter.”

I sighed, deciding that arguing with Mark had no real benefit. I had to focus on what was important.

“Okay, I will.”

They continued to talk to each other, checking that certain things matched up as I heard my phone ringing from the the other room. I got up and glanced over to see if they were against it. No one stopped me so I rushed back into the bedroom, picking up the phone and answering.

“Hello?”

“Morning, Harry. I just have a few minutes between classes. I wanted to say hi.”

“Hi, Piper. How did your first class go?”

She sniffled and took a while to reply.

“Terrible. Everyone was staring at me, whispering behind my back as if I wasn’t really there.”

She started to sob quietly and I simply felt awful. If she was dating anyone else, she would never have to worry about being bombarded by the media that way. 

“Love, I’m so sorry. I- I can’t believe people.”

“It’s not your fault, Harry. I guess I knew I’d have to deal with something like this when we started dating,  but… I just thought with something as awful as this, that people would be more considerate.”

“They just want some sort of way to tear us apart and start drama. God, I fucking HATE this!”

I didn’t mean to sound so passionate. I was just extremely angry about everything.

“Harry, it’s alright. Don’t get upset…”

“It’s not just this whole situation… I’m sorry- Just some other things as well.”