Fostered {h.s}

Chapter 20.

It'd been close to a month and I felt like I would burst at the seam any moment now. Harry and I had been doing everything possible to see each other inconspicuously. It was disconcerting to always have to sneak around. Between his work schedule and the ever watching eyes of the Holbrook family, we hadn't been able to be together physically since the day we agreed to be in a relationship.

Harry had come over to the Holbrook's house, which was also my house now, too, I guessed. It just felt strange calling it my house, despite the fact that I'd been living here for months. The whole family, except for me, had gone to an event at the school for Maddie and Kayla.

"This is getting so hard." I said, leaning into Harry's chest as we sat on my bed.

"I know, I can see it taking a toll on you." He replied. "It's so hard not being able to show how much I love you. We never have any time to actually be together, just you and I."

"We have now." I said, looking up at him. He brought his mouth down to mine for a soft kiss.

"I want to take my time with you, Sami. Christy and everyone will be back in less than an hour. I want to be able to make love to you over and over again through the night and stay in bed with you all day. There's so many things I want with you but it's impossible with the situation we're in." Harry explained.

"The situation that I'm in, you mean." I said, sighing.

"We've got to tell them."

I sighed again, and climbed over Harry to straddle his lap. "I'm scared, Harry. What if they force me to stay away from you. What if they..." I trailed off.

Harry grabbed both of my hands and placed them on his chest. "We have to. I can't stand this anymore."

He was right, it was becoming more and more of a problem. I didn't want something like this to drive us apart.

"Okay."

An hour later everyone had arrived back home and were sitting at the kitchen table for dinner. I sat next to Harry and tried to calm my nerves. I had to find the right moment to being it up, but dinner was half over already and I hadn't said a word. Harry and I locked gazes and I nodded. It was now or never.

"Christy, can I talk to you?" I asked cautiously.

"Sure, anything." She said, looking at me expectantly.

"Actually, can I talk to you alone?" I said, rethinking this, and wanting to speak to her without the rest of the family listening in.

"Sure dear. Are you alright? Everything alright?"

I nodded and headed through the living room to the stairs with Christy on my heels. I heard another chair scoot out and footsteps heading our way. Harry joined us in the next minute to stand by my side.

"Harry, Sami wanted to speak to me alone." Christy said to him.

"I know what it's about and she wants me here with her."

Christy looked confused for a second but then shrugged, waiting for me to say something.

"Christy," I started, "I have done something, been doing something that I think I'm not supposed to. Actually, I know I'm not supposed to do this. It kind of just happened, out of my control, kind of like a force of nature." I was ranting and fumbling with my words, not being able to make any point.

Christy's expression became grave and worrisome. She was probably thinking the worst, like I was doing drugs or something.

"Christy," Harry interjected, "we- Sami an I are together."

We had agreed that I would be the one to tell her but, Harry being Harry, had just relieved me of my job to tell her.

"Together?" Christy asked.

"I've been dating Harry for the past month. It all started long before that, though. I know it's wrong of me, but I couldn't fight it." My eyes started to water and my voice started to quiver, going against the confidence that I thought I had built up. "I realized I loved Harry when we were at the lake house. That's why I ran away. I didn't want to ruin anything. I knew it wasn't okay for me to be with him."

Harry placed a gentle hand on my shoulder to try to calm me, but I still trembled under his touch.

"Please don't blame her for anything, Christy. It was my fault, too. We couldn't stay away from each other." Harry said. "I love her."

"I kind of had a feeling about you two." Christy said flatly. "Apparently my feeling was right."

"So, I don't know where to go from here." I said. "Are you kicking me out?"

"Sami, Harry, you guys know this thing you have together is breaking so many rules. I don't really know what to do." Christy said.

My chest tightened up at her words. I had a thread of hope that she would accept us as a couple. I was at a loss of what to do next.

Harry spoke up next. "Christy, please don't make us stay away from each other. I'm twenty three years old and Sami is almost eighteen. We're both adults and it'd be wrong of you to separate us."

Christy stayed silent for what seemed like hours, but in reality was only minutes. My heart thudded in my chest too fast. Harry stepped closer to me and wrapped me in his arms. To try and prepare myself for what Christy would say next, I nestled into Harry, leaning into his chest, and revealing in his scent.

"I guess there's nothing I can really do, Sami. What I can't do, is adopt you. Harry would be apart of your family legally if I did that. It's up to you on what you want, a family or a relationship that may or may not last." Christy said simply and walked back towards the kitchen to finish her dinner.

"I don't know what to do, Harry." I cried into his chest. His arms squeezed me tighter and he pulled back slightly to kiss my forehead. "I want you more than anything or anyone."

"I know you do and I love you. You can stay here until your birthday and then it will be your decision. You could move into my apartment with me." Harry said, his mouth tickling at my ear. "I love you, Sami. I would never leave you."

My future was all up to me and now that I had control of it, I became more afraid than ever. I had to make a hard decision, but in my heart, I knew I could never leave Harry. But over the months, the Holbrooks had grown to mean so much to me. They never gave up on me.

((Sorry it took so long to update. Thanks for reading! If you liked this chapter, please vote))