Motel 7 ➳ h.s.

F O U R

Thank you guys a million times all so much for sticking around and supporting me. Your support is the most incredible thing I could ever ask for, and I feel so blessed to have you all here to help me through this!

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(P.S to all those asking- Harry comes into the story soon, don't fear!)

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Covering the corner of my eye with the warmth of my palm, I knelt down to reach the floor. I wondered what I could have kept in this box, considering I did not  recall even seeing the old, wooden object for years.

I allowed my eyes to glance around the floor, eyeing each object scattered across it, before picking each one up slowly to return them to the wooden box they were originally in.

As my hands moved swiftly across the objects, I noticed an aged book sitting on the floor next to my closet. It had come from the wooden box. I picked the book up, careful not the break it's tattered spine, before using my other hand to remove the layer of dust covering its surface. It was brown, and had the words Property of Lola Hawthorne: Do Not Open! Written in black ink across the front cover. It was my diary. The diary I had not remembered that I had kept.
The last time that I had opened this diary to write my thoughts down, was the day my father was sent to jail. Since then, the pages had remained blank.

Lifting myself from the floor, I moved to take a seat on my bed, getting comfortable to prepare myself for the secrets hidden inside this diary. However, I did not end up getting the chance to read a single entry, because upon opening it, three photographs fell out into my lap. I glanced down at them, the first being a photograph of Asher and I playing in the garden the day Asher had turned three. The second was a photograph of myself dressed up as a pirate for Halloween. I was ten when this photo was taken, and I remembered that day down to every detail, including the moment I tripped shortly after my mother had snapped the shot of me. 
However, the moment my eyes focused on the third photograph, my hands began to tremble.

My mother sat peacefully on a green-covered reclining chair, a large smile encompassing her features. Her hair was long, luscious and full of life, her eyes alive, and her bones held more than just skin on them. She was happy, she was calm, she didn't know the inevitable doom she would one day meet. Upon her lap, sat my little brother. Getting Asher to smile for a photograph was almost impossible at his young age, which was clear here, as he sat with his tongue sticking right out of his little mouth, his eyes full of amusement. But when my eyes glanced over to the other half of the photograph, that's when I noticed a tear splash onto its waterproof surface. My father sat on a second green-covered chair, beside my mother, a smile brightening up his face. He held my hand, as I sat on his lap, a smile crossing my features as well. I looked peaceful in his arms.

If I were to hand anybody this photograph, they would see nothing more than a perfect family. Happiness. Laughter. Joy. Love.

My, how things had changed after that Christmas.

After more tears threatened to spill from my now full eyes, I felt the anger building within my veins.
He betrayed us.
He betrayed me.
The hate burned through my bones now, and before I could even take a moment to breath, I was running over to my window, the photograph being torn into the smallest of ripped up pieces on my way over. I chucked every piece out the window, watching them fall down slowly, fading away into the muddy puddle below, created by the previous day's thunder storm. I was in tears now, no longer bothering to keep them in, my voice hoarse with ragged breaths leaving my mouth each second.

"L-Lola?"

I swiftly turned my body around, to see Asher standing in the doorway of my bedroom, his worn-down teddy bear in his arms.

"What's the matter, Lola?" He asked me, noticing my uneasy and heavy breathing.

I quickly blinked away the last of the tears, putting a large smile on my face, before answering his question. "Oh, nothing's the matter, Ash, just couldn't sleep, that's all."

"B-but, I heard you crying, Lola," Asher stated.

"I just had a nightmare Ash, but I'm alright now, I promise," I assured him, thinking of an excuse quickly, noticing his tiny body tense up.

"What happened in here?" He asked, his eyes scanning the objects scattered across my bedroom floor.

"An old box fell out of my closet, I was just about to pack everything away," I told him. "Would you like to help me?"

"Sure, I will," he smiled, placing his teddy bear carefully on one of the pillows sitting on my mattress, before turning to help me pick up the objects covering the floor.

"Why were you awake, Ash?" I asked, just realizing that no matter how loud my crying was, it was no where near loud enough to have woken him up.

"Oh, I had another bad dream. I have been awake for a while now," he answered my question.

"I'm sorry, Ash, you should have come to my room," I mentioned.

"I didn't want to wake you, but it's okay, I just lay in bed thinking about all the fun things we will get to do with mom when she gets out the hospital," he said, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he spoke the words I dreaded hearing.

"Right," I said, unsure of what else to respond to that. I couldn't crush him, I couldn't do that to him, after all, I would be his guardian soon enough, and I needed to learn how to do all that I could to protect my little brother in every way that I could fathom.

"Thank you for helping me, Ash," I said to him, while standing up and stretching my body to return the box to its original place on the top shelf of my closet.

"Would you like me to try and put you back to sleep, now that we're done?" I asked him.

"Don't be silly Lola!" He exclaimed, laughter leaving his mouth. "It's almost time to get up for school, might as well start getting ready now, don't you suppose?"

"Oh, you're right. I never realized that it's almost six o'clock," I realized, shocked at how long I had spent staring at the photographs.

After spending an hour helping Asher to pick out his school clothes, brush his teeth and de-knot his curls, and taking some time for myself to get showered and dressed, I felt a slight pang in the left side of my stomach.

"Right, well then, lets go make some breakfast, shall we?" I spoke, eager to fill my now grumbling stomach with some scrambled eggs and bacon.

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Just a filler chapter, get excited because the main action starts very soon!

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