Little Expectations (Harry Styles Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

Payton's POV

It's been about a month since the first time I had to babysit Brooke. In that time, not much happened. I hung out with my friends, visited my family on Sundays, and helped with Brooke whenever the boys were busy.

I've been hanging out with Niall alot. I think we've become pretty good friends. I'm closer with him than the rest of the guys, even though I'm friends with all of them. Except Harry.

I have come to accept the fact that Harry hates me. He only talks to me when it concerns Brooke. Any other time he ignores me as if I'm not even there. One time I called her Boo and all hell broke loose. We just struggle to act civil around each other.

We left for tour a few days ago. Let me just say it was a total pain in the ass packing everything. I basically shoved my whole closet into my suitcase because I didn't know what I wanted to wear.

I had a window seat on the plane. Niall and I talked, ate snacks, and watched movies the whole flight. Nobody really seemed fond of that.

The worst part was saying goodbye to my friends and my parents.

Tony, Maddie, and Annie have been my best friends for the longest time. We've just always had an inseparable bond between us. We were the same people personality wise. But appearance wise we're completely different.

Annie has curly, light brown hair and the darkest brown eyes I have ever seen. Yet she still looks beautiful.

Maddie has long, jet black hair and brown eyes, and again, she's beautiful.

Tony is our oddball. He has brown hair, eyes that never seem to stay the same color for more than a day. He's one of those guys you know is straight but sometimes you could swear they're gay. But we love him anyway.

We've always been a crew, always will be. It'll be tough not seeing them for a while.

Then there's my parents. My mother was a wreck. Oh, lord! I didn't know a woman could cry so much in such a short span of time. She kept holding me back telling me to be safe and call whenever we got to a new place, yadda yadda yadda. My dad was mostly proud of me. He knew I always wanted to travel, so he was excited for me. Of course he was going to miss me, he just isn't a really emotional guy.

I miss them so much.

On a lighter note, the Where We Are Tour has started. I've been watching Brooke almost every night because the boys have concerts.

She really is such a sweet little girl. I love her to death.

I still wonder where her mom is. If Harry doesn't necessarily like how much she moves around and travels, why doesn't she stay with her?

Right now, I think we're in Rio. It's hard to keep up. Harry, Brooke, Niall and I are all at the pool with Paul, their security guard.

I never took the paparazzi into consideration when I took this job. It didn't even cross my mind. They are literally everywhere. There is no escaping them.

Like I said before, Niall and I have gotten really close. We're currently in the pool with Brooke playing around and laughing with her. She looks so cute in her little floaties. Out of the corner of my eye I see Mr. Buzzkill glaring at us. He starts to walk over and that's when our fun ends.

"Alright I'll take it from here," Harry says, and takes Brooke away.

Once he's out of earshot I turn to Niall, find him staring at me. I blush but I shake it off, because why on earth would Niall Horan be staring at me?

"Why does he hate me so much?" I ask.

"He doesn't hate you. He's just worried. He doesn't want Brooke to get too attached to you when you're just going to leave," I see a small sign of a frown on his face.

"Brooke has never had a mother figure in her life, I guess he's worried about that too. He might feel like he's losing her. Instead of hanging out with him all the time, she started hanging out with you. He's probably jealous," Niall continues.

Brooke doesn't have a mother?

"What do you mean Brooke doesn't have a mom?" I wonder aloud.

"That- That isn't my story to tell Pay, I'm sorry," he says.

"It's okay, I was just wondering," I explain.

I look over at Harry and Brooke and they both are so genuinely happy with each other. I smile at them slightly. Harry is an amazing father but I can't imagine not having a mom. My mom is a best friend to me.

Harry looks over and catches me staring, and I blush and look away quickly. What I don't notice is he stares back at me, but this time he isn't glaring. He's looking at me in admiration, adoration, lust?

I don't know.

"See, he does like you," Niall winks at me.

"Ha ha very funny," I reply dryly.

He splashes me and it then sets off a war between the two of us.

"It's on Horan!"

"Bring it Parker!"

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Harry's POV

I watch them from a distance. Niall, Payton, and Brooke. My beautiful daughter, her babysitter, and one of my best friends. It actually makes me really happy seeing them interact with each other.

It is now that I realize just how gorgeous Payton is. Her short blonde hair, pale skin, icy blue eyes, and her petite frame. She's truly beautiful.

Wait what am I saying? I can't like her. I just can't let myself go through anything like that again.

She and Boo get along so well, now. They have a great bond, a bond that I can't give her. A bond between a woman and a little girl. I can only do so much for her, but there's no way I can be both her mom and her dad.

With that thought in mind, I go and grab Brooke to talk to her in private.

I pick her up from the pool and she giggles loudly.

"Daddy! Put me down silly!"

I pull her into a tight hug and spin her around.

"I love you, princess,"

"I love you too, Daddy,"

We pull away from our hug but I still keep her in my arms.

"So you like Payton, huh?" I ask her.

"Yeah! She's my bestest bestest bestest friend!"

"Yeah, I like her too, Boo. You don't like her more than me right?" I joke.

"Of course not, Daddy. You'll always be my favorite!" She laughs.

"Good. Now, give Daddy a kiss," I say, puckering my lips.

She gives me a quick peck before splashing water into my dry hair.

"Oh you're gonna pay for that Boo!" I exclaim.

I grin from ear to ear, knowing this is one of the memories I have to keep.