Don't Stay Where You Don't Belong (Harry Styles Fan Fiction)

Chapter 15 - Mother Dearest

Chapter 15 - Mother Dearest 

Harry

I quickly wiped the few tears that had escaped my eyes, not wanting two complete strangers see what state I´m in. The four of us were in silence for a slight moment, and millions of thoughts were slowly entering my head. Where is Grace if she´s not living here? What am I going to do now? Will I ever find her? It seems as if fate is doing everything possible so that no matter what I do, I can´t find her and tell her how I feel. 

¨Ahem,¨ I heard Louis clear his throat beside me, clearly he was feeling the awkwardness too. ¨Hi, you must be Graces´ mother? We´re friends of hers, and we were just wondering if you could tell us where she is?¨ His tone was innocent and polite, but if you were to see the expression on this older woman's face you would think it was anything but. Her eyes widened, as if she were scared, accentuating the little makeup that she dabbed on. Her lips trembled a little and then looked down, realizing her reaction to us asking simply about her daughter was a little weird. The brunette beside her just looked at her mother and back at us. I´m starting to think that´s how a lot of this conversation is going to be; just us looking around at each other.

¨Uh, no. Sorry we don´t know where she is,¨ the little girl, who looked around 13, replied back to us for her mother, since she didn´t seem like she was up for talking to us. It´s weird how their expressions both changed so much with the mention of Grace´s name. I wonder what happened between them. 

¨If you don´t mind me asking,¨ the mother spoke, looking up at us and putting a smile on her face as if nothing were wrong, ¨what are those for?¨ She looked down, pointing at our carry ons with her eyes. 

¨We came here to surprise.. uh, your daughter,¨ I spoke awkwardly, not knowing whether I should say Grace´s name or not. Though I´m not sure ´your daughter,´ was the best replacement because as soon as I said it, it seemed to have the same effect over the older woman. Her smile disappearing and her eyes dropping a bit. 

¨Oh,¨ She started, ¨well, would you like to come in for something to drink? I´d love to hear how you two know Grace,¨ she said with a hint of hope in her voice, gesturing inside with her arm. Louis and I simply nod, and walk in leaving our luggage by the door and making our way to the living room. It was a pretty big, having two long brown couches with a glass coffee table in between, a huge TV plastered on the wall beside the two couches, and a fireplace on the farthest wall. Their home seemed so inviting and cozy. Louis and I sat on one couch, observing the room as Grace´s mom went to the kitchen to get us two glasses of water. The brunette sat across from us, with an expression of mixed emotion. She seemed to look slightly happy, with a little smile creeping up on her face, but her eyes seemed confused. Not wanting to stare at this little girl too much to spare the awkward conversation that would arise from it, I looked around. Above the fireplace there was a shelf that had around five pictures on it. I got up to get a closer look. The first one was of the little brunette girl, a traditional school picture. Cloudy blue background and all. The second was a wedding picture of Grace´s parents, it looked extravagant. 

¨Here you boys are,¨ An older voice interrupted me before I could move on to the third picture. I took my seat back next to Louis and took a sip of my water that was placed above a coaster on the glass coffee table. 

¨So, how do you know Grace?¨ The girl said wide eyed, while her mother took a seat next to her and smiled waiting for our reply. I´m not exactly sure if I should tell them the truth. Obviously they know she ran away, but they have no idea what she´s been through and I´m not sure if Grace would want them to know. I wouldn´t want to tell people something she wouldn´t want me to say, that wouldn´t be right, even if they are her family.