How it Began

|46|

"I'm scared." Alice tells Hal as he opens his front door.

"You don't have to be scared, Alice."

"You do realize your mom hates me right?"

"She doesn't hate you." Hal insists.

"Right. Despise is a better word."

"Mom's just complicated that's all."

"Yeah complicated as fu-"

"Harold!" His mother calls, walking towards the door. "Alice, how nice you were able to join us." She looks her up and down, trying to hide her disgust. "And looking so proper, that's a nice change of pace."

Alice clenches her fists, feeling her nails pinch into her skin. "She acts like I come here in the nude any other time. What the fuck is her issue?"

Hal just laughs and takes her hand, leading her to the dining room.

_____

She isn't at the table for long though, Evelyn had gone off on her mere minutes into the dinner.

Spewing little digs about her appearance and actions before delving into full insults.

After Evelyn compared Alice to her mom, she decided she'd had enough.

She always tries so hard to distance herself from her parents, not wanting to turn out like them, and vowing to do right by her children in the future.

Evelyn doesn't see that though, only views Alice as a skanky Southside scumbag, only seeing her as her mother and refusing to actually indulge Alice for who she is herself.

So, now she's locked herself in the bathroom, Hal pleading with her from the other side of the door as she dabs at her eyes with a tissue and tries her best to not sound like she's been crying as she talks to him.

"Mom just doesn't like the fact that I'm in a relationship, I'm her baby, she doesn't want to see me grow up at all. It's nothing against you!"

She sighs and flings the door open. "No, it's all against me!" She steps aside enough to let him into the bathroom with her. "She hates me because I'm from the Southside! It's not like I can control where I was born and where my parents chose to raise me. I'm not the dirty criminal that she thinks I am." She gets quiet. "I'm not my mom."

"I hate that she said that to you, I know you hate being compared to her." He draws her close and presses a kiss to the side of her head. "Please, just come back out."

She shakes her head and sniffles as she pulls away from his embrace. "Hal, she hates me. I can't go back out there."

"I'm going to talk to her about that but please, I want you to come back out. I want them to get to know you. The real you, the you I know."

"Why? It's not like your mom is going to change her opinion about me."

"I don't care." She raises an eyebrow at him. "I care about you. You're so important to me, and if my mom can't accept that well then to hell with her."

Alice smiles a little and wraps her arms around him. "You're important to me too, I hope you know that. I-" she stops herself before she can finish her sentence and kisses him instead. "Let's go back out there."

She turns towards the door but he catches her hand. "Wait," he flips the lock. "I think we still have a little time before we have to go back out there." She smiles knowingly at him and he lifts her up onto the counter.

"Harold, you dirty boy. Your parents are right outside the door."

"Screw them." He answers, starting to nibble up the side of her neck as she nudges his hand higher up her thigh until it disappears under her skirt.

"But dessert is coming soon, we can't miss that?" She smirks cheekily a him, pushing her hips into his.

"I've got a much more tasty treat in here." To prove his point he kneels down, pulling her closer to the edge of the counter. Right before he delves into her center he presses a kiss to her thigh and stands back up to give her a soft kiss. "I'm falling for you, Alice. I'm falling in love with you."

She's shocked. The relationship is still so new. Part of the shock comes from the fact that she doesn't think anyone can ever truly love her, FP was the exception. He's just as fucked up as she is. But Hal? Hal was and is raised by parents that love him and provide him with whatever he needs and desires. He never has to worry about if his parents are going to be caught in a drug bust or if he'll come home one day and find himself abandoned. He's probably never been hit, maybe the slightest spanking when he was a toddler but even then she doubts it.

How could someone so perfect love someone like her who's so incredibly fucked up?

"Hal-" she starts.

"You don't have to say it back, baby. Don't worry." He presses another kiss to her lips before dropping back to his knees. "I just wanted you to know how I feel. Now keep it quiet." He smirks at her before getting to work, lighting up her body with pleasure and helping her forget about the shit show just outside the bathroom door.