Aurora [H.S AU]

Chapter 39

Wasted times I spent with someone else
She wasn't even half of you
Reminiscin' how you felt
And even though you put my life through hell
I can't seem to forget 'bout you, 'bout you
I want you to myself

Song: Wasted Times, by The Weeknd

***

FLASHBACK

2010

Narrator's P.O.V.:

Moving back to the UK was the last thing Harry wanted. He was just finishing high school, all of his friends lived in New York, the unis he applied for, and, most important of all, she was there. Going away from America also meant leaving Aster behind right after finally having the guts to kiss her, it felt like some kind of twisted cosmic joke, like the Universe was laughing at him for having such bad timing.

Being completely honest, Harry didn't even understand why the sudden move, his parents' divorce was so out of the blue, one day they were a happy family and the other, Anne couldn't even look Desmond in the eyes. What frustrated Harry the most was the fact neither his mom nor dad would tell him what actually happened between them. He was beyond pissed, being forced to move to another continent without even knowing why.

He suspected of cheating, probably his father's, but even that sounded nonsense. Desmond was crazy about Anne, always have been, everyone knew that. So why the fuck would he cheat on her?

On the other hand, what else could've ended a 30 years marriage so out of the blue like that? To the point his mother felt the need to cross the ocean and be as far from Desmond as possible? She wouldn't even let Des visit them in the UK, it didn't sound fair. She didn't give Harry a choice either - there was no other option. When he brought the possibility of staying in America with his father, she was adamant about it, saying he could go back when he was 18 if that's what he wanted, but while he was still 17, he would have to go with her.

So he went. It was only after they were both settled in their new house, back to their home country, that Anne decided to tell Harry the shocking truth. He remembers that day vividly, burned into his memories like words set on stone.

He had just finished typing a huge ass email for Aster, confessing his feelings for her, cowardly hiding behind his laptop screen to say what he should've said when they were in his father's car. He knew the timing was shit and confessing it for her while living in another country was his own wussy way of not giving her the opportunity to tell him off face to face. He was so terrified with the idea of Aster thinking he was a freak that he reveled on the fact he could just hide in the UK and pretend it never happened, in the possibility of her blowing him off.

But he never had the opportunity of hitting send.

When his mom entered the room, puffed eyes, red nose and cheeks stained with tears, he knew something terrible happened. He jumped from his chair, leaving the laptop and running to her, asking what was wrong.

And then, she told him.

His father was not who they believed him to be. S&L was not simply a pharmaceutical industry - it was the lead supplier of illegal hallucinogenic drugs in America. Along with Phillip De Loutherbergh, Desmond was the lead dealer of the US and a great part of his fortune came from that. He managed to keep it hidden during all those years, but she ended up finding it all out one night when her laptop bugged and she used Desmond's to search for a few references for the redecorating she was planning for their house.