carolina, harry styles

chapter 2

valerie aphra stepped out of her half-brothers apartment and wondered the streets of her new city. the possibilities were endless, she had told herself for the entirety of the plane ride and for the past 36 hours she had spent there.

she figured the first thing to do was to get a job, and so she set out on the hunt. it wouldn't be hard to find a job, but a decent one with her lack of resume and qualifications would prove to difficult. 

she had a trust from her late father and another from her mother's family who was considerably wealthy, but she wondered if having a job would make the transition from small town life to the big city much smoother. 

to no avail, valerie sat outside the steps of jeff's apartment after a tireless day of wondering and sighed deeply, this time in her home town she would be spending time with her friends, either swimming in creeks or drinking in the fields. 

the first step, would be to make friends. 

the second step, would be to keep said friends. 

in a hopeless manor, she stood up and reached for the door when she heard the click of the knob and realised that she had forgotten her keycard, the spare one that jeff had given her was locked in her bedroom. 

"fuck me," she said, tired and disappointed in herself. it was only 5pm, and jeff wouldn't be back till around 8. the last thing, valerie, wanted to do was to bother her new forced parental figure. so she pulled out a water bottle and her phone as she sat leaned against the front door of his apartment and did the most to occupy her time. 

after a couple hours, she felt a foot against her shoulder, opening her eyes slowly so they could adjust to the light she smiled at the sight of jeff, who simply looked confused. 

"what are you doing," he questioned as he unlocked his front door. 

"waiting for you," valerie said quietly as she stood up and followed jeff inside, making sure to lock the door. 

"did you forget your key?" he asked, not bothering to show as much brotherly affection as one would except. 

"yes, i did, but thankfully you're here now," valerie teased, placing her bag on the counter. jeff's eyes lingered on the bag causing valerie to grow unconscious and place it at her side once again. 

"call me next time," he said, taking out two plates and left over chinese food from the night before. 

"yes, dad," she teased again, this time with a small smile playing on her lips. she saw jeff tense up at the sound of the word, dad. 

"don't call me that," he said, stiffly. 

valerie clamped her mouth shut and fought the urge to roll her eyes, "yes, sir," she said before turning around and walking toward her room. as she closed the door, she heard jeff call out her name for dinner, but she figured she'd wait till he'd gone to bed before eating. 

before long, valerie had fallen asleep and the clock on her bedside table read 2:00 am. with a small yawn and tired eyes, she made her way toward the kitchen. she pulled out a plate from the cupboard and put the scraps of food left onto her plate.

she sat her self on the couch, in the dimly lit room and ate her dinner in silence, tearfully she took small bites of her food. 

she heard the front door open but made no effort to turn around, for a second she forgot that jeff was already inside and whoever opened the door could have been an intruder. 

"jesus, fuck," came a husky voice from behind. valerie turned around a little and saw harry with a hand over his heart. 

"didn't mean to scare you," she said, turning back around and eating her food, staring outside the window. 

"you okay?" he asked, taking a seat beside her, she turned around slowly gave him a small smile and a nod. 

"you don't have to be," he said, after a long pause. she heard him let out a small controlled breath, as if he walked on egg shells around her. she didn't bother to say anything to him, instead she kept looking forward, as a tear rolled down her cheek. 

after another minute, she felt the couch move into it's original position as harry stood up. silently, he left the lounge room and made his way toward jeff's room.