Burn

“You look fine,” Harry said for the third time, leaning against the door frame to his large bathroom. Rae was once again pushing a hair into place, looking in his oval mirror, making sure that every inch of her reflection was in tact. She had not expected to be this nervous, meeting his family, but she was. “In fact, you look far more presentable that you had to look.”

She sighed, looking at him. She leaned forward, grabbing his wrist and looking at the gold and blue Rolex that adorned his wrist, checking the time. They had to leave now, unless they wanted to be late. Which is what Harry, wanted, but Rae didn’t. “Come on, love,” she sighed, walking out the door and kissing his cheek as she went by. He rolled his eyes, shutting off the light and following her out of his room. “As much as you don’t want me to be wonderful for them, I’m not going to be a brat.”

Harry grin a little bit, following her out of his house and locking his door behind them. He usually didn’t care about locking the door, but when Rae had began stay off and on at his place, he always locked it. It was one of many habits he had developed. “I know you’re not,” he intoned airily, walking down the steps towards his car. He kicked a rock, earning a glad from her; he was wearing nice shoes. “Which is something that I’m very thankful for. In a way.”

Shaking her head, Rae got into the passenger set, leaning back as Harry started the car. He had been trying to talk her out of the dinner since she had agreed to go, but she was not budging. At least focusing on Harry’s family distracted her from her own.

Rae decided that tomorrow she was going to call her father. She had been ignoring him long enough, and she thought that she was ready to say whatever she was feeling, and to listen to what he had to say. But she was still nervous about it, so she preferred to put her energy into this.

Driving there, Rae could tell Harry was nervous. She had never seen him act in such a manner, and it was endearing. He bit his lip more and drummed his long fingers against the steering wheel, obviously having anxiety about the whole thing. And she was nervous too, but she was going to make this work.

Though Harry had offered to make her have dinner with Leah and her husband instead, she had refused, insisting that she did want dinner with Leah, who Harry was much fonder of, but wanting to get this under her belt as well. He had sworn a lot, but finally gave up earlier that day.

When Rae set her mind to something, there was little that could change it. It was a fact he had learned about her, and was faced with time after time. But she always liked to see him try to change her mind, though he never really succeeded.

The drive did not take long, and Rae’s stomach became a tight knot when they drove through a gate. The home itself was a very familiar seen; it was a large, grandeur home, with nice cars parking out in front and two stories, glittering with lights on the inside. It was everything a nice home should be- and Harry was glaring at it.

Getting out of the car, Rae watched as Harry’s eyes glittered with absolute hate. She had seen that look only once in his eyes, and it was when he had found out Leon had come into her home. To see such a violence in her eyes made her gulp down fear. Maybe she should have agreed that this was a bad idea.

It had never occurred, in her pretty little head, that this could be bad for Harry. It wasn’t until they were walking up the steps that she realized his parents were the reason he was so angry all the time, that they had inadvertently created the boy who didn’t know how to feel.

All that was racing through her mind as he raised his hand, knocking on the door. She peered at him strangely. He knocked on his own parents door? She had never that before. Then again, she was going into territory that she was unfamiliar with.

When the door opened, Rae knew immediately she was looking at his mother. Her green eyes were so alike his that it stunned Rae for a moment. Everything about her look similar to her son, actually. And she was very beautiful, the kind of beautiful that one stopped to comment on. “Harry, dear,” she greeted, kissing him on the cheek as he walked by her stiffly, taking Rae’s hand with him. “And you must be Rae Bastian, how lovely to meet you.”

Rae but on a beatific smile, stretching her hand out to shake hers. “Thank you for inviting me to your wonderful home, Mrs. Styles.” The words came out easily. Rae was practiced in being polite. “It’s astoundingly beautiful.”

Harry’s mother waved. “Call me Deborah, darling. Right this way, you two.”

Deborah led them through the home, which was ornately decorated. Rae couldn’t help but look at every piece of art, surreptitiously clean furniture piece, and a large piano that looked far too beautiful to be used often. The entire house, in fact, was ridiculously beautiful. But it wasn’t homey.

The entire way to the dining room, Harry was rigid. His hand was locked in a death grip with Rae’s, as if letting her go was feeding her to the sharks. She elbowed him a bit, trying to get him to calm down, but he simply glanced at her, expressionless. It made her worried.

Like the rest of the home that she had seen so far, the dining room was beautiful. Mr. Styles sat at the head of the large table, standing with a smile plastered to his face. Harry glared at him the strongest, and Rae watching as his jaw locked into place, his father holding out his hand.

For a moment, Harry didn’t move. Rae nudged him then and he responded, sticking out his hand to shake his fathers. “Dad.”

“Harry,” his dad answered with just as much disinterest. However, when he looked at Rae, a huge smile painted across his face again, as if he were trying to impress her. Even the fine china on the table was supposed to impress her, she thought. “Miss Bastian, it is lovely to meet you. Edward Styles.”

“Thank you for having me.” She shook his hand before going to the seat Deborah had taken out for her. She sat in it delicately, smiling at Harry who sat across from him. He had never looked so uncomfortable, and it was beginning to make Rae sick. “You have a beautiful home.”

“Isn’t she lovely?” Deborah asked Edward, shaking her head. Edward looked nothing like his son. Where Harry’s features were rounded and softer, his father was a very severe looking man, tall enough and serious enough to intimidate anyone. “Ah, here comes the food.”

And come it did. A servant of sorts came out with the many prepared plates, setting them down. It seemed they were having courses, which made Rae want to cover her mouth in laughter. She could not believe that she was sitting down at a ‘family’ dinner and having fine courses. But she went along with it.

“So Rae,” Harry’s mother said, setting a napkin on her lap lightly. “Tell us about yourself.”

So she did. In fact, she felt like all they talked about was her life. They hardly paid any mind to their son, and the more Rae noticed it, the more her heart started to hurt. It was like a physical pain, to see Harry sit as a stranger in a home that he had grown up in. She knew that he hated home; but she had never imagined it would be painful.

Every second his parents spoke, Rae wanted to cry out, upset for him. She felt terrible, knowing that his dry expression and the way in which he stabbed at his food was all of her fault. She should have never agreed to this.

And it wasn’t that his parents were rude. In fact, they were the opposite. But it was the kind of politeness that was painted with the aura of falsity. Every words that dripped from their mouths, that hit Rae’s ears were faux niceties. It was like watching a soap opera. And she was starting to suffocate in it.

“I’m so glad you’ve come into Harry’s life,” Deborah was saying, picking up her wine glass and sipping it. Rae was acutely aware that she already had roughly five glasses since the start of the diner. “Harry need someone to steer him down the right path.”

Rae choked on her wine then, setting the glass down abruptly and covering her mouth, clearing her throat. Everyone’s eyes were on her small outburst. When she was done, she apologized. “My apologies, went down the wrong way. But I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean?”

She laughed. It made Harry flinch. “My dear, it’s no hidden thing that my son as made awful decisions. But you, are a fine young lady. That must mean he’s done something right. After all-"

“Harry is absolutely fine,” Rae interrupted, giving his mother a look. She licked her lips, eyes narrowed. “I quite don’t catch your meaning that I need to steer him down any path. Harry does fine at making his own choices.”

“Oh?” Edward asked, cocking his head at her. She turned to his father. “Is that why I had to send my best lawyers to save him in court? Harry has never been the one to do the right thing, that much we know. But he is smart, and he’ll learn to do the right thing by you.”

The girl was practically sputtering at the words. Setting her hands down on the table, she bristled. “Don’t talk about your son like he isn’t sitting right there,” she fumed, glaring at them both. His parents froze. “And don’t talk about him as if you know him at all, because as far as I have learned, you no nothing of kindness, Mr. Styles. And you,” she hissed at his mother, standing up from her chair, shoving it with anger. “Have had five glasses of wine since salad. Which was only two courses ago.”

A chuckle escaped Harry’s lips as he tilted his head downwards, smirking. This was the Rae that he was accustomed too. The Rae who stood up for what she believed in. And it was obvious from her red face and clenched fists that she believed in him, unlike his parents. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Rae dead panned, leaving the table. “Harry, I’m quite full. How about you?”

“Coming, love,” he answered, not able to hide his laughter anymore, standing up from the table.
“Harold,” his father thundered, throwing down his napkin and standing erect. Everyone in the room grew very quiet. Rae was standing behind Harry, who had just risen from his seat. “Don’t you dare walk out of this house in that matter. Girl, I thought that-"

“What did you think?” Harry asked, his tone like ice. It was the first time he had spoken through the entire meal. His voice was like a razor on the coldest winter, giving Rae goose bumps. “That I would bring some prim and proper girl home, who you could fill to the brim with lies about who you are and how we live?” he shook his head an let out a laugh. “I should have known from the fucking moment you invited me that you just wanted to meet her for the last name.”

“How dare you-"

“How dare you?!” Rae yelled at his father, making them all blink in surprise. It was the first time Harry had ever heard her really angry, her voice all shades of rage. She stabbed a finger at his father. “How dare you call yourself a father when you cannot even look at your own son when he is in the room with you? How dare you talk about him as if he isn’t listening to the horrid things you are saying?”

Nothing. Stepping forward, she took Harry’s hand in her own, leaning him towards the exit of the dining room. “Just because you’ve pretended that Harry is a problem to you, you’ve never considered that maybe you were a problem to him.”

Not another word was spoken as Rae pulled Harry from the house, feeling nothing but guilt and rage. Because even though she had been worried about it, she had never imagined it like that. She never imagined seeing Harry’s face like that, listening to what his parents had to say about him.

And it killed her.