Audrey's Snow

I woke up completely warm. I snuggled into the blankets and turned around. I felt an arm wrap around me, and something told me it was Harleys. I didn't move. I was too tired to argue, and frankly I didn't want to. Harley made me feel better.

"Audrey?" Harley was awake. Well at least, somewhat. He sounded exhausted. I turned so I was facing him. His eyes connected with mine instantly. "Are you okay?" He whispered. I didn't know how to respond because I didn't know how I felt.

Part of me wanted to find Gary and demand answers. Part of me wanted to hide behind Harley for the rest of my life. I shrugged.

"I don't know yet. Will you stay here today?" I asked quietly. He nodded and pulled me against him. I inhaled the scent of his skin and snuggled against him tighter. This wasn't exactly helping the 'just being friends' thing, but I couldn't help it.

"Hey Harley?" I said againt his chest.

"Yeah?" He responded. I felt his breath in my hair.

"What do you think he meant by 'we'll hear from his lawyer'?" He was quiet for a minute, as if contemplating what to say.

"I don't know." He finally answered. I could tell that he was lying, but I let it go.

"Its funny, in my head my entire life I wondered what he was like. If you look in my sketch books there are probably hundreds of drawings of what I thought he might look like, but none of them looked like him. The thought of him was amazing. I always imagined a warm man who wore sweaters and made hot chocolate, a man who was loving and had a super good reason for leaving. The dad in my head was so amazing, I decided a long time ago I would never go looking for the real life dad. I hate him. I hate the fact that after sixteen years he thinks he can just barge in on my life." I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I hated him. Harley was running his fingers through my hair, combing out the tangles.

"I wont let him hurt you Audrey." I knew what he said was 100% true. Him and Kevin were a force to be reckoned with. The door creaked open, and I looked over to see Sam. There was someone behind him, I just assumed it was Joleen.

"Hey Sammy." I mustered as much happiness as I could into my voice, but I still sounded sad. His jaw dropped when he saw me, thats when I realized I was in Harley's bed. He probably didn't come in here looking for me. Harley rolled over to see Sammy.

The person who was walking behind Sammy barged in the second she heard my voice. I gulped when I saw the hurt expression on Kimmy's face. Harley jumped out of bed.

"Oh my gosh Harley. I can't believe you would-" Kimmy's voice was cracking, as she was shaking her head. Tears were already forming in her eyes as I just watched horrified.

"Its not what you think Kimmy." I could hear the desperation in his voice. She looked at me, and her eyes turned to slits.

"I hope you are happy, you, you, you HOME WRECKER." she yelled. She turned and ran out of Harley's room. He offered me an apologetic look, but followed after her. Sam came and climbed into bed with me.

"I'm sorry Audrey, I didn't know you were here." Sam sighed. I wrapped my arms around his little waist and let my jaw rest on top of his head. He was still in pajamas.

"It's okay." I said quietly. He turned so he was looking at me.

"Why don't you want to meet your daddy?" He asked quietly. There was so much innocense in his voice, it nearly killed me. I was about his age when I started asking my mom questions, like why I didn't have a dad and all the other kids did.

"Hes..." I trailed off. "He isnt like your daddy. He is evil, like Loki." I mentally facepalmed, I was comparing my dad to a god who tried to kill his brother and take over asgard. I wonder if he had a brother. It would mean I had an uncle. I wonder if my uncle knew I existed.

"Did he tell you that?" Sam was obviously confused.

"No..." I trailed off.

"Then how do you know he is a frost giant?" He didn't understand what I was saying, but he had a point. I groaned.

"My dad left me when I was young. Do you know any of your friends who don't have a parent?" I tried again. He nodded. "Do they ever have anything good to say about them?" I asked. Realization hit him.

"My friend Kathy's daddy left her when she was a baby. She says her mom calls him a..." He paused and got closer whispering. "Jackass." I held back my laughter and gave him a serious look.

"We don't swear young man, but I feel the same way about my dad. Do you understand?" He nodded and snuggled closed to me.

"Don't worry Audrey. Next time he bothers you let me know and I'll put him in his place." I couldn't help but giggle a bit. The thought of a seven year old putting my dad in place was adorable. I wrapped my arms around him.

A few moments later, I heard Joleen calling his name. I froze, I hadn't talked to Joleen since she had grounded me. She was so mad, I instantly felt guilty. This family was dealing with so many of my problems. Harley's door swung open and she spotted us, Sam giggled.

"Samuel Michaels. Go get dressed for school now young man." She was using a mom voice. He jumped up, and ran across the hall to his room. She came walking in and raised an eyebrow at me. "What are you doing in Harley's room?" There was something smug behind her words, I chose to ignore it.

"Its warmer in here." I wasn't lying, I was just omitting the truth. I couldn't deal with her being even more mad at me, I didn't want her to ask me to leave.

"I don't want you being home alone today in case that psychopath comes back, so I'm going to ask Harley to stay with you. Is that alright?" I nodded. I was glad, because he was planning on staying here anyways. Or at least that was the plan before Kimmy got here. "I would stay here myself, but I have already committed to something at the church and Kevin has work. He'll be back around four though, I will be back around six or seven. You keep your head up." She was using her happy voice again, it comforted me knowing she was no longer upset with me.

"Thanks Joleen." I said honestly. This family has been so good to me.

"Anytime sweetheart. By the way, I left your laptop on your bed. I figured you might want to video call one of your friends, if you need to talk to someone. Don't get me wrong though, you are still grounded from friends." She wiggled her finger at me and I just smiled. I got up and wrapped her in a hug.

"I wish you were my mom." The words slipped out before I could think about them, and I knew my cheeks were turning a rosy color. When I pulled away, she was smiling and tears were building up in her eyes.

"You are like a daughter to me darling. You are part of this family, I love you." I crawled back into Harleys bed. She leaned down and kissed my cheek before exiting. Finally, it was quiet. I rolled over on my side and went back to thinking about my dad. Maybe I have an aunt, maybe even cousins.

On my moms side of the family I have an aunt who had a falling out with my mom. I got a birthday card from her every year with a twenty dollar bill in it, but I haven't heard from her since I was about 10. My mom has a way of pissing people off so bad they never want to talk to us again.

The door opened again and I looked up to see Harley walking back in. It looked like he had raked his hands through his hair about a thousand times. I stayed quiet and scooted over, allowing his back into the bed. He laid down, but he wasn't touching me. There was a comfortable space between us and I just let him think. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Kimmy and me are on a break." He muttered. About a billion thoughts rushed to my head. Part of me wanted to jump for joy, and another part of me felt so guilty.

"What happened, I mean, other than the obvious.." I broke off. He shrugged.

"It wasn't just this, she said she doesn't even know me anymore." He turned onto his side and looked in my eyes, as if he was searching for something. "Who am I?" It didn't take much thought to answer.

"You care. You are a boy who puts others feelings before his own, well, most of the time. You are a boy who protects those whom he loves, and is never rude to the ones he hates. You are honorable. And even though you have a huge ego, which I shouldn't be inflating" He chuckled "You are good looking. But you know that already, because you are cocky about it almost every day." He laughed again.

"I remember the first day you got here and you were in the kitchen, your eyes just about popped out of that little head of yours when you saw my body." I rolled my eyes at him.

"They did not, I was just a bit surprised. I saw the pictures in the entry way and dining room and the most recent ones of you are where you are in puberty and chubby, I didn't expect a hot country boy with an attitude problem." I said back. He just smirked.

"Well I expected you to look like Anna." He shrugged. I turned to I wasn't facing him anymore.

"I do look like Anna." I felt the bed move a bit as he readjusted.

"Actually I hate to say it, but you do look a bit like your dad." I felt my eyes getting hot again. I didn't want to look anything like that man. I wanted nothing to do with him. Today sucks. "I mean, that's a good thing. Because you are pretty." I could tell he realized what he said and was trying to fix it. I tuned him out.

I climbed over him and god up, I could hear him behind me. I grabbed my laptop, climbing into my cold bed and opened it. Harley stood awkwardly looking at me, as if he didn't know what to do. Although my bed was smaller, I scooted over and patted the spot next to me. He climbed in.

The first thing I did was open a google bar and search 'Colored Contacts'. Harley looked at what I searched and looked confused. I opened the first page that popped up and started scrolling through.

"What color should my eyes be?" I asked, clicking on a brown pair. They matched my moms eyes nicely. Although I didn't like her, I wanted to look like her. Not him.

"Audrey, they look beautiful the way they are. You don't need to change anything about yourself." He said quietly. I felt more tears in my eyes as he slung his arm over my shoulder and pulled me close to him. "Don't let him win." He slid my laptop out of my arms, and I let him. I have never felt so weak before. Well, apart from a few times.

The doorbell rang and my body instantly got tense, knowing who it was behind the door. Harley took the hint and slid off the bed.

"You stay here. I'll see who it is." He exited my room, and closed the door after him. I put my laptop on my desk and threw the blanket over my head. I didn't want to see that man. A minute later, my door opened and I heard a familiar voice.

"Audrey, Joleen called me." I peeked out to see Anna's head. Harley was leaning against the wall.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" I said, fully taking the blanket off of my head. She came and sat on the edge of my bed.

"I figured we could use that spa weekend in Oregon that you turned down last time. There is no player this time, I promise." I thought about it for a second. "I'm sorry how things went last time we talked." I could see Harleys confused expression. I lied to him about how often me and my mom talked, and what the last thing we talked about was. Last time we talked she told me she wished she didn't have a daughter. "I was just angry and stressed and I didn't mean it. I'm hoping you can forgive me." I sighed. As much as I wanted to say no, getting away from Gary sounded perfect. I nodded.

"Sure I'll go, I need to get away anyways. But I do want to come back mom." I threatened. She had a way of saying 'Lets go on a trip!' and it ending with 'Wouldn't it be nice to live here, lets do that.' She nodded.

"Of course, I hate to admit it but from Joleens updates, you seem happy here. Apart from you hurting that girl in school, but I didn't try to recruit you for nothing. You know what you are doing with those fists of yours." I smiled a bit.

"When are we leaving? How long are we going to be gone?" I asked. She shrugged.

"This weekend?" She offered. I nodded. "Alright, I'll make the necessary calls." It got awkward after that. She had never been so motherly to me. "Um, I'll be downstairs." When the door closed I scooted over again and allowed Harley to crawl back into bed with me. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I hate to say it, but maybe leaving for the weekend will be good for you." He said quietly. I could tell he was trying to convince himself of that. I snaked my arms around his waist and hugged him tight.

"I hope so." Was all I replied.