III

Part 42

"Elliott. And John. Good morning." I smiled.
"What are you doing? And why are you still wearing your pj's?"
"I-I woke up and came to look for Mum. And in case you were wondering, yes, she is here so."
"I didn't hear you get up. Did you, John?" Elliott asked, but looking straight into my eyes.
"Yeah, maybe. I'm not sure." John replied.
I gave him an awkward smile.
"I'm gonna go change to come have breakfast with you." I said, walking past them.
"Oh and Elliott, don't tell Mum you saw me." I spoke again, quickly.
"We'll talk later." He sang as I scurried away from them.
I went inside my room and let out a breath. Elliott knew. Of course he suspected my behavior who wouldn't? The house phone rang.
"Hey Y/N! You've been sleeping a lot!" He chuckled.
"Hi, Harry. How's everything?" I played along.
"Great. We're just about to have breakfast and we thought you might've been awake by now."
"Yeah, I did just wake up. Next to you. And I still want that shirt you're wearing." I whispered, knowing only he could hear me.
"So, you can't come then? Don't make me go over there." He joked.
"Maybe, but you know, I need to get dressed, maybe have a shower..." I provoked.
"Hm, do you need help with that? I don't mind going over. They'll have breakfast without us anyway. I think I hear them eating already."
"No, stay. You need to eat."
"I'd rather eat something else, actually." He laughed lightly.
"How dare you, Harry Styles! Do not come over. I forbid you to come into my room."
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute. Bye."
And with that, he hung up. I rolled my eyes at his reply.

And then an idea popped in my head. I could lock him out. I smiled cheekily to myself and ran downstairs to lock the door. I sighed in triumph knowing he wouldn't come in.
"Honey, I'm home." I heard him call out from the kitchen.
I groaned as I remembered we always left the backdoor open.
"You're not happy to see me?" He appeared in the living room.
"If you behave well, I don't mind."
"I'm all yours." He said, stepping closer.
He kissed me softly.
"I need to shower." I spoke pulling away.
"I'll tag along, if you don't mind." He replied, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear.
"I can't say no to that." I whispered.
"You're letting me stay?" He laughed.
"Be a gentleman or you're out of here." I threatened.
"Yes, baby." He took my hand and led me upstairs.
The warm water splashed on our bodies. I washed his hair and he washed mine. We didn't say a word, we just focused on each other's eyes.
"Why me?" I asked suddenly.
"Pardon?" He responded, confused.
"Why did you choose me?" I repeated.
"It's always been you, Y/N."
"But Casey is a good person, she's sweet, cute and funny among a million other qualities."
"I just came to a point where I couldn't stop thinking about you. And I had to choose between two good people. That's the way things play out sometimes. It's not always good versus bad. I went with my heart, knowing that I truly didn't love Casey if I was thinking about you. And I was so afraid you would say no, I told you this already."
His hands moved to my neck.
"You explained it better this time. I'm so scared to lose you." I whispered.
"I have the same problem. So that means we won't ever leave each other." He smiled.
"We need to tell our families about us. I want to kiss you under the mistletoe, I want to sit next to you at our Christmas dinner, I want you to hug you in front of them for no reason, I want to sleep with you so we can wake up and open presents together in our pajamas. I want us together, Harry. Like a real couple." I confessed.
"Me too." He sighed.
"Then let's do it, Harry. We don't have to be hiding it away from everyone else like teenagers. I would like to settle down with you in the future. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"All these things you're telling me, I just. It's all I've ever wanted to hear from you and knowing that you feel the same way makes me feel amazing. And very loved. Because what I feel for you, it's indescribable. I love you, my babycakes." He smiled.
I laughed at that nickname he always had to call me by.
"When will you stop calling me that?" I giggled.
"I just told you that I'm utterly in love with you and you focus on me calling you babycakes?"
"No, I just knew all those things. I love you too."
"It's good to know. Let's go get dressed. We're wasting a lot of water." He suggested, kissing my forehead.
He helped me get out of the shower, hugging us both in a towel. I held his head in my hands.
"I won't ever stop calling you babycakes, I'm sorry." He said cheekily.
My smile faded. He changed the subject when I had told him to tell the truth. Maybe he didn't want to tell them. For our relationship to be a secret.
"Y/N, what's wrong?" Harry spoke.
I shook my head trying to ignore it.
"Tell me, please. You trust me, don't you?" He insisted.
"Do you really want them to find out? About us?" I asked quietly.
"Why would you say that? Mum and Gemma would be more than happy for you to be part of our family." He replied, a hint of distress in his voice.
"I want to tell them, Harry. Before Christmas Eve."
"Fine. Let's go now. I'll show you I've got no problem." He grabbed my hand as the towel was slipping from our bodies.
"Harry, no. We can do that later. I was thinking of doing something else since we're alone." I stated, biting my lip.
He stopped to look back at me.
"Do you mean-" He started.
I nodded.
He kissed me passionately, leading me to the bed.