Cross My Heart // Harry Styles

52

HARRY'S POV:

My life with Gwen has been going wonderfully. I still fall deeper and deeper in love with her each and every day. It's amazing to me, because I always think there'll be a limit. Like, ok. I've reached the top of the mountain of love. I can't possibly love her any more. And I'd just stay at that peak...forever, hopefully. But no. I just keep loving her more. It's like infinity, I suppose.

She's doing so well in her studies. She's technically in like...year 11 right now or something. Her tutor said she's going way faster than she'd expected, and she's getting all high marks on her tests and work.

Therapy is just about ending for us both now. It was interesting, talking with the shrink. I'd never done that before. But I think it really did help me get over our kidnapping and all that went with that. The shrink was surprised and couldn't get over how NOT jealous I was about what happened with Gwen and Louis. I mean...I was jealous. Obviously. But...she was really proud of the way I handled it and the way it sat in my head and all that. She said I really have a lot of faith and trust in my best friend and girlfriend. I told her I wanted a refund for that hour, because I already knew that. Hehehe.

The shrink also helped me with my nightmares a bit, too. I had them less now. They'd gotten less frequent as time went on, as it's always been for me. I'd started having them when I was a kid, and I saw my first scary movie. Then, whenever something bad would happen...something that stressed me out....I'd get them. I've even gotten them when I had bad grades in school. Giant failure report cards would be chasing me into a garbage pit. For real! It happened!

Basically, I'm a sissy wimp at heart, is what that all means. I've had a GREAT life, and I get nightmares when something goes wrong. I mean, really????

So far, so good with Gwen's dad. She started calling him dad, finally, which I knew was a big step for her. We'd been through it all before, with her mum, so we were pros at this now. Turns out Jude's sister, the one who Gwen looks like...is married and has three kids, so Gwen has cousins! Also aunts and uncles! She was sooo excited about that. She technically has an actual family now! Like, you could fill a small room with people who share the same blood and DNA as Gwen, and they'd all love her and they're all...related to her.

She's so over the moon about all this, sometimes I catch her grinning as she looks at pictures on her phone. She's met her aunt Jackie, and her two nieces, Emma and Eileen, and her nephew, Edward. Also Jackie's husband, her Uncle Samuel. She calls him Uncle Sam. It's funny. An American joke, because Sam is American. Well, used to be. He gave that up long ago.

Gwen's biggest wish now, is to have her, and both parents together in one room, if only for five minutes, and get a picture all together. So she can have a family picture.

I didn't tell her, but I'm of course, going to do anything I possibly can, to make sure that happens for her. It would make her so happy.

Her life is really coming together now. She actually has family. They're just coming out of the woodwork! Jude's parents are dead. They were old when they had Jude and Jackie to begin with, not that they talked to them for years and years before their deaths anyway. Jackie did a little bit, but not much, because she was treated almost as badly as Jude was. Except that she was actually mole.sted by the stepfather, along with being physically and mentally abused by him. Their mother knew, and had caught him a few times, but did nothing about it. Jackie was a young teen then, so she'd actually been blamed for trying to seduce and steal her mum's man! Just a messed up family that was. The stepdad died from a bar fight, of all things. And a few years later, their mum died of pneumonia. Jude and Jackie's real father died in the army when they were kids. A shame, because it sounded like he was a normal, down to Earth, nice guy. I wished Gwen could have a grandparent, but hey...she's happy with what she has. I mean, she still has her mum's parents...not that they sound any good. They were still alive last time Emily heard, anyway. Maybe someday.........people can change, right? We've seen proof of that!