Chapter 20

Harry kissed me gently on the forehead as I opened my eyes.

"Hey" He said quietly.

"Hey" I replied, stretching and looking around the room.

"Before you start planning our day, I'm going to take you out" He said, smirking.

"Oh really?" I replied, smiling back.

"We're going to do something normal. No paps, no drama. Just a normal couple-y thing that 17 year old should be doing"

"Mmm, sounds good" I said into his chest.

I smiled. He was making an effort to keep things as normal as possible since last week's drama.

"What are we doing?" I added.

"I'm taking you on a picnic" He said, almost laughing.

"A picnic?" I looked up and out of the huge window. The curtains had been opened slightly and orange sun streamed down and puddled on the floor.

"Well. I'm trusting you completely with this, Styles" I teased playfully.

"Don't you worry! I got Louis to help me with the sandwiches last night" He said, climbing out of bed.

"I'll be giving them a miss, then!" I said, laughing.

"Harry" I said, wanting to get his attention.

"What?" He turned around, facing me. His face was serious.

"I love you" I said quietly, smiling.

"I love you too" He replied, walking back toward the bed. He cupped my face in his hands and kissed the tip of my nose lightly. Then he turned away and headed downstairs. He was so sexy and adorable without realizing.

Seeing him in his sweat pants and favourite grey hoodie, he was relaxed and comfortable. I would have him in that over a suit and tie any day.

I came downstairs and was greeted by Zayn making breakfast. Harry was sitting on a stool, leaning on the breakfast bar as he swirled his cereal around in the bowl.

I stood behind him and snaked my arms around his body. I rested my chin on his shoulder as he lifted the spoon full of Cheerios over his shoulder and into my mouth.

"And that's how Sophie, C's it!" I said, mimicking Sue Sylvester I put my hand into the shape of a C.

"What?" Harry replied, also with a mouth full of Cheerios.

"Glee? Cheerios?" I said, swallowing the soggy cereal.

He looked at me blankly and laughed.

"What are you on?" Zayn replied smiling. He was whisking a huge bowl of eggs together; there must have been at least 14 in there.

Harry had told me to get dressed and wear a coat. I stepped into the sunlight and slipped my sunglasses on. My hair crazily flew in the biting wind. Harry took my hand as we strolled towards Hampstead Heath Park. I would sometimes go jogging around the park, but I hadn't seen the sun shining this way for months. It was one of the first days since summer that the sky was cloudless, although cold, it was nice to just take a walk and have time to talk.

We got to The Heath. It was like a little haven located in the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world. London was so hectic most of the time, The Heath made memories of the Cheshire countryside come flooding back for both of us. Some days at home, before all of this, Harry and I would just go for walks. No interruptions, no nothing.

But at that time, to every passer by, he was the guy who worked at the bakery.

We found a spot at the top of a hill, it overlooked the lake and the water glistened in the low, deep orange winter sun.

It was 1:30, but the sun was already dimming ever so slightly. Harry and I chatted over sandwiches, pasta and soup, that was in a huge flask. He handed me the plastic cup, steaming over my face. I sipped the creamy liquid; it slipped down my throat, warming my insides.

I handed the cup back and shivered.

"I'm cold," I said quietly, looking for my bag.

"Do you wanna go back?" Harry asked, collecting everything up and placing it in the wicker basket.

"No, can we just walk a bit? I'll warm up if I keep moving" I said, getting up from the cold ground.

We stumbled down the hill, almost tumbling down a few times, and then we finally arrived at the waters edge. The sun hung low in the sky, and was bright in my eyes.

Harry picked a few stones up and threw them with his right arm. They skimmed the top of the surface 4 or 5 times, before plunging into the abyss of blue and green water.

I bent down and picked a rounded flat rock up and mimicked Harry throwing it, although it did not skim, it plopped straight into the water, about a meter away from us.

Harry laughed picked up another one, he stood behind me and put the stone in my hand.

"Like this" He said over my shoulder.

His hand covered mine as he bought both our arms back and then forward again, I let the rock go and it flew towards the water. It hit the water and bounced up again, and again, until it finally disappeared.

"There you go!" Harry exclaimed triumphantly.

"I have good tuition," I said, wrapping my arm around his waist. We walked together along the waters edge, content with the day.

"How many are coming on Friday?" I asked; Zayn was turning 18 so we had organized a surprise birthday party at the house. We had invited all his friends from Bradford to come down to London.

"I don't really know, Liam's supposed to be organizing the whole thing, probably 60 or 70, including everyone else's friends too" He replied, almost in his own world of thoughts.

"What's up? Something's bothering you, I can tell," I said, pulling his closer to me as we walked slowly.

"Nothing, I just wished we had more time to do things like this. I miss the normal things sometimes." His husky voice stuttered.

"Oh Harry." I said, stopping and pulling his body towards mine.

"We will, we just need to work on how this is all going to work" I said, trying to put his mind at rest.

"I know… It's just hard. I'm not used to all this… Stuff" He closed his eyes, resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Neither is anyone though, you and Louis talk about this kinda stuff don't you? He and Hannah must be going through the same stuff, and she doesn't even live with him! At least you've got me at the house most of the time" I smiled trying to lighten his mood.

He smiled back and I knew he would be fine, I think he missed his family more than he let on. It was hard on all the boys, all of us being so young and sometimes not seeing our families for weeks on end.

By now, the once diamond sun had transformed into a smouldering deep orange, yellow and pink, ball of fire. It was like a crystal chandelier hanging just above the horizon, casting long shadows across the ground. The sun was almost incandescing with wispy clouds surrounding it. The horizon was ablaze with colour; orange, yellow, pink and hints of deep maroon and turquoise painted the sky. The sunset was all over very quickly, and then the darkness started to set in. Slate grey covering the sleepless city below.

We headed back to the house slowly, taking out time. Twilight had set in as streetlights flickered on around us and the sky went from dark grey to black. Stars twinkled above our heads, glinting in the cloudless sky.

We returned to the house well after dark, Louis was in the hallway, trying to cut open a padded box as we came in.

"What are you doing?" I asked, taking my coat and boots off.

"Xbox Kinect's arrived!" Louis said, excitably.

Everyone gathered as Louis started to plug different things into the TV mounted on the wall. The screen flashed on and Louis was the first to have a go. He jumped and kicked excitedly, playing a football game. Everyone wanted a go after a few minutes of admiring the precision of the movements showed on the screen.

I headed upstairs to get changed, but as I rounded the staircase I noticed two Star Wars Light sabers, one red and one blue leaning against the side table in the hall.

I took them downstairs, confused. I walked in to find Louis and Niall dancing to a disco song. Louis added in his "pat the dog, screw the light bulb" and I laughed.

"What are these?" I asked over the music. Louis' eyes lit up as he charged towards me. He grabbed both of them, and chucked one towards Harry, who caught it skillfully and jumped up.

"I HAVE YOU NOW!" Louis shouted, swinging the light saber from side to side.

Louis and Harry "fought" and Louis ended up pinning Harry down on the sofa.

I headed upstairs, tired from the day but as soon as I climbed into bed cramps licked at my stomach and I knew exactly why. I curled into the fetal position and tried to fall asleep, but the pain just got worse and worse. Harry strolled in at 12:45 and I was still awake. He knew something was up as soon as he got under the covers.

"Hey, what's up?" He asked, caringly. He moved closer to me carefully and slid his arm around my body.

"Cramps" I said, exhausted.

I could feel his body warmth next to me and his scent soothed my fraught mind. He moved his hands down and rubbed my stomach like a mother would do to her baby. "Better?" He asked gently, only whispering.

"Mmmhmm" I replied, almost asleep.

I closed my eyes again and placed my hands over Harrys, still on my stomach. We lay in the dark silence, holding each other closely, not making a sound.