British Rose

14. London Boy

- Author's note –

For the upcoming chapters taking place in London, I will pretend that all the 'famous' main characters (that includes Harry, Niall as well as some others) are able to walk around the city and visit places unbothered by paps or fans. For the sake of my own sanity as a writer ;). I hope you can forgive me this slight twist of reality and still enjoy the story.

Sunday, 13th of October – Harry's house, London Hampstead

"Are you sure you want to pick her up on the platform?" Anne worriedly looked at her son, sitting across from her at the dining table. The tea in their cups had gone cold, and Anne would soon head back to Gemma's when Harry was leaving for the station.

"Yes mum, I'm sure." Harry blew out air sharply. They had had this conversation a million times already in various forms, every time he risked a paparazzi attack when going out in public on private things. He knew his mum came from a place of worry about his and Charlotte's safety, but he would not change his mind. He invited Charlotte to the city, he was going to pick her up right when she arrived on platform 6 at 2:25pm today. Not direct her to some discreet parking spot around the corner of the train station or worse, have her picked up by his driver. Tom was a nice guy, but this was a personal matter. He knew perfectly well it was not his best idea, but there were things that were out of question. Sunday afternoon was not the busiest time at King's Cross anyway, and they would make a quick exit.

Anne had left Aria at Gemma's, where the two of them were staying until Thursday to leave the house to Harry and Charlotte. Now she followed her stubborn son into the hallway, where he started to put on his Chelsea boots and took his Yves Saint Laurent coat from the hanger.

"I just don't want your week to start off on bad blood. You know how it can get out there." She knew it was no use, but Anne couldn't resist trying one more time.

"And what do you suggest I do now, mum? I have half an hour left. I promised Charlotte I would pick her up. And I promise you we will stop ourselves from any PDA that could feed any rumours. If it helps, I had Jeffrey already prepare a statement in case some of the sharks come around preying. No comment, respect of private life, the usual. It's not a big deal." His fingers played with the car keys in the pocket of his coat, his right foot tapping a hole into the wooden floor.

"You know it's usually anywhere else people and paps don't leave me alone. London seems to be the calmest and mostly unbothered place for me to live, which I'm grateful for. Can I leave now mum? Please." His voice was calm, just the tiniest shade of annoyance coming through.

Anne decided to drop the topic, it was no use debating with her son anyway. "Yeah, go. Be safe. See you tomorrow."

Harry wrapped his mum in a tight embrace. "I love you, mum."

"Love you too, son." Waving after him, Anne watched the door close. Why did Harry's second name had to be stubborn?

King's Cross Station

In his mind, Harry calculated the quickest way from platform 6 to his parking spot. The map of the station was laid out in his mind, a blue line tracing the pattern of the route they would take. He walked calmly, hands in his coat pockets, trying to keep his facial expression neutral. The glances and turned heads were there, but much less than he had expected. People in King's Cross were usually so preoccupied with their own business, hurrying to catch a train or searching through the crowd for a specific face. They certainly didn't expect an international celebrity just casually walking around the station on a Sunday afternoon. Which played into his plan of just picking up his guest and then blending into the crowd and walk back to his car, parked a mere 5 minutes away in a side street. In nine years of being in the public eye, he had learned how to operate places. Airports were much worse than train stations. He was expected to travel by private jet, not by train. He was expected to have security with him. One thing he loved London for was how unbothered people were by situations like this. They would give him a quick look, but otherwise mind their own business. He hoped it would stay like this for the rest of the week and had a gut feeling he would be right.