Gunrunners // A Harry Styles AU

6. Kids With No Parents

Thursday 7th February

Harry squeezes my hand tightly as we approach the front door to his surrogate mother's flat. The apartment is located somewhere in the Epsom area of Croydon, a place I've not been yet to familiarise myself with, though on first sight there probably won't be much need to go further. The building isn't immaculate but it's not the worst I've seen, however it certainly doesn't compare to the cleanliness of Harry's semi-detached.

I met the lady that lives above him for the first time earlier - she'd appeared at the top of the staircase outside, given us both a fleeting wide-eyed stare, and then quickly scurried back inside. Friendly.

"She thinks I'm a hit man." Harry had told me with a soft chuckle. In all fairness to the poor woman, he could very well be.

He doesn't knock when he opens the door - he waltzes in, still with a tight grip on my hand, and begins up another immediate flight of stairs.

"T, we're here!" He calls.

I pull my hand from his, but only to better navigate the narrow stairs, and a delighted 'ooo!' comes from somewhere nearby.

As Harry reaches the top, he's tackled by a short hispanic woman with long brown hair that's been bleached at the roots. I'm not particularly tall, somewhere around the 5'5 mark, but Tina seems to be shorter, maybe somewhere around 5'2.

"I haven't seen you for fucking ages, lad!" She scolds him, and it makes me laugh. Even now, her accent is blatantly obvious. "Let me have a look at you."

She grips Harry's face with iron-like hands, though he doesn't seem best pleased about her faffing.

"Bloody hell, woman. Will you calm down?"

"What's this?!" She yells, angling the top of his head towards her eye line. "Have you been fighting again?! Is that why you've been avoiding me?!"

I do the polite thing and take my shoes off while they catch up.

"Alright, alright!" He yells back, taking a grip of her wrists, but he's laughing. "Not here to talk about what I do in my spare time, are we?"

Tina suddenly gasps, holding her hands to her chest. She looks to me, like she's embarrassed, but I'm only smiling - a failure at hiding my amusement.

"I'm so sorry." She gushes, moving towards me. "You must be Nikita, oh my goodness. Look at you."

My laughter is a little awkward, but I'm not uncomfortable. "Hello."

Tina looks to Harry with slightly scolding eyes. "Why didn't you tell me she was so gorgeous, I'd have put some makeup on! I look like a tanned potato next to her!" She smacks his arm.

"It would be a lie, that's why he didn't tell you." I add, my voice quieter than I'd expected.

Both Harry and Tina look to me with disapproving gazes.

"Don't talk bollocks, Kita." Harry warns with a shake of his head, but I'm far from threatened. "She's the one who stitched me up, T." He tells her, and turns to skip up the next shorter set of stairs.

"Stitched you up, how?" She asks defensively, dropping her hand from my arm. Her gaze is suddenly less welcoming. "I told you to stay out of trouble, not-,"

"His head." I say quickly, with a nod in his direction.

"At the hospital, for crying out loud." Harry rolls his eyes. "Nikita was the doctor who gave me stitches at the hospital."

"You're a doctor?!" Tina squeals, beaming at me again.

I laugh with a little nod of my head. "I am."