The Collection- Harry Styles

{Mulligans} iii

Once the first date was out of the way, the next few came rapidly. They were regular. She and Harry had standing dates, twice a week, every week. Mondays at...whenever and Fridays at nine when she got off work. He'd always be waiting at her house at 9:15, Range Rover still running on the curb while he sat on the front steps of her rental house, usually with a half dozen flowers. He'd wait on the porch while she rushed to change and then they'd find a food joint open late and stay 'til closing.

They could talk about anything and everything under the sun. She was never afraid to say the first thing that came to mind. Harry was a good listener and he always seemed to know if she just needed him to listen or to actually come up with a resolution to whatever she was ranting about. He liked to talk about his family; he spoke highly of his mom and sister. He told bad jokes. He didn't like ketchup or mayo, just like her.

Once, he brought up Georgia's mom. It was in passing and she never said anything to suggest elaboration. All he'd said was that she had left and apparently had no qualms about leaving an infant daughter behind. But when he laughed after, it sounded a little choked to her.

And they'd never really spoken about her family. She doesn't like to talk about them and Harry's been kind enough so far to not broach the topic.

A month later, after their ninth date, Harry stood in front of her door and kissed her cheek goodnight, just like always. His mouth had kind of opened and closed like that of a fish trying to breathe out of water. She kept waiting for him to say whatever it was that was so evidently on his mind, but he never did. He kissed her cheek again, touched her face softly, and started to back away. Y/N stood with her front door open, a frown on her face as he walked to his car with his hands shoved in his pockets. She kind of wanted to ask what was on his mind, but knew he'd say something when he was ready.

She was about to step inside when he called her name. He said her name a lot and each time it sent an army of swooping butterflies from her stomach to her chest. She'd heard him say her name in a soft whisper when he said goodbye; or moaning it out when they snuck a quick fuck in his laundry room, or his car in the parking lot of a restaurant, or the linen closet at the club, or-well, you get it.

Something about this time felt different. Almost like he was trying to get something out before he forgot or lost the courage.

When she turned, his hands were no longer in his pockets but fidgeting at his sides. "Harry-?"

"Be my girlfriend."

She didn't think she'd ever said yes to anything else so quick.

They've officially been dating for two weeks. Seeing each other for a little over a month and a half. When Harry called her last night and asked if she was okay to meet his mom and sister, she had panicked.

Sure, she'd met them before but that was forever ago and just as Georgia's babysitter. It had been in passing, really quick and kind of a blur. She remembers thinking that something was definitely going right in their gene pool because both of the women were absolutely gorgeous. They'd come in for a week visit and Y/N had left her wallet at Harry's the day before. Vividly, she does remember being mistaken for his girlfriend because she'd just walked right into the house, no knocking, no doorbell. But hell, she had a key.

His mom, Anne, had made both of them blush as she went on about being appalled that he hadn't mentioned he was seeing someone. Gemma, his sister, teased him about managing to land such a pretty girl. A bit too loudly, Y/N had stated that she was Georgia's babysitter. His family had fallen silent and Harry had stared at her for a long time before handing her wallet over.