The Maiden in Winter // Harry Styles Series #4

SIXTY TWO

~H~

"What are you thinking about today?"

"Alex showed Bean a picture of me in my sparkling Dodgers costume and he asked if I would wear it to his game."

"What was your answer?"

"I told him it was in London."

"So have you thought about what you are going to wear to the game? Have you decided if you're going incognito?"

Leigh knows what a big decision it was for me to go public, and I think she's afraid I'll regret it.

"I'm ready to go all in. I want to be there for Bean and Alex, to be present. I may not wear the Dodgers outfit, but I'm not going to hide."

"You've been very lucky so far with the press and fans. That could all change. How do you feel about that?"

Have I not been saying this for weeks? Months? Has nobody heard me?

"Leigh, I want it. I miss it..." I do miss it, but...

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"But maybe not all the time, maybe not quite as much. Do you think that's unreasonable? Other people have managed it, why shouldn't I?"

"No, it's not unreasonable, and yes, other people have done it. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, how is Alex doing with this?"

Really? Again?

"You have her number, why don't you ask her yourself?"

Fuck, that was nasty, wasn't it?

"Harry, is that attitude going to help? Is it productive?"

Why is she always so kind when I'm an ass? Probably because she knows exactly why I'm being that way.

"No. And before you ask, yes, I know I snapped back because I'm afraid."

"I'm glad you recognize that. What are you afraid of right now?"

"That being myself will mean losing Alex and Bean."

***

~A~

I grumbled as Harry nudged me out of a sound sleep.

"What time is it? Why am I awake?"

"It's five o'clock."

"I don't have to be at the store until eight thirty..."

"Come for a run. We've never been out in the morning."

We'd gone on the occasional late-night run together, but never in daylight. Never when we might be seen. I knew he was tired of hiding, eager to be out in the world, and a morning run was exactly the kind of 'normal' thing he wanted and needed.

I rolled out of bed and started to get dressed.

We ran a five mile circuit that took us around town and back out to Maiden Island a few times, and it was on our third pass by the beach club that we heard a shout from the porch of a nearby cottage.

"Honey Smiles!"

Harry's face lit up as he turned towards the voice and ran up the lawn.

"Caroline!"

Caroline Van der Meer met Harry at the bottom of her porch steps, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on both cheeks. She was the epitome of natural elegance, especially in her satin pyjamas, with her glossy black bob brushing her jawline and bright blue deep-set eyes.