Make All This Pain Go

Chapter Twenty Five

Day 64: Ashleigh's POV

After meeting the rest of Harry's family, Harry walks into the room, his eyes wandering around to see everyones smiling faces, his eyes flooding with relief. He walks over to me wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. Harry's mum, Anne, stands up, facing Hary and I.

"Harry, I hope you don't mind me being rude, but may I speak to Ashleigh in the kitchen for a moment?"

"Uhm, yeah. Sure. If Ashleigh doesn't mind."

"Oh no, it's fine."

Harry's mum smiles at me then leads the way to the kitchen. We enter a sizeable room filled with anything any chef would ever want or need.

"So, Ashleigh."

"Yeah?"

"I just want to say, everyone out there absoloutly adores you. You must be pretty special."

"Why do you say that?"

"You're the first girl Harry's ever brought home. And he's never talked to me about anyone the way he talks about you."

"I care about him a lot. He means the world to me, you know?"

"He does have that effect on people."

"Yeah."

We both chuckle a bit, feeling the tenseness in the room evaporating.

"So, how long have you two known each other?"

"Only about 2 months, actually. But there's just this really strong connection there that I've never had with anyone else. It's quite scary, actually."

"Do you love him?"

"Yeah. I think so, at least. I've never been in love before, so I have nothing to compare it to."

"He's quite smitten with you."

"I'm not sure why, actually. I'm just really grateful to have him in my life. I feel like in the short time I've known him, I've kind of been introduced into this whole other world. It's unlike anything I would have ever dreamed of. It's just a bit insane waking up every morning and thinking, 'This is my life.'"

"I know the feeling. I look at Harry and see the man he's become and wonder how that ever happened. Harry is the best thing I've ever done in my life. I'm so incredibly proud of him."

"As you should be. You've raised a great person."

"Thank you. That's always my favorite thing to hear."

I smile at Anne as she wipes the welled up tears from her eyes.

"Well we should probably get back out there before Harry starts to worry that I'm interrogating you!"

"He knows you'd never do anything like that!"

We both laugh, walking back into the other room. Everyone is sitting on two sectional couches that face each other, creating kind of a circle. I can see the tenseness in Harry's shoulders, his hands balled up into easy fists. As soon as he saw us, his body relaxed, his hands moving to his knees. He scootched over, offering me a seat between himself and Gemma. I sat, facing Anne who was now sitting next to her husband. Gemma turns to Harry, her eyes darting to the other room, then back to Harry, their mouths forming into knowing smirks. Gemma turns back to facing Anne and takes in a breath.

"Mum."

"Yes?"

"We all have to finish unpacking and everything so may we be dismissed from this awkward staring contest?"

"Yeah go ahead upstairs and make your 'secret plans' for what you all are going to do tonight."

"Thanks mum you're the best!"

Gemma jumps up, pulling Kellen up with her, kissing her mum on the cheek before running into the other room, then up the stairs.

"You two can go too."

"Thanks mum."

Harry stands, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. Anne stands pulling Harry into a hug.

"So good to have you home."

"It's good to be home. We'll be back down in a bit, yeah?"

"Alright hon."

Harry looks at me then leads me into the next room, then up the stairs. At the top of the stairs there's a lofty room filled with floor to ceiling windows. To right is a long hallway. Harry leads me to the 2nd door on the left.

"You're not allowed to make fun of my room. It's been 7 years since its been changed. So, not a word."

I do the zipping my lips and throwing away the key motion, provoking a chuckle from Harry. He opens the door to a large bedroom, modestly decorated, and quite clean. A queen sized bed, a desk, 2 dressers, and a couple chairs fill the room. Harry pulls me all the way into his room, the shuts the door, turning back to me.

"Was my mum nice to you?"

"Of course. She's really sweet. You're quite lucky, Harry Styles."

He nods, closing the distance between us, kissing me gently.

"I'm glad you're here."

It's now my turn to nod, leaning up to return my lips to Harry's.