Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 20

"Any tips?" Harry said as he laced his fingers into mine. Our hands fit so perfectly together, like they were made for each other all along.

We were back in New York City where it had all started, where we had first met each other a few months ago, and at the moment we were headed to Brooklyn. So that Harry could meet my family.

The tour had ended and everyone had split. Or... not everyone.

Harry and I had told the boys that we were headed back to New York before we would go to London, and they had decided to tag along. So while Harry and I stayed in my tiny West Village apartment, Niall, Liam, Louis and Zayn checked into a nice hotel down the block. The boys couldn't stay away from each other for too long, and I found that extremely adorable.

"Just... don't bring my dad up," I offered as we exited the subway at our final destination, and Harry nodded. "It was really hard for my family when he passed away and we don't talk about it much. And I know that that's... some sort of denial thing and that it's not really recommended to handle losses like that, but it's just easier that way, you know?"

"I won't bring him up," Harry promised as we closed in on my childhood home. Walking down the streets of my old Brooklyn neighborhood always brought back a lot of memories, both the good and the bad. "Anything else?"

"I don't know, my brothers are football fans so you can always talk about that if things get awkward or hostile."

"Why would things get hostile?" Harry said kind of nervously.

"Because they're my older brothers and they'll probably like to act like it, you know, all protective and shit," I said with a shrug and Harry chuckled.

"I'll try not to give them a reason to turn hostile."

"That would have been the best," I giggled as Harry released my hand and put his arm around my waist to pull me close.

"I love you," he suddenly murmured and butterflies exploded in my stomach as he put a finger under my chin to tilt my head up.

Harry had just told me he loved me and I was about to pass out because my heart was running wild in my chest. We had never used the l-word before.

To be honest I had never ever said the l-word to anyone before, but I wasn't even hesitating when I replied.

"I love you too, babe," I said and smiled happily as he kissed me gently.

Harry and I were definitely heading in the right direction. We were using the l-word and we were meeting each others families. Things were getting pretty serious.

We reached my old home and I jogged up the short steps to ring the bell while Harry lingered on the sidewalk beneath me. I gestured for him to stand next to me, so he slowly made his way until we were on the same level again.

On the other side of the door, I heard someone fumbling with the lock and I was guessing that it was Jonah. He was always having troubles with the lock though he had been living with the thing for eighteen years before he had moved out.

Moments later the door opened wide and it was indeed Jonah standing on the other side. For a second we just faced each other awkwardly because I had never brought a boyfriend home before and none of us really knew what to do with the situation.

Jonah was eyeing Harry cautiously. It was a bit intense and I felt sorry for Harry who had to endure it, but then again he was used to people gawking at him.

"Hey, man," I said to break the silence, and then Jonah stopped staring at Harry and embraced me in a brotherly hug.

"Hey, T, long time no see," he said and as he let me go he extended a hand to shake Harry's. "I'm Jonah."

"Harry," Harry said in a formal matter and it almost made me laugh.

But just almost because I knew that the situation was still a bit tense and I didn't want to make it even harder for Harry. We were a team now and I intended to back him up to make him feel more secure.

And besides, I wanted him to return the favor when I were to meet his family because I would be too nervous for him to mock me in front of them.

"Nice to meet you," Jonah added and finally stepped aside. "Come on in."

Once inside, Jonah raised his voice to summon Mike and Mom in the hallway. They arrived seconds later, Mike completely chilled out with his hands in his jeans pockets and Mom completely stressed out with her hair in disarray.

Mom was always stressed when we were having guests over for dinner. It didn't matter whether it was a stranger or a lifelong friend, she would be stressed no matter what. She always strived too much for things to be perfect.

"Mom, Mike, this is Harry," I said and everyone formally introduced themselves with firm handshakes.

Everything seemed a little forced to me and I really hoped things would ease up once they started to get to know each other over dinner. It was probably just strange because I had never brought a guy home before.

Well, that's not entirely true. I had brought Luke over for dinner once, but I only casually introduced him as a friend.

Harry didn't seem too stressed out about the fact that my family seemed very uptight. He was, after all, a public person and was used to weird social gatherings due to his work. I had seen him more than than once handle awkward situations with ease.

Mom invited him further into the house, and Harry, my brothers and I sat down by the massive wooden kitchen table while she finished making dinner. Harry offered to help, but she politely declined and told him to just relax.

I realized that it was probably a weird situation for everyone. Not only had I brought a guy home for the first time, but the guy was a world famous boy band member.

I knew that neither of my family members were One Direction fans, but I also knew that they were very aware of the fact that Harry's name and face dominated pretty much every tabloid on the news stand down the street. And that my name started to pop up everywhere too because of him.

"So, Harry, tell us about yourself," Mike said, and though I knew he tried to keep his voice neutral, he sounded really threatening. I would definitely have been afraid if he had been talking to me.

Poor Harry told my scrutinizing brothers and my stressed out mom about where he grew up, and about the bakery he had formerly worked at before he plunged himself into the whole X Factor thing and the following fame.

I found it well played that he talked about his grounded childhood before he talked about playing amongst the stars. The mentioning of the bakery made him seem more human, and I could tell that my brothers liked the fact that Harry emphasized that he hadn't been a pop star ever since he was a toddler.

By the time dinner was served, the conversation was easier to uphold. And by the time the dinner was finished and Mom started preparing dessert, it seemed like my brothers and my boyfriend had actually made friends.

It was such a great relief to see them getting along. At the beginning I had been worried that things wouldn't work out, and that would have been simply terrible.

I wanted my family to like my boyfriend, and I wanted my boyfriend to like my family. And lucky for me it seemed as if my wish had just come true.