Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 21

The next morning Harry and I met up with Louis and Liam outside of their hotel to walk about in New York. It was one of our last days in America and the boys wanted the inside scoop of the city from a local.

I didn't quite know what to show them, so I ended up with a mix of regular touristy things like the Empire State Building and Fifth Avenue, and things I was more likely to do with my New York friends.

Harry dragged us into a Starbucks on the way and ordered his favorite; a mango and passion fruit smoothie. I wasn't a fan of smoothies. The consistence reminded me of vomit and it made me sick to even think about swallowing it. So I ordered a signature hot chocolate instead.

When everyone had gotten their drinks, we had been in the same place for too long. That was the danger of public places. Once the boys lingered, people spotted them and spread the news on the Internet, causing more people to turn up.

So when we exited the Starbucks, a huge crowd had already gathered. People were pushing me from all sides as they tried getting decent pictures and autographs, and for a second I completely panicked.

While Harry, Liam and Louis were tall enough to look over the crowd, giving them some sense of freedom, I was shorter and felt like I couldn't breathe. I was completely trapped and it freaked me out. I imagined myself being squashed to death.

Harry saw the look on my face and realized that I was terrified. He grabbed my hand, sliding his fingers in between mine, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. The gentle touch immediately calmed me down a little.

We didn't manage to ditch the crowd, so we decided to return to the hotel. I hadn't been able to show the boys everything that I had wanted to, but at least we had been able to see something before the fans had ruined our day.

When we reached the boys' hotel, I walked in to find a well-known redhead casually playing Monopoly with Niall.

I almost fangirled, because the man I was facing was one of my favorite artists in the whole wide world. The man I was facing was none other than Ed Sheeran.

"T, come meet Ed," Niall said when he looked up from what seemed to be like a heated game between the two of them.

Ed flashed me one of his kind smiles and stood to give me a proper handshake. I had lost my ability to speak, but at least I managed to give him a decent handshake.

I was in the middle of an Ed Sheeran obsession, so it was a big deal to meet the guy. He was an amazing songwriter, and I had always wanted to discuss his music. Now I was actually given the opportunity to do so.

Poor Niall didn't get to finish his game because I stole his opponent, but he didn't seem too heartbroken about it because apparently he was losing.

Ed was in town for a show in Madison Square Garden and as the kind human being he was, he invited me to his concert. All of the boys were invited too, and it would be a perfect end to a perfect tour in America.

I couldn't wait to see Ed live. His music was on repeat on my iPod for the time being, and I always loved a good live version.

"Love, wanna go back to your apartment before the show?" Harry whispered in my ear as Niall asked Ed if he could pack up their board game.

"Now?" I said and Harry nodded. I wondered why we had to leave in the middle of the conversation with Ed, but I really didn't mind some alone time with Harry. "Sure, babe."

We said our goodbyes to the boys and agreed to meet Ed backstage a few hour before the show, before we headed down the street and locked ourselves into my apartment.

Harry instructed me to put on one of the Beatles records, and I did as I was told. I loved the fact that Harry loved the record player I had inherited from my dad just as much as I did. He always wanted to listen to the vinyl records when we were at my apartment, and that suited me perfectly well.

When I returned from having put the record on, Harry had prepared a hot bath for us. Cheesy as he was he had even lit candles and spread rose petals in the water. He had also added way too much soap in the water, so there was a white mountain of foam for us to disappear in.

It was the most romantic thing to get into the tub with Harry, having Eight Days A Week gently playing on the record player in my bedroom.

I leaned back against Harry as he wrapped his arms around me from behind. The bubbles were almost pouring over the edge of my lion-legged bathtub, but it made the couple-bath even more romantic.

We stayed in the bathtub until the water turned cold. I played with Harry's hands while we talked and giggled and just enjoyed each others company.

Everything was so easy with Harry. Nothing had to be forced, and if there ever was a quiet moment between us, it was a comfortable silence.

"Was it okay to meet my family?" I murmured as Harry kissed the top of my head.

"Yeah, it was more than okay," Harry said quickly. "You never told me that your brothers are so funny."

"You should have figured that out by yourselves," I said with a playful smile. "I'm related to them, and I'm funny."

"Of course I should have figured it out," Harry chuckled and I cracked a smile.

"I'm worried about meeting your family," I admitted and Harry laced his fingers into mine.

"Why?"

"Because I'm no good at meeting parents."

"I don't believe that."

"It's true," I insisted. "When I met my best friend's family, I accidentally broke her mom's favorite china. They only brought the china out for special occasions."

"Was she mad?"

"She didn't act like it, but I don't think she was particularly happy about it," I said and Harry chuckled. "It's not funny. It was their wedding china and I broke a really expensive plate."

"I'm sorry. You're right, it's not funny," Harry said, but he was still laughing. "I'll tell my mom not to bring out her finest china, will that make you feel better?"

"Shut up," I grumbled, but I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Don't worry, love, my family will adore you," Harry said and stroke the back of my hand. "And even if they don't, I won't care. I love you, Talia Thompson, and I will always love you no matter what my family says."

I rested my head on Harry's chest so that I could look up at him, and he flashed me one of his beautiful smiles.

And that was the moment I realized that I loved him. I was absolutely truly, madly and deeply in love with him.