Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 23

"So... my mom's all about the homemade presents," I warned as I handed Harry a stack of soft packages, and he grinned.

I had given Mom an emergency call to tell her that we needed to give gifts to the Styles family. And luckily she was a Wonder Woman and had managed to prepare something for everyone. She had freaking knitted four sweaters in just a few days, and she had managed to ship them to England in time.

"Do we all get knitted sweaters?"

"I fear so."

"I love it," Harry announced and I raised my eyebrows. "I've always wanted to wear the sweater she's knitted for you, but it's too small for my broad shoulders."

"Yeah..." I said and touched his shoulders as he chuckled. "You're a strapping lad, my friend. And now you'll finally get a sweater suiting your muscled figure."

I had spent a few days with the Styles family, and I couldn't have made a better first impression if I had to say so myself. Harry and I were equally amazed by how well the introduction had turned out. I hadn't been socially awkward at all.

Gemma and I immediately hit it off and just a few days after meeting her, I already considered her a close friend. We could talk the way I talked with lifelong friends and I didn't feel like I had to keep anything from her.

Harry's mom, Anne, was lovely. She couldn't tell me enough how much she looked forward to spending Christmas with me. And whenever Harry and I were having a moment, whether it was a gentle kiss or just a deep conversation, I would see her face turn into a big smile in the corner of my eye. She seemed to like me a lot and approve of my relationship with her son, thank God!

Robin, Harry's stepdad, was joking around from the very second I met him. And I kind of liked that because it made our relationship so easygoing. He reminded me a lot of my dad and even though I had expected that to be a problem, it turned out that I quite enjoyed hanging out with someone who reminded me of him. It was like a little piece of him was back with me whenever Robin pulled a joke that my dad could have been likely to pull too.

The first evening in Holmes Chapel, I borrowed a pair of old pajama pants and a t-shirt from Harry. I refused to wear it publicly, so it was only when Harry and I went to bed that I changed.

Before bedtime, we socialized with the family in the living room. And that was when Anne announced that she wanted to give Christmas presents to my family. Which made me kind of panic, excuse myself to go to the bathroom and call Mom to tell her in a whisper that she had to get presents too.

And that was how she had managed to knit four sweaters and ship them in time.

"Tals?" Gemma said and I looked up from my phone. I had just been texting Ashley who was going crazy over the fact that I was spending Christmas with a member of One Direction.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go to the bakery?"

Harry had often told me about the W. Mandeville Bakery where he had been working, and I very much wanted to go there. I had told Gemma that I wanted to, and she had promised to take me one day.

Harry joined us to see his old boss and coworkers. It was quite nice walking down the quiet streets of Holmes Chapel in between the Styles siblings.

Harry was holding my hand and yet again he refused me to wear gloves because he wanted to be the one keeping me warm. It was cute, so I let him.

"You know, you don't really have to go back to London before Christmas," Gemma suddenly said and I arched an eyebrow. "I know you wanna go back to Harry's place to get fresh clothes and stuff, but you've been wearing mine for the past few days, and they suit you perfectly."

"I guess..."

I had been wearing Gemma's clothes for the past few days because I had refused to walk around publicly in Harry's. Gemma had caught up on the problem and had offered me free access to her closet.

Only whenever we went to bed in Harry's old room, I'd agree to wear his old t-shirts over my panties. Apparently I looked hot in them and since no one but Harry were around to see me anyway, I figured I could give him that.

"I even have a dress that I think will look really lovely on you when we're having the fancy family dinner on Christmas Eve," Gemma continued and I giggled.

"You don't want us to leave, do you?"

"Not even for a day," Gemma admitted and I smiled. "I love having you around so much. And when Christmas is over you'll go back permanently and that sucks. I wanna spend as much time with you as possible."

"I don't know... What do you think, babe?" I said and lifted my head to look at Harry as I gently squeezed his hand to get his attention.

"I'm not the one with the clothes emergency."

"Fine, I can take a hint," I giggled and turned back to Gemma. "We'll stay."

"Brilliant!" Gemma exclaimed and clapped her hands like an excited child.

We arrived at the bakery and Harry got behind the counter to serve us coffee like the old days. He showed off his skills, and I had to admit that he made a mean hot chocolate. And he gave me extra cream and marshmallows for free. After checking with his old boss if it was okay, of course.

When he was finished making coffee and hot chocolate, we sat down by a small table and talked for hours. The Styles siblings were pretty hilarious and I found myself laughing a lot.

I definitely didn't mind spending Christmas with this lovely family, but I would miss my own though...

I would have to arrange a Skype date with my mom and my brothers. It was weird enough for them to celebrate Christmas without Dad, and now they had to manage without me too.

At the thought of it I got a flash of a guilty conscience. Harry immediately noticed that something was wrong.

"You okay, love?" he said and put his hand on top of mine.

"Yeah..."

"You don't look it," Gemma commented and I made a face because she was right, but I didn't really want to admit it. "Spill it, we can tell that something's wrong."

"Nah, I don't wanna ruin the moment. We're having such a good time."

"You're obviously not having a good time right now," Harry stated and I sighed. "Just tell us, and then we can say something to make it all better and then we can have a good time."

"Fine... You asked for it, so don't blame me when things get uncomfortable," I warned, but Harry and Gemma didn't cave and I took a deep breath to tell them what was bothering me. "I'm just thinking about how my family have to celebrate Christmas without me. And they're already missing Dad, so..."

"I didn't think about that," Harry said and the realization seemed to give him a guilty conscience as well. "I'm so sorry, I should have thought things through before I asked you to celebrate Christmas here."

"No, I'm glad you asked me," I said quickly and laced my fingers into his. "This is not like that at all. It is just... one of those times when I get caught up with the fact that my dad's gone, you know? I'm sorry, it happens sometimes."

"Don't apologize," Harry and Gemma said in unison.

"You have every right in the world to take a time off every once in a while to think about your dad," Gemma continued seriously while Harry nodded in agreement.

A few days ago I had told her about the car crash that had killed my dad, and she had handled it really well. It was nice that I didn't have to explain it all over again now, because at the moment I was vulnerable.

I hated when memories from the past overwhelmed me. I didn't like being the fragile one who lost her dad. But sometimes, especially around Christmas and the very date my dad died, I just couldn't keep my façade.

But with Harry and Gemma it was okay to let my façade crumble a little bit. I knew they would always understand, and I felt fairly comfortable being vulnerable around them.