Love and Fame (Harry Styles)

Chapter 34

The threesome story about Niall, Harry and I slowly died out when Miley Cyrus had another scandal concerning Santa Claus around Christmas. When the new and inappropriate story came up, it was all people were talking about. I was forgotten for a little while and felt an odd gratitude towards Miley and her twerking.

By then, Harry and I had officially lived together for a little over two months. And at the moment we were trying to decide where to celebrate the upcoming Christmas holiday.

We were sitting next to each other on the couch. The TV was on in the background, Christmas commercials running in between a random show, but we weren't watching it at the moment.

The commercials had reminded us that we had to make up our mind on where we wanted to spend the holiday, and that we were running out of time to do so.

"I loved spending Christmas with your family," I admitted when the question came up, and Harry nodded with a frown.

"Me too, but I think we should go to America this year."

I was a bit surprised by his answer. I had admitted to loving Christmas with his family to let him know that it was okay to spend it Holmes Chapel again if he wanted to. And then he had volunteered to go to my family instead, without me even asking it of him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's only fair, don't you think?" Harry said with a shrug. "We celebrated Christmas here last year, it's only right that we compromise and do it every other year at each other's places. And besides, you've been away from your family for so long now, living here with me and all."

"Yeah... I guess you're right," I said and Harry's lips turned upwards in a tiny smile.

"Are you disappointed?" he asked and nudged me with his knee.

"What? No!" I exclaimed, but Harry didn't buy it.

"Come on, what's going on?" he said and I hunched my shoulders as he wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into him.

"Nothing, you're right. We should celebrate Christmas in Brooklyn this year."

"But?"

"But I kinda want to celebrate with your family because I had such a great time last year," I quietly admitted, and Harry kept quiet to let me continue. He knew that I wasn't quite finished and his silence forced me to go on. "I love spending Christmas with my family, I do. It's just that... ever since Dad died, the holiday's been kind of depressing at home, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Harry murmured and squeezed me even closer to his body. "But we're gonna make Christmas at your place a nice thing again. I promise."

"But I'm gonna miss your family," I whined and Harry chuckled.

"How about we spend Christmas with your family and then return to spend New Year's Eve with my family?" he offered, and I liked what he was suggesting.

"That's a hell of a compromise, my friend," I joked and Harry chuckled and nudged me again. "I like where you're going with this."

"So it's a plan?"

"It's a plan," I said and reached for the remote. "Now that that's settled, I wanna watch a movie. Safe Haven is supposed to be on soon, can we watch it?"

"Of course," Harry said as I switched channels and curled up next to him.

"I love the book," I stated as the movie started. "I'm not sure how I'm gonna feel about the movie, but the actress is pretty and the actor is hot and the story's a good one."

"The actress is pretty," Harry said as the movie continued and he got a better look at her, "but the actor is not as hot as I am."

"Of course not, babe," I said and reached up to kiss him. "You're the hottest."

I wrapped my suede sheepskin jacket closer around me as I trudged through the snow. I burrowed my face in my grey woolen scarf as the freezing London winter hit me with numerous of cold wind blows.

Harry was trotting by my side and continually tried to hold my hand because he wanted to be the one to keep me warm. But it was just too damn cold, and I refused to remove my hands from my jacket pockets.

"Come on, love, let me hold your hand," Harry pleaded before he started singing I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles. It made me giggle, but I still didn't give in.

"I'm not removing my hand from my pocket, Harry."

I regretted not putting more clothes on before leaving the apartment. The Ugg boots, the thick scarf and the sheepskin jacket were keeping me warm to some extent, but my Levi's skinny jeans weren't a match against the cold. The wind was biting and my thighs were already numb from the cold.

"Fine," Harry pouted when he realized that I wouldn't give in, and then he found an alternative way. He put his hand in my pocket to reach my hand, and laced his warm fingers into mine. "You're freezing."

"I know," I said and rolled my eyes at his stupidity. "Why do you think I wouldn't remove my hand from my pocket in the first place?"

"You'll heat up in a second when I hold your hand," Harry said with a lot of confidence and I giggled.

"Remind me again why we left the heat of the apartment and decided to walk through the blizzard?" I said and Harry chuckled.

"This is hardly a blizzard," he stated and the two of us observed the few snowflakes that were calmly making their way to the ground. It was still unbearably cold though. "And you were the one who insisted on walking to Niall's, remember?"

"I don't know what I was thinking. We should have used your car."

"You didn't want to take the car because of the icy roads..." Harry reminded me and I made a face because he was right.

My dad had died because of a particularly icy stretch of road. And ever since then, I had refused to drive anywhere when the roads were slippery.

Harry accepted that and never complained when I made him walk back and forth to Niall or Liam or Louis or Zayn's apartments in the cold. He just wrapped himself in layers of warm clothes and walked out the door as if my fear from driving during winter was no big deal.

"I'm sorry," I said and removed my hand from my pocket so that Harry could hold it properly. "I'm sorry for making you walk all the way when it's so cold."

"It's okay, I don't care," Harry said with a shrug and squeezed my hand reassuringly. "You have your reasons for not wanting to drive when it's snowy, and I respect that. I just want you to feel safe."

"I always feel safe with you."

"Even when I drive?" Harry asked with a playful smile.

"Even when you drive," I said honestly and Harry's face turned serious as he squeezed my hand again.

"Coming from you, that means a lot."

"Because of my dad?" I asked and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, because of your dad."

"I wish you could have met him," I whispered as we walked up the stairs to Niall's apartment building. "He was awesome and you would have loved him."

"I'm sure I would have," Harry murmured as I let go of his hand and reached out to press Niall's buzzer.

Harry's hand had heated mine a little, and I could actually feel the cold metal of the buzzer against my skin. If I were to use the hand Harry hadn't been holding, the one still burrowed deep in my jacket pocket, I'm sure my body temperature would have been the same as the freezing metal.