He Saved Me

Chapter Twenty One

Lia's POV

Harry and I made up, but of course there would be more drama to come later on from paps and fans, and even some exes.

But Thanksgiving finally rolled around and I flew to England to be with Harry and his family. "You must be Lia!" Gemma greeted me enthusiastically as I got off my flight. I nodded, suddenly shy. She held her arms out, and I hugged her awkwardly. "Oh, Harry has told us so much about you. We couldn't hardly wait to meet you!" She went on to talk about Anne and Robin, and how everyone wanted to meet me and how tasteful my style was. I chuckled a little, because I was wearing yoga pants, a jacket, and a matching pink tank top under it.

"Thanks," I said as she offered to take my luggage. "Oh, hun it's not a problem. You must be worn out. Did you take Harry's offer to pay for first class? You should enjoy your first flight, especially if it's to England!" I shook my head and thought how talkative and smiley she was. "No, I declined his offer. I had plenty money to fly coach and that didn't bother me too bad." I got into what, in America, would be the drivers side. "A little odd sitting on that side and not driving, yeah?" Gemma laughed as she got in.

"Yeah. Gotta get used to everything being opposite over here." Gemma chatted about the history of her and Harry's hometown, and of where their dad lived. "Oh, this is a quaint little town," I'd comment occasionally, or, "I love little towns like this. They're so rare in America," or, "Ooo that sounds interesting!" so she knew I was paying attention to everything we passed and everything she said. As we drove

through the countryside, we resorted to small talk till we finally reached their house.

"Mum! She's here!" Gemma announced my arrival before going back to the car for my luggage. I grabbed my carry-on bag and nervously walked into the large home. "Miz Anne?" I said, my Kentucky "twang" coming out. "Oh, Lia? What a lovely accent! I've never been to Kentucky but the accent is adorable!" I blushed as Anne rushed from the kitchen to greet me. "Harry! Robin! Come in here!" Anne called up the stairs.

Harry came down and when he saw me, a smile instantly appeared on his face, dimples showing. A man whom I assumed was Robin followed close behind him. "Finally we get to meet you!" Robin exclaimed. "Yes, Harry's no liar when he talked about your looks!" Anne gushed, and my face got hotter, and I'm sure redder. "Mum, stop. Hey babe," Harry said, pushing past Anne and Gemma to give me a hug. "C'mon. I'll show you your room." I gulped. Are Harry and I going to share a room? I wondered. I groaned inwardly when I reached Harry's room and realised we were. Harry chuckled. "Don't worry, Lia. You know I respect your Christian values and beliefs. I'll try not to get carried away, so I brought in a spare cot with a little air mattress on top. I hope it's fine." I smiled appreciatively.

"It's perfect, Haz. Thank you." I threw my arms around his neck in a hug. He laughed and hugged back. "Now, I'm going to get ready for dinner then go help your mum." Harry shook his head and pulled back. "No, I'm sure she and Gemma can handle it." He pouted. "Please stay? I wanna cuddle." I rolled my eyes, but I had to grin. "Later, Harry. I need to shower and changed." Harry sighed and flopped on his bed. He was such a child sometimes. But that's what I loved about him; I could be goofy and childish sometimes, too. "Harry, I promise that if your mum doesn't need help, I'll come back up and we can cuddle all you want."

He hopped up. "Yay!" I laughed and went into the bathroom to shower. I grabbed volleyball shorts and my track shirt to change into. I set my phone on the sink, and turned on my music. I hummed along with Scotty McCreery while the water heated up. As I got in the shower, Little Me by Little Mix came on, I sang along softly, then louder and full on performing when I closed the curtain. I was done in about fifteen minutes and dried my hair. "Hey, babe," Harry said as I walked into his-- our-- room. "Hey." I dug into my bag for my skinny jeans and slipped them over my volleyball shorts. "Nice vocals, by the way," Harry said, focusing on my face.

I blushed. "Shut up," I said quietly and stepped back into the bathroom to change into a nicer shirt. "I'm serious, Lia," Harry called, "You aren't half bad! You can match pitch good in all the songs you played earlier." I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the bathroom, only to see Harry standing in front of the door. "Harry, you're such a liar." I pushed past him and threw my sweatshirt on top of my suitcase. Harry picked it up, folded it, and laid it neatly on top of the suitcase. "Really?" I asked.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "What?" He asked innocently. I just rolled my eyes; I obviously did that a lot around Harry. "Neat freak," I muttered and plugged in my straightener. He wrapped his hand around my waist. "What was that?" He buried his face in my neck. I giggled. "Nothing," I lied playfully. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "Harry!" I squealed and laughed. He carried me across the room and threw me down on his bed. "I asked what you said, Lia," he said, straddling me. I tensed a little. He just grinned. "Don't worry. I was just gonna do this." He attacked me, tickling me. "Harry! S-stop! I- I can't breathe!" I laughed, not being able to catch my breath. "What did you call me?" Harry demanded.

"I s-said you're a n-neat freak!" I said finally, trying to catch my breath. He laughed. "I am not!" Harry defended himself. "Are too!" I argued as I sat up.

Harry's POV

"I'm not a neat freak!" I stated stubbornly. Lia chuckled. "Yeah, okay. Because you didn't just come behind me and clean up my mess. You did it in the bathroom, too, a minute ago," she insisted. I shrugged. "Fine. So I'm a neat freak. Sue me." Lia grinned. "I might just do that." I rolled my eyes. "Go on downstairs and see if they need you. We're wasting valuable cuddle time." She chuckled and shook her head.

Lia's POV

"Yeah. Well she seems lovely," I paused, eavesdropping guiltily on Anne and Gemma's conversation. "I don't know, mum. Something seems off about her." I heard one of them chop vegetables. "Like what?" Anne inquired. "I don't know. How do we know she's not only with him for his money, like Sophia and Liam before he and Danielle got together?" Come on, I thought, she can't be serious. Anne defended me, though. "Harry has been to church with her, and she's genuine enough to him. And to me, too. Give her a chance." Gemma scoffed. "Okay, well what about money and sex, or to ruin his life like Taylor? Or for his popularity and Hollywood status like Kendall and her mom wanted?" I chose that moment to walk in. "Hey, do you gals need help?" I offered, noting Gemma's distasteful glare. I got the notion she knew I was listening. "Oh, no. Thank you, though."

"Oh. If you insist. Do you mind if I sit here and just chat, then?" I asked politely. "Shouldn't you be up with Harry?" Gemma asked, and I didn't fail to notice the slight snarl. What in the world? I thought, Gemma had been so lovely on the ride here. What changed? "Oh, well I'd like to get on with his family because that's important to him." Gemma sighed and set down the chopper she had been using. "Excuse me." Anne froze and I avoided eye contact with both of them as Gemma stepped onto their back patio. "I'm sorry if I said anything-" Anne interrupted me. "No, don't Lia," she said somewhat harshly, "You didn't do anything. She's just protective of Harry."

I nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know what happened. I mean she was so sweet on the way here. What changed her attitude?" I asked quietly. "She said she told you a lot of history facts, yeah?" Anne asked. I nodded. "Yeah." Anne took over chopping. "Here, lemme do that. You're working on the turkey," I offered. Anne moved and I began to chop. "Gemma didn't think you were listening. She didn't think you cared." I looked at Anne like she was crazy. "But I did. I still do. I love history. I spend majority of my free time driving around old places in my hometown and going to museums. I've visited almost all the Smithsonian Museums. I was just tired and didn't feel very talkative, that's all," I said. "I figured. You seem different from the girls Harry's dated in the past."

I finished chopping and excused myself. "I think I'll go explain myself to Gemma." I stepped outside.