Little [Harry Styles]

[45]

12th October 2015

***

The sound of the metal gates opening woke me from my sleep with a jump. I lay awake, staring at the ceiling in the dark as I listened to the car tires against the gravel and then the car door shut. The keys in the front door came next, clashing against the other keys and keyrings despite what I knew were his best efforts to be silent.

The clock on Harry's bedside table read 2:46am in bright red numbers that almost hurt my tired eyes to look at. The routine had been the same for the past three nights; Harry would finish the concert in Birmingham, quickly shower and then jump in his car and make the two and a half hour drive home despite everyone else simply making a five minute journey to a nearby hotel for the night.

I'd told him it was ridiculous, that it would make more sense for him to just stay at the hotels he was offered and come home when there was a break, but he'd insisted that if he were in the same country as us, he'd be making the drive to sleep in the same house as us.

I remained still as I listened to him tiptoe around the house, double checking all the doors were locked before setting the alarm and coming up the stairs. He did the same as he always did, padding past our bedroom door and down the hall before stopping at Isabella's door as pushing it open.

"Hey..." I heard him whisper through the baby monitor at the side of the bed. "You shouldn't be awake."

I listened to some shuffling as I presumed Harry picked her up from her crib before he began pacing, his footsteps only just audible through the crackly sound.

"Shhh...you gotta go back to sleep." His voice was hushed and half asleep as he paced around her bedroom. I turned over to face the monitor, the camera Harry had installed showing him bouncing Isabella softly as he walked back and forth. Isabella had her head on his shoulder and her eyes watching him intently with rabbit clutched in one of her hands and the other holding onto Harry's shirt. "You need to sleep so that we can have a fun day tomorrow Munchkin."

"Daddy's off work tomorrow so we get to spend the whole day together while Mummy's at work..." Isabella continued to stare at him as he spoke, her eyes fluttering shut every few seconds before she opened them again, willing herself to stay awake. "We could go to the park and see the ducks, and then maybe we could go and see Auntie Gem? That sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"Yeah? So you gotta go to sleep so that you've got lots of energy to play tomorrow, okay?" He leaned over and carefully placed her down in the crib again, pulling the blanket up to cover her and rubbing her back gently. "Alright, goodnight Little legs...I love you to the stars."

I smiled to myself at the interaction, staying facing away from the door as I listened to him pad down the hallway and into our bedroom. His footsteps got impossibly lighter and slower as he entered the room and I could feel him trying not to wake me.

"Hey." I whispered, turning over to face him in the dark, only just being able to see him by the light he was using from his phone screen.

"Hey, did I wake you?"

"No..." I yawned as I sat up, propping myself up on one arm. "I was wide awake."

"You're lying." He replied, narrowing his eyes as they flicked between my own, reading me as easily as a book. "You were asleep."

"Okay maybe I was...but it's okay, I don't mind." I replied sleepily, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up a little. "How was the show?"

"It was great, I think it's sinking in with everyone that we're almost done...a few more weeks and we're done."