“Yeah, great. I’ll be fine, probably just ate something wrong earlier today.” I explained to people as I had lied I was feeling weird in my stomach and wanted everyone out of the house.

“When’s your mom coming home hun?” Naomi asked and brushed my hair gently.

“Monday, I think. Really, I can handle this. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thanks.” I smiled at her but tried to look miserable at the same time. It wasn’t too hard since I felt like dying inside emotionally.

"I really hope you feel better soon. Thanks for an awesome party. I'm sure we'll see soon again." Max said and I nodded smiling a bit. Awesome party indeed.

People were leaving slowly but surely and everyone hoped I would get better soon. I hoped the same but it was only possible if Harry could forgive me and see the bigger picture in what had happened earlier at the party. I just wanted to go back in time and start the whole night all over again, drink less and think more about my actions. Come to think of it, I wished I could erase the whole night.

Liam was the last one and he hurried people to get going and managed to get everyone out soon enough. I wasn’t exactly surprised when I noticed him closing the front door after Zayn and Perrie had left. He took a deep breath before confronting me.

“What the fuck where you thinking? Have you totally lost your mind?” He started talking, raising his voice.

“I… You know it meant absolutely nothing. I feel fucking miserable already, please don’t yell.” I pleaded with him and could feel the tears appearing once again.

The reality of the whole scenario started to come clearer to me every second. It had really happened. There was nothing I could do to make any of it go away. I was sobbing uncontrollably and holding my head between my hands, when Liam finally gave in and the angry and astonished look on his face softened.

"Come here Gracie. I'm sorry for yelling, I know you feel bad about this. No need for me to through it in your face. Sshh, don't cry babe." Liam comforted me and held me close to him.

"I'm such an idiot! How could I possibly act that way, I should know way better? Do you... Do you think he will break up with me because of this?" I looked up at Liam, my eyes wet with tears. Thinking about breaking up with Harry cut me deep and saying it aloud was even worse.

"I know he is a good guy and he has a big heart. But you need to make him see you are truly his girlfriend and that this was a mistake and meant absolutely nothing." Liam said while brushing my hair gently.

"Yeah... At this point he is way too good for me. I don't want anyone else but him. You know that! He knows it... At least he did before. Fuck... Fuck! I seriously can't handle this if I ruined everything by playing that stupid, immature game! I just didn't want to be boring... You know how Naomi can be sometimes. I just didn't want her to go on about it and rub it in my face. Remember when she made Perrie make out with you? And no one thought anything bad about it because it was a stupid game!" I raised my voice towards the end of my little rant. I knew nothing that had happened in the past really mattered at this point. Harry didn't know any of it or that this was how we always played.

"I know, I know. Liked the look on Zayn's face though." Liam smiled a little. "Maybe he has played it before the way we play it. Hold on..." Liam stopped talking and took his phone from his pocket. He looked at me before he answered. "Hey... Yeah. No, they left like half an hour ago. I'm still here. No? Yeah, she is..." Liam walked upstairs and motioned me not to follow him. I gave him an angry look. How the hell was I supposed to wait alone because he was obviously talking with Harry!

"I told him to come here. He said he didn't know what he should do. He was quite pissed, I mean really." Liam said as he was finally walking back downstairs.

"Where is he?"

"At the park nearby the lake. He said he would come over in half an hour if he will." Liam said and put his sweater on. I guessed he was about to leave. "I better go if he comes here. Please don't lose your temper and try to understand him. I know this isn't a big deal for us because we know the drill but I mean... He is crazy about you. And everyone knows Theo has a thing for you. If it would have been me kissing you, he would probably have just playfully punched me and then laughed." Liam said and gave me a hug before he left.

I waited and waited. Minutes went by slower than ever as 10 minutes felt like an hour. I walked slowly around the house, wondering if he would show up. I needed to fix this and make him see that I really did love him. I loved him with everything I got. I had never screwed up anything as majorly as I had tonight. I guess this was karma making me pay back for lying to Naomi for so long and falling in love with her ex. It had to be.

Thirty minutes went by and there was still no Harry. He didn't call or text. Nothing. I started to feel more panicked inside and I was not sure what I should do. Should I try to call him or not? Would it piss him off even more? I looked outside and noticed it had started to rain heavily. Suited my mood perfectly, I thought.

Without really thinking about anything, I put my sneakers and jacket on and headed out. The park nearby the lake wasn't exactly big so if he was still there, I would find him eventually. I needed to see him, to hold him, to apologize and make him understand. The thought of maybe being able to see him made me run towards the park as fast as I could. My hair was becoming wet from the rain and I had water running down my face but I could not care less.

As I reached the park, I slowed down a bit so I had time to observe the area and hopefully see Harry somewhere. I couldn't see him anywhere so I continued my way up the sand road. The pouring rain made it harder for me to see that far ahead so I quickly stopped when I realized someone was sitting in a park bench near the lake, not far from where I was.

I started to walk slowly towards the figure, knowing it was Harry. I could see his hair was dripping wet from the rain as he hadn't bothered to put the hood on his jacket on. He was resting his head to his hand but I couldn't see his face. Not until I was standing next to the bench. I could tell he was surprised to see me there as our eyes met. I could see he had been crying. I wanted to hold him but I knew I couldn't expect him wanting me to do that so I tried my best to keep my hands off him.

"Can I sit here?" I asked quietly, breathing slowly, trying to calm myself down and not break down in tears. Harry nodded so I sat next to him, facing him. To my surprise he turned to face me too. He sighed quietly as he looked straight to my eyes.

"I just had to get out so I wouldn't fight with Theo. Especially because he doesn't know you are already someone else's. It would have been weird for everyone if I had stayed and looked angry as hell." Harry said. He didn't sound angry, just a bit tired. I truly hoped I was still his. "I don't know how I should be here. It hurt me, to see him kiss you. And then talk to you the way he did, asking to spent the night. And there was nothing I could say to him without revealing us, I just had to be like it was nothing." Harry continued. I loved that he was making the effort to talk this through and not sitting there silent.

"Listen... I'm so sorry for doing what I did. There is really nothing I can say to make it go away, it happened. But it was a game. I don't know if you're used to playing it quite the way we play here. It meant absolutely nothing to me and I hope you could see that I was not enjoying it in any way. Naomi can just sometimes be really bitchy if someone bails out. And since our relationship is still a secret, there was not much else I could have done. But I should have thought a bit more and understand that it was the first time you played with us and you had no idea what to expect. I should not have played it, no matter what. Please forgive me." I talked slowly and tried to make as much sense to him as possible.

"What... You think we are angels from where I come from? I know how dirty that game can get..." Harry chuckled a little. To see him smile and joke warmed me inside. Maybe everything was going to be okay.

"I'm not going to ask you how you know. But I need to know if you can forgive me..."

"That's the thing. I don't know if there is really anything to forgive. It was a game, I get that. It still hurt like hell though. But I can see the situation was a bit hard for the both of us since our relationship is still a secret. Think about their faces if we would have informed everyone right then and there that 'no, we can't play, we are in a relationship'." Harry smiled a bit more and I had to smile back. "Just promise not to kiss anyone else ever again. I know I'm a bit soft in these things but I don't like it... Even if it's just a game." Harry continued. I took his hand carefully to mine, making sure he was okay with it. Thankfully, he didn't hesitate and let me hold his hand.

"I promise I will never, ever do anything like that again. And before anything more awkward happens, we will make this official next week. I don't want to hide anymore and pretend to be someone I'm not. It will only cause problems if we continue like this. Thank you for being you, for understanding and trusting in me. I love you Harry." I told him and squeezed his hand.

"I love you too." He responded and kissed me gently. Nothing had ever felt as comforting as that kiss. "The idea of not holding you made me miserable here. If something's going to break us up, it has to be something way worse than a stupid spin the bottle game."

---

I woke up facing my alarm clock the next morning, which told me it was almost 11. Suddenly, last night came rushing back to my mind and I turned around in my bed only to find Harry sleeping next to me. Thank god, us making up wasn’t a dream, it had really happened and he was here with me. I brushed his hair softly, pushing a fallen curl away from his face. I was careful not to wake him up just yet, but I noticed I failed after I saw him open his right eye and his lips turning to a smile.

“Hey you. I could wake up like this every morning.” He said still smiling, his hand moving over my waist, to the small of my back.

“Me too. I’m so happy you are here. Promise we are okay? Everything’s fine?” I still wasn’t completely sure he was fine with everything. I didn’t want to fight about last night ever in the future.

“I promise. I would not be okay if you had told me you like kissing other boys.” He chuckled and I punched his chest softly. “Kidding, kidding. Let’s forget about it. Everything’s perfect as long as we’re together.”

I let my fingers wander down to his upper stomach, where the huge butterfly was. It truly was an interesting tattoo and it was made carefully. I couldn’t even imagine Harry without it anymore. Not that I ever even saw him without tattoos. But still, they were all over his body like they were always meant to be there. I never thought I would go for someone who had as many as he did, but preferences can change.

“It looks like a pretty gloomy day. I need to get home soon, finish my homework and help mom around the house for a bit. But I was thinking if you would like to come over later?” Harry asked in between yawning.

“It does look like it’s going to rain any second now. So, you mean to your house… while your mom is home?” I asked and could feel my pulse truly waking up.

“I’m pretty sure she wants to be home if I tell her you will come over. And then she will insist you eat dinner with us and so forth.” Harry smiled and pinched my cheek.

“Ouch, what was that for?” It didn’t really hurt and Harry just laughed. “Um… I guess it’s alright. I mean I would love to meet your mom. So, it’s a yes.” I smiled but felt a bit anxious inside. I was definitely not used to meeting boyfriends’ moms and small-talking with them.

“Gemma is going to be home too. But she’s alright, don’t worry.” Harry continued.

I smiled and started worrying about making a good impression, getting along with his mom and sister, what I should say and what I should wear. It was exciting and terrible at the same time. But most of all, it was cute that he wanted to introduce me to his family.

---

It was raining slowly but I still decided to walk over to Harry's house since it wasn't too far away. The outside air was nice and fresh and I loved how it filled my lungs. And sometimes a bit of rain was welcome in my opinion. Sometimes I loved to just sit in our backyard terrace and listen how the raindrops fell to the ground.

I reached Harry's house in a about fifteen minutes. His mom had made the front yard look nice with different flowers and bushes. I saw a cat sitting in front of front door porch and wondered if Harry had ever mentioned they had a cat. I took a deep breath, closed my umbrella and ringed the doorbell. I just hoped his mom and sister would like me.

"Hey! You walked? It's raining, are you cold?" Harry started worrying as he took the umbrella from me and closed the door behind me as I stepped in. The cat had ran inside at the same time.

"It's not raining that hard, the weather is actually quite nice for walking. Can you take it to the bathroom so it won't wet your floor, please." I smiled as I hanged my coat.

"That's what I was doing. I live with two women, I know what to do with a wet umbrella." He chuckled and went to the bathroom.

I waited for him in the hallway. The old house looked incredibly cosy as it had been beautifully modernised. The wooden roof was painted white as were the walls and the rooms were in two floors like most of the houses in our neighbourhood.

"Oh, there you are! Hello! I'm Anne, Harry's mom." A brown haired woman with a warm and wide smile came to greet me.

"Oh hi! Nice to meet you, I'm Grace." I responded smiling and as I was about to shake hands with her she surprised me by giving me a friendly hug.

"Harry's been talking about you a lot so it is great to finally meet you. I hope you will stay for dinner, it'll be ready in about an hour." She continued.

"Of course, thank you!" I replied politely. Anne seemed very lovely and easy to get along with. And I was astonished how much Harry looked like her.

"Harry, did Gemma tell you what time she would be back home?" Anne asked Harry who had joined us.
"She should be home soon. We'll be upstairs." Harry replied smiling to his mom. They really looked a lot alike.

I followed Harry to his room which was surprisingly spacious and tidy for a guys' room. There was a big bed and an antique looking desk, along with some cool looking posters in frames on the walls. And the room smelled like Harry's perfume which he had probably just sprayed on before I came.

"Wow, I like your room. Looks a lot like you really. Are you always this tidy?" I smiled and put my hands to Harry's waist.

"Not always, but most of the time. I like it when things are in order, but I'm not crazy about it. I have to admit I cleaned a little bit more than usually since you were coming here." He confessed and kissed my forehead.

"I can't remember you ever mentioning you had cat?"

"Didn't I? It's called Dusty, mellow buddy."He smiled and sat us to his big bed. We heard the front door downstairs opening and closing. "That's probably Gemma."

Soon enough, there was a light knock on Harry's bedroom door and Gemma came in. She was like a copy of her little brother. They had the same eyes and her smile was just as captivating as Harry's.

"Hey little brother. And you must be Grace? I'm sorry for coming in like this but I had to see who makes Harry so giddy all the time. I finally understand!" She laughed playfully as she came closer to shake hands with me. "I'm Gemma."

"I'm Grace. I guess I'm glad to hear I make him giddy! It's a good thing,b right?" I joined her laughing.

"Of course it is! Keep doing what you are doing. Harry, dinner in 45 minutes." She said before she left the room.

I liked her already too, just like their mom. Harry pulled me closer to him and I didn't hesitate. His lap and hold felt better than anything else. We talked about his family a bit more and how happy his mom was that he had a real girlfriend. Later on, we went to have dinner with Anne and Gemma, who were very welcoming towards me from the very beginning. They both seemed to truly like me and the feeling was definitely mutual. We talked for a long time even after eating dinner and it was getting already 8pm when I realised I hadn't checked my phone the whole evening.

We went back to Harry's room and I checked my phone. Naturally, mom had tried to call me several times and she had also sent me a text ordering me to call her right away. But there were some other missed calls as well. They were from Naomi.

I called mom quickly and told her everything was okay. She told me she would come home tomorrow, which I already had guessed.

"Naomi has called me like four times this evening. I need to call her once I get home. So, I guess I can't sleep next to you tonight since tomorrow is a school day?" I asked Harry after I had finished the call with mom.

"Actually, I think it's not going to be a problem. Should we go to your house?" Harry asked smiling and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh no, I'm going to be so embarrassed, when you ask your mom if you can come over. She knows my mom isn't even home!" I laughed a little but started to feel embarrassed already. I didn't want his mom to think we were having sex.

Harry took his school bag and put some clothes in it and just laughed at my comment. He kissed me quickly but hard before we went downstairs. That was definitely an effective way to shut me up.

"Mom, is it okay if I spend the night at Gracie's house?" Harry shouted towards the living room, where Anne and Gemma were watching TV.

"I guess it is... But do not skip school! And... you know. Be good." She said, blushing a little bit and I could feel my cheeks turning red as well. Gemma was smirking next to her mom and shaking her head.

"No skipping, deal. See you tomorrow." Harry responded as if Anne hadn't said the other half of her sentence.

"It was lovely to meet you both. Thanks for dinner again. See you!" I chirped as casually as possible despite my burning cheeks.

Harry drove us back to my house and we went inside. I left out a chuckle and Harry smiled asking if I as alright.

"That was so embarrassing! How were you so cool about it? 'Be good' only meant one thing." I continued laughing.

"But she absolutely loved you. She wouldn't have let me spent the night here if she thought you were not good." He said smiling.

"Well, I liked her too. And Gemma. You have a very lovely family." I kissed his cheek.

"Hopefully, I can include you to my family in the future." Harry responded and looked at me lovingly.

We were watching TV and enjoying each other's company. I felt extremely lucky to call him my boyfriend. Now I finally knew why Perrie and Eleanor were always so happy and I couldn't wait to be able to tell them and go out on dates as a big group. Just as I was about to sit on Harry's lap and kiss his beautiful face, we heard a car pull over the front yard. We looked at each other quickly, a little surprised. Then it hit me.

"Oh no no no... Your car... She saw it." I said panicked and got off Harry hurriedly.

"What? Who saw it? Oh... Is it Naomi?" He looked just as shocked as me when he caught on.

"It's too late to try to hide any longer... Wait..." I talked as I was walking to the kitchen to see who it was from the window. "It's her."

Notes

How do you think it's going to go with Naomi?

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