Carmen's POV

The weekend has been...good. Really good, actually. Mostly because I've spent the last two and a half days with Jayden. He showed me is expansive art collection and taught me a few of his favourite 'techniques' that I was never quite good enough at. Todd's been working a lot and Evan has avoided me like the plague. Gale's kind of been doing her own thing, acting like this is a normal weekend. Which I actually really appreciate, because if she acted like it was a miracle that I came here it would make me a little uncomfortable.

"I see another one!" Jayden points up at the sky and lets his hand fall to the ground again. We took some blankets out here so we could watch the stars wake up. Apparently that's what he calls it.

"Me and my Dad used to this all the time," I tell him.

"Where is your Dad?"

"He's away. I don't get to see him a lot."

"My Dad is gone a lot too," he says. "But he plays games with me when he comes home so I don't mind so much."

"You're lucky."

"My Dad will play games with you too, if you want. You can borrow him, I don't mind."

I turn my head towards Jayden and he smiles at me, an innocent smile that makes me feel like melting from how adorable he is. Jayden is one of those kids that could say anything and still sound like a complete angel. He's been so sweet to me all weekend. I think he's my new best friend.

"Be right back!" He suddenly sits up and bolts for the house, running as fast as his little legs will carry him. I just laugh and stay where I am while I wait for the little boy and the rest of the stars. After a few minutes Jayden comes back and sits down beside me, hiding something behind his back.

"What do you have?" I ask, sitting up as well. He peers up at me with shy eyes and holds out an item, which turns out to be one of his little t-shirts. "What's this?"

"My favourite shirt."

"You want me to have it?" He nods and I smile, narrowing my eyes. "Why?"

"You said your friends give you clothes," he says. "Now I'm your friend, too."

Tears start forming in my eyes as he smiles at me, the fabric moving around in my fingers while I fiddle with it. This is the sweetest thing I have ever heard in my entire life. I put my arm around Jayden and he hugs me real tight while I try not to cry. Part of me wants to tell him that we're actually siblings, but this is good enough for now.

"I think it's my job to give her clothes, little man."

My eyes go wide and I spin my head towards the house. That voice. I would know it anywhere. And I definitely didn't imagine it.

"Who are you?" Jayden asks, moving a little closer and tightening his hold on me. Without looking away from Harry I know he's nervous.

"It's okay," I tell Jayden. "That's the friend I was telling you about."

Harry smiles and takes a step closer to us, sliding his fingers into the pockets of his ridiculously tight jeans that I actually missed. "You trying to steal my girl?"

"Carmen is my best friend," Jayden says simply. Harry smiles. "You can't have her."

"Tell you what." Harry comes closer and kneels in front of us. "We share Carmen and I'll buy you a new set of colouring pencils. I heard you're quite the artist."

Harry winks at me and I look down at Jayden, who is grinning broadly at him. He giggles a little and looks at me.

"I like him," he whispers.

"Yeah." I lean down to whisper back. "Me too."

"Do I get a hug or what?"

Harry grunts when I turn and throw my arms around his neck, tackling him to the ground. He laughs and wraps his arms tight around me, my face buried against his neck while I take deep breaths, both to try not to cry and to refresh my memory of what he smells like. I feel his long fingers comb gently through my hair and then I feel something on my back. Jayden lays on top of both of us, peering over my shoulder at Harry again.

"You talk funny."

Harry laughs. "I think you talk funny."

"No, I talk regular."

"Harry is from England," I tell the little boy. He tilts his head to the side a little, still staring at Harry.

"What in the world are you doing?"

We all look towards the house where Gale is walking towards us. She's laughing a little, shaking her head at the position we're all in right now. Jayden climbs off us and Harry and I separate so we can stand as well, but as soon as we're on our feet I wrap my arms around his waist so he can't get too far.

"Did you bring him here?" I ask Gale. She shakes her head.

"Nothing to do with it. He called me when he landed in Santa Barbara to get directions to the house."

Gale's smile gets a little brighter when Harry slides his arms around me again. I feel his lips against the top of my head and close my eyes, finally feeling a little bit able to relax for the first time since I got here.

"Come on, Jayden." She holds out her hand and he reaches for it. "Time to get ready for bed."

"Mom," he whines. "Five more minutes?"

"No."

"Three more minutes, Mom."

She smiles and starts pulling him towards the house. "It's time for bed."

"One more minute."

Harry and I both laugh as they walk away from us. When the door closes I look up at him again, Harry reaching up to brush the back of his fingers over my cheekbone. His expression is far too serious and for a moment I'm worried he's here for a bad reason. Our foreheads touch together, a shaky breath leaving my lips at his proximity.

"Are you mad?" he asks quietly.

"No." He smiles when I look up at him again, my fingers reaching for his hair. "Do you think it's bad that we can't go more than a few hours without missing each other like crazy?"

"A few hours?" He scoffs. "I missed you before you even left."

That makes me happier than it probably should. I take Harry's hand and pull him to the blankets, laying down next to him, one of my legs over his and my head resting on his chest. The familiar beat of his heart makes me feel calm and the feeling of his fingertips tracing over my spine like he always does gives me goosebumps. This is just crazy. It shouldn't be possible to care about someone this much when you're not even together.

"Carmen."

"Yeah."

He waits and I lift my head, leaning on my elbow to look down at him. He brushes my hair over my shoulder and his eyes scan my face, the serious expression once again occupying his features.

"I don't want to do this anymore," he says quietly. My heart drops into my stomach.

"What?" So he came all the way here to tell me he hates me?

"Pretending that I'm not madly in love with you is getting exhausting." His voice is barely above a whisper and the uncertainty swimming in his eyes is almost heartbreaking. There's no way he could think that I don't feel the same way. Part of me knew that he loved me, but hearing him say it is a whole other story. Heat rushes through my whole body and my heart pounds inside my chest.

"You love me," I mutter, not really asking. He nods and takes a deep breath. Harry Styles is in love with me. That's not actually real.

"I know you know I almost said it on the phone the other night." He smiles when I do. "It was driving me crazy so I had to come and tell you."

"I'm glad that you did." I can see he's a little anxious about this and there's a moment of silence before I finally tell him what he wants to hear. "Because I love you, too."

Processing that statement seems to take a moment before he smiles and reaches across his body. In one swift movement he pulls me on top of him and before he has the chance to do it himself I press my lips to his. He sighs and places his hands on either side of my face in the gentle way that he does and for once everything feels right. Being here isn't so scary anymore. Being with Harry isn't so scary anymore. Everything feels better and it's because of him.

---

"It's almost two in the morning," I tell Harry, leaning to the side so I can see his face. Harry makes a horrified face and then laughs.

We've been sitting out here for hours talking and looking up at the stars. Now I'm sitting between Harry's legs with my back against his stomach, leaning on him and trying to stay awake somehow. He's the one that's been travelling, I don't know how he's still awake.

"I wonder if they'll care if you stay in my room." There's no way he's staying anywhere else, but I still hope they're okay with it.

"I don't have to," he says half-heartedly.

"Yeah, you do." I attempt to stand and then turn to pull Harry up. After we've gathered all the blankets up we make our way inside as quietly as we can. The light down the hall from my room is still on, so with that we manage to get through the house without knocking anything over. I dump all the stuff on the floor and Harry stands in the door of the bedroom for a minute to take it all in.

"This is insane," he mumbles. He drops the blankets and I shut the doors behind him. "I didn't think people actually lived like this in real life."

"Sarah must have already brought your bag," I note, noticing the black duffle bag on the floor.

"Who's Sarah?"

"Housekeeper." He makes a face and I laugh. "Yeah, I know."

After a few comments about the bathroom we're both ready for bed and surrounded by darkness. When I climb in next to him Harry immediately pulls me against his body, which is only covered by boxers. Of course.

"Jayden has come in here every morning so far," I tell him. "You're going to scar him for life."

"Is that why you're wearing so much clothing?" I nod and laugh a little. "Why don't you just lock the door."

"That would be mean for Jayden, he's so cute!"

"He is cute." Harry hugs me a little tighter and his hand slowly glides down my side and over my hip. "But I have plans for you that require much less clothing."

He hooks my leg over his hip and rolls us over as he kisses me. My hands glide over his skin and rest on either side of his stubbly jaw. His incredibly long hair isn't tickling me for once, since Harry is one of many to follow the man-bun trend. He lets a little more of his weight fall on me and slowly kisses across my jaw and down my neck. I missed this. I didn't realize how much I actually did.

Our lips mould together again and Harry slides his body against mine. The second time he lets out a quiet moan and I clench my legs together around his hips. My hands slide over the hills of muscle over his arms and he laces both his hands with min, lifting them above my head.

"Okay," I manage to get out as he kisses me. "Harry."

With one last kiss that tugs on my bottom lip he manages to separate himself from me, eyes blazing into mine. If we weren't staying in my mother's house with my two little brothers who might be able to hear us, things would already be much more intense.

"I know," he says, sighing afterwards. He rolls of me and we both lay there for a minute breathing heavy. Then he reaches over to pull me towards him again. "I'll behave."

Notes

yaaaay. everyone saw it coming, lets be honest. but still.
i wasnt going to update so soon but i wanted to get this in there finally because i realized its actually been a long time since they've been together. its time.


hope everyone had a lovely day <3