A/N: sorry for the massive gap in between updates, just needed a bit of time and I wanted to make this one good for you guys. Hope you enjoy, love you all so much xx

Btw follow me on Twitter @scarwattpad i do most of my update announcements on there lol

Harry opens the door for us and stands back to let me in, propping the door open with his hand. I shuffle myself in slowly and wait for him to shut the door before he helps me out of my coat.

"How was your walk you two?" Anne calls out from the kitchen. Harry and I exchange a look, smiling widely at each other. I haven't really stopped smiling, I don't feel like I ever will.

"Come on" He whispers to me after shrugging off his coat and walking through into the kitchen. I sit down at one of the seats of the kitchen table and Harry kneels down to take off my shoes, grinning to himself as he does so.

"It was great. Got down to the park" Harry replies before picking up my shoes and taking them back to the front door. Anne and my mum are fiddling with some pastry in the kitchen while Peter looks on keenly, a cup of tea in his hand.

"Good on you Elena, you must be tired now though love" My mum replies with a warm smile. She's right I am very very tired, but that's all taken a back seat right about now. Harry walks over into the kitchen and looks over mum and Anne's shoulders before placing a hand on my mums shoulder. She turns her head to look up at him and smiles softly. He takes a small breath.

"I did it" He says quietly to her. For a moment my mum just keeps looking at him, furrowing her brow slightly. Before she lets out a loud gasp, dropping the small spatula she's holding and turns to me.

"He did it ?!" She asks me with tears brimming on her eyes and a wide smile peaking up from behind the hand that's currently covering her mouth. I nod my head slowly, tears springing up to my own eyes based on her reaction. Mum immediately turns back around and tightly hugs Harry around the neck. Harry lets out a small laugh and hugs her back.

"What what is it what is going on?" Anne asks completely perplexed. I look over to Peter, who's giving me a knowing smile. He looks down at the hand in my lap then back up to my face and turns to Harry.

"Something you want to tell your mother, son?" Peter asks Harry with a soft grin. Did Peter know? Since when did Peter know? Harry nods smiling and my mum rushes over to me, tears in her eyes as she kneels down beside me and kisses my cheek repeatedly.

"Mum I asked Elena to marry me, and she said yes" Harry explains softly, placing a hand on his mums back as she looks up at him. The instant the words leave his mouth she lets out a loud and excited squeal before covering her mouth.

"Oh my god!" She cries out happily, wrapping Harry up in a bear hug.

"Oh it's so beautiful darling, are you happy?" Mum quietly asks me, stroking my hair softly. I nod quickly and wipe up some of the tears that have spilled out of my eyes.

"Ridiculously happy" I answer as Anne quickly hurries over to me. Over in the kitchen I can see Harry and Peter shake hands before Harry pulls him in for a hug.

"Congratulations precious girl" Anne says through her tears as she carefully hugs me to her chest. "You've always been a part of our family, only now it's slightly more official" Anne gives me a kiss on the cheek before we look to the stairs to see Gemma descending down them.

"Mum what's with all the screaming the kids are sleeping?" Gemma asks as she and Michael appear at the bottom of the stairs. I answer her by holding up my hand, my new ring weighing my hand down heavily. Gemmas eyes laser focus on the ring and her eyes go wide.

"Oh my god!" She squeals, hurrying over to my side as Anne now examines my ring.

"Goodness me Harry this is quite the ring" Anne says as Gemma hugs me tightly.

"Careful please Gemma!" Harry calls out, watching our interaction. I let out a small laugh and hug her back.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry, I'm just so excited to have a sister" Gemma apologises, loosening her grip on me slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me this was happening?" Anne asks Harry as Gemma goes over to hug Harry's side. Peter kneels down next to me and gives me a kiss on the check.

"Because you can't keep a secret to save your life and you wouldn't have been able to talk about anything else until it happened. I'm just shocked that Peter kept it quiet" Harry says, chuckling softly at the end as Anne gasps and turns to Peter.

"You knew?!" Anne asks accusingly as Harry wraps an arm around his mums shoulder.

"Peter was the first to know" Harry says somewhat proudly. I can see Peter blush slightly as he stands back to his feet beside me. Anne turns to her son and affectionately strokes his cheek.

"How long did you know?" Gemma asks Peter. Peter shrugs slightly and smile softly.

"He told me the day of Charlie and Theo's christening" Peter says nonchalantly as Anne and Gemma quietly gasp. Michael takes the gap in Anne and Gemma squeezing me to quickly wander over and give me a kiss on the cheek and congratulate me.

"You've had a ring since the christening?" Gemma asks in quiet disbelief. Harry looks over at me and smiles warmly as he nods.

"Just waiting for the right time" He answers Gemma's question, but his eyes remain on me.

"Well I think this calls for champagne!" Anne says excitedly as she opens the fridge. I stand up and walk over to the kitchen bench to see the progress that has been made with the food. Dozens of half completed dishes of pies, desserts and stuffings litter the bench top, there's enough food here to feed a small army.

"Elena can't drink champagne" Harry reminds his mum as he stands next to me, placing a hand on the small of my back.

"If this is how you're choosing to tell me that Elena is pregnant I am going to lose my mind" Anne says after a pause, holding the bottle of champagne in her hand with a bewildered look on her face.

"No! I just can't drink with my medication" I say with a small giggle as Anne puts the bottle down on the bench. It was one of the clear instructions from the doctor, if I've taken the pain meds I can't drink or drive.

"One thing at a time mum" Harry chuckles. "I'll make you a tea" Harry says softly as he walks into the kitchen and fills up the kettle.

"So what do we think, June wedding? Then you can have the reception outside or even get married outside. Or you can get married in the church where Michael and I got married in?" Gemma says quickly as Anne pops the top off the champagne and starts filling the glasses.

"Haven't had the time to think about it" I tell her honestly. This has all just happened within the last half hour, my life has completely changed in the last half hour. Wow.

"But we need to get this wedding planning going!" Gemma says with an excited giggle. At first I didn't think there would be anyone more excited than me about Harry and I being engaged, but then I remember Gemma and Anne and they might be very close runners up.

"Relax Gem, plenty of time for that" Harry says with a sigh as he pours some hot water into a mug for me.

"You did ask for Claudias blessing didn't you?" Anne says suddenly, shooting my mum a look of alarm. Mum nods and smiles, patting Anne's arm.

"Yes of course he did. At Elena's birthday. He was very lovely about it" Mum happily explains, and now I'm dying to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.

"Good boy" Anne tells her son, who is pouring a small amount of milk into my tea. He's gotten quite good at making my tea having had to do it at least three times a day while I was in hospital. He even brought in my favourite tea bags and my mug from home to make the hospital situation feel better for me, which definitely helped.

"And you got down on one knee?" Gemma asks as Anne passes out the champagne glasses and Harry finishes making my tea.

"He did" I say proudly as Harry walks back over to me, mug in hand, placing it down on the counter in front of me and gently wrapping an arm around my waist.

"What did you say?" Anne asks. Harry sighs and rubs a hand over his face, obviously suffering from all of the attention and 'mushy emotional stuff' that his family are making him publicly suffer through. I decide to help him out.

"It was perfect. Sweet and simple, just perfect" I tell them with a warm grin on my face, resting my head to the side against Harry's chest. I feel him place a kiss to the top of my head before he rests his chin on top of it. Anne places a hand on her heart and looks like she might cry.

"Well I would just like to say, that I am so immensely happy that this moment has arrived" Anne begins her speech as Gemma nods along in agreement. "There were times where I thought that my lovely boy wouldn't get to have his love story, but now I just know that God had his own plans and told him to wait for something truly spectacularly special. And that's what he did." Harry let's out a very small groan at the mention of God, and I give him an elbow to his stomach in punishment. Anne doesn't seem to notice and continues on with a wide smile.

"Elena darling, I am so thrilled that you and your lovely mum are becoming a part of this family. You're a magnificent young woman and I could not picture anyone more perfect for my Harry." Anne raises her glass up high as my mum wipes a tear from the corner of her eye. "To Elena and Harry" Everyone raises their glasses up and clinks them against one another, I raise my mug as I high up as I can and do the same.

Later that night, I get on FaceTime with Heather to break the news to her. She answers the phone after the third ring. The screen focuses on her with her hair pulled up into a high bun and the top of her sweatshirt as she smiles back at me.

"Hey babes! Merry Christmas Eve!" She calls out as soon as she answers the phone.

"Merry Christmas Eve! How's our little guy doing?" I ask as I settle in to the couch. Harry sits down beside me and leans his head over so he can see the screen as Heather changes the direction of the camera. Benjamin lies down in a crib beside Heather's bed, which she is currently sat in. He's fast asleep and shows no signs of waking up anytime soon.

"He's great. Hey Mr Billionaire, Merry Christmas Eve!" Heather says excitedly as she catches sight of Harry on the camera.

"Hey Heather, Merry Christmas Eve. We don't want to take up too much of your time we know you're probably exhausted" Harry replies, so considerate.

"What's up you guys? Please don't tell me that you're moving to Manchester or something" She giggles as the camera flicks back to her. I answer her question by holding up the hand with the ring on it and grinning back at her. She squints her eyes slightly before gasping loudly.

"BITCH NO WAY WHAT!?" She screams out before quickly clamping her hand over her mouth and leaning over to the bassinet to check on Benjamin. I don't hear any noise so I'm fairly certain he's still sleeping despite her outburst.

"Yup! He asked me a few hours ago" I tell her with a wide smile, very much enjoying her reaction and now wishing I was currently recording it.

"Oh my god I'm so fucking excited for you two! Well done Harry that is a honking big rock" Heather says with an elated giggle.

"Thanks is Heather. Elena insisted you were one of the first to know" Harry tells her with a small smile.

"If you weren't with you're families I would have been pissed if I wasn't the first call." Heather replies with a small giggle, groaning slightly as we can hear the soft sounds of a baby crying on her end of the call.

"We'll leave you too it, I couldn't not tell you. Love you girl" I tell her with a big smile as I give her a wave.

"Bye you two I love you both!" Heather says happily as she waves to us and hangs up the phone.

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"Do people sleep with their engagement rings on?" I ask Harry as he shuts the bedroom door after saying goodnight to his mum.

"I think so, you can take it off if you want" Harry replies after a slight pause before he starts taking off his clothes and getting ready for bed.

"No I never want to take it off, it's soooooo beautiful" I say with a small smile as I climb into bed and sit up. Harry chuckles as he walks to the bathroom and takes out his toothbrush.

"How does it feel being on your hand?" Harry asks before sticking the toothbrush in his mouth, leaning against the doorframe awaiting my answer as he begins to brush his teeth.

"Strange, but in a good way. You know, because it's not any ordinary ring" I say with a wide grin, wiggling my fingers as I examine the way the light bounces off of the ring.

"It's a speshal ring" Harry says with a mouthful of toothpaste and a cheeky grin. I giggle and nod before he turns his back and walks over to the sink.

"A very special ring" I smile to myself. "A ring that means that no man is ever going to hit on me again" I point out proudly, laughing quietly as Harry raises his hands up in victory, as though he's just finished first place in a gruelling marathon.

"Thank fuck for that" Harry says in quiet triumph as he turns out the lights and climbs into the bed beside me. I slide myself down and lay my head on my pillow. Harry leans over to give me a soft kiss, but I put a hand on the back of his head and draw him in closer, deepening the kiss almost instantly. He props himself up on his side just like me and cups my cheek. I gently bring my nails across the back of his neck but he shakes his head and pulls back slightly.

"Nope, I know what you're doing and the answer is no" He says gently. We haven't had sex since the accident, and to say I'm a little desperate would be a massive understatement.

"Please" I pout against his lips before pulling him in for another kiss. I feel a soft sigh against my mouth before he pulls away.

"Trust me I want to, but you're injured. It's not happening" He says, seemingly clinging to his will power for my benefit. I run my fingertips through his hair gently and shake my head softly.

"But I love you, and I want you" I say softly as I tilt my head up to press small soft kisses along his jaw line, a move that I know drives him crazy. He lets out a soft groan and brushes his thumb over my cheek.

"And I love you, so much. Which is why I'm not willing to put you through pain just so we can have sex. No matter how badly I want to" He tells me.

"You realise that the sweeter you are about this the more turned on I get" I tell him quietly as I inch my lips up closer to his ear. I hear a soft chuckle as his hand slides off my cheek and moves down to my shoulder.

"Would you rather I be a dick about it?" He murmurs with a quiet chuckle.

"No I'd rather you fuck me" I reply with a smirk as I draw my head back to look at him. I take advantage of his look of shock at my use of words to kiss him, flicking my tongue against his.

"Elena Rose Graham you are insatiable" He says with a slight chuckle, running his thumb across my cheek. Despite his reassurances, a small part of my brain is nervous about how he'll feel if we aren't able to have sex for a while because of my hip. But that part of my brain got a whole lot smaller when he got down on one knee this afternoon.

"You're still not going to though are you?" I ask quietly with a small smile. Part of me is pleased that he doesn't want to have sex with me because he's knows that it will be painful, but the other part just really kind of wants to fuck and so that puts me in a tough spot.

"Not while you're this injured, but that doesn't mean we can't still do stuff" He says with a quiet smirk as I feel his finger tips running slowly up the inside of my thighs. My breath hitches in my throat as he leans in and places a soft kiss to my throat, his finger moving up to the waistband of my pyjama shorts, slowly pressing their way under the elastic hem.

"Just like when we were first dating" I say with a slight giggle. To think how nervous I was about sex back then, it's kind of crazy to see how much I've changed, for the better.

"I like how this has always been mine, and how it always will be mine" Harry whispers against my neck as his fingertips trace against the outside of my underwear, I unconsciously squeeze my legs together, now desperate to feel any kind of friction from his hand.

"Yours forever" I say with a soft moan as I press my hand against the front of his sweatpants, I can feel him harden underneath my hand as I gently stroke him through his layers of clothing. He gently nips at my neck as he dips his fingers into my underwear, gently stroking the tip of my entrance.

"Fucking hell I love it when you say that" He says with a low groan. I push down his sweatpants and boxers and wrap my hand around his length, running my thumb gently over the tip. I feel two of his fingers push up inside me and I squeeze my eyes shut, relishing the feeling.

"Oh god that feels so good" I moan out quietly, trying to be mindful of all the other occupants in the house. I feel Harry's fingers press in an out slowly as his lips remaining on my neck, inching their way up to behind my ear where my tattoo baring his initial. I stroke my hand faster against him, gently squeezing him as I do so.

"You're so fucking wet, fuck it's been way too long" He groans near my ear before he nips at my ear lobe with his teeth. I agree, at this point it's been about three weeks since the accident, which means three weeks of no sex or anything.

"I've missed you" I whisper quietly as I bring up my other hand to tangle in his hair, tugging on it gently. He brings his head back up and connects my lips with his in a messy and rushed kiss, his hips slightly bucking against my hand as I continue to stroke him.

"Oh baby, you've got no fucking idea how much I've missed this" Harry moans softly as he quickens the movement of his fingers, curling them slightly before bringing his other hand down to rub against my clit.

I tug on his hair and tilt my head down, pressing my face against the crook of his neck to let out a series of loud moans that muffle against his skin. My skin feels like it's on fire, I can feel my legs starting to shake. And even though it hurts my hips a little, I try to move against his fingers to increase the friction.

"Faster" I gently whine against his neck. "Please, it feels so good" I bring my hand down from his hair and into his shoulder, digging my nails into his skin as I gently squeeze his balls.

"Shit I'm so close" Harry groans as his fingers begin to move at a rapid pace, pulling out and pushing back in at quick succession, his other hand quickly rubbing my clit in a circular motion. I'm honestly surprised I'm doing anything for him, I'm just so absorbed in the way he's touching me. I press quick kisses to his neck as I drag my nails across his shoulder and down his chest.

"Me too, oh god Harry" I mumble against his throat as I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Come for me baby" He demands, and I do with a spectacular force that requires I grip onto Harry's shoulder and moan loudly against his neck. My hand goes limp as I feel Harry reach his own point of release, the aftermath coating the back of my hand as I use my fingers to gently coax out every last bit.

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"Lena Lena Lena!" Charlie excitedly cries out as she bursts into my room on Christmas morning. I squint my eyes open to watch as she clambers up onto the bed beside me and Harry hurried through the doorway behind her.

"Hey Charlie, merry Christmas" I say sleepily as I reach my hand out towards her and she crawls over into my embrace, lying her head on my chest briefly.

"Santa's here! Come see!" Charlie squeals after hugging me.

"Charlie, I told you to let Elena rest" Harry says quietly as he stands at the foot of the bed looking disapprovingly at her with his arms folded across his chest.

"But Santa!" Charlie responds excitedly, jumping up and down on her hands and knees.

"She's got a point, I can't sleep through Santa visiting" I laugh as I sit myself up. I try and mask the pain it causes, not wanting to alarm Charlie. "You go and see Santa, I'll be out in a few minutes" I tell Charlie before she climbs off the bed and hurries back out the bedroom door, which Harry shuts after her.

"What time is it?" I ask him as I slowly bring my legs over to the side of the bed and prepare to stand up. My cane is just beside the bed, that's all I'll need to move around the bedroom.

"Just past 8" Harry says simply, a furrow in his brow. "Did you overdo it yesterday?" He asks as he walks over to me and puts a hand on my back as I slowly ease myself up to stand.

"Perhaps. But it was all worth it" I smile up at him and watch his look of concern shift to one of slight elation. After all, if we hadn't gone on our walk who knows if I would have this ring on my finger right now?

"Merry Christmas bub" Harry says before leaning down and kissing me softly.

"Merry Christmas" I say against his lips, my grin widening. "Come on then, help me get dressed I don't want to miss seeing Santa" I say with a giggle and walk over to my bag. I hear Harry chuckle behind me before he joins me, helping me into a white sweater and a pair of black pants.

Once I've brushed my hair and cleaned my teeth, Harry and I walk back out of the bedroom and down the hall into the living room. Anne stands just outside the hallway watching the kids sit with 'Santa'.

"Merry Christmas sweetheart" Anne says when she spots me, turning around and giving me a hug.

"Merry Christmas Anne" I smile and rest my head on her shoulder as I hug her back. I feel a hand on my back and turn to see my mum.

"Good Morning my darling girl. Merry Christmas" Mum says as she wraps me in a hug as Anne and I part ways.

"Merry Christmas mumma" I say as she gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Lena! Santa!" Charlie calls out to me as she sits beside 'Santa'. I nod and laugh softly.

"I see him Charlie. Merry Christmas Santa" I smile at Peter, who gives me a wink. He must be thrilled that this is working and that Charlie isn't recognising him.

"And Merry Christmas to you dear Elena." Peter replies in an odd accent, obviously trying to emulate an old fat man.

"Does Santa have any presents for Charlie and Theo?" Gemma prompts him as we all move to sit down on the sofas around the living room. Anne insists I take one of the large armchairs and Harry props himself up on the edge of the armrest. I tilt my head to rest against his arm.

"Of course I do! Right in here!" Peter says jovially as he picks up a large red sack from the floor. Charlie eagerly shoves her hands in and takes out a box wrapped in unicorn wrapping paper. Gemma gives me a kiss on the cheek before she moves to sit down on the floor in front of Santa and her kids and helps them to unwrap the large amount of presents that have been brought for them. Anne stands by with a camera and eagerly clicks pictures of all of them.

"Are you comfortable, do you want a tea?" Harry asks me quietly as Charlie squeals excitedly about a doll. I shake my head and take one of his hands in mine.

"I'm good thank you, everything's good" I tilt my head up and smile up to him as I speak. In all the madness these past few months have been, I'm so grateful for all of this. I'm engaged to the love of my life, I'm with my family on Christmas and I'm in relatively good health. Everything truly is good. Harry smiles warmly before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

"Alright, it's time for me to head off to see the other boys and girls! But Merry Christmas everyone!" Peter proclaims as he gives one last hug to Charlie before standing up and waving to us as he leaves out the front door. Charlie is way more interested in her toys than in saying goodbye any further, I doubt she'll even notice when Peter slips back in once he's out of his costume.

"Were you good for Santa while I was asleep?" I ask Harry with a grin. He rolls his eyes and nods his head.

"I was, I didn't spoil it for the kids" He says begrudgingly. My lovely grinch.

"Well done" I tell him, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He smiles to himself and nods his head.

"It was difficult, I had to say hello to him and pretend that he was Santa, Charlie was watching me like a hawk" He informs me. "She's going to be a massive trouble maker when she gets older I can feel it" he gestures to Charlie, who sits on the rug with a new stuffed puppy toy and makes it bark at Theo, who finds it the funniest thing he's ever seen and laughs hysterically.

"I think she'll be okay, especially since she'll have all of us around her" I say as my mum laughs as Charlie makes the dog bark at her too. Harry nods his head slowly before standing up, a warm smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

"I'm going to make some tea, and I'm making you one too" He announces before leaving to go to the kitchen just as Charlie brings the dog over to me.

"My puppy!" She announces, flashing me a toothy grin and holding the toy up in front of me.

"He's so sweet! Can I give him a pat?" I ask, smiling back at her. Charlie nods and places the dog in my lap as I gently stroke the toys back. She's such a great kid, always down just to play around and have a bit of fun. "What are you going to call him?" I ask her as she climbs up into the small space beside me on the chair.

"Puppy!" She states proudly, taking him back off my lap and hugging it to her chest.

"Simple and to the point, I like it" I tell her with a grin, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and cuddling her into my side. I don't think I ever truly realised what I was missing out on as a kid until now. I didn't have any siblings, and no real family members that I was close to. That's why having this little niece who likes to spend time with me is so special to me, because now that I have it I don't want it to ever go away.

"It's present time!" Anne announces as Peter slips in through the front door, dressed in a red sweater and jeans as he casually takes a seat beside where Anne was previously sitting. "Now that Santa had to unfortunately leave us, we'll have to have some helpers to help pass out the presents!" Anne smiles warmly to us all as Charlie throws her hand up into the air and jumps off the armchair.

"I help I help I wanna help!" She says enthusiastically as she hurries over to the tree. Michael follows and together they both sit beside the large mountain of presents by the tree. Harry comes back with two cups of tea and hands me one before taking his spot on the arm rest of the chair.

"Another one of mums traditions" Harry begins to quietly explain as Michael digs a present out from the pile and hands it to Charlie. "She makes the young ones help to hand out the presents, supposed to be some sort of psychological thing that helps them learn about sharing and giving back. So they don't become spoiled brats around the holiday season"

It seems to work, as Charlie happily reads out who the present is for and who it's from before bringing it over to the recipient. First one out of the gate is to Gemma from Peter, which produces a lovely looking tea set which Gemma seems awfully pleased with.

"I think it's a lovely tradition" I say as I watch Charlie dutifully walk back to the tree and wait for the next present to be handed to her. I think she enjoys the attention, knowing that this whole operation falls apart unless she chooses to cooperate.

"To 'Unkie Harry' from 'Clodeya'" Charlie giggles as she struggles through my mums name before bringing the soft medium size present over to Harry. I sneak a glance at my mum, who sits beside Gemma looking slightly nervous.

"Thank you Charlie" Harry says quietly before carefully unwrapping the present she's handed him. Eventually a brightly coloured hand knitted cardigan emerges and Harry holds it up with a wide grin, taking it in.

"You don't have to wear it" Mum says with a smile. "I just figured that we always joke that you should wear a bit more colour and I thought I should add to it" Harry shakes his head with a smile.

"This is awesome, I can't believe you made this" Harry says as he puts it on, earning a lot of praise for my mums handiwork from the others in the room. Of course it looks incredible on him, and I genuinely think the likes it. "Thank you so much" Harry says as he stands up and walks over, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Mum seems caught off guard by his enthusiastic response, as she warmly smiles and her cheeks flush red.

"You're welcome honey" She says quietly before Harry sits back down with me, smiling down at me.

"You seriously like it?" I ask him quietly as Anne opens a present from Gemma.

"It's so comfortable you have no idea" He chuckles softly as he runs his hands over the sleeves of his covered arm. "I seriously like it, she clearly made it with love" He says with quiet pride, obviously elated that my mum would go to such an effort for him.

"To 'Lena' from 'Anne'!" Charlie states proudly as she hops over to me and gives me a small present that feels soft to the touch, wrapped in gorgeous red wrapping paper.

"Thank you Charlie, you're doing such a good job" I tell her quietly as I open the present. From it emerges a yellow material that I begin to unfold.

"Everyone in my family has their own apron for when they help out in my kitchen. I thought it was high time you had one of your own" Anne explains with a warm smile as the apron unfolds. Across the chest my name is embroidered in red with flowers stitched around the edges. It's so lovingly personalised me thoughtful, I can feel myself tearing up as I look at it.

"Mum you might want to come get a cuddle from her" Harry tells his mum after helping me to turn the material around to show the rest of the room, obviously catching sight of my teary eyes. Anne walks quickly over and kneels down beside my seat, hugging me gently.

"It's so lovely, thank you" I say as I lie my head on her shoulder and she rubs my back. She wishes me a merry Christmas before hurrying back to her seat to watch as Michael helps Theo unwrap a present.

"It's pretty cute" Harry says with a smile as he folds up the apron for me and places it down on the small table beside him. "Mum asked me what colour she thought you'd like, of course I went with yellow" He speaks softly before looking back down at me, wiping his thumb across my cheek to catch some of the moisture that has dripped down.

Presents continue to be exchanged for well over an hour. Mum was so delighted at the mixer Harry and I got for her and even began to eagerly discuss with Anne about the different recipes that she could make using it.

"To Hareee from Lena" Charlie calls out and brings Harry over a small box with a little white bow on top. I all of a sudden become very nervous. After all, what do you buy the man who has everything and has given you everything? I've also found that in my search, Harry is very hard to shop for. Harry takes it with a grin and shakes his head.

"You really didn't have to get me anything" He states with a small smirk as he unwraps the wrapping paper. I wait nervously as he unearths a small white box and takes the lid off of it. Inside are a pair of small gold cuff links, one with the initial 'E' and the other with the initial 'H'.

"I figured when you were wearing a suit you could wear them and know that I'm always with you" I say with a shrug as Harry grins at the content of the box. I hear Gemma make a small 'aww' sound across the room before Harry leans down and kisses my lips.

"I love them" He grins and kisses the tip of my nose before lifting up the box to find another small wrapped item underneath it. "There's more?" He asks. I nod and smile softly, taking the box with the cuff links in them so that he can unwrap the last present. This ones slightly more sentimental, and it took me quite a long time to make. Thank god I didn't leave it until later on, or else it wouldn't exist at all.

"What is that?" Gemma asks as Harry bites his lip, removing the present from its wrapping and unfurling it.

"It's a guitar strap" Harry says with grin, turning it over to examine it. After seeing how excited he was about doing music, I thought it would be a cool idea to paint a guitar strap for him. On it I painted pivotal moments from our relationship against a cream yellow background; an Eiffel Tower, the logo for the movie 'Love Actually', a bowling ball, a pair of emerald earrings, an open book, a recreation of my tattoo, a sunflower, the front door of our new home, a pool and the initials 'C' and 'T' for our god children.

"I painted it, all the little items are symbolic of our relationship" I explain to the room as I wait for Harry to say something. He looks at each individual painting in great details, smiling at them and biting his lip.

"Elena honey that's gorgeous" My mum says as she leans forward in her seat and examines it. Harry looks down at me and grins widely, a slight glimmer in his eyes.

"It's perfect, completely perfect" He states as he leans down to kiss me again. From the look in his eyes I can swear I see the beginning of tears forming.

"And there's plenty of room, so I can add more things to it. Like this for example" I say as I hold up my hand with my ring on. He chuckles and nods his head, sniffling slightly.

"Oh darling are you crying?" Anne gasps happily as she wanders over to look at the guitar strap. Harry keeps his eyes down and shrugs his shoulders, but I can see him squeezing his eyes slightly.

"It's just a very nice gift" He says with a slight chuckle as his mum hugs him tightly. Sounds like I did a good job. Gemma comes over to our chair and picks up the guitar strap.

"Elena this is amazing, and it's such a sweet gift" Gemma says as she passes it to Michael to have a look. Anne steps back and gives Harry a small pat on the head as Harry smiles and looks down at his lap.

"It's amazing bub" Harry tells me quietly, stroking a thumb across my cheek. I turn my head slightly and lightly kiss the pad of his thumb.

"I'm glad you like it" I say with a smile as Peter hands the strap back to Harry, who carefully takes it and goes back to closely examining it.

"And now we have Harry's gift to Elena" Michael announces as he hands Charlie the present, shaped like a box that appears to be quite heavy for Charlie. But still, she manages to bring it over to me and hand it to me.

"Don't you think you've given me enough presents?" I say with a slight giggle. Between my birthday and the engagement, there's been a lot of gift giving happening recently. Harry shrugs his shoulders with a grin.

"Absolutely not" He replies as I carefully unwrap the wrapping paper. Inside it is a box, I lift the lid off of the box to reveal a collection of books with titles I instantly recognise.

"Jane Austen's books, all first editions" Harry tells me softly as I pull my hand back away from the covers, just as I was about to touch them. I can't believe it, I can't believe they're just here in front of me, just sitting in my lap.

"No way" I gasp quietly and look up at him in disbelief. These must have cost him a fortune, on top of being nearly impossible to track down. Tears are immediately springing to my eyes, a very regular occurrence for me these days.

"Yes way" Harry quietly chuckles before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Harry that's such a wonderful gift" My mum says in complete awe. I place the books on the ground and extend my arm up to wrap around his neck, pulling him down to tightly hug him. He sort of falls into the armchair with me and lets out a slight chuckle, rubbing my back softly.

"Thank you, I love them and I love you so much" I say quietly, kissing his cheek softly. I feel him smile against my lips as he kisses me softly.

"You're welcome baby, I'm glad you like them" He replies warmly.

"This one is to mummy from daddy" Charlie proudly skips over to Gemma as we continue to open the remainder of the presents. I place the box carefully by my feet, as though it's a live bomb that will explode if I shake it. First Editions, of my favourite collection of books. On top of all the other wonderful things this man has given me, I can barely believe it.

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Presents carefully stowed away, it's all hands on deck to help prepare for the extended family to come for Christmas lunch. Even I've been put to work, folding napkins around silverware for all of the attendants. Well that, and minding Theo, who's sitting on my lap playing with a ball that rattles when he shakes it. And even though I'm not technically cooking, I've put on my new apron from Anne to give it it's first test drive. It has pockets at the front and the yellow instantly puts me into an already brighter mood than I was originally in.

"Can we turn this crap off?" Harry groans as the Christmas music station plays over the loud speaker. Gemma leans over and hits his arm with a spatula. Harry chuckles slightly as he helps Anne peel some more potatoes. "Oh come on, it's barely a swear word. Plus she's in the living room" Harry points out. I turn to see Charlie happily kneeling on the floor in front of a new dolls house that Michael's quickly assembled. Apparently being a doctor also means you're a whizz at building flat pack dolls houses, something to remember.

"Still she's repeating everything lately. I was talking to Angie on the phone the other day and I said 'S-H-I-T' and Charlie started singing it to herself under her breath while she was doing her colouring" Gemma explains. I bite my lip to stop myself from giggling, but Anne and Claudia are in fits at just the mere mention of it.

"Elena's third word was the 'f' word" Mum laughs quietly. Harry's eyes widen as he grins over at me.

"It was not!" I say, appalled by the insinuation that I was a toddler saying the 'f' word.

"It was too! I was driving you to the supermarket and somebody cut me off so I laid on the horn and called them an 'effing moron' and you laughed and called out the 'f' word as loud as you could" Mum explains. Gemma laughs into a dishcloth as she takes a break from slicing up bread. Harry grins widely.

"That's incredible" He states happily. "Please tell me a thousand more stories exactly like that" He requests with a smirk. Mum giggles and nods her head.

"Unfortunately there aren't many stories like that, she was a lovely little girl but sometimes she could be so funny and cheeky" My mum says to Harry as I fold the last napkin and turn my attention back to Theo.

"Like...?" Harry prompts her, putting an arm around Anne's shoulder and tilting his head to rest on top of hers. Anne smiles widely to herself as she continues to chop up the recently peeled potatoes.

"She used to have this little rag doll and whenever she did something bad, she would tell me 'Dolly did it'" Mum explains, referencing my fabric rag doll with red hair and a green dress, my faithful companion. "Spilled her juice on the floor, 'Dolly did it'. Brought mud into the house when she didn't take off her boots like I asked, 'Dolly did it'. Poured all the bubble bath mixture into the tub, 'Dolly did it'" Harry chuckles as my mum tells him all about my blaming game with my little doll. What was I supposed to do? I didn't have a sibling I could place the blame on and I didn't want to take all the heat!

"Aw bub, that's adorable" Harry says to me with a wide smirk.

"Yeah like you never blamed anything on Rufus!?" I retort with a grin.

"No but he did sleep with it every night until he was 11" Gemma says quietly as she keeps her eyes down, slicing the bread. Harry smirks and narrows his eyes at her.

"Careful Gemma, I could have a picture of you in your goth phase on the internet in a minute flat" Harry threatens to which Gemma widens her eyes. I laugh quietly and cuddle Theo to my chest.

"Really Gemma? A goth?" I ask with a grin. Gemma sighs sadly.

"It was a phaassseee, I didn't even do that much" She says with a slight whine.

"You fried your hair with the straightener every morning and dyed it pitch black, not to mention the crazy amount of pocket money you spent on eyeliner" Harry replies, loving every second of this back and forth.

"Oh don't worry I have photos, I'll show you later" Anne tells me with a small giggle as she brings over a stack of plates. "These look wonderful sweetheart" She tells me as she examines the napkins, Gemma and Harry still bickering behind us.

"It's no big deal" I say with a shy smile as Theo shifts in my lap, reaching a hand up to touch my face. Anne grins and I catch her looking down at the hand where my ring sits proudly on my finger, glistening under the light.

"I'm so happy you said yes" She tells me in a low whisper, giving my shoulder a soft squeeze.

"I never would have said no" I reply with a grin. She's about to respond but is cut off by a knock at the door.

"That must be our guests!" Anne says happily as she walks over to the front door and throws it open. "Merry Christmas!" She announces happily as Harry's aunt and uncle quickly clamber into the house. I instantly recognise his Uncle Will and Aunt Sylvia, his uncle may be one of the tallest men I've ever seen in my life and his loud voice booms through the room.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" He calls out as Gemma and Harry both go over to greet them. I readjust my hold on Theo and prepare to stand up.

"Oh darling no don't get up we'll come to you!" Sylvia says quickly as she breaks from her hug with Gemma and hurries over to my chair. "Anne told us about the accident, how are you feeling?" She asks sweetly as she kneels down beside my chair and gives Theo a small tickle under the chin before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Better than I was a few days ago, it's good to see you again" I smile whilst I reply, I haven't seen either of them since Charlie and Theo's christening nearly six months ago.

"You remember our boys, Arthur and Warren" Will says loudly as he places a hand on the shoulders of the two teenage boys standing awkwardly off to the side. I met them briefly at the christening.

"Of course, hey guys" I wave to them as Will comes over and leans down to kiss my cheek.

"Is it true the car flipped?" One of them, I believe it's Warren, asks after Will steps back. "One of the newspapers said it flipped and the other one said it rolled" He clarifies his point as Sylvia stands up and and shoots them a stern look.

"Warren!" She reprimands him.

"It was in the paper?" I ask Harry, furrowing my brow. I didn't know that the accident was public knowledge, car accidents don't really ever make news unless someone dies. Harry shrugs and nods his head.

"Yeah, they caught wind that it was my car" He relies simply. "And no, it didn't roll or flip, if it had things would have been much worse" Harry turns to the boys and speaks flatly. No- one says anything for several seconds before Anne breaks the silence.

"Let's get everyone a drink, Gemma you help me" She says, encouraging a chorus of people requesting a certain drink or just opening the fridge to take it for themselves.

"Oh and this lovely woman is Elena's mother Claudia" Anne announces as she puts a hand on my mums shoulder, introducing her to the other family members. Harry makes his way over to me with a glass of water and what looks to be a whiskey for him.

"Sorry about those boys, they're fucking dicks" Harry tells me quietly as he sits down at the table with me and takes a sip.

"They're teenage boys, I get it" I say with a small shrug and a reassuring smile. The comment didn't bother me that much, but I think it bothered Harry. Unlike me, he actually remembers the accident and dealt with the aftermath of me being unconscious and having to go through surgery. I put a hand on his knee and give it a gentle squeeze as he takes another sip of his drink. "Will Jack be coming?" I ask him. I never got the chance to speak to him at the christening, but Harry did and apparently it went well.

"Should be, he said he was coming. It'll be nice to see him" Harry says simply as Theo stretches out a hand to him, holding the rattling ball to Harry to take. Harry picks it up and shakes it gently, smiling as Theo quickly takes it back as though he'd forgotten that it made that sound.

"Don't worry, you can talk to him this year" Harry says with a soft grin. I remember Harry's extreme freak out after Jack tried to talk to me for a minute at last years pre Christmas get together. All Jack wanted was for me to help him bridge the gap between the two of them, to show Harry that he had really changed for the better and to attempt to make amends. But Harry wasn't having any of it, I'm so glad he and Jack are in a better place this year.

"I see Uncle Toms car" Gemma announces to the room as she peers out a window nearby Harry and I as she walks over to check on Theo. "How do you get him to sit so calm and chilled out like that?" She asks, gesturing down to my lap as Theo sits basically perfectly still, rattling the ball to himself.

"I think he's just bored" I say with a small giggle. "I've barely paid attention to him honestly" The door opens and Harry's aunt Jen bursts into the room, her white blonde hair looks freshly coloured and curled to perfection.

"Merry Christmas my darlings!" She calls out to the room in quite a posh sounding accent, throwing her arms open for Anne who eagerly gives her a hug.

"Jesus christ" Harry mutters under his breath as he takes another large sip of whiskey. I think Jen may have officially replaced Jack as his least favourite family member. And it makes sense, apparently she was quite an enabler of Jack and was totally game to just take Harry's money without any thought or even a thank you.

"It's just a few hours" I remind him, leaning over to kiss his cheek as the door shuts behind Uncle Tom and Jack, who's hair is now jet black and pulled into a neat bun.

"Oh Elena darling how are you, Anne told us about your ghastly accident" Jen kneels down and gives me a kiss on each cheek, I want to laugh at her accent but I manage to keep a straight face.

"I'm okay, how are you Jen?" I ask. I don't remember seeing her at the Christening myself, maybe I was unconsciously avoiding her.

"Well we're lovely but we've been so concerned about you, both of you" Jen pouts and reaches over me to give Harry's hand a squeeze.

"Didn't call though" He mutters under his breath as Jen turns around and gives Michael a kiss on the cheek. Harry stands and extends his hand out to Jack as he walks over nervously. Gemma lifts Theo off my lap and brings him into the kitchen with her.

"You need a fucking haircut mate" Harry grins as he and Jack shake hands in greeting. Jack rolls his eyes and lets out a half laugh.

"Haven't you heard? Man buns are very trendy these days. How are you guys?" He asks as he sits down across from us, leaning over to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"We're good, it's so good to see you again. You're looking great" I smile as I respond.

"Thank you, I'm feeling good. Sober now 14 months and 9 days" Jack states with quiet achievement. Harry nods his head, unable to mask the grin.

"That's great work mate. And you gotta make sure you keep it up" Harry says with a small measure of pride.

"Of course. I'm just so glad we could all be together for this, Anne said there was a chance you were going to be in the hospital over Christmas" Jack says sympathetically. Harry told me when I was in the hospital that Jack would check in with either him or Anne every few days. It was something that Harry really appreciated, considering some of the other family members who he notably didn't hear from.

"It was slightly touch and go for a while there, but this ones a fighter, she really wanted to go home" Harry says with a small smile.

"I was so desperate to leave by the end. I mean, don't get me wrong the hospital staff were absolutely incredible. But I was just done with laying there in a place that wasn't my home, I didn't feel like I was healing at all" I tell Jack. I feel like I was losing my mind towards the end. Staring at the same four walls for a few hours at a time in between massive pain killer induced sleeps. I lost track of time completely, I didn't feel like myself at all.

"Well, you remember to take it easy. That was shitty stuff you went through, you have to let your body and your mind heal from it no matter how long it takes" Jack tells me kindly. I can see Harry nodding his head out of the corner of my eyes.

"An excellent point Jack" Harry states as Anne, Peter and Michael all carry over large dishes of different meats and vegetables and place them on the table.

"Okay everyone, take a seat!" Anne calls out to everyone who's still gathered in the kitchen. Harry sits to my right and Charlie squeezes in to sit beside me, carrying a small juice box and holding it out to me.

"Help please" She says slowly after some effort, really trying to make that 'l' sound work. I take the juice box in my hand and attach the straw before handing it back to her.

"My goodness Elena, what's that iceberg on your finger?!" Will asks with his booming voice. In all the chaos of everyone arriving, Harry and I didn't get a chance to announce that we were engaged. I turn to Harry as everyone else sits down and he stands up, drawing the attention of the whole room.

"Uh just a quick announcement before we get into eating this amazing food. Last night I asked this wonderful woman to marry me, and she said yes. We're engaged" He says simply, putting a hand on my shoulder gently. Will beams with pride and Jens mouth drops open in surprise. They all get up and insist on congratulating us, which ends with them leaning over the table to give me a kiss on the cheek and to shake Harry's hand.

"Congratulations you two that's wonderful news, you must be thrilled Anne" Will states as he sits back down. Anne nods her head smiling from ear to ear. Harry sits back down and puts a hand on my thigh, smiling gently at me.

"Thrilled, ecstatic, overjoyed, all of the above" Anne replies, my mum nods her head in agreement as she sits beside her.

"I hope nobody minds, but I'd like to make a toast" Michael says as he stands up, a beer in his hand. Anne smiles up appreciatively at her son-in-law as he does.

"I just wanted to say thank you. There have been wonderful times and not so wonderful times, but we got through it together as a family. In this family we take care of each other, we support one another, make time to be together, and to me that means everything. So, this Christmas I just want you all to know how very grateful I am to be a part of this family, and to say thank you for allowing me to be in it. Merry Christmas everyone" Michael's says with a kind smile, everyone raises their glasses and clinks them against one another's. Harry makes the extra effort to lean over and clink his glass against Michael's, giving him a small nod.

"That was a sweet speech" I say quietly to Harry as a chorus of different conversations begin to start around the table. Harry nods and finishes the rest of his whiskey.

"He did good. I've had my doubts about him over the years, but he's growing on me lately" Harry admits with a small smile, turning to look at me. I remember Michael mentioning at the christening that he always felt like Harry was a brick wall that he couldn't fight his way through easily. But I think it's fair to say that slowly but surely he's sending those walls tumbling down.

Dishes are passed down along the line as we all help to serve ourselves food. Harry holds the heavier plates for me as I gather some food for myself. Anne's made a very impressive spread for us all, and I can see small details of my mums help in a few of the dishes. Conversations flow with great ease as well, Jack, Will and Peter are immediately in an animated conversation about football which Harry joins in on occasionally. Gemma and I bounce between talking with Charlie and discussing reality TV when she has her mouth full. And all the mums seem to be wrapped up in their own world talking about cooking shows, TV soap operas and mum brings forth a lot of knowledge about how to get the other women to improve their 'knitting game'. Harry checks in with me every so often, giving my thigh a soft squeeze or simply leaning over to kiss my cheek, asking if I need anything. I don't know if it could have been more of a perfect Christmas if we tried.

————————————————————————

We leave Anne's house just the afternoon of Boxing Day. It's been lovely spending so much time with Harry's family the past few days and having my mum around, but I'm eager to settle back in to the house and get some well needed rest. Plus, renovations have finished on the new house and Harry's had movers pack up the majority of the apartment and move it all in to the new house.

"We can create a new code for this apparently, I'll figure out how in the next few days" Harry says as we pull up to the large set of black gates at the edge of the property. He leans out the window and types in a six digit code before the gate swings open and allows Harry to drive us through.

"And we'll definitely need a gardener" I say as I grin out the window, admiring the wide open fields that sit either side of the road leading up to the house. The grass is slightly overgrown and the trees covering the driveway will probably need to be cut back slightly.

"And a cleaner, it'd be fucking nightmare to clean" Harry points out. Nine bedrooms, that's a lot of cleaning. We round the corner and the house comes fully into view, I still can't believe that I get to live here, that my name is on the lease next to Harry's as an owner of this place.

"Plus you'll have to get used to there not being a chef downstairs 24/7 for whenever you want a meal" I tell him with a grin. Living in a hotel has definitely had its perks. Harry chuckles as he clicks a button to open the garage door and pulls his car into one of the spaces. I can see the first car Harry bought me sitting against the wall next to the new one Harry surprised me with the day of the accident. He showed me photos of it while I was in the hospital, but it really is so beautiful in person.

"The rest of my cars are being delivered tomorrow so we'll quickly fill up both the garages" Harry explains as he parks the car and turns it off. Each of the garages can fit around 6 cars, an insane amount for just one person. Boys and their toys.

"Have you ordered a new Range Rover?" I ask him as I open my door and slowly swing my legs out, preparing to stand up. Harry climbs out.

"I did, but now I'm thinking of cancelling it. I might want a Tesla instead" Harry replies as he walks over to the other side of the garage and comes back with a wheelchair. "Figured this might be easier for the first couple of weeks. Especially since these hallways are so long" He says with a shrug. Just for the mean time, we've moved our stuff into one of the smaller rooms on the ground floor on the account of my fucking broken body. Harry suggested we put in an elevator, but I thought that that was a ridiculous solution to a hopefully short term problem. And besides it would take weeks, maybe months, for them to fit one in and it would mess with the whole construction of the house.

"Good thinking" I say with a small smile as I ease myself into the wheelchair. I grab my bag and Harry collects one of the overnight bags before he wheels me up through the door leading into the main house.

"Your office is practically all set up, I didn't think you'd want them to stack the books up for you" Harry tells me as he opens the door to the office and allows me to look inside. The walls have been beautifully painted, one of the pieces of artwork I bought from Max's gallery is hung, and about 12 large boxes labeled 'BOOKS' litter the floor, ready to be sorted and organised.

"Thank you, I haven't decided on how I want to stack them. If I go by author or if I do a cool colour theme, lots of different options" I say with a happy sigh. I hear Harry chuckle behind me as he wheels me back out of the room and back down the hallway. I know he thinks I'm ridiculous, but he does indulge me a bit in my crazy book loving life.

"Couch or bed?" Harry asks as we end up in the main living area. It's about six times the size of my first apartment, and it houses the massive kitchen, a large dining table and just one of the living rooms. There's also a seperate more formal living room down the other end of the house. This one has a large white couch with accompanying arm chairs positioned in front of a massive TV. The movers have done a great job placing everything, although most of the plants have ended up here until we figure out where else in the house we want to put them.

"Couch. Heather is on her way with Benjamin" I say as Harry wheels me over to the couch and helps me sit down on it.

"She sound alright on the phone?" Harry asks as he grabs the yellow throw mum knit me for Christmas last year and tucks it over my legs.

"She sounds tired but good, apparently Benji's a relatively good sleeper" I answer. I spoke to her in the car and she demanded to 'see the rock in person ASAP'. Plus I need to give her her Christmas presents and have a snuggle with Benji boy.

"I'll just get everything out of the car" Harry says before leaving back down the hallway back towards the garage. I look out into the back yard, I don't know if I realised just how massive this area is. It looks almost like a small campground, I can practically picture a dozen or more tents pitched up near the pool. Maybe one day it will sink in that I actually live here.

"Hey when Heather gets her just tell her to ring the buzzer and we can open the gate remotely" Harry says as he places some grocery bags on the kitchen counter. Anne insisted that we take some leftovers of all the food she made for Christmas lunch. I'm about to tell him that I will, when my phone starts to buzz on my lap. I'm expecting it to be Heather, but the phone flashes with a phone number I don't recognise and don't have saved.

"Hello?" I answer the phone to the unknown number.

"Um, hey Elena, it's Luke" The timid voice I instantly recognise answers after a few seconds of silence. Harry looks at me expectantly, I keep eye contact with him. This isn't going to be good.

"Oh, hey Luke, how are you?" I reply quietly. Harry's face immediately scowls and he gestures for me to give him the phone, I shake my head and tilt my head away from him as he attempts to take it out of my hands.

"I'm okay. Sorry to just call you like this, but I heard about the accident and just wanted to see if you were okay" He says, his voice slightly muffled. Harry stands up and walks over to the kitchen, the fridge opening with a forceful rattle. If there was anybody that was going to call that would have made Harry so mad, it would either be Luke or my father. Judging by this reaction, I think he would have rather it be my father.

"Oh that's nice of you. It sort of fucked up the whole right side of my body, I was in the hospital for like three weeks" I say with a small smile, it sounds completely bizarre to say it all out loud. I don't think it's properly sunk in yet how traumatic it all was, maybe I should schedule an appointment with Dr Lawrence.

"Holy shit" Luke replies under his breath. "Are you out now?" He asks. Harry stands in the kitchen with a beer in his hand, a very cross look on his face as he stares down at it.

"Yeah I got out just before Christmas. I can't totally walk properly, I use a cane and a walking frame now" I laugh slightly as I tell him, stopping as soon as I see Harry roll his eyes and lean back against the counter in the kitchen.

"Well I bet you make it look cool" Luke says with a chuckle. "I'm guessing since Harry was in the accident too that that's still going on?" He says suggestively. Now would have been a good time to tell him that we got engaged, but something tells me that it's not a good idea.

"Yeah it is. He's been amazing" I say, watching as Harry slightly lifts his head up. The frown hasn't gone away, but it softens ever so slightly. He's still mad though, I can almost feel it radiating through the air.

"Oh that's cool, that's great. I'm sure he's not too happy about me calling you. Please tell him I didn't mean anything presumptuous by it" He says with a nervous chuckle. I disagree, if I had said that Harry and I weren't together I'm sure he would ask me out so I don't know if his motives were totally pure.

"Of course, thanks for checking in, it was nice to hear from you" I say as I try to end the call on a nice note, I look away from Harry as I'm sure he's not too happy.

"Yeah of course. I'll see you later, take care Elena" I can almost hear the smile in his voice as he says it.

"You too Luke, bye" I say before ending the call and placing the phone back down in my lap. I risk a look at Harry, who grips the edge of the counter top.

"Why the fuck did you answer the phone to him?" Harry quickly asks, an underlying tone of anger. Here we go.

"It was an unknown number" I say with a shrug, trying to diffuse the situation before it pops off.

"Okay. So why didn't you hang up once you realised who it was?" He answers simply, as though that should have been my go to move.

"Because I'm not rude. It was like a thirty second call and I haven't spoken to him in months you can't seriously be mad about this" I scoff and run my fingers through my hair. This is ridiculous, I answered a call from him accidentally and we had a pleasant conversation that Harry witnessed.

"But I am. He told me he'd leave you alone. You said he was out of your life" Harry retorts with a frown. That's right, he threatened Luke to leave me alone or there'd be consequences. I still take great issue with that, what if Luke had been a really good friend and not just a work acquaintance?

"And he was, I obviously don't have his number saved so I haven't been in contact with him. And besides, he was calling to wish me well which was a nice thing to do" I keep my voice level and calm, if I start yelling then it's a fight. And I don't want to have a fight, we got engaged two days ago and it's been so long since we've had a real proper fight. Plus we've been through a lot together and I feel like I should cut him some slack after how amazing he's been the last few weeks. But I'm not going to apologise for answering a call and talking to someone for thirty seconds.

"Nice would be leaving you alone like he said he would" Harry mutters angrily as he starts to take the containers out of the shopping bags and store them in the fridge.

"I think you're overreacting to this a bit" I tell him softly. If it wouldn't take me 10 minutes I'd be in the kitchen with him, stroking his arm and trying to physically calm him down at the same time. But I'm not, I'm stuck here on this couch and he's stuck in his anger as he shoves left over turkey back into the fridge.

"Wouldn't you be if the roles were reversed and that was Poppy? Or Holly?" He turns back to me with a raised brow. Even hearing their names begins to bring forth a feeling of anger. It's a completely different situation and he knows that, he's just trying to prove a point any way he can.

"That's different, you slept with them whereas Luke and I don't have any sort of romantic past" I tell him. Harry rolls his eyes and scoffs.

"Except for the fact that he's obviously in love with you. He's fucking pathetic the way he drooled over you" He replies with a huff. That's it.

"For fucks sake Harry the whole world is not in love with me! He called to check in and say that he hoped I was okay. It was nice, and now it's over, let it go!" I say with a raised voice. Harry has this weird illusion where he thinks every man in the world wants to sleep with me and steal me away from him, it's kind of ridiculous at this point because it's just flat out not true. And even if it was true, it shouldn't matter because no one is ever going to steal me away from him. I love him, and I've made that point very clear.

"Yeah you said it was nice, it sounded very fucking nice from where I was standing" Harry says with a final huff as he walks back down the hallway and out of the room. Well I can't fucking chase him, and in any case I should be the one storming out after hearing all of this bullshit.

"Harry come back here I can't chase after you" I call out after him. He returns a few seconds later with some more bags from the car and puts them down on the floor by the kitchen counter.

"Why didn't you tell him we were engaged?" He asks flatly with a raised eyebrow. Okay now he's being just completely insane. What is he insinuating here?

"Are you serious?" I ask in disbelief. Harry nods his head and leans against the counter.

"Do you not want him to know? Do you not want people to know?" He accuses, his tone chillingly light.

"Okay you're being crazy now" I shake my head and wave my hand. I don't want to have this conversation if that's seriously what he's thinking right now.

"You had ample opportunity from the sounds of it" He says coldly, folding his arms across his chest.

"I didn't think we were telling people! It happened two days ago and we haven't even told all our friends yet, I thought you would have been more mad if I had told him" I yell back. We haven't told Max or Sarah and Mitch or Francesca, none of his friends from New York know. And we also haven't told John yet. There are a lot of people I think should know first before some guy I used to work with.

"Of course I want him to fucking know we're engaged, I want that fucker to know that he's never going to have you" He bites back angrily.

"He knows! He knows because I've told him and because you've threatened him which I thought would be enough for you. If you can't handle a man calling after I've been in an accident to see if I'm okay then that's a real problem!" I shout back angrily. Harry doesn't say anything, but he radiates anger. A buzzing noise cuts through the silence, it's the gate buzzer, Heather's here. Harry turns around and presses a button, opening the gate before picking up the overnight bags and quickly shuffling out of the room.