Harry Styles

I woke up to somewhat of a breakfast in bed—mainly because Renleigh ate more than half of it—to then have my dick sucked and now I was sitting in the back garden of one of my favourite restaurants. Which, by the way, was rented out just for me and my family to have brunch, a few drinks and apparently a cake.

This was by far my favourite birthday so far and it was all because of Renleigh. She really did go all out and I appreciated her so much for it. Especially since she wasn't the biggest fan of birthdays as she didn't see the point to them.

I smiled as I glanced at her from where I sat, the phone pressed to her ear as she conversed with someone. Her thighs looked amazing in her black, high waisted trousers and the white top she tucked under the waist band had a lovely cleavage. It wasn't much or over the top like she usually goes with them since there were going to be kids around, but it was still there and it did wonders for her chest. The black blazer lazily rested on her shoulders and revealed her arms as she held her phone. The sun reflected off of her watch as she walked around, clearly unable to stay still as she talked. My smile widened when she caught my stare and she softly grinned, the wind gently caressed the curly, loose strands of hair on the sides of her face. I watched her get ready and I haven't taken my eyes off of her once yet she seemed to just get more and more beautiful.

Once she was done with the conversation, she walked back over to me. My heart went a little crazy as her perfume hit my nose and I licked my lips to try and hide the smile that annoyingly tugged on them whenever she was around. I reached my left arm out and she grabbed my hand, hers felt cold as per usual, and pulled her down onto my lap. She sat on my legs sideways, both of her feet dangled down as I kept my left arm behind her back and my right hand laid on her thigh closest to me.

"So, your uncle's wife—Victoria—is not going to be able to come as she had to go to New York for something and it was urgent. But David and your cousins are still coming."

"Is that why you were on the phone?" I asked.

"Yeah. And then I called Mason for something. It's a surprise, so don't even ask," she looked at me seriously and I chuckled. "They should be here soon."

"How did you manage to get my dad and mum to come?" I looked at her with curious eyes and witnessed her smirk grow. She wiggled her eyebrows for a few seconds and then sighed.

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?"

"But you won't tell me, will you?"

"You're so smart, baby," she pinched my cheeks and brushed her nose against mine as she spoke with an overly sweet voice and then chuckled after she let me go. "I tried to get your friends here too but they told me they might not make it after last night."

"Yeah, I don't think any of them will show," I replied. "I don't know how I'm out of bed."

"Do you really want me to elaborate on that for you?"

"You are so cheeky," I pinched her thigh and she slapped my hand away quickly. "Would you have ever thought we'd be here, together? Like this."

"Did you really have to ask that?" she laughed. "Of course, not. I couldn't stand you almost a year ago and now I'm willing to suck your dick every time you blink."

"You didn't even think I was hot?" I pouted as the playful question came about.

"I mean, yeah. You were not ugly to look at. We probably could have hooked up at some point."

"True," I hummed. "Do you reckon it'd have been a one-time thing?"

"Yes. I never fuck the same guy twice," she told me bluntly. "Well, okay. Maybe I lied."

"Go on," I hurried her because I wanted to know. Other than that, one time at her place, we never talked about hook ups again.

"I got with all of the people I have jotted down like—twice. Never more than three times."

"Why do you have them written down?"

"Honestly? There's no reason for it," she shrugged. "Just couldn't sleep one night, or maybe I was on a flight, and I thought why not write them down."

"Hm."

"Are you jealous or something?" she laughed. "I haven't gotten with anyone since the contract started. Actually, I haven't gotten laid for months before Paris happened."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Why are you so surprised?"

"I dunno..." I shrugged. "We've come a long way since Paris. We should go back and stay at the same hotel."

"You and your travels, I swear," I watched her shake her head at me as I wondered how I could make her want to travel just for the fun of it. I was well aware she only left the country for work and never to relax and as of then, my main goal was to make sure we would go away for at least a few days and just chill the fuck out. "Oh, your family is here, let's go greet them and all."

"Oh, fuck," I groaned as Renleigh stood up from my lap and I followed her soon enough. I didn't really want to see my mum because I knew she would find something to say and I just didn't have the amount of braincells I needed in order to deal with her nonsense. "Wait. Let me have a kiss first."

She obliged to my request almost like it was second nature, my smile wide as my hand rested on the side of her waist. She pecked my lips after we kissed and reached for the collar of my pink blazer to smooth it down. I noticed she was a very clean person, always making sure everything looked and was perfect.

"Are you still in a funk with your mother?"

"When am I ever not?" I scoffed and she frowned, her lips moved to the side and she sighed.

"I can put her in her place if you want me to," she let me know and I knew how serious she was about it. She had a big mouth on her and I really had no doubt in my mind that she would speak her truth. The only thing I wished for, was her to stand up for herself the same way.

"No, it's okay," I declined. "You don't have to do anything."

"Alright," she nodded.

I knew she was wild with words and she knew how to intimidate people so the fact that she so easily agreed to not saying anything, kind of made me look at her with curious eyes. Even as she held my hand in hers whilst we walked through the restaurant, I didn't quite know if I should have prepared for anything. And by anything, I meant a firey argument between the two most hot-headed people who were going to be spending time together.

"Hal!" my sister's loud voice grabbed my attention the first and she made a run for it. I hugged her to my body as I laughed at her sudden need to be wrapped up in my arms and slowly glanced up to see the rest of my family there.

Including my nanny.

"Oh my god!" I looked at her surprised and stepped away from Liv to hug the woman who I have not seen in absolute ages. "Hello!"

"My darling," she said as she wrapped her arms around me tightly and gave me the nicest hug. I missed this woman so much and I suddenly hated myself for not calling her and reaching out to meet up. "You look wonderful, my boy," she grinned at me with her hands on my cheeks.

"I missed you so much," I chuckled as I went in for another hug. She really was like my mother. "Wait—you haven't met yet," I remembered quickly as I pulled away and glanced at my girl, who was busy conversing with my siblings. "Ren," I called and she looked up at me right away. "This is Ana, my nanny and this is Ren, my girlfriend," I said without thinking much about the labels ad whatnot although it did not seem to bother her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sweetheart," Ana grabbed her hand to shake it and Ren was slightly fighting her initial shock of meeting a new person. It was crazy how she went from really confident to being more reserved.

"Yes, it is great to meet you finally," she smiled eventually and I followed the interaction closely. No one ever met my nanny before, perhaps because they had no idea, I had one. "So glad you could make it."

"Wait—was this my surprise?" I asked because my parents never really invited her to my birthday parties.

"Kind of," Ren nodded. "If you are surprised, then yes."

"I'm more than surprised," I laughed at her.

Before we all had the chance to go inside, my cousins made an appearance and so we all just greeted each other outside. I was showered by love and attention until everyone got to the restaurant and we were back out in the garden. There were three employees who took our orders for the drinks and I was surprised to see Renleigh order a lemonade and a water.

She must have felt my stare on the side of her face because she lifted her head and looked at me with a small smile on her lips. I felt her hand lay on my thigh as she leaned on the side of her chair and I couldn't help but kiss her on the lips. She chuckled and scrunched her nose up as she pulled away.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm happy," I nodded and she pouted at me. I swear this woman did a complete three-sixty. I had no idea who she was. I mean, obviously I did but it was just so refreshing to see her more... human side, I guess. She was so locked up emotionally and it finally seemed like she was breaking through it slowly. "How come you're not drinking?"

"I'm driving, aren't I?" she said. "And we have somewhere to be after this."

"Tell me," I said.

"Nope," she shook her head. "It's a surprise. I know you like them so I'm not going to blow it because you are impatient."

As soon as the words left her mouth, I began to smirk and she groaned with an eye roll. It sounded so innocent yet so dirty and I desperately wished we weren't around family or out, at all.

Especially when my mother decided to give a toast for whatever stupid fucking reason.

"So, this is a lovely get-together, isn't it?" she chuckled as she stood with her drink in her hand, a smile forced on her face. I heard Renleigh sigh as she leaned back in her seat, her right elbow on the hand rest of her chair and the other stuffed between her thighs. "My lovely son is twenty-five today, which is honestly quite mind-blowing. He has yet to achieve great things with his company, however he has mine and his father's full support through everything."

I had to hold myself back from rolling my eyes. That last line was so fucking unnecessary but she always had to say something that would get a reaction out of people. And because I knew my family, I was aware that they would be able to control themselves. Renleigh, on the other hand, was a very impatient person, whatever was in her heart was right out her mouth, too. Unless, of course, we were talking about emotions. But really, I understood that.

"Also, a very special thank you to Renleigh for gathering all of us for this... well, whatever this may be," my mother smiled as she tried to set my girlfriend off. "It is quite lovely, though, isn't it? She managed to get our close family together and she decided to stay to celebrate."

Ren sighed next to me, quite loudly, may I add, and she chucked her lemonade back like it had some kind of alcohol in it.

"Alright, ma'am," she said as she pushed the chair out from under her then buckled up her blazer. Oh, fuck. "I know what you are trying to do, Mrs Styles. You are trying to get under my skin."

"Oh, I'm not doing such thing, lovey" my mother chuckled. I couldn't believe this was happening. But at the same time, I weirdly enjoyed the conflict. My family usually let my mother win and so everyone was eager to see what these two would throw at each other.

Including myself, which was why I let it go on. Plus, there was no way in which I could have stopped Renleigh.

"Coming here with so much distaste at first—I was fine with it. You are a business woman, so am I. We don't like to be kept away from our jobs. I understood it. But for you to continue to ruin everyone's mood around the table by criticising everything and anything to then proceed onto making snarky comments about your son and practically embarrass him in front of everyone—in front of your family—is not something I'm going to tolerate," she said calmly. It reminded me so much of the time she spoke to April and she was just as scary now as she was then. "Please, feel free to leave if you have no desire to be here. I never forced you to come and frankly, if it would have been up to me, I don't think I would have even mentioned this brunch to you for this exact reason."

"Who do you think you are, young lady?" she fired back at her. "Thinking you are allowed to speak to me like that, in front of my husband and my children!"

"I can speak however I want to speak. I personally do not think I was disrespectful but I will be if you push me just a little further."

"Alright, let's not argue, okay?" I spoke up. My mother and Renleigh, both, whipped their head towards me and they stared at me furiously. "Let's just get back to our meals and enjoy the nice weather."

That made the whole vibe tense up and uncomfortable. Or maybe I was the only one who felt uncomfortable because Ren kept her eyes on me, clearly not happy with the way I handled things. Eventually, she sat down and reached for her water then asked for another lemonade when the waitress walked by.

"Can I please speak to you inside?" I asked her and she didn't look at me but stopped in her actions. Her eyes closed for a second before she nodded gently and stood up from her chair. "Excuse us for a minute," I smiled at my family before I placed my hand on Ren's lower back and we walked out.

"I know I said I wouldn't interfere but I couldn't just sit there and let her embarrass you like that," she said right away, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she faced me. "I know I did the exact same thing you did when I asked you to not speak up, then again I never promised like you did."

"Let's not bring that up, okay?" I said right away. "I did that for the same reason you just stood up for me."

"Well, I begged you not to say anything and you did. So, it's not really the same."

"The intention behind it, was," I explained. I watched her turn away from me and take a deep breath. This could go down two paths and I hoped it would not take the one closer to an argument. "Listen. I didn't pull you out here to fight. I brought you out here to make sure you were OK."

"Why?" she scoffed. "Scared I can't keep my mouth shut?"

"Honestly? Yes."

"Have a little faith in me," she rolled her eyes. "Although, I can't lie—the way you interrupted and then decided to bring me out here feels a bit like you want to tell me off 'cos I spoke to your mother like that. At least, that's what I think everyone in there thinks."

"Well, you shouldn't care what others think. You never did so don't start now."

"Harry, that's your family in there," she laughed in disbelief at what I said. "I may be a fucking bitch who shows no emotion, but I still care what they think."

"This is not the first time you met them, they like you already," I said. "Hell, you managed to get Ana here—who I haven't seen for about a year or two—and she already seems to adore you."

"Yeah, well, not after what happened, I guess."

I sighed. This was so hard to get through to her. I was not mad, I was glad she stood up for me and I knew it didn't make my family look at her differently for it. If anything, I knew they appreciated her doing that because everyone in there knew that I never would have actually stood up against my mother.

"Listen. Stop overthinking it, please. You have done nothing wrong. I'm not angry at you and my family still thinks the same—if not more highly—of you. Sometimes, you put too much pressure on yourself and you lash out which makes you want to push me away through arguments and-and bickering," I said. "I understand why you are so defensive but I want you to try and work on that, yeah?"

"This is no longer about before, is it?" she asked. Then, never let me answer as she concluded it for herself. "I'm sorry if I'm too much work, alright? I can't help the way I am, the way I think. I mean, I probably could. But going from me to someone else—a new me, in a sense—is so fucking hard. Even after everything we've been through together. I try so fucking hard to please you, to make this-this relationship more enjoyable for you because I know I put you through so much shit. But sometimes... hell, most of the time, it gets so fucking confusing in my brain and I just don't know what I'm supposed to be doing."

"All I ask of you is to talk to me. I know I get on your nerves when I say that, but I do because I know it helps. Letting someone else in, allowing another person to see what goes on in your mind, giving them a chance to understand... it helps," I assured her. "You know you can trust me and you also have Zayn. I know you two have history, a connection... maybe you could try and talk to him if it's too hard to open up to me."

"I don't know," she sighed. "That's another person to let into my life... into my brain. Plus, aren't I meant to trust you by now?"

"Building a trust in someone takes time. It is different for everyone," I said. "We've only been hanging out for around eight months. It's understandable. You have been through a lot, people broke your trust—they broke you. I know it's not an easy process to... to fix someone—to help them get better, I should say. But I knew what I was signing up for when I asked you out. Even when I signed your bloody contract," I stifled a laugh. "I signed it because I wanted you and I was willing to have you any way possible."

"You are so understanding. I don't think I deserve you."

"See, I think you do deserve someone like me," I replied quickly. "You haven't had someone who tried to understand you because they wanted to, which is why you find it so hard to accept it. You never experienced someone being truly there for you because they wanted to ensure your well-being and happiness and had no other intentions but wanting to be there for you. I feel like this may be something completely new and strange for you. That's why you are having a hard time wrapping your head around it and realising that, all this time, you just needed someone who listened to you."

She didn't say anything for a long while and I suddenly began to wonder if I said too much and accidentally overwhelmed her with it. It wouldn't have been the first time which made me realise I needed to learn when to stop pushing people.

"Okay. Yeah. I get you," the words seemed so innocent at first, held no thought or emotion. Then, as the moments passed by and they sank in my brain, the way she looked at me, I realised they meant more. "I mean, you have a point. I told you I never had anyone—I mean, I did but I didn't really," she said. We went over this before, multiple times, I knew what she meant but I didn't want to interrupt her. It was really good to listen to her open up every time. "Shit, I need to stop rambling so much but I guess what I'm pathetically trying to get at is that I appreciate everything you do and have done for me. Even though I fail at showing it."

"C'mere," my smile gradually grew as I wrapped her up in my arms. My lips pressed against the skin of her neck in a gentle kiss before I rested my mouth against her shoulder. There really were no words for how much I loved her. It was pretty much at the point where I could confidently say that it blinded me at certain times. "Look," I placed my hand on the back of her neck, just below her bun, my thumb against her jawline. "You are doing amazing, okay?"

"Do I get a golden star sticker or something?" she asked with a cheeky smile on her face and I rolled my eyes at her silliness.

"If you keep up this attitude, I'm not so sure, actually," I replied.

"Oh?"

"I might have to bring out the good old spanking method, hm?"

Ren raised her eyebrow curiously at me before she nodded a couple of times. "Okay, cool. Let's see what you are capable of," she said. That made my eyes go wide in shock. "Oh my god, I don't mean here!" she laughed. "More like later tonight."

"Later tonight, ey?"

"It's what I said, didn't I?" she asked before she walked past me and disappeared back outside.

• • •

a.n.

ok this was kinda cute i love how arsed she is to make sure harry had a fab day and just so you know his birthday obviously didn't end here

O AND DID U ALL SEE HENLEIGH ACTUALLY WORKING THROUGH SOMETHING??? they really out communicating like normal people 😭🤚🏽

plsplspls don't forget to vote ⭐️ and comment xoxo