"So where are we going?" I asked Harry as the car pulled away from the curb.

"There's a store I wanted to go to, but I also wanted to walk around."

I nodded.

Looking out the window I watched the tall trees pass by until suddenly we were surrounded by the tall city buildings and lights.

"I love the city, it's so pretty." I mused as I leaned my head against the window.

"But it's so crowded." He spoke.

"Yeah, but that adds to the feel of it. I remember the first time Ashton took me to Sydney, I was in culture shock." I chuckled.

"What else do you like about the city?" He asked me.

"I like how tall everything is, and how I feel so small. It makes me realise the world is such a big place."

He nodded at me, a soft smile on his lips.

"So uh, you like the coat?" He moved his eyes to the black fabric covering my shoulders.

"Yes." I laughed. "It's very warm. But I still feel guilty about taking it."

"I gave it to you. It's a gift."

"Well then thank you for the gift." I giggled then gasped as my attention was taken to a pretty fountain. "Oh look!"

"You get distracted easily don't you?" He snickered.

"A little." I hummed as I watched the fountain disappear into the distance. "I wish Ash was here to see this."

"There's some neat places around we can go look at." Harry said and I nodded with a smile.

Eventually the car began to slow down so we could pull up to whatever store Harry wanted to go into, and the car hadn't even stopped yet before there were paparazzi surrounding the car.

"Um, I'll just stay in the car." I gulped nervously. I didn't like being in these types of situations without Ashton or one of the boys with me.

"It's just a few paps." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah I'll stay in the car." I gave him a polite smile.

"Well I'm not being a very good friend if I leave you in the car while I shop." He said.

He thought of us as friends? Maybe I was better as socialising than I thought.

"It's just that the paparazzi make me very anxious and Ashton's not here and I just don't do very well in these situations." I admitted, biting my lip.

"Then I just won't go in." He decided.

"No, you came all the way out here, go inside I'll be fine." I assured him.

Harry looked at me for a moment before getting out of the car and closing the door. I saw him stand there for a few moments until they began to walk away.

I watched as the paparazzi walked down the block a bit and then Harry turned back and opened the door.

"Come on." He motioned for me and I bit my lip before reluctantly following him out of the car.

"Just keep your head down." He said and I nodded as I followed him inside the black marble faced building.

A man greeted Harry as we walked in and I silently and awkwardly followed him as the man began to show Harry around the store.

Harry pointed out to a few things he liked and at this point I detached myself from the duo and began to look around.

I came across a particular black silk button down that I thought would look extremely handsome on Ashton but one look at the price had me widening my eyes.

Nope. No shirt for him today.

I continued to look at it.

But it would look so nice on him, and I had never bought Ashton an expensive gift before...screw it I was going to splurge a little.

I found Ashton's size and then purchased the shirt.

After that I began to stroll around some more when my phone began to buzz in my pocket.

I fished it out and noticed it was Ender.

"Yeah?" I answered, hearing crying in the back ground.

"Gracie woke up from her nap and you and Ashton aren't here and she's having a melt down." He said and I winced. I probably shouldn't have left.

"Uh okay. I'll walk you through what to do okay? First get her bunny and a blanket, then wrap her up and sit with her. You're going to have to hold her and rock her a little bit to calm her down."

I heard shuffling as he did what I said, Ender saying comforting words to the little girl.

"Okay, I'm doing what you said." He came back.

"Is it helping?"

"Yeah I think so. She's not crying as hard."

"Good. Here, put the phone up to her ear and I'll talk to her."

"Okay, here's Mommy, Gracie." Ender said and I heard him move the phone.

"Hey baby girl." I said in a cheerful voice.

"Mommy?" Gracie whimpered.

"Hi baby. Mommy's going to be back really soon. Ender is there and he's going to take care of you until I get back."

"Okay Mommy."

"I love you sweetheart."

"Love you Mommy."

"She's good now." Ender's voice was back.

"Okay. I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

I hung up and put my phone back in my pocket.

"Are you ready to go?" Harry's voice behind me startled me and I jumped about two feet in the air.

"Jesus Harry!" I gasped and turned to see him look surprised for a moment before bursting into loud laughter.

"It's not funny!" I protested.

"Yes it was." He laughed.

When Harry finally regained his composure we went back to the car, paparazzi free, and began to drive around the city some more.

We stopped at a touristy gift shop and I began to poke around as Harry followed me.

"So you've really never considered modelling?" Harry spoke up as I looked at a keychain.

"No." I shook my head with a laugh. "Are you kidding me, I can barely walk in heels. Ashton always says I'm walking like I'm drunk."

I continued to laugh.

"Besides, I'm not model material. I'm not that pretty."

"Carter you are very beautiful." He said and I chuckled.

"Thanks, but I don't think it's for me." I politely smiled as I moved on to a different display.

"Well what if I was able to get your foot in the door with an agency?"

I rolled my eyes and let out a huff of air before turning around to face him.

"Why are you pressing this modelling thing so hard?"

"I just think it would be a shame to let your beauty not be recognised." He said and I felt the blush form on my cheeks.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" I asked.

"No." He replied and I breathed a laugh before turning around to continue walking.

"Oh this is so cute, I'm going to get it for Ashton!" I gasped as I found a coffee cup and picked it up.

"So Harry, am I allowed to ask you personal questions today?" I teased as I walked around the store and I saw him roll his eyes.

"If I say no will it stop you from asking?" He played along.

"No." I smiled. "So you're not in a relationship now, but you have been before right?"

"Yes."

"So are you looking for something serious or are you one of those fling kind of guys?"

"Something serious." He answered. "Someone mentioned to me that Ashton is your first boyfriend, is that true?" He asked.

"Yup. First boyfriend, first kiss, all of that." I smiled.

"I find that hard to believe." He snorted.

"What? I was a little busy raising my little brother and no one ever asked me out. My friends tried to set me up on dates but it never worked. And then I met Ashton and I don't know...everything fell into place."

"What had you so upset yesterday? The only people who seemed to be able to understand your blubbering was the guys." He changed the subject.

"Oh, Ender called Ashton dad and then freaked out and I was just hurting for him."

"But it all worked out I presume."

"Yes, Ender decided he wants to call Ashton dad and Ash said he was okay with it."

"Isn't that weird? Having your little brother call your boyfriend dad?"

"No." I shrugged. "And Ashton and I are engaged, we raise him together and we're like his parents. It's not weird it's comforting, and honestly our family will take all the comforting it can get."

"So do you have any hobbies or anything?" Harry asked.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Well you must like something."

"Well I like spending time with Ashton and the kids, and I like footie and watching movies."

He nodded.

"What about you?" I asked.

"I like to read and write songs mostly." He said and I nodded.

"Do you write songs about girls too?" I winked and he rolled his eyes.

"I write about many things."

I chuckled.

"The boys write such pretty songs. Ashton played me one he wrote about me that's going on their next album and it's so pretty. And then the lullaby he sings for Gracie was a love song for me as well, but she loves it, and it's the only thing that calms her down besides Mommy cuddles."

"You're an excellent mother Carter."

"Thank you. I still don't know what I'm doing half the time but I know that if I'm with Ashton we can get through anything." I smiled.

After this Harry and I walked around the streets, looking at different art sculptures and buildings.

"Oh let's take our picture in front of it." I grinned as we came to a pretty outdoor fountain.

"How?" He asked and I found a couple standing aside and walked over to them. I managed to get my question across to them and the woman smiled as she took my phone to take the photo.

I dragged Harry over to the fountain.

"What should we do?" He asked.

"Just smile." I said and the woman took our photo before handing me back the phone. I thanked her and looked at the picture.

"Cute!" I smiled and showed Harry.

We returned to the car this time for it to take us back to the stadium.

Once there Harry followed me inside and to our dressing room where Ashton was sitting on the sofa playing video games with Ender.

"I'm back." I sang as I entered.

"Hey, there she is." Ashton turned and grinned at me. "How was shopping?"

"Fun. I got you something." I smiled as I went over to him and then sat next to him.

"Come here, I haven't held you all day." Ashton then moved me so I was sitting in his lap facing him, his hands on my hips and I smiled.

"Okay, so your first gift is a cutesy gift." I pulled the coffee cup from the bag and handed it to him.

"It's awesome!" He laughed, smiling as he looked at it. "I love it."

"And here's your second gift." I handed him the bag and he reached in, pulling out the shirt.

"Woah." He said as he held it up. "This is a really nice shirt." He looked surprised.

"I saw it and thought it would look really handsome on you." I smiled as I rested one hand on his strong chest. "Do you like it?"

"Carter, it's amazing. Thank you." He leaned up for a kiss and I happily accepted as I moved my lips against his.

"I love you." He said as we broke the kiss.

"I love you too." I smiled. "Where's Gracie?"

"Luke took her to the kitchen to get ice cream." He said and I nodded, looking up and noticing Harry had left without saying goodbye.

"Well then, until they get back." I moved the bags out of the way and then leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Hmm I like this." He hummed against my hair before kissing the skin of my forehead.

"Me too." I smiled.

"You know what I wish?" He trailed his fingers up and down my spine.

"What?" I breathed.

"That we were home right now, laying in our bed, where you can smell the ocean and hear the waves hitting the docks."

"That sounds amazing." I relaxed into him. "And we could hear the kids playing with Bear downstairs while we napped."

"Heaven." He said and I let out a little laugh. "You were tossing and turning a lot last night, is everything okay?" He then became more serious.

"Yeah?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "Must have been dreaming or something."

"You were doing something all right. Every time you settled down and we finally got comfortable you were moving again."

"Sorry." I kissed his neck.

"So did you have fun shopping with Harry today?"

"Yeah. He's really nice."

"I'm happy you're making new friends." He kissed my head.

"Me too." I smiled.

Ashton moved us so he was laying down and had me lay halfway on top of him, Ashton putting his feet in Ender's lap.

"No stop." Ender whined and shoved them off.

"Wanna smell my feet?" Ashton then put his bare foot in Ender's face.

"Ew, no! Gross!" Ender jumped up from the couch while Ashton laughed.

"Be nice, boys." I said.

"We're nice." Ashton said and I rolled my eyes.

"Mommy!" I heard and looked to see Gracie coming in with Luke.

He set her down on Ashton's chest and she moved to hug me.

"Hi sweet girl, did you have fun with Uncle Luke?" I kissed her.

"Mhmm." She nodded. "We get ice cream!"

Gracie told me and Ashton of her ice cream adventures and then it was time for sound check.

After that was dinner, getting ready, and then show time.

Once the boys set was over they showered and changed and as we left the stadium I realised that I had never told Harry thank you for taking me out today.

I found the slip of paper with his number on it in my back pack and sent him a quick thank you.

Honestly, hanging out with Harry had been a bit refreshing and I really did enjoy talking with him.

I then moved over to my Instagram and began to scroll before I saw Ender had shared his first photo. It was one of him and Ashton that I had taken of Ashton behind Ender with his arms around his shoulders, both of them smiling widely at the camera.

But then I read his caption and felt my heart melt.

'Dad.'

--

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

I'll have the next part up soon!

Much love xx -M