Jessi

"HEY JESSI!"

"No, Harry?"

"Have you left him for Zayn?"

"JESSI!"

I climbed in the car, Matt followed behind me and closed the door and Jo drove off immediately.

"Assholes!" Matt muttered.

Now I was safely in the car I lay my head back on the leather headrest. I felt exhausted. They'd been following me around all day, yelling the same questions at me over and over again and I felt worn down, like somebody had drained every drop of energy from my body.

"They're following us." Matt groaned. I looked out the back window and saw at least three cars following us.

"Why are they following me?" I asked.

"Honestly? I think they see you as a weak link, more likely than Harry to give something away or snap at them." Matt said.

"I wouldn't give them the satisfaction." I sighed. I wished Harry was home, he wasn't due back until tomorrow and I missed him. I needed him. He'd phoned me tonnes, but it just wasn't the same. I leaned my head back against the leather and closed my eyes.

-----

"Hey, sleepyhead? You're home!" Matt's voice whispered as he shook me awake.

"Thanks Matt, Thank you, Jo!" I said as I stretched before grabbing my bag and my case which had all my camera equipment in it.

"Do you want a hand with that?" Matt asked as he held the car door open.

"No thanks, I'm good." I replied and headed inside, saying hello to Bill as I passed. I was looking forward to a nice long bath, something unhealthy for dinner and then bed. I pictured myself snuggled up in the duvet as the lift trundled up to our apartment.

I walked towards the apartment and almost jumped out of my skin as the door swung open. "Harry?" I squealed. He looked dressed for going out, though, I wasn't in the mood for going out. But I let myself get scooped up into his arms.

"Hey, missed you." He said before pressing his lips to mine. I brushed my tongue along his bottom lip and when he opened his mouth for me I didn't hesitate. My entire body tingled as my tongue tangled with his and I let out a moan as he squeezed my arse.

"Missed you too. So much. I thought you weren't back until tomorrow?" I breathed once we broke the kiss, he carried me inside and set me down before heading out and bringing in my camera stuff.

"I know. Got an earlier flight, wanted to be home. I hear you're leaving me for Zayn?" He chuckled.

"Very funny. It's been crazy, the paps have been following me all day, it caused chaos at work. It wouldn't surprise me if they fired me." I sighed.

"It'll be okay, Baby. They know it'll calm down, it's just because we're new news. You look tired. I ran you a bath and by the time you're finished dinner will be ready." He grinned, ushering me to the bathroom. My heart thumped in my chest when I saw the bathroom, there were candles and rose petals everywhere, it looked so pretty. The scent of coconut invaded my nostrils, and I wondered how he always knew exactly what I needed.

"Harry, this is amazing. What did I do to deserve you?"

"I'm the lucky one. I'll give you a shout when dinner's almost ready." He kissed my neck and then left, closing the door behind him. I got undressed and stepped into the bath, allowing the water to soothe my tired ankles, before I sunk down into the warm cocoon. I was so glad to have my love home.

----------

Harry

I loaded the washing into the dishwasher as Jessi tidied the table, she'd wore the dress I'd left out for her, she looked beautiful. I'd wanted to take her out somewhere nice, but I figured she'd had enough of being harassed by the paps today so I cooked for her instead. She seemed more relaxed when she got out the bath; I knew the press were driving her crazy, but she was trying to put on a brave face. I walked over to the sofa and pressed the side of my body up against hers, the soft skin of her arm brushed against mine as she closed the poetry book I'd bought for her. I'd found it in a sweet little second-hand bookstore and I hoped I'd get the chance to take her there one day. I knew she'd enjoy perusing the shelves as the smell of old books filled the air, just as much as I had.

"Thanks for this, Sweetie. It's just what I needed." She sat the book down on the table and climbed into my lap, her soft lips trailing kisses down my neck. My hands slid effortlessly up the smooth skin of her thighs as my lips sought hers. I sighed as our phones interrupted us.

"Mum!" I glanced at my phone screen.

"Robin!" She mirrored my movements and a look of panic spread across both our faces as we rushed to answer.

"Mum, is everything alright?" I exclaimed, worried about what the hell could have happened.

"I'm fine, calm down. I just wanted to talk to my favourite boy, is that okay?" My Mum said.

"Mum, we thought something terrible had happened. Did you and Robin both have to call?" My heart slowly returned to a normal rhythm.

"Robin's on the phone?"

"Yeah, he's on the phone to Jess." I watched as Jessi paced backwards and forwards, it was a habit she had while she spoke on the phone, I liked to tease her that she'd wear a hole in the floor.

"I'll get him later. He told me not to bother you guys and all the time he was sneaking off to call too." I could hear Jess laughing, I assume she'd just gotten the same story as me. "Was Jess happy you came home early?"

"Yeah but she's struggling, Mum. The paps were on her case all day today. They shout such stupid things at her, I wish I could do more to protect her." I sighed as Severus purred at my feet, I bent over and eased my fingers through his shiny fur. He pressed his head into my palm and purred happily as I scratched under his chin.

"Hey, don't do that. It's not your fault, Harry. You do protect Jess, she told me you make her feel safe. It'll blow over, Sweetheart." Her calming voice soothed me just like it had since I was a boy. "Did you invite her to come for Christmas?"

"Yeah, last night. She said yes." I grinned, I was excited about spending Christmas at home with her.

"Oh yay! I can't wait! They'll leave you in peace here." My Mum yelled excitedly.

"Calm down Mum!" I couldn't help but smile though. I looked over at Jess, she was giggling at whatever Robin was saying and I wondered how this tiny woman had made such a huge impression on my family, she fit like a missing puzzle piece.

"I'm so excited! Jess will be in London next week, right?" She laughed.

"Yeah. Jess is coming." I was glad she was coming with me. The X Factor would be our last show, and I was nervous as hell about it.

"Great. It's been too long since I saw her. Well, I'll let you go, now. Bye. Love you Harry!"

"Love you, Mum!" I smiled as I hung up the phone. I held out my arms and grinned as Jessi climbed back into my lap.

"They're so sweet." She giggled. I wrapped my arms around her as I nodded, her head softly resting in the crook of my neck, her lips dragged lightly across my skin. It felt good to be home. I breathed in her scent, all my muscles relaxing and then somebody banged on the door, making Jess tense in my arms.

"Let us in!" Niall yelled.

"We're not here!" Jess yelled back as she relaxed again.

"Let us in!" Lori repeated.

"You know they won't give up." I kissed her forehead.

"Remind me why we thought it was a good idea to buy an apartment round the corner from them again?" She smirked, getting up to let them in.

"I blame you." I grinned.

"Jessi, tell Niall it's his turn to do the shopping!" Lori said as they walked into the room, not even bothering with a hello.

"Didn't you buy groceries yesterday?" Jess replied to Lori.

"Yeah, and you'll never guess which pig has ate the lot?" Lori playfully smacked Niall on the arm.

"You can't have eaten everything, there was like six bags of food, Niall!" Jessi laughed.

"Harry... tell them I need sustenance, I'm a growing man!" Niall yelled.

"Yeah, you'll be growing out the way if you're not careful!" Lori teased.

"Hey!" He pouted.

"Did you tell Harry about your admirer the other night?" Lori said as they all threw themselves down on the sofa.

"What admirer?" My body tensed. I hated guys talking to her.

"The wife one? Yeah, he'll like that." Niall said.

"Hold on, how many were there?" I whined.

"Tell him, Jess. You'll like this Harry and never you mind, what happens on girl's night stays on girl's night, except this one thing I'll allow Jess to tell you." Lori smirked.

"Oh, you'll allow it?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I will." She chuckled.

"So I was standing at the bar with Gem and Lori and this guy wanders up and says 'Hey, Mrs Styles! How you doin?' like Joey. I assume he's talking to Gem, so she says hi and we go back to our drinks. Then he taps me on the shoulder and says I saw you on T.V. with your husband."

"By now, Jess has her fuck off face cemented on. So I tell him she's not married." Lori adds.

"He then spends twenty minutes trying to convince me that I am married to you." Jess laughed. Her fingers dancing along my arm until they tangled up with mine.

"Interesting chat up technique." I laughed, giving Lori a look, I knew what she was up to. She'd caught my eyes wandering in the jewellers while I helped her find a watch for Niall's Christmas present.

"Maybe he has a thing for married women." Jess laughed louder, she looked so pretty when she laughed and there was no better sound.

"I love you." I whispered as I pulled her onto my lap and wrapped my arms around her.

"I love you more." She smiled, kissing my forehead. The door went again and Lori went to answer it, it was Gemma.

"We should just fit a revolving door." I joked.

"Or give us keys." Gemma grinned. "I see you've left my brother for Zayn?" She laughed as she sat down and showed Jess the article on her phone.

"Yeah. I've seen it already." Jess sighed.

"You'd think it was somebody's job to check all this rubbish they write." Gemma said.

"I don't think they care." Jess said. I felt terrible that she had to deal with all this crap, sometimes I think it would be much easier if I still worked in the bakery.

-----

My phone ringing disrupted me from writing. It was late. Jess had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. I checked who it was once her phone rang too. It was Helen. I didn't want to answer it, whatever it was, it wouldn't be good and I wasn't in the mood to deal with it now.

"H? Who is it?" Jessi mumbled, stroking my leg. 

"Helen." I sighed.

"It must be important if she's calling this late?" Jessi's sleepy voice whispered as she nestled her head on my thigh.

"It's okay, go back to sleep." I stroked her hair as I reached for my phone. "Hey Helen, what's up?" I asked. Praying it was a last-minute interview, or something trivial.

"Turn on your TV. Any news channel." I did as she asked and my entire body tensed up as I read the information on the screen, I felt rage coursing through my bones. Jessi's so called 'step-parent', the arse who'd held a broken bottle to her throat was on TV telling the world that Jess had got him wrongfully imprisoned, that SHE attacked him.

"HELEN! He can't do this! This is bullshit!" I yelled, making Jessi jump, her eyes flying open.

"I know it's bullshit and you know it's bullshit but we got the files sealed remember? Nobody can view the actual police report." Helen said.

"What? He's lying. Why is he doing this to me?" Jessi sat up beside me, her voice almost in a whisper.

"Well unseal them!" I yelled, making Jess jump, again. I watched as a tear rolled down her cheek, her eyes glued to the TV screen, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Well, yeah but I need permission for that. If I get the go ahead, then I can be there first thing with Jeffrey and your lawyer and then we can fight back." Helen said.

"Do it!" I snapped.

"Harry, it's not up to you. I need Jessi's permission, is that what Jess wants?" She replied, calmly. 

"Hold on?" I put Helen on hold as I turned my attention to Jessi. "Jess?" She didn't answer me or even acknowledge that she heard me. "Jessi?" The TV had her complete attention, one hand hugging her knees and her other hand stroking the scar on her collarbone. "Baby?" I reached out and touched her arm. Finally, she turned her attention on me and I wished she hadn't, she looked broken.

"I don't want this Harry. Please make it stop. Make everyone go away." She gripped my hand so tight she was crushing my fingers.

"I'll do my best, baby." I promised. "But to fight back we need to unseal the police report, to show everyone that our story is the truth, okay?"

"But then they'll know about everything? They'll know about my Mum, how she died. This is fucked up, she doesn't deserve to have her name dragged through the mud, nobody deserves this shit!" She rambled. And my eyes fell down to the bed, unable to look at her. This was all my fault, and I didn't know how to fix it.

"I'm sorry." I sighed.

"No, Harry! Look at me? That wasn't aimed at you. It's not your fault. I love you." She cupped my face in her hands, tilting my head up to look at her. I still felt guilty. I was the reason she was having to deal with all this rubbish. My phone rang again. I'd forgotten Helen was still waiting on an answer.

"So are we fighting this then?" I asked.

"Together?" Jess gave me a small smile.

"Always." I replied, mirroring her smile. She held me tightly as I told Helen we wanted to unseal the files and she went over what would happen when she arrived in the morning. She would put out our statement and depending on how that went then maybe an interview but Jess really wasn't keen on that idea so I hoped it wouldn't come to that. I tried to get Jess to go back to sleep, but she kept tossing and turning, eventually she got up and found her laptop and she was now sat between my legs, sorting through some of her photos. Severus was curled up in her lap, he seemed to sense when she was feeling down. I just hoped all this died down soon.

----------

Jessi

"Jessi!" Anne hugged me tight and then we were both bundled in a massive hug from Robin. Their warm embrace pacified me in the same way a hug from Danny would and I felt grateful. I needed a parental hug. Harry and I had been in London for a few days now and it had been anything but smooth sailing. There seemed to be paparazzi wherever we went and Harry had had a blazing row with Helen because he was convinced somebody was leaking our movements. She insisted that nobody was leaking the information but had said she'd look into it, anyway.

"Where's Harry? Couldn't even be bothered to come meet us, eh?" Robin joked as we broke apart, my arms lingering tightly around Anne for just a little longer.

"He had to go, they got called in to rehearsals a little earlier than he thought, so you're stuck with me!" I smiled.

"You're much prettier than him, anyway." Anne chuckled. "You okay, Sweetheart?" She asked as she slung her arm protectively around my shoulders while we walked to the car. Robin pulled their suitcase beside us.

"I'm good. We missed you guys." I bluffed. 

"Jessi Monroe! Be honest with me." Anne stopped walking and turned me to face her but I fixed my eyes on a crack in a tile on the floor. "Robin, Love, you head on. Jess and I will meet you at Harry's." And before I could protest she was dragging me towards a little coffee shop within the airport. She ordered our drinks and then pulled me towards a table in the corner, away from everyone else. "So, what's upsetting you? Have you and Harry had a fight?"

"How do you deal with all the attention? The camera's in your face, people's constant need to know every little thing about your life? How do you deal with the huge sense of pressure and responsibility? I mean the other day I wore a t-shirt with a rainbow on it and my Social Media profiles were full of people sending me photos of them wearing the same t-shirt or similar t-shirts. The exact t-shirt is now out of stock worldwide, that's crazy. Why should anyone want to be like me? I'm nothing to aspire to, I'm just like them. In fact, I'm barely holding onto my sanity and I feel like I'm gonna have a panic attack every time I step outside and if I do, there will be about ten cameras to capture every second." Everything came rushing out in a huge jumble of verbal diarrhea. My hands swatting away the tears that had leaked from my eyes without warning or any care we were in public.

"Oh, Sweetheart!" Anne pulled me across the table, hugging me tightly. "You're gonna be okay." Her soothing voice felt like being swaddled up in the softest blanket and I never wanted to leave but I took a few deep breaths and got my emotions back under control. I took a sip of my coffee, a warmth spreading from my heart as I recalled the fact that Anne knew my order without asking. "Now, why shouldn't people want to be like you? You're lovely, kind, smart, funny and humble. Those are admirable qualities in my book." She sat back and took a sip of her tea while my cheeks turned crimson. "I choose to use what little influence I have to do good, to shine the spotlight on causes I believe in, on charities who deserve recognition, to encourage people to be kinder to each other. I share things I feel comfortable sharing and keep the rest for myself but you will get way more media attention than me or even Gemma because you are the one who has captured my son's heart." Her hand squeezed mine, and she gazed at me fondly but there was a sadness in her eyes too. "You should speak to Harry, he's the only one who can truly understand what you're going through right now. He wasn't always the media trained man you see before you today. He used to get anxious, but he learned to deal with it." My mind snapped to the night of the AMA's, was this how he knew about the wristband technique? I'd forgotten all about asking him about that, it had gotten lost in the madness that had become our daily lives. 

"I can't speak to Harry about it. I mean, how can I tell him how unhappy I feel when this is all my fault? I begged him to make our relationship public." I felt tears nipping at my eyes again so I took a massive gulp of coffee, hoping to swallow them down along with the guilt rising from my stomach.  "Besides, he doesn't need me adding to his stress right now, he's nervous about tonight. Really nervous. He needs me, I don't want to let him down."

"Jessi, you can't keep ignoring it and hope it'll go away," She squeezed my hand, and I was about to protest but she kept on talking, "but I understand why you won't talk to him now, promise me you'll talk to him in the morning? Please?" She wrapped both her hands around mine and I nodded. I knew I had to talk to Harry, but I really wasn't looking forward to it, he would be so mad at me.

-----

"Jessi? Mum? Robin?" I yelled as the door closed behind me. I threw my keys on the table and kicked off my boots.

"You just missed them. Your Mum dragged Robin off to the shops about five minutes ago!" I followed the sound of Jessi's voice to the Living Room, she was curled up in a grey knitted blanket on the sofa, the soft wool pressed to her cheek.

"Is there room in there for me?" She looked so warm and inviting.

"Always." She smiled and patted the seat beside her. I fell down onto the sofa and she straddled my lap, surrounding us both with the blanket. "Missed you." She hugged me tight and her scent seeped through my airways making me feel secure.

"Missed you too. How was the airport? Did you get in and out okay?"  I whispered, I hoped the press had left her alone.

"Mmhmm..." She hummed against the skin below my ear and my fingers unconsciously pulled the material of her shirt from her jeans. "Your rings are cold!" She flinched as the metal made contact with the warm skin on her back.

"Sorry." I withdrew my hand from her body and she immediately protested. "Don't. I like it." She pulled my earlobe between her teeth as my hands sought out her warm skin once again. "You feel so nice." I hummed as I tenderly explored her body, the blanket feeling itchy in comparison. My dick stiffened in my pants as my fingers continued exploring her back and I realised she wasn't wearing a bra. My hands slipped to her ribcage, my thumbs gently caressing the underside of her boobs and she let out a soft moan. Her tongue traced along the edge of my ear, causing a delightful shiver to race over my body, she continued to lick and suck along my jawline until her lips united with mine and the intimacy had my hips bucking up off the sofa, yearning for more.

"Let me take you to bed?" I pleaded once I'd regretfully detached my lips from hers. The reality that my Mum and Robin could walk in any moment wormed it's way into my head.

"Don't wanna. Comfy here." Jess breathed as her fingers worked on undoing my belt buckle.

"Baby? My M-" She pressed her finger to my lips. "Shh..." She whispered before pressing her lips against mine again and all thoughts of anything else slowly drifted from my mind. No worrying about somebody walking in, no worrying about tonight's performance, no worry about the press, no worrying about the future. All I could think about was the amazing woman in front of me and how much I loved her. She slowly slid down the zip on my trousers and I let out a whine as the weight of her body disappeared and her lips fell from mine. "I'm still here." She said softly, and I opened my eyes to see her shuffling her jeans and underwear down her thighs and I got to work removing my own.

"Wait!" I grabbed the hem of her t-shirt as she tried to remove it. I wrestled one handed with my clothing, giving up when it was about halfway down my thighs.

"Do you want me to keep it on?" She asked as she bent over and removed my clothes completely.

"No. I want to take it off." I smiled as I removed my own shirt and added it to the pile of clothes and the blanket littering the floor. She smiled back at me and raised her arms above her head. I moved to sit on the edge of the sofa and bunched the light fabric in my hands, slowly lifting it above her belly button, placing a gentle kiss to the skin there. She tasted of my Fig and Vanilla bodywash, my tongue lapping hungrily as I slowly raised her shirt, exposing more of her skin.

"Mmm... Harry." She whimpered as I paused on the indent between her breasts. "Bend over." I asked and pulled the last piece of clothing off and let it fall to the floor once she did as I asked. I shuffled back onto the sofa, "c'mere," I breathed as I gripped her hips and pulled her onto my lap. Her moans sounded like music to my ears as my tongue teased her right nipple. I gasped as she wrapped her hand around my dick and guided it towards her entrance, slowly sliding herself down onto me. "You feel so good." She growled as she flung her head back.

"You too." I choked out as she slowly rocked back and forth.

"I love you, Harry." She breathed as she continued to rock slowly. "I love you so much." Her hands cupped my cheeks and her brown eyes connected with mine. "I'll always love you." Her lips pressed to mine before I could speak, my tongue brushed along her lips before dancing with hers once she'd granted me entry. I bucked my hips up to meet her movements as my hands held her hips, happy to let her go at whatever pace she wanted. Her body pressed up against mine, her skin caressing my skin felt heavenly and I wanted to soak in this feeling of togetherness forever. I could taste the saltiness of tears in our kiss and I wasn't sure if they were mine or Jessi's but I wasn't about to break our connection to find out. She was close to her high, her walls pulsing around me were bringing me close to my own release so I slid my hand between our bodies, my fingers rubbing her clit in time with her rocking movements.

Our orgasms hit at almost the same time, Jessi's body tensing before becoming pliant in my arms and my entire body felt like jelly. She detached her lips from mine and nuzzled her head into the crook of my neck. "You're my forever." I whispered as I held her tight, wishing we could stay joined indefinitely.