Robin drove us all over to Sheffield, and we arrived at the arena just as the doors were opening to the public. We were ushered in the private entrance and escorted backstage into a small lounge. It was only a minute before I heard a very familiar voice causing a ruckus outside, and I looked up at the door expectantly as the noise drew nearer, feeling my face breaking into a smile as the door opened and a small figure strutted in.

"Oi oiiiiii!" Louis smirked, catching my eye before grinning widely. Harry and Liam appeared in the doorway behind him, and Louis hugged Anne and Gemma, and then shook Robin's hand before turning to me. I threw my arms around him before he could speak and he squeezed me tightly. "Hi darlin'," he greeted me.

"How are you?" I asked as he released me. "How's Briana?"

"I'm good," he beamed as Harry slipped past him and came to stand at my side. "She's good too, thanks for asking."

"How's the pregnancy going? Has she been sick or anything?" I asked.

"A bit, at first, but once she passed twelve weeks she felt much better. She's tired and hungry a lot."

"You seem less stressed," I observed, and he gave a half-shrug.

"I've come to terms with it a bit, I s'pose. It was all a bit of a shock to start with. It's had time to sink in now."

"Good," I smiled. "Glad to hear it."

I became aware that Harry was standing at my side, a little too close, facing me and not moving. I glanced up at him and he poked my cheek with his index finger, making me flinch in surprise.

"Hey- what was that for?" I asked, but he didn't reply and instead poked me again.

Louis rolled his eyes. "Stop trying to be cute, Harold."

Harry said nothing, but poked me again in the hollow of my cheek, a faint smirk playing at the corners of his mouth. I reached up and grabbed his finger in my fist and he froze, still in the same position. I stared at him, and after a couple of seconds his eyes flicked to mine.

"What are you doing?" he murmured.

"Stopping you from poking me," I answered.

He kept his face straight and watched me for a moment, then narrowed his eyes at me. I fought the stupid grin that was trying to spread across my face, and pulled my hand down, his finger still captured in my fist. I released it, and immediately he pointed it at me again, inches from my nose this time.

"Ugh, get a room," Louis snorted, and I tore my gaze away from Harry to pull a face at Louis.

"Hi Jess," Liam greeted me, after making his way around the room saying hello to everyone.

"Hi," I said as he leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "How are you?"

"Ah, y'know. Not bad. Looking forward to the show. Are you excited? It's gonna be a great one!"

"Yeah, definitely," I nodded enthusiastically. "Can't wait."

"You excited to hear Perfect?" Louis asked.

"Oh my God, yes," I moaned. "I love it! Congratulations on an absolutely amazing song - and a single, too! Fantastic!"

"Yeah, we were pretty chuffed," Louis smiled. "Turns out you're a great muse. For Harry, I mean," he added quickly, and Harry smiled softly.

There was more noise from the doorway, and we looked up as a large group of people entered the room. I instantly recognised Louis' mum Johannah, and his sisters Lottie, Fiz, Daisy and Phoebe.

"Hi love," Johannah said as she came over to give Louis a hug. We smiled at each other as Louis introduced us, and then he called his sisters over and I was introduced to all of them, too.

There were several large tables at one end of the room that held complimentary food and drinks, and as I approached the buffet with Harry and Gemma, more people began to arrive and I saw Harry's face break into a beaming smile.

"Time for you to meet the family," Gemma said in my ear, and my stomach gave a nervous lurch. I had only so far met Anne, Robin and Gemma out of Harry's family members. It was a terrifying thought to be presented with his dad, aunts, uncles and cousins all at once, as they trooped into the room.

I picked up a glass of Prosecco from the drinks table and took a large gulp while Harry looked on in amusement, and watched as Anne began talking to a few new people. I fidgeted nervously.

"Don't be getting pissed before the show has even begun," Harry teased quietly.

"It's just a bit of Dutch courage," I replied, as steadily as I could, lifting one hand to my mouth so I could chew on my thumb nail.

"What are you looking so uptight about?" Louis asked, appearing at my side again and grinning.

"Nothing," I lied.

"Don't lie. You're so wound up you look ready to snap. What's up?"

"Meeting Harry's family," I mumbled.

"Oh. Is that all?" he teased. "Fuckıng hell. You're a right stressy one, aren't you? You need a good fucķ to sort you out."

My stomach did a violent flip at his words and I lifted my head up quickly to look at him. He was grinning smugly, clearly proud of this comment.

"You offering, Louis?" I retorted, before I could stop myself, and he chuckled softly.

"I'm sure Harold's got it covered," he said meaningfully, throwing a cheeky glance over his shoulder before turning away.

Harry gave him a gentle shove between his shoulder blades and I saw him grinning as he slipped away through the crowd.

I looked up at Harry who was looking mildly uncomfortable, and gave him a questioning look.

"What?" he said, innocently.

"'What?'" I mimicked. "That comment from Louis?"

"He's just been his usual crude self about us these last few weeks," Harry explained sheepishly. "I'm sure you can imagine."

I rolled my eyes. "Say no more."

"So... do you want to come over and meet my dad?" he asked shyly, and my stomach gave another pinch.

"Um, yeah OK," I replied, and I followed him across the room to where his dad was standing, holding a pint of beer.

Harry made the introductions and we chatted for a few minutes about the end of the tour and Harry's schedule for the coming weeks. Gemma came and joined us, and then not long after a woman entered the room wearing a crew tshirt and holding a clipboard and a walkie-talkie, and announced that the band needed to get into position, and the rest of us should make our way into the arena.

"Good luck," I said softly as he bent down to hug me, and he pressed a quick kiss partly on my cheek and partly on the corner of my mouth.

My heart gave a huge jump and immediately began pounding, and as he pulled away and looked down at me our eyes locked and I felt a sting of desire.

"See you in a bit," he said huskily, and with one lingering glance he followed the others out of the room.

I felt lightheaded as we were escorted through the corridors and came out into the arena. We had a cordoned-off section at the side of the stage to ourselves, complete with security, and of course the fans in the stands next to us immediately realised who we were and screams erupted, which then set the rest of the arena off. We didn't have time to worry about it though, because half a second later all the lights went out and the roar from the crowd was deafening. The intro began to play and I felt yet another jolt of nerves. As Clouds kicked in and the screen tilted to allow the boys onto the stage, I felt Gemma grab my hand and start jumping up and down. Her enthusiasm was infectious and I thrust her hand in the air with mine and screamed my head off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her looking at me, and turned my head to see Lottie on her left side, both of them grinning at my excitement.

I didn't care. I had missed this. I had missed One Direction. I missed their songs, I missed the hype surrounding them (as I had done my best to ignore Twitter for the last five months) and most of all I missed being part of their fandom.

Harry had come out onto our side of the stage, and as he blew kisses at the crowd his eyes swept the floor and he caught my gaze. He gave the smallest wave of acknowledgement and smiled, and my heart swelled. I watched him as he stepped up to the microphone to sing the first line and I wanted to burst with pride for him; for what he had become and what he had achieved.

The crowd was phenomenal. Although it was a smaller venue than Cardiff, this seemed to magnify the sound. The noise was deafening at the end of every song, and after every joke one of them cracked, and during Little Things (Louis didn't say my name during Harry's solo this time) when Niall instructed "You sing!" the roof practically lifted with the roar. It was by far the best concert I had ever attended. I screamed so loud I almost made myself choke when they sang No Control, as I had never heard this one live, and I felt a sense of pride for Louis when I thought back to The No Control Project and the Twitter spat with Naughty Boy.

Harry thrust his hips harder than ever during Little White Lies and looked over at me more times than I could count, a smirk etched on his face for the duration of the song. My stomach was dancing madly every time I caught his eye, and there was also no mistaking Louis' smugness as he threw a couple of glances in my direction too.

As soon as Little White Lies had finished they made their way back from the mini stage to the main stage, and Liam spent a few minutes talking to the audience, mentioning Ben Winston who was stood in our section, before introducing Perfect. Harry was over on our side of the stage again sipping his water, and as Louis opened the song Harry sang along with the words, away from his mic, casting glances my way and sending my heart rate through the roof. When he came to sing the chorus he tapped the toe of his gold boot against the floor of the stage and screwed his eyes up, but I could see his gaze flicking to me repeatedly to see if I was watching him, which of course I was.

I was mesmerised by him. I hadn't been able to take my eyes off him all evening. Every time he blew a kiss at someone in the crowd it made my stomach flutter. Every time I heard his gravelly voice down the microphone my skin broke out in goosebumps. I was head over heels for him, and had been from the word Go. And finally, it seemed, I was able to let myself love him again. I could feel my eyes burning hot with tears of emotion and it took everything I had not to let myself cry. Gemma gave me a one armed hug, and said in my ear so only I could hear, "He really does love you, you know."

I said nothing, but nodded in acknowledgement. I knew he did. I didn't doubt that. And I also believed he would never deliberately hurt me again. His persistence had proved his intentions. I gazed up at him for the entire song, listening to the lyrics of our relationship and enjoying the secret that only we knew; the meaning behind these words and what had inspired them. I was on cloud nine. He gave me the tiniest secret smile as the song closed, and I felt a rush of love for him as he turned away and the lights dimmed again.

The most fun part of the show was Act My Age, when we all did the conga along the front row of the arena and danced stupidly at the side of the mini stage while the boys danced the last few bars of the song over and over again, the band striking up again each time we thought they had finished. The crowd was loving it, and when they finally closed the show to Drag Me Down, hugged, bowed, waved and finally exited the stage almost everyone in our group was in tears. Anne wrapped an arm each around mine and Gemma's shoulders as we were swept backstage by the arena staff, grabbed our bags and hurried back to the cars. The boys had left ahead of us to get clear of the arena traffic, and I sat in the back of Robin's four-by-four as I headed back to Holmes Chapel with Anne and Gemma, lost in thought.

My phone pinged with a text and I pulled it out of my bag.

From: Harry: Did you enjoy the show? xx

To: Harry: I LOVED IT. It was amazing. Thank you for inviting me xxx

From: Harry: Wouldn't have let you miss it for the world xxxx

From: Harry: I can't wait to see you when we get back xxxx

To: Harry: I can't wait to see you either xxxx

It was past midnight by the time we turned into the driveway, and Anne hurried ahead into the house to sort drinks for everyone, as some of Harry's family were coming back after the show to celebrate the end of the tour. As I followed Gemma through the front door Harry was coming down the stairs wearing black skinnies and a shirt half unbuttoned, and his gold boots. My whole body flushed at the sight of him, and my skin tingled as he gave me a lopsided grin.

"Hey," he said. "You timed that well. I just got out of the shower."

"Or I timed it badly, depending on which way you look at it," I replied without thinking, and immediately blushed as he raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"Are you flirting with me, Miss Bradshaw?" he murmured huskily.

"Not me, Mr Styles," I replied, shaking my head innocently, and his face seemed to turn suddenly serious as he bit his bottom lip.

"Are you coming through?" Anne asked from the doorway, holding out two glasses of wine.

Harry and I took our drinks and followed her through to the kitchen just as the doorbell rang, and she hurried off to answer it, muttering something about that'll be Mike and Dee.

A flurry of people entered the kitchen a moment later, most of whom I recognised from standing in our section at the concert but hadn't had chance to greet properly.

"Jess, let me introduce you to my family," Anne was saying, and she went round them all, explaining who they all were, and I shook everyone's hands and exchanged pleasantries.

"We've heard a lot about you. It's good to meet you at last," Harry's cousin Matty said, grinning at me and then Harry.

"Good things, I hope?" I smiled back, only half joking. What if they thought I was a high maintenance witch?

They'd be right, my subconscious answered, and I furrowed my eyebrows in indignance.

You hush, I told it.

"Of course," Matty was saying. "I must introduce you to my girlfriend - she's a bit of a One Direction fan too, long before she met me. She's been looking forward to meeting you."

We spent half an hour swapping fangirl stories, and then Harry's Uncle Mike came over and started chatting with us. Beside me I felt Harry's fingers brushing softly against mine, and it sent a tingle of electricity up my arm. I felt my insides beginning to tremble, and I didn't dare look up at him for fear of getting lost in those green eyes. I focussed my attention on what Mike was saying, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as Harry shifted slightly so his arm was now touching mine.

"So are you Harry's girlfriend then?" Mike asked suddenly, and I blinked and pulled my arm away from Harry's, breaking contact.

"Uhmmm," I began, nervously.

"No," Harry answered, and his smooth voice seemed to pour through my body, filling me with warmth.

"Oh really? Why's that then?" Mike asked, clearly in no doubt of what he was doing, as he was grinning knowingly as he said it.

"Uhmmm," I said again, as I searched my brain for an appropriate answer. But as I did, I couldn't remember the real answer to why we weren't together. It was as though my brain had gone into temporary shutdown.

I suddenly couldn't remember why we had even broken up in the first place, and I knew this was completely ridiculous because of the gravity of what had happened, but it took me a good few moments to recall the Sara/Nadine fiasco, and I really had to think hard to remind myself.

"It's complicated," Harry was saying from next to me, and I looked up at him, locking eyes with him and wishing with all my heart that we were alone so I could tell him I had forgiven him, and not only that, I was actually starting to forget too.

"Doesn't look complicated to me," Mike said with a wink, and then greeted his wife, Dee, as she appeared at his side and joined the conversation.

I watched Harry surreptitiously as he chatted with his family, making silly jokes, brushing off compliments, and alternating between fiddling with his glass and fiddling with his hair. Every so often his arm would touch softly against mine, leaving a trail of goosebumps and sending butterflies to my stomach and heat through my veins. He laughed with his cousins Matty and Ella, and his stepbrother Mike Twist, and then spent a couple of minutes gently teasing Gemma about her latest article for The Debrief that had been published that morning. Despite the time of year, the room was becoming unbearably warm, no doubt with the volume of people currently in it, and I excused myself from the conversation to make a quick trip to the bathroom. When I came out I was still too hot, and Harry had disappeared from where he had been standing, so I slipped quietly out of the patio door and went to stand outside in the cool night air.

The security light came on, illuminating the patio and part of the garden. I looked around, taking a few deep breaths and letting the breeze cool my flushed skin. The trees in the distance swayed gently, silhouetted against the dark, cloudy sky and the sounds of the party inside drifted out; laughter and clinking and music. I was reminded of the night I met Harry, of doing the exact same thing: taking five minutes outside to cool down in the peace and quiet of the back garden. Before I could take this thought process any further, I heard the back door open and I turned around to see Harry stepping out, a gust of warmth accompanying him in the chill of the night.

I smiled at him and he smiled back as he shut the door behind him, shoved his hands in his pockets and came to stand next to me. "You OK?" he asked.

"Yeah, just taking a breather," I replied. "I was getting a bit hot in there."

He nodded silently, and then said. "This reminds me of the night we met."

My insides somersaulted as I smiled happily at him. "I was just thinking the exact same thing."

"Really?" he beamed, and I nodded.

"Good thing I wasn't holding a drink," I joked.

He smirked, and then chewed his lip thoughtfully. "Was it really an accident? All those times you spilt your drink on me?"

I looked up at him in disbelief. "Of course it was! You don't think I am that obvious, do you? This isn't a fanfiction."

I snapped my mouth shut as I realised what I had just said and he chuckled softly.

"What's a fanfiction, Jess?" he asked, innocently.

I cleared my throat and stared across the dark garden. "No idea," I said faintly.

"Hmm," he mused from beside me, and I didn't need to look at him to know he was grinning in delight. "What does the name 'Anna Todd' mean to you?"

"I have no idea what you are even talking about," I declared, loudly, and he laughed again.

"OK. If you say so. Come on, let's walk up to the seat at the end of the garden and back. Your face looks a bit flushed. The fresh air will help cool you down."

I gritted my teeth and followed him reluctantly, hating him for enjoying my embarrassment so much. We said nothing as we strolled casually across to the bench, and paused to look into the fields that backed onto the garden.

"This really is a lovely place," I sighed. "You're so lucky to live somewhere so beautiful."

"Thanks," he said softly. "It means everything to me that you're here too."

We smiled at each other, and he slipped one arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him, moulding against his body so perfectly, like we were two halves of the same shape, meant to fit together as one. He gave a small sigh, and then asked, "Jess... I really need to ask you something."

I lifted my head and looked at him. His face was serious, his eyes gazing into mine.

"OK," I said uncertainly. "Is this what you were going to say earlier, before you left for Sheffield?"

"Yeah," he murmured.

My stomach flipped over and I felt suddenly scared. I wasn't sure I wanted him to ask. It didn't sound good.

"OK," I whispered.

"I need you to answer me honestly," he pleaded. "No matter how you think I will react. I need you to be honest."

"OK," I said again, my stomach now churning.

"Why do you trust me again? What made you decide you were ready to talk?"

I blinked, and gave him a confused look. "I suppose it's the old cliché - time heals," I answered. "I'm not really sure what you mean."

He sighed again and released me to shove his hands back in his pockets, and began to walk slowly back towards the house, in a stance that invited me to walk with him.

"So it had nothing to do with Georgia Fowler?"

Now I was even more confused. "Georgia Fowler?" I repeated. "You've completely lost me, Harry."

He stared down at the grass as it crunched underneath our feet. "It just seemed like as soon as you thought I was off limits you wanted me again," he mumbled.

I stopped dead and stared at him. "What?" I said, in disbelief, and he shrugged, not meeting my eye.

"I dunno. I came back from Somerset the day it happened and all of a sudden you were ready to sort things out. It just made me think that it was only because you thought I had moved on, and you didn't like it... I dunno," he trailed off, running a hand through his hair and beginning to walk again.

I followed him, temporarily speechless that he would think this, and trying to force my mouth to form coherent words to explain that this wasn't the case at all.

"Harry," I began as we reached the patio, and I reached out and grabbed his arm, causing him to stop and turn to me. I pulled him round the side of the house, out of view of the people inside, and he looked at me with a mixture of hope and longing. He wanted me to reassure him, I realised. He needed to know I loved him like he loved me.

"Harry," I said again, my mind racing. "I realised I wanted to sort things out last time we were here at your mum's, before the Manchester show," I explained. "When we were on the sofa, and you were... you were kissing my stomach..." I felt a tingle spread through my body as I recalled the feel of his lips against my skin. "And then when you left, and we were saying goodbye... I just wanted to grab you and kiss you and tell you I wanted you back," I rambled. "But you seemed to cool off, suddenly-"

"I was afraid I'd pushed you too far, too quickly," he interrupted, looking earnestly into my eyes. "I was so scared I'd messed things up. I tried to back off a bit, to let you have some space, like you said you wanted."

"I know," I sighed. "I did want that, and I appreciated you listening to me, and doing as I asked. But the truth was, being near you just made me want you. But I chickened out of telling you at the time, and then I didn't want to have that conversation over the phone so I kept it to myself, thinking we could talk next time you were home, but then you said you had plans and I didn't want to pester you because I know how stressed you've been and I didn't want to add to the pressure..." My gaze dropped to his lips as he licked them nervously. "I should have said something sooner," I whispered. "But believe me, I wanted us to try again long before you met up with Georgia. And I was so upset that day, because I realised I'd left it too late, and you had moved on."

He took a step towards me and flipped his hair over his shoulder. "I haven't moved on," he said huskily.

"I haven't either," I whispered.

"I tried," he murmured.

"I tried too," I admitted.

He took another step towards me so there was less than a foot between us. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel my chest vibrating. He reached up and brushed my hair back over my left shoulder and I realised his heart was pounding too. I could see the movement of it under his shirt, now he was so close to me. My hands reached forward and rested on his waist, and I lifted my gaze to his lips, then his eyes.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I whispered back.

"Will you be mine again?" he asked softly.

"Yes," I replied, without hesitation.

He leaned down towards me and I closed my eyes, waiting for the softness of his lips on mine, and when it finally came, it was as beautiful as it had ever been.

---***---

Book 4 (Harry's POV) is finally up! The first 3 chapters are live, and I'm trying my best to catch up as fast as I can.

I'll be adding a brief note to the end of No Control Book 1 in the next couple of days, which will be added as a separate chapter, so if you want to read it, feel free to add No Control to your library so you get the update notification!

Like this chapter? Please don't forget to vote for it by hitting the yellow star button - it means the world to me! :) xxx ❤