Here's the Q & A, as promised! I've answered everything that I can, in the order the comments were left on the chapter. Some questions were similar, so if I've already answered it, I haven't repeated myself! Obviously my answers relate to the characters in this series only, and not the real life people!! So here we go, and thanks for reading! xx

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dhara1212 : What does Maddie do now?

Maddie went to university and trained to be a nurse. She works in A & E (Accident & Emergency) at a hospital about an hour away from Cambridge, and sees her family regularly. She is still a fan of One Direction, and still inwardly squeals over Harry. (Once a fangirl, always a fangirl.)

DeniseMarmolejos2 : I would love to know how Callie's relationship with Calvin bloomed, if so a short book on that please if its possible for you.

I'm afraid I won't be writing a story of Callie and Calvin at this stage, although it would be a fun one to do! In short, Calvin went after Callie the night of Jess and Harry's anniversary and the house party. Callie was devastated because she thought she had lost Jess' friendship forever, and she was in a pretty bad way. Calvin is a ladies' man, as you know, and has known Callie for years through Jess. Callie has always thought he was good-looking, and even mentioned she'd had a dirty dream about him once when talking to Jess about the Louis dream. They went back to Calvin's place, Maddie went to bed, and Calvin tried to calm Callie down. One thing led to another, emotions were running high, and they ended up in bed together. Calvin was pretty mortified the next morning, mainly because he knew Jess would kill him for messing Callie around, and also because he felt he had taken advantage of Callie while she was upset. Callie was terrified of Jess finding out, because she thought Jess would be furious and it would ruin any chance they ever had of becoming friends again. However, Callie and Calvin met up a few days later to talk about it, and it ended up happening again, and then a few more times after that. They slowly became closer over the following few weeks, and made it official a couple of months later. Jess was shocked at first, but once she saw how happy and well-suited they were, she was pleased for them and eventually forgave Callie for her mistakes. After all, they were best friends, and Jess has a forgiving nature, as Harry rightly pointed out. She knows she isn't perfect herself, and she doesn't expect others to be, either.

ValerieRuiz6 : I want a bonus chapter or small book about Callie and Calvin... like I'm totally digging this couple

They do make an awesome couple! But I have no plans for a bonus chapter either, sorry, but I hope I summed up their story enough with the previous answer!

bonbonphoenix : After this last chapter, I think it would be awesome to get Harry's POV for the birth of their first child 😂 if you're not going to do the same moments after the end of book 4, I would love to read about that! 😊

I will be covering the same events in Harry's POV as in Jess's, so I won't be writing about the birth of their first child, but he was a nervous wreck, and sobbed like a baby when Oliver was born. There is more to the proposal chapter to be revealed in Harry's POV that I'm looking forward to writing, so Trace readers - keep an eye out for updates!

LydiaLeftwich : I wanna know how the other boys of One Direction are doing and if they are still in touch with Harry and Jess and I definitely want to know how Callie and Calvin's relationship bloomed and one last thing, I wanna know Harry and Jess's reaction to having their first child.

The other boys are doing great - Louis has gone into the production and management side of the music industry, Liam and Niall write individually for other artists and continue to perform as solo artists, and Harry has had a successful solo career spanning the last ten years. The boys reformed for a reunion tour which sold out across the world in minutes, and finally performed If I Could Fly and Temporary Fix live, which sent Twitter into meltdown and the One Direction fandom into a state of hysteria. They are all still in touch, and Louis is godfather to Emma - Harry and Jess's middle child. Jess still has a flutter of excitement every time she sees Louis, and he still makes inappropriate comments to her in front of Harry, which she secretly loves and Harry just about tolerates!

aubmadison : Did Jess ever start her own business like she wanted? What did she end up doing career wise?

Jess stayed in her role as insurance underwriter for another year, before going part time and studying for her chartered accountancy qualification. Once she completed this, she left her job and set up her own freelance accounting business, which she grew gradually over the next few years, taking on a couple of staff and enabling her to work less hours and support Harry in his solo career. Once the kids came along, she reduced her hours further and took on more staff to meet the demands of the business. She was offered advertising deals by a number of companies because of her relationship with Harry, but as you know she never wanted public attention so she politely declined and kept out of the spotlight as much as possible, stepping into it only briefly as and when required to accompany and support Harry in his career.

aubmadison : Did Jess and Harry move to the US at some point?

They kept a base in LA and New York, but never fully relocated as Harry wanted to stay close to Anne and Gemma, and Jess's family too.

aubmadison : What was Harry doing career wise in 2026?

He was taking some time out from performing to write and produce, and focus on the three children and Jess 😊

Maypola : Will you write a short story on Callie and Calvin???? That would be so amazing!!!

No, I'm sorry! No plans for that at the moment!

AleMaFo : What happened to Harry's career over the 10 years???

Performing, touring, writing, producing, presenting and acting! The world was (and still is) pretty much at his feet! He took his time to try a bit of everything, and was lucky that he had the support of his management and his family to achieve everything he wanted to. The 1D reunion was important to him, and he never forgot his roots.

Girlkraze : I wanna know about Callie and Calvin (obviously) and I'm really curious about what happened with Louis.

OK, so you clarified that your Louis question related mostly to Chapter 86 in Book 2... The clue is in the title: 'We Dream The Same Dreams.' Jess and Louis were both having the same dirty dream about each other.

Louis had been flirting outrageously with Jess on the flight, and she was giving back as good as she got. They were pushing their relationship boundaries and shouldn't really have been egging each other on the way they did. The result of their banter was the dream where they ended up having sex. This was a way for Jess's subconscious to get Louis out of her system once and for all, and likewise for Louis. There has always been a spark of attraction between them, and a little part of Louis will always secretly regret not taking things further with Jess when she kissed him at the back of Libertine (even though he knows it would have been unforgivable), and wonders just how explosive they could have been together. 

When the turbulence woke Jess from the dream and she screamed, Louis heard her and made the comment "I knew you'd be a screamer" - having a private joke with himself because this is what he had said to her in his dream. When he realised that she was staring at him in horror, had understood the comment, and that she had been dreaming about him too, he followed it up with "Take a picture, it'll last longer", thus letting her know that he was fully aware she had also been dreaming about having sex with him. It was typical Louis, calling her out.

Just to be clear - Jess would never be unfaithful to Harry, and Louis would never make a move on his best friend's girl. You have no control over your subconscious, so to blame Jess for this inappropriate dream would be unfair. However, she accepted she shouldn't have flirted with Louis to the extent she did, and understood that she probably brought the dream on herself with the conversation they had before they fell asleep. Neither of them ever told Harry about the dream encounter, and he never found out. Some things are better left unsaid.

cocopuffer123 : I wanna know about the first birth from Harry's pov and know about the boys and their careers in 2026

See the previous answers above! 😁 xx

shantayfisher : Did Sarah and Gary end up together? Also what are Jess and Harry doing career wise? Is Harry still singing and Jess still doing the same job?

Sarah and Gary got together, and Sarah eventually came to work for Jess's accountancy firm. They all remain friends to this day, but Harry and Gary will never be close.

I30belsmith : I want to say thank you!!!!

No, thank YOU for reading and supporting this series to the very end 😘

I30belsmith : This series was a rollercoaster of emotion and it couldn't have been a better ride. Bitter sweet emotions about it ending ❤️

It has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me, too. It was reader comments that spurred me on to complete their story, and I can honestly say that I have loved every minute of it. Some parts haven't always gone to plan, as the characters have a life of their own sometimes. And I have cursed real-life events more than once, and wondered how on earth I was going to weave them into the plot while trying to keep it realistic (Sara Sampaio and Kendall Jenner spring to mind 😒)! I'm sad to say goodbye to them all, but I feel the story had run its course and had come to a natural close.

FriesBeforeGuys_ : I WANT TO KNOW THE STORY OF HOW JESS TOLD HARRY THAT SHE WAS PREGNANT AND HOW HE REACTED

Ah, this would require a whole chapter in itself, and I could go on and on forever adding new chapters for all these key events in their lives! All of their children were planned, so Jess would have known Harry would be happy each time a new pregnancy was announced, that's all I will say ☺

harryrrover21 : This was the first series I started reading on here and I'm so glad I came across this book. It was so amazingly good and well-written, and now I don't think any other series that I'll read will ever come close to this haha thank you so much for this! I'd love to know Harry and Jess' reaction to having their first child, how they came up with the names Oliver, Emma, and Lily, and what Harry/Jess are doing career wise- did Harry make another album/go on tour as they were raising a family, did Jess start her own business etc? Thank you again so much for this! Can't wait to read more of your works!

Thank you for your lovely comment! I'm glad you enjoyed the series as much as I enjoyed writing it! Oliver, Emma and Lily were just names they both liked. Oliver's middle name is Harry, Emma's is Jessica and Lily's is Anne (a nod to Harry's mum). The children were planned around Harry's career and tour schedule - he made sure he would always be around to support Jess through the pregnancies and the early days, and when he was on tour he arranged the dates so that he could fly home as often as possible to avoid missing out on them growing up. 

britishboysVee : Your writing is so good. Like it's almost unbelievable that someone can write fan fiction this well so this brings me to my first question. Though this book is fictional, the way you've written it gives off the illusion that you're writing based on experience or something. Like I personally believe your Harry's secret girlfriend. Or am I wrong? Lol. Also, how'd you come up with this storyline? What was your inspiration? And how were you able to constantly be in the loop about what real Harry was doing so you could incorporate it into the story?

Haha! Thank you very much! No, I am not Harry's secret girlfriend!! :) 

When I first considered writing my own book I wanted it to be current, as all the other Real Life fanfictions I could find when I did my research were based in 2012/2013, and seemed very dated and not true to life. I wanted mine to reflect Harry and the band as they are now (or were in 2015), and to feel realistic. It was originally going to be a short one - a few chapters about a girl who met Harry at a house party, hooked up with him, and then kept in touch casually on and off when he was home between shows on the OTRA tour. However, when I started writing it the characters came to life and took the story in a completely different direction. The plot developed as I went along, and when 2015 started becoming problematic for the fandom, I started writing in key events to keep it current like I wanted. 

You can thank the real Sara Sampaio for Book 2 - it was originally planned to end a couple of weeks after Harry told Jess he loved her after the Cardiff show. (I had already dropped in the Scooby Snacks reference a couple of times around Chapter 62 of Book 1 in preparation for Jess writing their story on Wattpad!) But then Harry seemingly hooked up with Sara in real life only days after he would have declared his undying love for Jess in the book, leaving me with the options either to end it as planned, or write in the hook up and break them up. I was already having doubts about letting go of the characters so soon, so I decided to go with the Sara story, but then I needed a damn good reason why he would do something so out of character... and that's when the Speed story was born. It's no secret that drugs are prevalent in the celebrity world, so I decided to let the book take a darker turn, and tied it in further with Louis, Briana and Freddie, giving Harry a reason (albeit not an excuse) for doing what he did. 

And then just when I was steering them towards happiness after their reconciliation, Kendall Jenner appeared on the yacht in real life. That one took me weeks to plan out, because if Harry had cheated again, Jess would never have forgiven him, and therefore I couldn't have the happy ending I'd already written in my head! So I studied the pictures of Harry and Kendall over New Year 2016, and thought it strange that despite the paparazzi swarming the yacht day and night, there were no clear pictures of them kissing. So I used that to my advantage, and made it all out to be a misunderstanding. Pandora and Megan were actually fun to write into the story, as they didn't require too much explanation. Joy Muggli was easy too, as I used the real life denial from Hackford Jones PR, and the real retraction from Heat Magazine a few months later. Sometimes real events play into my hands perfectly! (Harry really was pictured back in London in time for his and Jess's anniversary in March 2016 - that made me very happy!)

And finally, I ended up many months behind real life in the books, so I kept a notebook with hastily scribbled dates and times of key 1D fandom events and sightings, to refer back to (I've included a picture below - excuse my illegible scrawl!!) I got most of the info from social media, particularly Twitter, and kept as much detail written down as I could. Once I'd earned a reputation for keeping things extremely close to real life, I had to maintain it! 😖

ScarlettlovesRed : Also, do you still plan on finishing Trace of Innocence: Sweet and Sour? I have loved the entire series and can't wait for the rest of that book.

Thank you! Yes, I will finish Trace, I promise. It requires a lot of concentration and planning, because I have to make sure that any hints I dropped in Jess's POV are explained at the right time in Harry's, which can be extremely complicated! I'm looking forward to finishing it, as the Georgia Fowler storyline is coming up, as is Callie's interference, so I particularly want to do those parts justice!

25mrose : I would love to know more about their life together, stuff like when Jess fell pregnant and the births of Ollie and Emma. Did they end up having another baby?

Yes, I think they would have gone on to have a fourth child a couple of years later. A boy maybe, to complete the family and even the scores!

25mrose : Did Gary and Sarah get together?

Yes, they did! I think they were a good match!

25mrose : How/when did Jess and Callie make up? And what was Jess' reaction to Callie and Calvin getting together?

It took Jess a few weeks to calm down over Callie's interference in her and Harry's relationship. Harry and Calvin were both involved in getting them to talk again, and although Jess was shocked and dubious at first about Callie and Calvin being an item, she soon realised how well-matched they were, and was happy for them.

StylesdimpleH : I want to know what was their reaction when they found out they were pregnant the first time. That'll be cool to know how they both felt.

They were over the moon about it. They waited a few years to try for kids, as they wanted to enjoy their first few years of married life together and they were both busy with their own careers. But once they were ready, it completed their little world.

🌍🌎🌏

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I promised to send my extra copy of Rolling Stone to one of you, so pinkannabanana3 please can you DM me your address and I will post it to you this week. You've been commenting and voting on my books as far back as I can remember, so think of this as a thank you from me. ❤❤ I wish I had a copy for each of you that commented, because I've had so many sweet messages over this, and you're all such lovely readers so I'm really sorry I can't send one to everyone xx

Thanks for all the questions! I'll now be marking this book Complete 😭 which will be rather emotional!! As mentioned above, I will be finishing Trace Book 4, which will eventually conclude this series. If you would like to read the story of No Control from Harry's POV, why not check it out from Book 3 😁 It not only explains everything through Harry's eyes, it also contains a lot of new scenes that were never in Jess's POV, and heavily features the other 1D boys. Let me know what you think!

If you want to check out my other works, I have a new Harry AU called Twist of Fate that I promise will be full of unexpected twists and turns and cliffhangers, and I also have a Louis spin off called No Control | The Night Before, which explores what would have happened if Louis had met Jess first. I'd love it if you would take a look at any or all of them over on my profile scooby-snacks xx

And one final time, thanks so much for all the support this series has received. It's been amazing reading all your comments and messages throughout the last 2 years, and I still grin at my phone like a buffoon when I get positive feedback - that will never get old for me. So thanks for being awesome, and hopefully I'll see you all around on Wattpad very soon 💖

Rachel xx