Harry's POV

I bury my face into my pillow, and try as I might, desperately try to ignore my head as it urges me to wake up.  I roll over onto my back and throw an arm across my face, hoping it will block out the light of the sun.  My nose detects a slight, unfamiliar smell of something sweet.  I lift my arm slightly and squint as I see a small, dark blot on my forearm.  I gingerly sniff at it and realise its chocolate topping and I can't help but smile at the memory it triggers.

Ice cream for dinner.

I lace my fingers together and rest them under the back of my head.

Beth was...well...friendly enough.  I guess considering a stranger had just rocked up on her doorstep baring food for her, it could have gone ass up.  Even though I am well known, I'm still essentially a stranger to her.  But she still welcomed me in and I'm so glad she did. 

I found her to be gracious, humorous, quietly reserved but she had moments of quirkiness and funny facial expressions, both of which I found to be endearing.  She intrigued me though.  Like I had only just scraped the surface of who she really was.  Granted I was only there for a short amount of time, but...there was something about her...I just wanted to know...well, more.

My curiosity was inexplicably drawing me to her.

Her kids are hysterical, especially her daughter Chloe.  She seems very smart and sassy...and she let me know in no uncertain terms that Niall is her favourite, even if I did bring her ice cream.  I wonder if she gets her sassiness from her mother?

Jamie, the younger boy seems very certain of himself, what he definitely likes and dislikes, and clearly has an immense love for food...he and Niall would get on like a house on fire.

Her oldest though, Nick, seems to keep to himself.  Not a lot to say...I wonder if that's just his personality or there's more to it?

The thought of them all makes me smile even more, knowing that I'll see them again this evening.

Beth didn't seem to particularly mind that I had invited myself for dinner. 

I mentally face palm myself. 

I realise I didn't really give her an opportunity to say no though.  Did I railroad her into it?  I think she would have said no if she really didn't want me there.

At least I hope so.

I can't say for sure why it makes me feel happy and excited to be seeing them again.  I mean, Beth's a lot older, shit, she's probably close to my own mum's age if I'm honest.  I don't see her in a sexual way at all.  Don't get me wrong, Beth's really pretty...attractive, definitely has some curves, judging by the way her jeans hugged her thighs and her ass.  And she is very blessed in the...

"Fuck!" I suddenly stop myself.

Okay, she's attractive but that's it. 

I can certainly appreciate a female without it being anything more than just that. 

Appreciation.

I rub my eyes with one of my hands, as if it will help clear my thoughts.

I really want to get to know what's inside her.  What makes her the person she is?  Her life story...likes, dislikes.  Why is she here?  I want to get to know HER and I can't quite explain why...why I'm so drawn to her.

I sit bolt upright.

She's a mother with three children. 

There was no man with her last night.  Or at the supermarket.

Where was he?

Maybe he was out?  Joining them at a later date?  Or not at all?

It had seemed like it was just the four of them though.

Why should it matter anyway? I reminded myself.

It just kind of did for some reason.

Get your shit together Harold, I mentally berate myself.

You're starting to overthink things here with someone you barely know.

I look over at the clock and see that it's already late morning and I remember I promised mum I'd take her out for lunch today.

I throw the covers off and sit up, my feet touch the carpeted floor as I stand up and put my hands on my hips.

Right Styles, you're just going to go and have a really enjoyable evening and hopefully a decent meal that the kids seemed more confident Beth could deliver than she did.

I look down and see my boxer shorts tenting.

I mean, it's not like I don't wake up with a hard on...but this one is particularly...um, harder this morning.  Well she did have a really great set of tits on her.

Jesus.  I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

Shower first mate, can't be seeing mum with one of those.

I walk to the bathroom and after I relieve myself I turn on the water in the shower and soon enough the hot water is running over me, warming me up.

I stay in there longer than I should but, you know, I had somewhat of an urgent matter to attend to.

After I towel dry myself, I wrap the towel around my waist and brush my teeth.  It's too late to bother with breakfast now.  Taking the towel from around my body, I run it over my hair, squeezing the last bits of water from it before I hang it up over the drying rack.  I run my fingers through my damp hair so it flips over to the right.  I decide it can air dry today.

I walk back into my bedroom and pull some boxer shorts out of the drawer and put them on.  I choose my old faithful black skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt before putting on my suede boots.

I pull out a black, thigh length coat and put it on before I walk out of my bedroom and downstairs. 

I pocket my phone and wallet and then grab my keys and sunglasses and head outside to my car.

The day is cool but the sun is shining as I drive through the streets to mum's house. 

Ten minutes later I pull into the driveway and smile at the familiarity of it.  Nothing has changed and I quite like it.

So many things come and go in my life and although I signed up for this, at times it still feels so surreal.  There can be times, albeit rare, that my life is calm and quiet, and other times it's crazy and hectic.  It's a massive whirlwind at times.

But home is always the same.

And I love it.

I park and turn the car off and walk up to the door and before I can even knock, it swings wide open.

"Hey mum!" I smile and hug her as she wraps her arms around me and proceeds to squeeze the life out of me.

"It's good to have you home Harry!" she says and I close my eyes and inhale her smell.

It's that familiar smell that I guess all mum's have that makes them unique and just...your mum.

"Come inside, it's fresh out today," she exclaims, releasing me and walking inside.

I close the door and follow her down to the kitchen, taking a seat on a stool at the breakfast bar.

"Tea?" she asks, just as she finishes off her own.

"No I'm good," I reply, "I'll save it for lunch," I glance into the lounge area from the kitchen.

"Is Robin coming with us?" I ask her.

"Couldn't get away from work I'm afraid," mum sighed, "but it's not like you don't have the time now to not see him!" she smiled.

"True," I agreed.

Mum put her empty cup into the sink and walks around the kitchen bench and hugs me again.

"It's good to have you home love," she says, trying to sniff undetected as she wipes a lone tear off her cheek.  She releases me and grabs her bag and coat.

"Let's go before I start to look hideously red-eyed and puffy faced," she smiles.

"Never mum," I kiss her on the cheek and follow her out the door.

We hop into my car and I proceed to drive to the little café I spotted last night next to the supermarket.  Mum and I make idle chat about what's been happening lately, mostly about the relatives, just a general catch up as she fiddles with the radio, as she tries to find a station she likes.  She finally settles for an Ed Sheeran song when I pull up near the café.

"Hate when that happens," she grumbles but still with a smile on her face, "you finally find a decent song then you have to get out of the car."

I laugh as we climb out of the rover.

"You know, I can actually just get Ed to come around and sing for you don't you?" I offer jokingly.

"Well you know what to get me for my birthday then don't you?" she quips.

I shake my head and hold open the door for mum and follow her inside.

The warmth of the café envelops us as we find a table for two further down the back.  A young girl walks over ready to take our drinks order.  She turns her attention to mum first who orders another tea.  She nods as she writes it down before she turns to me, and promptly drops her pencil on the floor.  She picks it up, fumbles and apologises profusely before eventually writing down my order for tea and an apple juice.

"Poor girl," mum sympathises as she watches the girl walk away, "she's redder than a tomato."

"I'll sign something for her later," I reply, unless she passes out first, in which case she'll get it when she wakes.

"So," my mum draws the word out, "when are you joining us for Christmas?  Everyone wants to see you...it is next week you know?" she asks.

"I'll be there all day with you of course," I say as if it isn't obvious, "someone's got to eat your roast turkey," my eyes light up at the thought of it, "and the ham...and the pork..." I mentally drool at the thought of mum's traditional Christmas spread, "I might come over Christmas Eve as well, I'm not sure yet."

"So you just love me for my food is that right?" mum laughs.

"Partly," I smirk, "it is mostly you though."

An older woman approaches us with our drinks and places them down before she asks what we'd like to eat.

"Where's the other waitress?" I ask.

"Out the back hyperventilating," she says with a straight face, as if it's the most normal thing in the world, "one look at you young man and she's lost coherency.  I didn't think she'd be able to carry your drinks without dropping them."

I make a mental note to definitely say hello to her before we leave.  Mum and I give our order and the woman leaves to place them.

"So how was your flight love?" mum asks, "you didn't call last night to let me know you got in safe."

I smirk at her, even at 21 she still likes me to check in.

"I got a bit side-tracked last night, it was too late to call by the time I made it home," I reply.

"Did you go out?" she asks.

"Not exactly..." I say before I launch into the whole story of what happened at the supermarket and how I ended up at Beth's house.

"Poor woman," mum sympathises.

"I know," I agree.

"What would have been the bigger shock for her?" mum asks.

"Sorry?  What do you mean?"  I didn't quite get her point.

"Well the fact that she's in a foreign country and can't access her money or that you show up on her doorstep Harry," she smiles.

"Very funny," I laugh sarcastically.

"So how did she take it?  You showing up I mean," she asks.

"Pretty well I think, considering," I reply.

For some reason I don't want to share the fact that I'm going there for dinner this evening.  I'm not one to hide things from mum and I'm certainly not embarrassed or ashamed of Beth.  I just want to keep it to myself a little bit longer.

But why Harry?

I don't know.

I continue my story.

"We chatted for a little then I came home and collapsed straight into bed really," I finish.

Our lunches arrive and we thank the waitress for them.  Still the older one, the younger girl must have actually passed out.  Mum and I continue our talk as we eat and the food is really delicious.  I make a mental note to return here sooner rather than later.  A few hours later, numerous cups of tea and a slice of chocolate cake for me and apple tea cake for mum and we decide it's time to leave.  I head to the counter to pay and ask if the young waitress is around.  The woman behind the counter laughs to herself and nods before she turns and heads out the back.  I can hear hushed tones before one voice becomes significantly higher.  Mum and I exchange a glance before we turn and see the young girl being guided out by the other woman.

Shit, she really does look like she's going to pass out.

I smile and bend down a little so I'm now at her eye level.

"Hi love, what's your name?" I quietly ask her, I don't want to draw attention to her.

"L-L-L-Lu-cy," she manages to say.

I hear mum breathe out a sigh behind me.  One of those 'mum' kind of sighs.  I'll bet she's trying to stop herself from giving Lucy a hug.  Lucy must have heard her too as she glances at mum and her eyes widen again.

"Would you like a photo with me Lucy?" I ask her.

"I...I..." she stutters, her hand reaching into her pocket and finding it empty, her lip drops.

The woman next to her quickly whips her phone out and gently gives Lucy a push towards me.  I put my arm around her, the poor girl is trembling as her hand clutches at my shirt as she seems to hold on for dear life.  We both look at the phone as our photo is taken a couple of times.  I release Lucy and ask for a piece of paper and a pen, signing it for Lucy and handing it to her.  I hug her still shaking body and almost miss the tiny 'thank you' that she whispers.

"You're welcome," I reply before I let go, "take care now," I smile at her.

Mum and I leave, which I think is best, because Lucy really does need to sit back down again.

I can hear the faint cries of my name as mum and I walk quickly to my car.

Don't get me wrong, I love my fans, but I just want this time together with mum and to be honest, I'm still feeling a bit of jetlag.  We hop into the safety of my car and as we drive off I do wave to the small group of girls gathered on the sidewalk, causing them to let out a few screams.

"Have that effect on girls often do you?" mum muses, a smirk on her face.

"Funny," I reply, scrunching my nose up.

She laughs as we continue the drive back home.

"What are you up to the next few days?" she asks as we pull into the driveway.

"Probably just catching up with a few friends before Christmas, nothing too strenuous," I reply.

"Right, well if you're free for dinner before then and you can fit us in, give us a shout love," she says, a trace of sarcasm as she leans over to kiss me on the cheek.

"You're on fire today mum," I laugh, though I'm already salivating at the thought of her cooking.

"Thanks for lunch, I'll hear from you soon," she says before hopping out of the car.

I wave to her and watch until she's safely inside the house before I back my car out of the drive and head home to get ready for dinner tonight.

Dedicated to dirtyyarn just because I can and if you haven't already checked out her story 'Delivery,' you really should! It's awesome!