Beth's POV

Chloe's head suddenly moves from looking up at Harry to looking at me and I take a sharp breath in as I slowly walk in.

She really is awake.

"Mummy..." she says in a small voice and a feeling of relief floods through me.

I try unsuccessfully not to cry as I move quickly to her side and hug her to me.

She's going to be okay.

Everything is going to be okay.

I'm relieved but also starting to feel a little bit angry at her actions as well, but I try my best to push the feeling down.

"Don't you ever do anything so stupid like that again!" I whisper to her.

I pull away from her and hold her face between my hands as I look at one of my most precious things.

"I already lost your father, I could have lost you too," I chide her and she looks down at the blanket, guilt written all over her face, "but you're safe and that's all the matters," I say and hug her to me again, kissing her cheek, "I love you so much sweetie."

I feel Harry's hand on my back, gently rubbing it in a calming motion.

Then I have this thought that scares the hell out of me.

The three of us sitting her together just feels...right.

And the realisation causes me to tighten my grip on Chloe just a little bit more.

I...

"Looks like our girl is finally awake!" I hear a voice from behind me and I turn to find two very happy nurses.

And for once it's not because of Harry.

I mean, I wouldn't blame them, but they're purely focused on Chloe.

"Let's check your vitals shall we sweetheart," one nurse comes over and smiles at Chloe as she starts to examine her, the other disappears to find Dr. Wynter.

I move off the bed to allow the nurse room to do her job, letting Harry pull me away.

Chloe watches the nurse as she fusses over her and makes notes on her chart while Harry and I both watch and wait as Harry hugs me to him.

I turn around and wrap my arms around him with such force he stumbles back a step.

I don't want to let go.

Please don't let me go, I silently beg, burying my head into his chest.

Harry feels so safe.

Stop being such a fucking cry baby Beth.

I've never been like this with anyone.

Ever.

This is the stupid bubble he's created.

It both thrills me and scares me at the same time.

"It's okay love," he says as he kisses the top of my head, "she's okay love."

The nurse reassures us that Chloe seems fine and it's not until Harry is guiding me back over to the bed do I realise I'm clinging to him like a freaking koala with a death grip.

Snap out of it Beth!

Harry takes the chair and I sit back on the bed next to Chloe.

"I'm really sorry I didn't listen to Harry," she whispers.

I let out a sigh, knowing I can lecture her about not listening, but I know she's already feeling guilty beyond belief and the fact that she's here and she's okay is what matters most.

"I know you are," I finally reply, "and I'm sure you'll always try to listen to us now."

Harry's head snaps up to me and his eyes widen slightly.

Fuck.

What did I say?

I shake my head and frown in confusion, mouthing the word 'what' to him.

A grin spreads across his face and I'm more confused than ever.

"Well hello there!" Dr. Wynter's voice booms, interrupting the silent conversation Harry and I were having, "I hear our star patient is finally awake," he smiles kindly at Chloe as he walks over, "finally nice to make your acquaintance Miss," he says as he pulls his stethoscope off from around his neck.

He begins his own series of tests, listening to her heart, shining a light into her eyes, asking her several questions before getting her to follow his finger with her eyes.

At least he didn't ask her to pull it.

He stands up, seemingly satisfied with everything.

"We'll order another MRI in the morning but everything looks pretty good," he smiles, "would you like anything to eat or drink?" he asks Chloe.

She shyly nods her head in reply.

"Can you organise that please?" he asks one of the nurses, "and you," he bops Chloe gently on the knee, "I'll see you in the morning my dear."

He looks at all of us as he makes his way to the door.

"Get some rest, all of you," he suggests, looking pointedly at me which causes Harry to snort behind me, before he leaves the room.

Christ, he was quick.

"I'll be back," I say to Harry as I untangle myself from Harry's grasp and run to catch up with her doctor.

"Dr. Wynter!" I call out and he stops and turns around, waiting for me.

"Yes?" he asks.

"Were you by any chance aware that a receptionist from your hospital has been putting information on social media about Harry and Chloe being here?" I ask.

He shakes his head to indicate that he hasn't and gestures for me to continue.

By the time I finish explaining everything I know; his expression is grim.

"I'm sure you know that what has occurred is a breach of both patient confidentiality and hospital policy," he replies.

I nod in agreement.

"Can you leave this with me?" he asks, "I won't be able to speak to our HR department until at least tomorrow," he says.

"Of course," I reply, "and thank you for taking this seriously."

"It's unacceptable," he says, "end of story."

"I mean, I understand, coming from a fan's perspective," I reply, "but it is an invasion of our privacy."

"Indeed," he agrees, "leave it with me Ms. Westlake and I'll be in touch as soon as I hear what they'll do in regards to this."

"Thank you again," I reply and leave him to attend to his duties.

I walk back to the room to see Harry and Chloe sitting together on her bed, the various gifts spread out around on her and the two of them taking selfies with big cheesy grins.

These two are as bad as each other, I think.

I watch as they giggle together.

He really has just slipped into my family.

Harry looks up at me, a slight frown on his face.

"Everything okay?" he asks.

I nod in reply.

"I told him about the receptionist posting things about us on social media," I say.

Harry nods thoughtfully.

"What did he say?" he asks.

"Said it was unacceptable and he'll look into it," I reply.

"I wonder what they'll do..." he throws the question out.

I simply shake my head, knowing it could go a few different ways but I no longer want to talk about it.

Instead I walk over to them and take a seat on the chair when Harry goes to move off the bed.

"Do you want to sit here love?" he asks.

I smile at his thoughtfulness.

"No, it's fine Harry," I reply, "she looks quite comfy with you anyway."

Chloe smiles at me before looking up at Harry and beams at him.

Yep, she's quite comfy alright.

We spend the rest of the evening with Chloe, going through her amazing gifts before having dinner with her.

Harry reads three different stories from some of the books she received and it's almost 11pm when the two of them fall asleep.

I don't bother waking Harry, I simply cover him up with another blanket and leave them be before walking over to the window and looking outside at the night sky.

Everything finally seems to be settling again and all is well.

As well as can be expected since someone named Harry Styles walked into my life and turned it on its head.

In a most surprising and unexpected way.

I'm not sure how long I've been watching the evening stars with a silly grin on my face when I realise I never did end up getting that damn bottle of water I wanted earlier.

Grabbing my purse, I decide to go out and grab a couple for Harry and me.

Chloe and Harry are sleeping peacefully when I leave the room and close the door behind me and walk down to the machine, only to find it out of order.

Fantastic.

I keep walking around the maze of corridors until I finally find another machine and pay for a couple of bottles, opening one and taking a long sip.  I start back to Chloe's room but lose my way back in the process.

Cursing my idiocy, I finally find Chloe's room again, the door wide open.

"I wish the nurses would keep it closed," I mutter to myself as I go in and close it behind me.

I set about making the fold out bed to sleep in and after dimming the lights, I kick my shoes off and hop in under the blanket, snuggling down before I fall asleep.

~~~~~~

"You have got to be kidding me!" a voice wakes me from my sleep, "I mean, how the hell can this happen?"

I rub at my eyes and look up to see Chloe still asleep and Harry standing at the window, his back to me, unaware that I'm awake.

"No, I haven't told her yet," Harry says to whoever he's talking to on the phone, "she's still asleep."

I go to open my mouth when I see his chest shudder as he takes a breath, before he runs his hand over his face and sniffs.

Loudly.

"What if she hates me, or resents me because of this mum?" he continues and it's then I realise he's crying, "what if she decides it's too much for her?"

He listens intently to Anne and I feel terrible for eavesdropping but I don't want to interrupt their conversation that he so desperately sounds like he needs to have.

But what on earth is he talking about?

"I'm scared of losing her mum...and I wouldn't blame her if she left," he lets out a heavy sigh and listens, "I know mum, but she's not in the industry," he runs his hand through his hair, "I'm just scared that after everything with Chloe, this will make her leave...I don't want to lose her mum, lose all of them over this..."

I suddenly feel sick to my stomach now that I'm awake enough to realise it's me that he's talking about.

But what scares me is that I don't know what has happened to make him think I'd leave.

"This could really piss her off mum," he says, and he sighs heavily, "I just can't believe she put a photo of her on there."

Her?

Now I feel a cold sweat break out and like someone has just sucker punched me.

I can't pretend to lie here like I'm asleep anymore and let Harry and Anne have this conversation with me listening in.

I fling the blanket off me and quickly stand up, the noise of the bed squeaking causes Harry to abruptly turn around, his eyes growing wide as he looks at me.

"Mum, Beth's awake, I have to go," he says and ends the call.

"Harry what's going on?" I whisper anxiously, already biting my bottom lip because quite honestly, I'm terrified of what he has to say.

He looks at Chloe and his face contorts into a pained expression.

"Come outside Beth, I don't want to wake her," he says quietly and holds his arm out in a gesture to guide me out.

Already I know this does not look good and it feels like everything is suddenly crumbling down around me.

My bubble is about to burst.

"Beth?" Harry gently touches my arm and I let him take me out of Chloe's room and into a nearby waiting room and closes the door behind us.

His shoulders slump before he turns and faces me, sadness on his face.

"Harry you're scaring me," I come straight out and say it.

"Beth, I'm so sorry," he says, "I feel I have no right to ask you but please don't be angry with me," he pleads as he looks down at his phone and taps on it a few times before holding it out to me.

I don't want to look, but I know I have no choice and I gingerly reach out and take it from him and look at it.

My eyes widen in shock then narrow in anger as I look up from it and at Harry.

"I overheard your conversation with your mother Harry," I tell him, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, you woke me up and I just assumed you needed time to talk to her," I grip his phone in my hand and take a few steps back before walking right up to him, my finger poking him in the chest.

He nods in understanding, tears building in his eyes.

"Now you listen to me," I tell him, "don't you dare think for one moment that I think this is your fault, or that I blame you in any way, or that you invited this in, that I would..." I pause for a moment because the thought does make me feel hurt, "that I would leave you, that hurts Harry."

I thump his chest softly a couple of times with the side of my hand that holds his phone to emphasise my point.

"You've worked so hard to make me trust you, to make me fall in love with you," my voice starts to crack as I speak, "how could you think..."

"Because it's not just my privacy that's been invaded love," he says has he reaches out to hug me tightly to him, "that's what scared me the most..."

All the hesitancy I've been feeling about Harry and I seems to disappear when I see how vulnerable he looks right now.

And I know he loves me.

I'm angry that someone has caused such a sweet and caring soul to feel this way.

To not only doubt himself, but how I feel about him.

I know it in the words he speaks, how he looks at me, how he touches me.

But it is all here now physically, unspoken.

It's written all over his face and the way he stands before me now.

"I'm so fucking angry over this, you have no idea Beth," he says and admittedly I never thought I'd see Harry like this, he's absolutely seething, "I'm going to my lawyers over this today."

Now that I've had the time to digest this all, I feel calmer and reach up to hold Harry's face within my hands so I have his attention.

"Let's just speak to the hospital administration first," I tell him, "I can understand it Harry, but I see both sides."

"Are you seriously defend-" he starts but I put my finger over his lips.

"You need to calm down and be in control when we figure out what to do next, okay?" I tell him.

He sighs and nods reluctantly before kissing my finger.

"When did you get to be so wise?" he asks.

"Parenting," I reply with a smirk, "you learn to be a good negotiator," I say as Harry puts his arm around me and we start to walk out.

I look down at Harry's phone and the picture that is currently making the rounds on social media.

"Actually," I stop walking, "she may have shot herself in the foot all by herself."

Harry frowns as he leans over my shoulder and looks down at his phone.

The Twitter retweets are loading faster than I can read them on the all too familiar redheaded girl's page below the picture she's posted.

A picture of Harry and Chloe tucked up together and sleeping peacefully in Chloe's hospital bed from last night with a caption of 'Daddy Styles.'

But there are hardly any positive comments.

The majority of his fans are angry.

Really angry.

They're acknowledging the invasion of our privacy and it's fair to say, this girl is copping a lot of hate for it.

I think it's clear that her fifteen minutes of fame is up.

I hand his phone back to him.

"How are you so calm about this?" he asks, "this is your daughter's privacy being put out there without your permission."

"Yours too," I remind him, "I guess because...I always try to look at the bigger picture," I shrug my shoulders, "is this right? No, of course it's not, she's crossed the line in a massive way," he waits for me to continue, "but nobody died Harry, nobody was injured."

"But..." he starts.

"Yes, it's absolutely wrong and we'll deal with it," I stand on my toes and kiss his cheek, "together."

I open the door and grab him by the hand and literally drag him back to Chloe's room, a scowl still on his face like a little kid.

We stop at her door and I'm just about to open it when Harry stops me.

"I feel like I don't deserve you," he says quietly.

Uh...what?

He really is taking this to heart.

Right then.

"Well I probably don't deserve you either," I reply, crossing my arms over my chest in a stubborn movement which causes him to smile a little, "so let's not deserve each other together hey?" I huff and throw my hands up in mock resignation.

He finally laughs and shakes his head at me and we walk back into Chloe's room.

Harry shuts the door behind us and tugs on my hand, pulling me back to him.

"I love you," he whispers, "I really do love you."

I rest my hands on his chest and smile up at him.

"Stop being so damn sappy Styles," I say, "can't I at least have one day without bloody crying?"

He chuckles and kisses me firmly on the mouth.

"Fair enough," he says as he lets me go and we walk back over to Chloe's sleeping form.

She's still sound asleep.

Of course.

This kid would sleep through a herd of elephants in her room.

I suddenly feel Harry's hands gently grab me by the waist and guide me back to sit on his lap before he wraps his arms around me tightly and I let myself fall back into him, my head laying on his shoulder.

"Ohhh...I'm stuck..." I laugh as I weakly try to escape his hold.

Harry smirks and starts to kiss me on the side of my neck and because I'm already laughing, it just tickles and makes me start to laugh even louder.

"Stop...stop..." I gasp but Harry just grips me tighter and kisses me more sloppily on my neck.

"Oh my god I'm trying to sleep here!" a cranky voice suddenly says and we freeze, "can't you two keep it down?"

We both look up only to see Chloe with her head hidden under her pillow.

"Um...we might go get some breakfast then?" I suggest to Harry who's trying his best not to laugh.

Chloe's arm shoots out and she points to the door.

"Well good morning to you too," I say as we stand up and I pat her gently on the back as we head out of her room and down to the hospital cafeteria.

"Quite the Miss. Cranky Pants there," Harry muses, "wonder where she gets it from..." he trails off and I look at him incredulously before tapping him across the back of his head, "hey I'm just merely making an observation..." he says innocently as he looks at my expression.

"Really Harry?" I reply.

"Have I told you how much I love you..?" he says cheekily as he hugs me from behind as we walk...