When morning comes, I find Harry staring at me as I wake up. 

Suddenly, I feel super self-conscious. 

"What," I mutter, still half asleep.

"You're beautiful," Harry responds. I didn't expect such a nice response. My cheeks begin to heat up, just like they always do around him. 

He might as well get used to it.

I sit up and rub my sleepy eyes. "Harry," I say with a serious tone. "To actually make this work, we need to have some rules."

He nods and waits for me to continue.

"I really really don't want anyone to know about this. Seriously, okay?" He indicates his agreement and I keep going. "An important factor of that is Drew."

He visibly cringes when I say his name. 

"I know, but it's important. We have a pact that we would marry if we didn't find our soulmates by age 30. If I suddenly break up with him, he'd get suspicious. Of course, that would lead to him asking Audrey, and it would spiral out. I need to pretend that we're still together. Now, since this isn't fair to you, you have full freedom to do whatever you want with your relations."

His eyes get dark. I knew he wouldn't be happy with these conditions, but it's the only way to know whether he's the one. 

"I don't want any other relationships," he says firmly.

I smile and kiss his hand. "I'm giving you permission, use it to your discretion." He rolls his eyes and I continue. "If word gets out Harry, things will be bad. Besides, I'll try to invite you to every event that Drew is at, okay?"

This time, he kisses my hand. "You better. If I find that scum doing anything stupid... I'm not afraid to use my fists."

I laugh, like full-on belly laugh. Harry's serious demeanor fades and he begins laughing with me.

Our laughter begins to slow. "Do we have a deal?" I ask, biting my lip.

"Yes, ma'am." He replies, pulling me into a hug just to roll on top of me. I begin laughing again as he kisses me. 

Once our morning goofiness is over, he orders room service for breakfast. I borrow his phone charger and wait for my dead phone to turn on. 

The apple logo flashes on the screen, and I'm greeted with many notifications.

Last night was such a mess, I totally forgot about the world. 

I scroll through all my messages. One from Audrey, a few from Drew, some from Lily, and about a hundred from my mom... 

"I'm so fucking dead," I groan. I look through my sister's texts first. They're mostly asking about my well-being, but also warning me that my mom is pissed. 

Without reading her texts, I call my mom immediately. 

"Hey mama, I can explain," I begin before she has the chance to yell at me. 

It doesn't matter. She begins scolding me from the phone, pausing to express how relieved she is that I'm alive, then yelling again. She's so loud that Harry can hear the yelling even though the phone isn't on speaker. I see him visibly flinch.

Yeah, ouch.

"O-okay. Yes. Okay mom. Yes, I'll be home soon. Okay, I'm on my way. Yes. Mhm. Okay, bye." I hang up the phone dramatically.

"Oof, I would hate to be you right now," he chuckles. I roll my eyes and throw a pillow at him.

"It's your fault anyway," I stick my tongue out. "I have to go now..."

His puppy dog eyes are begging me to stay, but nothing is more dangerous than a mother's wrath. 

He pulls out his phone. "I'm calling you a car."

"I'm good, seriously. I can walk." I argue. He doesn't listen and calls a car anyways. 

"We have five minutes," he smirks with a glint of naughtiness in his eyes. He walks towards me slowly. Right when he's close enough to touch me, there's a knock on the door. 

Room service. 

I run to open the door while he laughs at my apprehension. I thank the staff for the order, and roll the cart inside the room. As soon as the door shuts, Harry sneaks a kiss. I side-cheek him, eager to look at the food he ordered.

"I've never gotten room service before," I explain while looking at all the options in front of me. He really ordered a lot. 

He looks genuinely shocked for a moment. 

While he's distracted, I grab a little whip cream and smear it on his cheek. 

"Hey!" He gasps in surprise. Before he can wipe it off, I get on my tippy toes and lick it off. He shudders at my intimate gesture. 

Once it's licked clean, I plant a little kiss on the same cheek. 

He looks at me with wide eyes. "You really are something else..." Just then, his phone dings. "Ugh, car's here." I gather my stuff. "Let me at least walk you down," he pleads.

"No, it's too risky." I smile at his kindness and open the door to rush out.

"El, wait," Harry calls. I turn around to see what he wants, and he stuffs a strawberry into my mouth.

I giggle, give him a quick kiss, and leave.

Now to face my mother.

My mother is something else. She's a kind soul, but also a workaholic.

She's a nurse at a local hospital that's severely understaffed. Most of the time, she isn't home. That's why I didn't expect her to freak out. I didn't even think she would notice.

I quickly find the car Harry sent for me and get inside. The driver is kind, but doesn't speak much.

I pray that I don't die the whole ride home. 

Once we arrive at my house, I thank the driver again and get out. Once I manage to unlock the door, I sneak in quietly. My sister, who's sitting in the living room, looks at me with wide eyes. 

Oh, I'm in big trouble.

My mom rushes out of the kitchen and sees me. She engulfs me in a big hug. 

"My baby! Don't ever worry me again! You could have at least texted," she says as she squeezes me to death. 

"I'm so sorry mama. I was caught up at Audrey's house. She was super sick and I was taking care of her. Time flew by." I lie through my teeth.

I'm surprised she isn't yelling at me, but I'm not going to question it. Maybe she got it all out of her system on the phone.

"Okay, lunch and dinner are in the fridge. I have to go to work. It's a double shift, so it shouldn't even be legal. Wish me luck," she sings. I worry for her sometimes. She works way too hard. She hugs me and Lily goodbye. 

Lily gets up after she leaves. I completely forgot today is a school day. 

"Have fun at school," I mock. She gives me the finger. "Rude!"

"Shut up. Also, I'm sleeping over at Rebecca's house tonight." 

I nod and watch her grab her bag and leave. 

I have the whole house to myself!

The first thing I do is call Harry.

"Hello, darling." He calls from the phone. My heart flutters. "Hello?"

I snap out of my trance. "Sorry, hi!"

"How was your mum's fury?" Pity is laced in his voice.

Right, I forgot he witnessed that. "Not bad actually! So, uh..." Suddenly I'm embarrassed to invite him over. 

"Spit it out love," he teases.

I swallow and try again. "My mom's not home. Do you want to spend the night?" I bite my lip out of nervousness. 

"I have a couple meetings to attend, but I can make it by 7 if that works." He responds.

"Yeah!" I try not to sound over-enthusiastic. "I'll see you then. Bye!" I do a little happy dance once he hangs up.

Now I have ten hours to tidy up the house and hide all the embarrassing artifacts I own.