A/N
If you missed Chapter 32, be sure to check it out before you read this one.

Enjoy!

Forgetfulness.

Must run in the family.

When Harry was just about to drive up the stoned driveway, he abruptly mashed the brakes as a frantic Gemma burst through the front door and ran towards the car.

"Park down the street. Make sure no one sees you" she eyes Harry "then come through the back door" she instructed sternly gesturing her hands wildy in the opposite direction of the house and then ran back inside.

Turns out Gemma forgot to mention the most important part of this weekend.

It was suppose to be a surprise.

Of all the things she could've forgotten to tell us...

So she thought out this whole plan of us coming through the back door to surprise Anne and Robin but we can't mention what she has planned for tomorrow. Our reason for visiting was that we were in the area and decided to stop by.

....Yeah.

Harry turned off the car after parking but made no attempt to exit. I turn to look at him with his head staring out the windscreen. He rolls his head in my direction and my heart skips a beat when his green eyes land on me.

A smile slowly stretches across his face while I feel mine to the same.

That is until a high pitched squeal sounds from behind us.

"Uncle Harry!"

Dammit!

He grins as he turns around to face her.

"You're awake!" he squeals back.

"Am I nobody?"

"Oh. Hi mamà" she briefly glances at me and then back to Harry excitedly "When did you get here?"

I don't know if I should be hurt, offended or find her reaction to seeing Harry utterly adorable. She mirrors my internal emotions!

He chuckles at her enthusiasm and turns to me looking smug "At least someone is happy to see me when they wake up"

"Shut up Harry" I mutter opening the door as they start chatting animatedly to get our bags from the boot.

With her bag on one shoulder, my bag on the other and Harry's in my hand I walk back around the car to Mari's side and open the door.

"Come on" I hold my free hand out to help her out. However I don't expect her to jump into my arms instead causing me to slighty stumble backwards and dropping Harry's bag on the sidewalk.

My eyes widen at her sudden movements but they immediately soften as I feel her small arms wrapping around my neck, her head on my chest.

"I missed you too" she says with a smile and my heart warms.

Can I just say that there is nothing better than being able to feel the love and adoration that your child has for you radiating from them. It makes all the sacrifices and hardships worth it. They make it worth it.

I kiss the top of her head and smile as she tightens her arms around my neck.

Hearing a car door close I look up and lock eyes with Harry.

He sends me a soft smile before winking at me and then bending to retrieve his bag from where I accidentally dropped it.

Is it normal for me to feel like I just about had a heart attack when he winked at me?

For fuck sake, he just winked!

I'm snapped out of my daze when Mari jumps down and grabs my hand.

"Ready?" Harry asks walking up beside us.

I look down at Mari as she looks up at me. Then we look towards Harry and nod.

We start walking back to the house with me on the inside, Harry on the end nearest to the roadside and Mari in the middle of us still holding my hand.

To Harry's shock and my amusement, with her free hand, Mari takes Harry's hand and continues walking swinging it back and forth.

Harry is usually amazing with kids so to see him looking out of his element is a bit....unusual.

"Man up" I mouth at him smiling.

"Shut it" he mouths back. I watch as he looks at their hands, her tiny one engulfed by his much larger one and a smile etches across his face.

"Uncle Harry?" her angelic voice sounds through the silence.

"What do you need lil'munchkin?"

"I like that name" she chuckles "it's funny when you say it" then she repeats the nickname mocking his accent.

I try to stifle my laugh at her teasing but couldn't hold it in when he pretended to be offended.

"Rude" he pouts making her laugh.

"So. Do you have a girlfriend?" she interrogates causing my eyes to widen.

"Mari. That's enough" I warn but she ignores me.

"Or maybe like someone?" she presses.

"Mariangeli! What's gotten into you?" I scold.

She looks up at me "What? I was just asking"

She has a tendency to be a little nosy sometimes but what little kids aren't? I just don't want Harry to feel uncomfortable with a little girl interrogating him about his personal life or that he's obligated to answer them.

I open my mouth to say just that but I'm cut off.

"It's okay" he looks me in the eye as if to reassure me that it really is and then looks down at Mari with a small smile.

"You're a little nosy one, aren't ya?" he bops her nose chuckling when she scrunches it up.

"To answer your first question, no I don't have a girlfriend" I feel myself let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

A mischievous smile appears on her face "and the next question?"

He hums nodding his head "I do like someone, yes" then adds "but it's a secret"

She frowns and hangs her head in disappointment "Oh okay"

We settle into a deep silence where only the sound of our feet on the ground could be heard.

My heart sinks at his answer.

He likes someone? Who is she?

We reach the house not too long after and Harry leads us to the back door.

"Why are we at Aunty Anne's?"

"Hey, you have to be very quiet okay? Don't make a sound" I tell her softly, stooping down to her level. She nods.

We stand closely behind Harry as he gets his keys, the smell of his cologne invading my senses making my body react in a way I've never known it could.

He's your friend. He's your friend. He's your-

"Mia?" I jump at the sound of his voice.

"He's your friend" I blurt out immediately in response.

He shushes me and covers my mouth with his hand but I don't miss the amused glint in his eyes.

I roll my eyes at myself. Really?

"Do you want Gemma to kill us?" he whispers harshly.

I stick my tongue out and lick his palm covering my mouth. He swiftly pulls it away and rubs it on his jeans in disgust causing Mari and I to burst out laughing.

He shushes us again before turning around shaking his head but I don't miss the small smile across his lips.

Once he gets the door open without a sound, he motions for us to go in first.

Taking this opportunity to pretend as I'm on some secret mission, I tip toe into the house with Mari following right behind me.

We manage to make it to the kitchen door but the real challenge would be outside of the kitchen.

Opening the kitchen door slowly, I peek my head through to make sure it was clear. I turn around to Harry and motion for him to go upstairs.

Well, it took some time considering I'm not good at signals and Harry's not good at reading them. It was a back and forth between my wild hand gestures and pointing and his confused face that was failing to mask his amusement.

Stepping out into the hallway without any mishaps, we head towards the staircase though we don't make it very far.

"And where do you think you're going?" a voice sounds behind us causing us to stop in our tracks.

I slowly turn around to face Anne with a cocked brow and her hands on her hips.

"The neighbour just rang. Said she saw you three taking a stroll and asked if Harry had a new girlfriend." I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

Nosy neighbours. How will they survive without the gossip?

"Hi mum" Harry says nervously. Have I mentioned his history with keeping secrets yet?

"Aunty Anne!" Mari runs towards Anne's side "I haven't seen you in forever!" she exaggerates.

Traitor!

"Oh my sweet!" a bright smile adorns her face "Robin and I missed you so much. The house has been so quiet without you!"

"Come, come. I'm just about done with supper" she walks towards the kitchen with an excited Mari in tow.

I watch Harry and he stares back at me.

What the hell are we suppose to do now?

"Do we go to the kitchen?" I ask confused.

"I was going to ask you the same thing" he responds just as Gemma comes into view.

When her eyes land on us they immediately fill with panic.

"Where did she go?"

"Who?"

"Mum! Did he already ruin the surprise?" she points to Harry with narrowed eyes.

"Hey"he whines as I chuckle shaking my head.

"Okay, good" she sighs in relief "Just stick to the plan"

She starts walking away but abruptly stops and turns back to us.

"The, um, the guest bedroom is a bit, uh, unavailable right now?" she says but it comes out like a question.

"What I mean is, I hope you don't mind bunking with Harry for the night"

My eyes bug out of my head "What?"

"What's that suppose to mean?" his question is aimed at me but I ignore him.

"As in Mari and I... with Harry?"I clarify.

"Yeah..." she backs away slowly "it'll be just like old times"

"Gemma-" I attempt to object but she's taken off.

Great!

I turn to look at Harry who wears a smirk causing my brows to furrow.

"What are you smirking at?" I ask suspiciously.

"Nothing" he dismisses slinging his arm around my shoulder and starts walking up the stairs.

"Isn't this cool? Our first sleepover in the new house!" I can literally feel his excitement radiating off of him in waves. He's blubby.... a bit too blubbly.

"Oh joy"

"Well don't sound too excited"

He grins widely at me when I flash him a fake smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can someone please explain how the hell I ended up in the same bed as Harry? Alone?

Let's go back a bit....

After putting our stuff in Harry's room, the mouthwatering smell of Anne's homemade roast had us salivating.

Okay, fine!

It had me salivating. So much so that I could feel it pulling me towards the kitchen. With Harry in tow.

It was only sat around the dining table, ready to dig in, that I realised how hungry I was. Literally starving.

However my hunger didn't distract me from the fact that someone was missing.

"Oh he's just taking a nap. Nothing to worry about, love" Anne shrugs off but I don't miss the concerned look Gemma sneaks at her mother. And I'm not the only one.

She questioned us about our unexpected visit again in order to change the subject. This time we told her exactly what Gemma said to tell her.

Well, I told her. Harry was gripping onto his fork for dear life. Poor thing.

Thankfully she took my words as gospel and said,

"You know you're always welcomed here love" she reassures with a warm smile "Now tell me, how's tour life treating you?"

That conversation pretty much took up the rest of the time while we ate.

Maybe this weekend won't be so bad. Watching Mari so happy when she's around them makes me happy. She doesn't, more like she can't, experience this all of the time like other kids.

Besides me, Anne, Robin and Gemma and well I guess now Harry, are the only family she's ever known.

It pains me when she asks about her parents. I can't keep that from her, she deserves to know. It may be hard for me to talk about them and I don't do it often, if any at all, but when she asks I know I have no choice but to swallow the lump in my throat and comply.

But it crushes me to the core every single time she asks me about her other family, more specifically her grandparents.

I have all sorts of tactics to dodge that question because I simply can't answer it.

I can't tell her the truth. Not yet.

Maybe when she's older and can handle it.

But for now, I know she can't. She just can't.

What kind of person would I be if I told her that her gran-

"Hey, you okay?" I feel a warm hand cover my own drawing me out of my thoughts.

I look up only to be faced with Harry's concerned face staring back at me.

I hate that look.

Around the table, everyone mirrors his expression and I instantly start feeling uncomfortable with the number of eyes watching me.

My eyes turn back to his intense green one still staring into my soul and I start shifting under his gaze.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" he asks softly and it's only then that I realise how close he is to me.

Every fibre in my body is itching to be closer but I'm fighting it. I'm fighting hard.

I open my mouth several times to respond but nothing comes out.

"I'll do whatever I have to just to pry it out of you" he smirks and finishes off with a devilish wink that has my insides tingling but not only that, there's this new sensation that shot up right between my thighs and I feel my jaw drop at the feeling.

What the fuck is that?!

I turn my attention to the screeching of chairs on the floor to distract myself only to find Gemma and Mari already gone from their seats.

I jump out of my skin when a hand touches my shoulder.

"You alright love?" Anne looks down at me "You've been out for a bit"she states.

"Yeah, I'm fine" my voice is shaky, my eyes are flicking between her soft ones and her son's mischievous ones topped with a smirk, all while squeezing my thighs together.

"Well I'm making a cuppa before I go to bed. The pair of you want any?"

I abrupty stand up from my seat "Actually, I think I'm just going to go upstairs if that's alright" I don't wait for her answer before I'm halfway up the stairs already headed for Harry's room.

Once I'm inside, I close the door gently and lean my back against it, trying to compose myself.

I decide against calling Lily for assistance not wanting to disturb her with my mindless rambling when it's probably nothing.

Yeah.

This is probably nothing. It's just chemical.

When Harry goes away, so does the feelings and the tinglings and all this shit.

And....I wait.

Wait.

Still waiting...

It doesn't go away. Why won't it go away?

Shoo fly!

I feel like I could burst into tears at how frustrated I feel.

Too bad that can't happen right?

Feeling utterly helpless, I walk to the ensuite to take a shower.

Now this....this is something I've never done before.

When I think about Harry's room, I think of a small bed with space themed sheets and stars on the walls and mini spaceships hanging by string from the ceiling.

Of course when he got older and matured, so did the decor of his room but the first thing that comes to mind whenever I think of his room is that.

Now to stay in Harry's room and not have to walk to the other side of the house to get to the bathroom is a bit strange but in a good way.

I take a deep breath before entering. I have to do a double take at the white tub on the other side of the glass walls of the shower.

Nooo, you wanted to take a shower, TAKE A SHOWER!

Stripping of my clothes and turning on the shower was the easy part.

The not so easy part is how silent it is, apart from the sound of the water hitting the tiles.

Silence. Not my best friend.

Ever heard quiet screams the truth.

It screams loud and clear to me.

As I watch the soap latter on my skin, I start to think about everything that's happened today.

I feel stupid for having such a negative view on Harry after he didn't respond to my letter and he didn't deserve it.

He didn't deserve my rudeness or how I shouted after him at Syco. I mean, I would run to if I saw the terrifying dragon I probably looked like. He didn't even deserve my indifference.

He didn't get the letters.

The thought makes me relieved that he didn't ignore me or purposefully forget about me.

But it also fills me with dread. He doesn't know. Everything in those letters was me reliving the past events of the last four years and thought of me having to do it again...

I can't keep it a secret either. Especially since he's become a major part of my life without me realising it. Things are going to come up. He's going to ask questions and deserves a honest answer because he's been nothing but honest with me.

But it's hard. So fucking hard. It rips me to shreds just thinking about it.

And he noticed. He understands and he cares.

He has no idea how much I appreciate him being so patient with me and willing to keep his word.

Everyone knows how persistent he can get...

I knew he was going to ask about my lack of sleep for the past few days but I didn't expect it to be so soon.

I knew I had to tell him at some point. I've been holding it in for years!

But I was scared. Scared of him treating me just like everyone else did and by the time I realised that he would never be like that, it was too late. I'd already decided to give it up.

It was causing too many problems. It was tearing my family apart. It was mentally exhausting me.

Who knew a guitar could do such damage right?

I haven't picked up a guitar since I was 15. The only instrument my fingers touched after that was the piano but I don't really have a cause to play it.

But I didn't really answer his question though. Time ran out.

Me playing the guitar was only the beginning of the story. There's so much more to it than that.

I just hope I don't fuck up as badly as I know I would tomorrow.

The scalding water hitting my back does nothing to slow the neverending treadmill in my head.

I'm racking my brain for all sorts of reasons why I see Harry in such a different light other than the one blatantly smacking me in the face.

I don't want to admit it because then it becomes real and I don't want that.

So coming up with other excuses is the best idea for me right now.

I mean, it's no secret that I find him attractive but who doesn't?

Do I want him...in that way? Of course not!

Between your thighs says otherwise.

Shut up!

See! This is driving me crazy, I've started arguing with myself!

I can literally hear Lily yelling at me to just admit it to myself.

Maybe...

What if it isn't just a physical attraction? What if it's something more?

With him, it's natural not forced. Like I feel there's a calm connection with him and the way he gets on so well with Mari tugs at my heartstrings.

When I'm with him, I feel myself let go sometimes. I don't worry about my jobs, rent being due in a couple of weeks, when I'm going to have my next anxiety attack when I get overwhelmed and if I'm failing with Mari.

I feel free.

I guess that's why I opened up to him so easily in the car, why trusting him came so easily.

It scares me.

It scares me that there's people who have been trying to get me to be this open for years and Harry just waltz back in my life over a month ago and doesn't even need to try.

"Mia?" a faint knock sounds on the door as I'm turning off the shower.

"In here" I call out waiting for his response.

"Um.." he pauses "looks like it's just us two tonight"

"What?!" I hastily step out of the shower slipping on the tiles, nearly cracking my skull open and reach for a towel below the sink and wrap it securely around my body.

"Well you've been in there for quite some time love and-" he cuts himself off as I fling the bathroom door open.

His eyes widen at the sudden motion and his mouth opens and closes but no words come out.

I shift nervously on my feet as I feel his eyes trail over my barely clothed body. The goosebumps rise uncontrollably.

I notice a light pink staining his cheeks when his eyes drag back up to my own.

I clear my throat awkwardly and ask "And?" referring to when he cut himself off.

I don't know what happens or if I said something but his face suddenly pales.

He cuts me off just as I'm about to ask if he's alright.

"I um-did you, I mean, are you-" he stutters, "are you done in there?" he points behind me.

"Yeah,sure" I answer then ask with furrowed brows trying to figure out what's going on with him "Is everything ok?"

His eyes dart between mine and the bathroom door behind me.

"Huh? Yeah, yeah" he rushes past me, blocking the crotch area of his black skinny jeans shouting over his shoulder "I just need a wee!"

My heart jumps at the loud slam of the door following soon after.

Well that's not weird at all.

As if things couldn't get any weirder, I looked down, widening my eyes, only remembering in that moment that I was only wearing a white fluffy towel.

Oh. My. God.

Deciding to at least look decent before he comes out, my feet start to lead me to my duffel in the corner of the room.

However my first step is halted.

"Fuck!" sounds sharply from the bathroom but I shrug it off.

He must've really, really need a wee.

A/N
Yayyy!

Runaway won 3rd Place in the Fanfic Category of the #YouCanDoAnythingAwards2!

Can I just say that eventhough it's 3rd Place, it still feels incredible. Considering this is my first book...of all time!

I just want to say a massive THANK YOU to the few people who have discovered this book and supported it. It means a lot to me and I hope that maybe one day, more people will read and enjoy too.