Gold Rush » Harry Styles

036

Harry had just thrown mud on my clothes.

"You're unbelievable," I got in his car and put my seatbelt on, "That was not funny. I didn't like it. I'm not talking to you for this whole car ride."

Harry sighed in relief, "Thank the Lord."

I shot him a glare, "No time for jokes."

"If it takes me taking a look at your butt to get you to shut up," Harry began, "I'd be happy to do it more—"

"Stop it!" I huffed, "If you'd rather have me quiet, I'll just sing the whole way there! Lalalalalala!"

* * * * *

"Oh, good! You're back." Mum said as soon as she heard the door open. Her eyes were focused on feeding Bella. Slowly, she looked at the two of us and a confused expression spread across her face, "Um, what happened to your clothes?"

"Oh," I murmured. I looked down at my clothes and had no clue how I was going to find an explanation for this, "It was—"

"It was raining," Harry casually stated, "A lot."

"Yeah, it was raining. But, what's up with the dirty clothes?" Mum eyed our clothes. I gulped, letting Harry take this one too, "What happened?"

"We fell," Harry shrugged. He walked over and sat down next to his kids, leaving me to confront my mother.

"You fell?" Mum raised one eyebrow. I hesitantly nodded as she continued to ask questions, "What were you two even doing?"

"We were just sitting outside. It began to rain, then we slipped and fell in the mud." I answered, trying to sound as confident as possible. Shrugging, I said, "I should probably change, shouldn't I?"

"Right," Mum said slowly. Something about the tone in her voice told me that she was in disbelief and unsure about my answer. She dismissed herself from our conversation and walked to sit next to Harry.

"Daddy, take a shower!" Bella moved Harry's arm off of her as held her nose, trying to avoid the smell, "You're all dirty. Plus you're soaking wet! Oh, but of course I still love you!"

Harry kissed her hair, "Good to know my daughter will still love me even if I stink and am soaking wet."

Bella said, "Of course!"

A sad expression was plastered on Harry's face as he muttered, "I loved this shirt."

"Relax, Harry. Don't be so dramatic." Mum chimed in, letting out a small laugh. She lifted up Harry's arm and tucked herself under him as she cozied up to him. She murmured into his chest, "I missed you."

"I.. I missed you too," Harry tightened his grip around my Mum. He briefly made eye contact with me for a second and his lips parted. He then looked back at my Mum and offered her a light smile, "You were alright here?"

Later, she asked, "So.. Where did you guys go?"

"We went to a park nearby," Harry answered rather inattentively. He looked over at Joey and ruffled his hair as he watched him eat, "It was fun."

"Oh, a park?" Mum questioned. She looked over at me and I nodded my head. I was not sure where my mother was going with this. She asked again, "So. what did you do there?"

"We just sat, talked, spent some quality time together." Harry answered confidently. He looked over at Mum and switched the focus of the conversation onto her, narrowing his eyes, "What did you guys do?"

"Us? Oh, Bella and Joey just sat here and coloured in some pictures meanwhile I made some food for them." Mum answered. She diverted her attention back to Harry and asked him, "Harry. I think you and I should go out sometime. Maybe tomorrow or something?"

"Oh," Harry seemed quite taken back. I looked down as I waited for his response, "I.. I think that's a good idea. But—"

"Great. You know, we haven't had a night out in so long. It'll be nice. You're always so busy, I'm always so busy. We could use a relaxing night to ourselves." Mum had a grin on her face as she fantasized about her night out with the guy that was falling in love with me.

"Yes. But Erin—"

"I'm glad you agreed to this. Grace can babysit Bella and Joey, yeah? How about that? She's probably free tomorrow night. She never has plans anyways." Mum planned out the whole night excitedly as I fiddled with my fingers.

"That sounds good but I'm not entirely sure if it—"

"Great, so it is settled. I'm just happy that you and I can spend some time together now. With everything that's going on right now, we could use some time to ourselves." Mum placed a gentle kiss on Harry's hand as she wrapped it tightly around her.

"That's what I mean. With everything going on—"

"You're free tomorrow. Right, Grace? Harry and I will go out tomorrow night," Mum intertwined her fingers with Harry's. I nod hesitantly in response.

"Just hear me out, Erin—"

"Where would you like to go then, Harry?" Mum asked him, not realizing that Harry was trying to say something.

"Erin, listen." Harry took a deep breath. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak and said, "With everything that's going on with Samantha right now, I feel as if we should be attentive and stay here. I just.. I don't know if this is the best time. I'd love to go with you, I really would but—"

"Oh Harry come on, we never get the chance to do this kind of stuff." Mum interrupted him once more. "Plus, I feel like you could really use a refreshing night out. I don't want you worrying to much. It'll be fun, yeah? Plus, what's the worst that could happen? Samantha shows up while the kids are here and does something crazy?" She laughed at her own words in disbelief as I bit the inside of my cheek.

"Quite frankly, yes?" Harry glanced at me for a second. I started to wonder if Harry actually will go out with my Mum.

"Come on, baby. When was the last time we went for a peaceful night out?" Mum asked Harry, and he sighed.

"Alright, fine. We'll go out tomorrow." Harry agreed. I gulped, feeling my entire stomach drop. I knew I shouldn't be feeling this way, but I couldn't help it. It felt weird seeing Harry agree to going out with my Mum, but I decided not to worry about it too much.

"Thank you, Sweetheart." Mum leaned in and pecked Harry's lips. I immediately looked away, not wanting to see that at all. She said, "Thank you."

"Ew," Joey had a disgusted look plastered across his face as he covered his eyes.

"Yeah, guys. Yuck." Bella agreed, the same look her brother had on her face. She shivered, "Disgusting."

"I hope that's okay with you, taking care of the kids and all." Harry met my gaze, "You're okay with it?"

I shrugged as I opened my mouth to respond but my mother cut me off and spoke for me, "Of course it's okay with her. Why wouldn't it be? It's not like she has anything better to do anyway."