baby [h.s.]

forty one

There was valet parking at the venue. The party was huge, I could tell from the outside. It was at a mansion just outside of London. It had taken us quite a while to arrive.

Harry and I walked into the house hand-in-hand. The music was loud and there were tons of people, very few that I recognized. A man in a suit walked up to us with champagne and offered us each a glass. We both took one and tapped our glasses together. The champagne had flakes of gold floating inside.

"This house is amazing." I whispered to Harry.

"Isn't it?" Harry replied. "One of Vinny's."

I scoffed. "Just one."

The house was old, but updated. Almost everything had a hint of gold, from the furniture to the wallpaper on the walls. The house and the party going on inside could hold its own against Gatsby's.

Various people came to greet us. Harry introduced me to them all, and almost everyone assured me they had heard much about me already. That was a little hard to get over, how everyone already knew my name.

Again, I felt like I was a teenager. We stepped inside the main room, where everyone was dancing, and almost everyone looked our way. People stared at me and whispered to the person beside them. It was like I was dating the most popular boy in school, and I didn't know how to feel about it.

Harry's hand fell on the small of my back as he led me through the crowd. I heard people around us talk.

"God, I thought he had no feelings." Someone said. When I looked their way, they turned their head down.

"Her name's Tilly, they say he met her on the street." One woman whispered.

Harry leaned down and placed his hand on my shoulder to whisper. "Don't listen to them, baby."

"I didn't realize how famous you were." I whispered. "How famous we were."

He laughed and kissed my cheek. He took my hand in his and tugged me forward.

"Might as well give them a show." He said.

"You know ballroom dancing?" I said as he took position.

"Of course, doesn't everyone?" he said, sarcastically. I lightly hit his chest, then took his hands. A new song started and we began to dance. Together we drifted across the marble floor, chest to chest, grinning.

After a few songs, we pushed our way through the crowds to get off of the dance floor. Harry told me he wanted us to see Vinny.

He dragged me to a staircase. Guards stood in front of it, but at the sight of Harry approaching, they moved to the side. He led me up the marble staircase, away from the crowd below. I peeked back to see curious eyes watching us. Shaking my head, I turned back around.

Harry and I arrived at a closed door at the top of the staircase. He knocked twice and, immediately it opened. Inside was a lavish study. A few people were inside, draped across the beautiful leather chairs, smoking cigars. In the seat behind the desk sat Vinny, swirling a glass of whiskey.

"Tilly! Harry!" Vinny's voice boomed the moment he saw us. "I'm glad to see you both, come here!"

We obliged. He stood to greet us each with a kiss on the cheek, then demanded to know how our holiday went.

"Meeting the family, Styles." Vinny said. "Very important step for you two."

I blushed and Harry laughed.

"It went well." Harry said. "It was good."

"Glad to hear. I'm sure there will be many more for you two." Vinny said. He turned to the small crowd of people in the office. "I mean, look at these two! They're in love. Haven't seen something so strong in a long time."

I smirked and looked up at Harry, who looked amused.

"We just stopped in to say hello, Vin, we'll let you get back to business." Harry said.

Vinny waved his hand. "No bother, son, anytime."

Harry and I waved to him one last time before he tossed his arm around my shoulders and we walked out.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was already nearly midnight. I stopped walking, and a moment later so did Harry. He looked back at me confused.

"Almost midnight." I said.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Let's stay up here. Just me and you."

"Me and you?" he said.

"You and I, technically."

He laughed and pulled me into his arms. He rested his head on top of mine.

"Vinny's proud of you." I mumbled.

Harry stepped back. "I know."

I shuffled forward, my heels scuffing along the floor, and sat on the top step. Sitting here, I could see the commotion of downstairs. It was loud. Music poured from the room where we had danced only minutes prior. People laughed and talked.

Harry sat next to me and watched the scene as well. After a few minutes, people rushed to the main room and began to shout the countdown for the New Year.

"TEN, NINE, EIGHT!"

"Here's to what's been the craziest year of my life." I whispered to Harry.

"SIX, FIVE!"

"To my happiest." Harry replied.

"THREE, TWO, ONE!"

Harry winked at me and leaned in to kiss. Just as our lips met, though, gunshots rang through the air.

--

been a while! sorry y'all, shit happens in the real world. i don't really wanna sit here and explain. 

i do want to emphasize though that i really do not appreciate direct messages to my inbox spamming me to update. if anything, that makes me want to do the opposite. it's okay to leave comments on the story, but please do not send me direct messages.

sorry to end on a cliffhanger hahaha

also thank you all so much for all of the support on this story???? i have well over 200,000 reads which is insane to me. i love reading your comments and seeing what you all have to say about the story. it means a ton to me to see all you loving this story!

thanks for support and much love to you all

becca xx