Solace ~ h.s.

⪻ 38 ⪼

"I know and I was merely referring to helping you find a new job. I promised I would."

"I know you did, but you've been busy." And he has.

Over the course of the past week, he's worked five days with shifts ranging from sixteen to twenty-two hours. Whenever he's not working, he's sleeping his stress away at his place, or somehow finding his way onto my sofa in the middle of the night.

Giving him the spare key had been great thought until getting up in the middle of the night for a glass of water and finding him snoozing away on our sofa. It gave me quite the fright, causing me to break a glass and have Harry joke about it being reminiscent of the night we first slept in the same house. Only this time he had more clothes on.

"Thank you."

"But if you did need financial help, you'd tell me, right?" Rolling my eyes, I nod my head yes, just to get him to shush about money. He knows I hate talking about money.

"In other light, as for the search for Grace Reid and Edan Thompson, I've hit a dead end." I admit to Harry, settling back into my seat and facing Harry. He merely glances over at me, taking his eyes off the road for a half a second.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but it's alright. I'll figure something out." I assure him, smiling to myself. "I'm taking a page from my new attitude and I'm staying positive. Thought I'd give it a try."

"I'm proud of you."

"Why thank you." I say whilst patting my legs and gazing out of the vehicle again.

We've been heading out of Manchester and in an unknown direction for almost twenty minutes now and my curiosity is beginning to take over my way of thinking. We hardly ever make it out of the city, meaning this has got to be a special occasion.

"Where are we going?" I ask him for the first time since leaving my flat.

Peering over at Harry, I see his adorable dimples popping out of his lightly stubbled cheeks as he grins widely.

"Holmes Chapel." And just like that, my entirely happy mood has taken a turn for the entirely anxious mood that I usually hold.

Harry's been wanting me to meet his mum for weeks now and everytime the subject gets brought up, I avoid it like the plague. It's probably because I didn't meet Taron's parents for quite a long time into our relationship and even then it didn't go over too well.

"Why are we going to your hometown, Harry?" Harry sends me a wide grin despite the nervous look on my face and grasps my hand that lays in my lap. This overwhelming feeling of hyperventilation is felt deep within me, but I take deep breaths to prevent it.

"I think it's time you met my mum."

"We're going to see your mum!" Like I didn't know I was going to meet his mum already... "I'm not prepared."

Before meeting Taron's mum and dad, who actually live Wales, I had about two weeks to prepare for everything. I had outfits planned to the T, I made treats for his parents as a thanks for inviting me into their home, and I researched everything I possibly could, just in case.

"I would've dressed differently. I would've have baked something for her, we're showing up completely empty handed!" Baking is one of my best abilities and making something for the parent of the man I'm dating seems to be a smart move, or it used to.

"I'm not empty handed, I'm bringing you." Harry jokes, squeezing my thigh firmly. Usually having Harry's hands on me calms me down, but not today.

"Harry!" I shout, still freaking out.

"What? I don't know why you're freaking out." He tells me, laughing at my frantic actions.

"Because I'm meeting your wonderful mum for the first time. This is a big step in a relationship."

Harry and I still haven't discussed exactly what we are to each other in month or so that we've been dating; meaning we're not technically boyfriend and girlfriend, still. I was the one who proposed going slow, so I don't blame him for not taking us to a step further with labels yet.

"Darling, stop worrying. My mum is easy going and going to love you. She's been begging me to bring you to meet her since before she met Edward. Plus, she's already met your brother, meaning it's your turn." He happily sings out, grinning widely over at me.

Seeing how happy this makes Harry, brings a smile to my own lips. I really do want to meet Anne, I'm just nervous. But I'm a big girl and I can handle my nerves fairly well.

"You have nothing to worry about."

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