~Harry's POV~
I wasn't really sure if I heard her right.
"What?" I turned around to face her.
"I want you to come in my house, and meet my parents." She giggled.
"No way, I'm not dressed properly, no! I need to figure out what to say, and-"
"Harry!" She laughed, cutting me off. "You'll be fine, they'll love you."
"No, Annabel I'm serious!" To be honest, I was nervous as fuck. This would be the first time I would be meeting my girlfriend's parents, and I had no idea how to act. It was all so sudden! What if they didn't like me? What if they refused to let Annabel see me anymore, after meeting me? I was beginning to become paranoid, when I probably didn't have much to worry about. We made our way to the car, and began driving, with Annabel nagging me to come inside, once we arrived at her place. My palms gripped the steering wheel tightly, so that my knuckles began turning white. I could feel the sweat building up on my hands, and I nervously wiped them on my jeans at a red light.
"Don't be so nervous, you have nothing to worry about. I promise." Annabel tried to assure me, but I didn't really believe it. Either that, or I refused to believe it. We pulled into her driveway, and every part of me hoped her parents weren't home. I looked at Annabel, and she squeezed my hand, her eyes sparkling. I sighed, and climbed out of the car, linking hands with Annabel, as we walked towards the front door.
"Fuck," I mumbled under my breath as she rummaged through her clutch for keys, her dress draped over her arm.
"You will be fine, Harry. Don't stress so much about it." She smiled, feeding the key into the lock. "Now, my dad is pretty cool, he won't kill you or anything. My mom on the other hand, she expects certain things. But just be yourself, and they'll love you." She explained, before opening the door.
"What if they don't?" I asked.
"Well, then they won't love the idea of us together. But nothing is going to convince me to leave you." She smiled, pecking me on the lips. Those words were like music to my ears. That's all I needed to know, was that Annabel won't leave me, no matter what. I was a tad bit more calm now, but I was still nervous as fuck, and I'm surprised my sweaty as hell, hands weren't bothering Annabel.
She pushed the door open, and pulled me inside. There was no backing out now. Shit.
"I'm home!" She called out, her voice echoing through the whole house. From the top of the stairs, a figure appeared, and I assumed it was her mother.
"Annabel, who do you have with you?" She asked. Her voice sounded professional, and serious, and she began walking down the steps, her long dress dragging behind her. Why she felt the need to wear dresses around the house, I had no idea.
"This is my boyfriend, Harry." Annabel smiled, pulling my arm in attempt to bring me closer to her.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." I awkwardly smiled.
"Oh, Harry! I've heard so much about you, it's so nice to finally meet you! Call me Madeline!" She exclaimed, pulling me in for a hug. My back was hunched over a bit, due to the height difference, as I awkwardly hugged her back. "Brad! Come here!" She called out. A man walked over from the kitchen, and walked next to Annabel's mum.
"Hey, sport." He said, pulling Annabel in for a hug. "Who's this young man?" He smiled at me.
"Dad, this is my boyfriend Harry."
"Nice to meet you sir." I spoke, trying not to let my voice shake, as I held out a hand.
"Good to meet you, son. Please, call me Brad." He smiled, shaking my hand. His grip was strong, but he didn't seem to come off as intimidating at all.
"Where's Josh?" Madeline asked her husband. It felt weird calling her by her first name, but she insisted.
"Went out with Cameron, they should be back for dinner." Brad explained.
"Josh is my brother, Cameron is his girlfriend." Annabel whispered to me. I nodded, understanding.
"Annabel, you have a photo shoot today at 11:15." Her mum told her. She nodded, and looked up at me.
"Oh, Harry. You'll come back for dinner, right darling?" Madeline smiled eagerly waiting for my answer.
"Uh, yeah that'd be great." I smiled.
"Good, good! Brad, let's let these two be." She pulled her husband away, and disappeared around a corner.
"See? I told you, you had nothing to worry about!" Annabel smiled, her voice getting excited.
"They're really nice." I chuckled, wrapping Annabel in a hug. "And what is this about a photo shoot? I didn't know you were a model."
"I only model a bit. I'm not a professional or anything, I'm just on a couple of ads that's all." She explained. "Speaking of which, I need to get ready for that, so I'll see you tonight?"
"See you then. I love you," I told her, kissing her soft lips. She smiled, and leaned against the door frame as I walked out of the house. I gave one last wave before driving away.
____________________
~Annabel's POV~
After he left, I closed the front door, and leaned against it, relieved the brief meeting with my parents went well. I don't know why I was so paranoid in the first place, about introducing Harry to them. I wasn't even quite sure what I was doing when I asked him to meet them this morning.
My mother walked into view, and walked over to me.
"He's a very nice boy, Annabel. I like him very much already, but we'll see how tonight goes." My mother smiled. I nodded, and mumbled a small thanks before heading up to my room. I removed all excess makeup on my face, and combed my hair, before hanging up my dress from the ball. After that was all done, I made my way downstairs, where my mother was waiting for me.
"I'm ready." I announced, grabbing a granola bar.
"Alright, let's go." We began driving in a matter of 3 minutes, and it was only a 5 minute drive. I walked into the studio as my mother talked to the photographer, and I set my bag on an empty chair.
"Miss Shaw?" A man walked into the room I was standing in.
"Leo, it's good to see you!" I smiled, wrapping my arms around him. Leo was my makeup artist, and he always did my makeup for photo shoots. He was the best of the best, for things like this.
"You ready to get started?" He smiled.
"Yep." He began working on my makeup, as Kirsten, my hairstylist, styled my hair. After that was all done, it was already 11:30. I changed into the clothes they wanted me to change into, and began posing for the camera, with orders being shouted at me.
"Chin down a little. Don't lose the emotion. Pretend to laugh." They told me, as I went through with every command. Photo shoots were always so tiring, and honestly, I didn't really enjoy them at all. It made good money, but I wanted to actually have to do work, instead of smiling for a camera. I know every barista probably would dream of taking pictures, and modeling for money, but I would rather be a barista. I made a mental note to myself to tell my mom.
"And that's a wrap." Someone called out. I didn't even realize I was still smiling for the camera, and we were already done. It was a one hour photo shoot, so it was already 12:30.
"Annabel, what do you think about getting lunch?" My mother approached me.
"Sure, who do you want me to go with? I questioned, wiping off all the makeup that was put on my face.
"Me." She laughed.
"You?" I was honestly so shocked that she asked to go get lunch, just the two of us. We haven't done this since I was 11 years old, and it'd be nice to bring those memories back.
"Yes, don't act so surprised, Annabel." She joked, laughing.
"Yeah, I would love to go to lunch with you!" I smiled. I reapplied some mascara onto my naked lashes, before grabbing my bag, and walking out with my mother. I climbed into the passenger's seat, and tossed my bag with my stuff in it, onto the backseat. We drove for a bit, before arriving at a restaurant. It was pretty crowded, given that it was lunchtime. My mom and I sat at a table for two outside, by a railing with cute plants and flowers hanging above, and beside us. We ordered our lunch, that came pretty quickly, despite the amount of people that was being served.
"So," My mom began, as she took forkful of salad in her mouth. "Let's talk about Harry."
"What about him?" I couldn't help but smile at the mention of his name, as I fed myself salad as well.
"He's a nice boy. He has an accent?"
"Yeah, british."
"You love him?" My mom asked unexpectedly, causing me to choke a bit on my water.
"What?"
"Do you love him? I can tell he loves you." She spoke, casually.
"And how can you tell?"
"The way he looks at you. Your father looked at me the same way. He was a very loving man, much like Harry." Hearing these words, made my heart warm. It was such a sweet thing to hear, and I never really noticed any specific way he looked at me, but it was quite sweet.
"Yeah, I do love him. A lot." I smiled down at my plate.
"I'm glad you're happy, I haven't seen you this way in a long time." My mother smiled at me, with a sparkle in her eyes that I haven't seen in such a long time.
"Thanks, Mom. I love you."
"I love you too, darling." She smiled lovingly at me. After we spoke about more things, I realized my mother really wasn't as harsh and cold-blooded as she seemed. I loved seeing her loosen up like this, and really talk to me like a mother does. I was glad I had this time to spend with her, time that wasn't filled up during the past few years.
We paid for our food, and headed home, and dinner was getting closer and closer. I sat around for hours, talking to Lilly until she had to go. Then, I just moved on to talking to Harry, for the rest of the afternoon, until it hit 5.
"I'll see you soon, baby." He spoke over the phone.
"When are you coming again? Dinner's at 6."
"Yeah, I know, that's why I'll be there at 5:30, just to make a good impression on your parents." I could practically hear his smirk through the phone.
"Okay, I'll see you then. Go get ready." I smiled.
"I will."
"I love you," I spoke.
"I love you too." And with that, the phone call ended. It was almost dinner time, and to be quite honest with you, I was a nervous wreck.
_______________________
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Follow my Instagram: @pleaseoned
Please help spread the word about my fanfic, it's rated R, and you need to be following me as well!
I love you!!