"Pips, could you get the door?"
"Sure mum," Piper called over her shoulder, already headed away from the kitchen where she had been carefully eating Hershey kisses on the right side of her mouth. Upon arriving at her mum's house for Christmas Eve, Piper had been forced to tell her some hare-brained excuse about why she was favouring her left side (she'd mentioned something about a pulled muscle) but she had kept the teeth a secret. She really couldn't think of a good excuse for that one.
Piper tromped down the hall and threw open the front door to the house without glancing through the peep hole. They'd already had three sets of carollers so she figured it was just another bunch of old folks dressed in weird period costumes singing about decking the halls and o tannenbaum and all that nonsense.
Not so. Standing on the other side of the threshold was one Harry Styles. He was glancing sideways at the house beside them with Christmas lights so bright they could light up the city, and his face was pinched. He looked uncomfortable, his hands stuck in the pockets of his coat for warmth. When he heard the door open, he turned his gaze around and his face brightened immediately upon seeing her. He reached his hands out to rest on either of her shoulders.
"Thank Christ, you're here," he said on a sigh as he leaned in and pressed a hard and chaste kiss to her cheek. "Where have you been? I've been worried."
"What do you mean, where have I been?" Piper repeated back incredulously as she shook her head at him. "Where did you think I was going to be?"
"I went straight to Vauxhall when I landed this afternoon because I know you've been working despite my telling you not to – don't think we won't be talking about that later," he added with a stern finger pointed in her direction. "You weren't at work so I went to your flat but that was empty too and it didn't look like you'd been there all day. I went to the Starbucks by your house, I went to the bookstore you like, I even went back to HQ in case you were there. I came here as a last resort because I didn't think you'd be here on a Wednesday – what are you doing here anyways?"
Piper scowled at Harry, wondering if he'd hit his head particularly hard while he'd been away in Morocco. He certainly had quite the tan – a concussion wasn't totally out of the question either in his line of work. "What am I doing here?" she repeated as she raised the water gun in her hand, squirting him with it. "It's Christmas, you moron."
Harry looked around confused for a moment, his eyes taking in the Christmas decorations that literally exploded out of the neighbouring houses. Piper could almost see it clicking on Harry's face, the gradual widening of his eyes and then the smile that broke out across his face. "Oh right," he said with a bright gleam in his voice, "Christmas. I'd forgotten."
"You – you forgot Christmas?"
That made Piper incredibly sad. Christmas had always been her absolute favourite holiday. There was just something about it – the cold nights and the warm fires, the trees and the lights, the sense of family and joy and peace – that made it such a special time to her. The idea that someone could forget about it seemed preposterous in her mind.
"Is it really the 24th?" Harry pondered as he glanced down at his watch which displayed date and time. "Wow, it is. I owe Louis a birthday present."
"It's Louis's birthday on Christmas Eve?" Piper asked surprised.
Harry nodded as he hummed his agreement. "It's part of the reason that I had no idea it was Christmas. When we all learned it was Louis's birthday on the 24th, we made a pact not to celebrate Christmas Eve and focus instead on celebrating Louis. He doesn't like to talk about it but I know that he's always hated sharing his birthday with a major holiday."
"What about your family?" Piper asked before she realized what she was saying.
Family had always been a no-fly zone when it came to Harry. Other than quick mentions of his mum and his sister, she had gotten very little out of him about his family. She didn't want to pry in case it was a sensitive topic and for the most part, Harry had kept mention of them to a minimum. She hoped beyond all hopes that she hadn't just stepped somewhere she wasn't supposed to asking him that question.
Harry looked down at his boots for a moment and when he glanced back up, there was a wistful smile on his face and a nostalgic glint in his eyes. "I think you know the answer to that one already, petal."
"You're trying to keep them safe," she guessed. Harry's lips twitched as he forced the smile to stay in place. He nodded.
"It's just easier to keep that distance. If I was seeing them on holidays, it would lead to phone calls and surprise visits and weekly family dinners, and I can't risk it. I send my mum a gift and a card, and we have a nice long chat but I can't take the chance going home for the holidays. If someone followed me, tried to use Gemma and the kids against me, I'd never be able to forgive myself."
Piper could feel a tight pain in her chest, a sympathetic ache for Harry. Listening to him talk about his family like this was like listening to one of those tragic Christmas stories where families are kept apart, except this one didn't have a happy ending. There was no tearful reunion, no hugs and cuddles – there was just a family somewhere in Cheshire with an empty place at the table and Harry, alone in the city for the holidays.
"I guess you'll just have to come on in then," Piper said, waving the water gun over her shoulder toward the interior of the house. "Have a proper Christmas Eve, Stone style."
Harry looked surprised by the offer, glancing over Piper's shoulder for a moment. The hallway was decorated with garland and you could just see the shadow of the fireplace in the living room down the hall. The smell of gingerbread was floating out of the house, wrapping around the two of them standing in the doorway.
He surprised Piper by taking a step back, shoving his hands back into his pockets. "I don't want to get in your way," he muttered as he looked anywhere but at Piper. She wasn't used to seeing him being evasive or uncomfortable. He was usually so upfront and confident about everything. "You should enjoy the holidays with your mum and your brother. It's something for families."
"First of all, my brother is in Tenerife like the bloody twat I expect him to be," Piper told Harry firmly as she stepped down out of the doorway and crowded up into his space. His hand drifted to her right hip automatically, resting gently in a protective sort of way, and Piper used his moment of distraction to slide her fingers into the messy curls at the nape of his neck. "And second of all, you wouldn't be getting in the way. In fact... I think I'd like you to be here. I'd like to celebrate Christmas with you."
Harry's eyes drifted up slowly, a nervous sort of energy about him. The green there was bright and earnest and Piper couldn't help the happy grin that slid onto her face. She threw her arms around him and leaned up on her tip toes so she could tuck her chin over his shoulder, yanking him as close to her body as she could get him. He nearly stumbled back but kept his balance, sliding his arms around her waist and giving her a tight squeeze.
"Please stay," she whispered into his ear. "I want you here with me."
Harry chuckled before gently extricating himself from the hug. "Alright, petal," he agreed with a proper grin, his cheeks dimpling on either side of his face. Piper leaned up to smack a kiss onto the dimple in his right cheek, making him laugh brightly. "Are you always this friendly at Christmas time?"
"Yes," she answered without hesitation because it was definitely true that she got into the holiday spirit a little harder than most people. "But I've had a little help," she added with a cheeky smirk as she squirted the water gun at Harry once more before directing it toward her open mouth and squirting it a couple more times.
Harry swiped his thumb along his cheek where her water gun assault had landed and then stuck the thumb in his mouth. Piper nearly lost her legs beneath her as he sucked the liquid right off. "Eggnog?" he guessed after he'd tasted it. "And not the virgin kind I presume."
"Nope, I like my eggnog slutty," Piper informed him as she dosed herself with a couple more squirts. "We didn't have brandy so we've made it the American way, with lots of rum."
"Should you be mixing alcohol with your painkillers?" Harry asked her. She scrunched up her face as she tried to think back to the extensive directions Niall had given her on how to take her medication.
"Probably not," she answered with a shrug, before taking Harry's hand and using it to drag him toward the house. "It's Christmas though. No rules on Christmas, got it? If you want to hang with me and my mum tonight, you're not allowed to be a buzzkill."
"Sorry," Harry said with a laugh as he stepped over the threshold, shutting the door behind him. "I'll try to loosen up."
"You just need some eggnog in you," Piper diagnosed, holding up the water gun. "Open up."
Harry obliged, opening his mouth so Piper could squirt some of the eggnog into his mouth. After he'd swallowed it down, he raised an inquisitive eyebrow as he eyed the water gun. "Are glasses just too common place for you now?"
"Nah, I just found it in with all the Christmas decorations and thought it might be fun to fill it up with eggnog." Piper glanced down at the water gun and realized for the first time how weird that was. She was trying to remember what had inspired that. "I may have already had a couple of cups when this idea crossed my mind."
"That makes more sense," Harry said with a laugh, reaching to hang up the coat he had just removed. He was wearing a baggy grey jumper with elbow patches (she'd always had a weird thing for elbow patches) and he left on the beanie he had been wearing, the black knit hat covering up his curls. He looked good enough to eat and, because of the amount of alcohol already flowing through her system giving her a nice steady buzz, it was going to take everything in her to keep her hands off.
"C'mon." Piper reached back for Harry and he immediately stepped up, ignoring her outstretched hand in favour of dropping his arm casually around her waist, his hand landing on her right hip.
"How've you been feeling?" he asked as his warm hand curved over the bandage on her back. Fortunately, Niall had taken off the thick bandaging the day before in favour of a smaller bandage over the stitches still healing. It sure made it easier to go to the bathroom.
"I'm alright," Piper assured him, leaning her head down against his shoulder. "It's still achy and I've got limited movement for the most part but at least I'm walking around."
"Should you be?"
"Niall said it was okay, and I figured if Niall was okay with it, I'm okay with it. Plus lying around doing nothing was killing me."
She'd woken up alone Sunday morning, Harry having gone the night before after she had fallen asleep. She spent most of the day in bed, only getting up for the bathroom and for her stomach, which demanded feeding. Other than that, she had been curled up in bed reading. All she had in the house that she hadn't already read was the Fifty Shades of Grey box set that her uni roommate had gotten her for her birthday two years before that had been sitting at the bottom of her closet ever since. She was desperate for distraction so she'd read all three. That shit was fucked up.
She knew she wouldn't last another day at home with only her thoughts to keep her busy (Netflix was out because someone — Clive — had disconnected the building's wifi for whatever reason), so on Monday morning she had gotten dressed and had dragged herself down to Vauxhall. Niall had made a call to someone excusing her from work for the week so her superiors had been surprised to see her. Because no work had been delegated to her for the week, she was able to move around the different departments observing or lending a hand when she could. It turned out to be a great experience.
"I wish you hadn't gone to work," Harry scolded gently as they crossed into the living room. "You should have been at home resting and recuperating. For all you know, something could have happened at work and you could have hurt yourself even worse."
"Harry, I appreciate the concern but I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. I know my own limitations and I am perfectly capable of operating within them."
She hadn't realized she had been raising her voice until she saw the surprise on Harry's face. He stared for a moment, slack jawed, and then a wicked grin slid onto his face. "I forget how feisty you can be sometimes," he said in a low, smooth voice as he stepped forward, dragging her hips forward until she was pressed against him obscenely. "I love it when you're feisty."
Piper slammed her lips up against his just as he leaned down and the energy between them was searing. She curled her arms around his neck, crossing them at the wrist and using the leverage to pull herself even closer to him. One of his arm swung around her back while the other tangled into the hair at the nape of her neck. Piper slipped her lips open and Harry responded immediately by pushing his tongue possessively into her mouth.
It would have been fabulous except that Piper's knees buckled and in an attempt to catch her, Harry pressed too hard on her injured side. She gasped, pulling away from him and forcefully pushing his arm off of her. His brow drew together in confusion as his hazy lust-filled brain tried to figure out what was wrong. When he finally added it up, he grimaced. "Sorry petal, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know," she groaned as she placed her hand gently over the injury, the pressure helping to relieve some of the sharp pain. She tilted sideways which stretched her hip out in just the right way to get rid of the painful sensation. "Getting shot is such a cockblock."
"We'll just have to be a little more careful from now on," Harry said with a look on his face that just screamed sex. Piper knew that Harry wasn't going to let something like a gunshot wound get in his way. She wasn't complaining at all.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what you have in mind, Mr. Styles." Piper grabbed the collar of Harry's jumper and used it to pull him back to her lips. They were making out like teenagers, one of Harry's hands having slipped under her own Christmas jumper to fondle her breast, when footsteps on the stairs startled Piper. Her mum called out her name a couple seconds later.
"Shit," she said as she shoved Harry's hand out from under her shirt, taking a big step away from him. "I forgot she was here for a moment." Harry snickered at her forgetting her own mum so she reached over to pinch his nipple aggressively. He yelped, smacking her hand away and rubbing the injury site. "Listen, I told her I hurt my hip by pulling a muscle. Don't act all Harry-like and overreact or she'll figure it out."
"What's that supposed to mean, Harry-like? I don't overreact."
"When it comes to me? Yes you do. Now shut up and look pretty." Piper brushed past Harry just as her mum stepped into the living room. She'd gone upstairs about fifteen minutes ago after Piper had accidentally slopped eggnog all over her blouse. She was wearing a warm woolly jumper now and the three of them nearly made a set.
"Oh," her mum said surprised, stopping in her tracks at the sight of Harry standing in her living room. "Hello Harry. So nice to see you again."
"Happy Christmas Sydney," Harry said charmingly, giving her mum a warm grin. With his hands laced behind his back, he looked the picture of innocence, despite his swollen lips that were now bright red.
"Mum, I, um, I invited Harry over for dinner. Hope that's alright."
"You didn't mention it earlier," her mum reminded her. There was an undertone in her voice and Piper knew she was going to hear it from her mum later. She was not looking forward to it.
"It was a last minute sort of thing," she answered weakly, hoping her mum would accept it and just move on.
She should have known better. This was Sydney Stone, after all. She didn't let anything go that easily. "I'm sure your boss has better things to do on Christmas Eve than eat takeaway with the two of us," her mum said demurely, laying it on thick for Harry's sake. Piper knew exactly what she was trying to do and sighed. She figured that she'd kept Harry a secret for long enough.
"Actually mum, Harry's not here as my boss." Piper stuck her hand out behind her, wiggling her fingers. It didn't take long for Harry's hand to slip into hers, their fingers threading together. "He's here as my boyfriend."
"Oh," her mum stuttered out, surprised. "Oh. Oh. I see. Well, alright then. Good." The shit-eating grin on her mum's face was almost embarrassing. Piper could return the new cashmere sweater that was wrapped under the tree because she'd just given her mum the ultimate gift. "So good to have you here, Harry."
"Thanks for having me," he said with a polite smile. "I'm sorry to barge in unexpected –"
"Nonsense!" her mother cooed brightly as she stepped forward toward him, leaning up to press a motherly kiss to his cheek. "You're always welcome here. Now, I have to pop some more gingerbread in the oven – I'm baking for the Christmas banquet at the local church, Harry, such a good cause, bringing food to the homeless for the holidays." Piper waved her hand so that her mum would just get on with it. "I'll just go put in the cookies and then I'll heat up the takeaway Piper brought. I hope you like Indian food."
"I love it," Harry agreed. Piper didn't doubt that Harry'd had actual Indian food from India, based on the different places he'd been.
"Wonderful." Her mum clapped her hands together twice, excitedly, and then beamed like the sun was shining from within her. With her cheeks rosy from the eggnog she'd had earlier, she looked about ten years younger than she was. If there was one thing that was coming out of this experience, it was that her mum's mood had completely turned around. "I'll leave you two kids for a bit. I'm sure you'll find some way to entertain yourselves." She winked at Harry and then turned to bustle down the hall to the kitchen, leaving Piper to watch her mother's retreating back with abject horror.
"God, could she be more embarrassing," Piper groaned when her mum was out of sight in the kitchen. The radio came on quite suddenly in the other room, Bing Crosby crooning loudly in an effortful attempt by her mum to give the two of them some privacy. Piper rolled her eyes.
"She's sweet," Harry corrected. "Reminds me of my mum, a bit. Although yours is much more scheming than mine ever was."
"She's a master schemer," Piper agreed. "Trust me, she looks innocent but she's a shark."
Harry laughed lightly, his whole demeanour seeming ten times brighter than it had been when she first opened the door. She was happy that he was happy so she decided to put aside her aggravation with her mother. After all, she meant well and she obviously approved of Harry which was all Piper could ask for.
"What shall we do to entertain ourselves, petal?" Harry asked as he glanced around the room. "What were you doing before I got here?"
"I was trying to decorate the tree." Piper sighed as she looked at the tall balsam fir tree standing in the corner. It was a gorgeous tree, full and fragrant, but it was completely devoid of decorations except for a string of lights around the bottom and a couple of ornaments here and there. "My mum, well, let's just say this isn't a good time of year for her and then my stupid brother decided to go on vacation. She's just been really down and she hasn't had the time for the tree. I was going to come up here this weekend to get everything set up but then, you know –" Piper waved a hand around her injured hip. "And then I tried to do some earlier and I couldn't do the lights because of my stupid hip and now we have no tree –"
Piper was cut off by Harry's lips firmly pressing against her own. "Well, I guess it's a very good thing I showed up when I did," Harry said with a smile before turning to the tree, a look of determination on his face. "Let's make a Christmas tree."
It was surprisingly easy, falling into a comfortable pattern with Harry as they worked together to construct something magical. Harry jumped right into action, stringing together a couple sets of Christmas lights and then winding them around the tree. Piper worked at putting ornaments in places she could easily reach. They stopped every so often for a kiss that left them both breathless, or when Piper handed Harry an ornament she wanted on the top.
They talked about senseless things, the weather and funny stories about London and old Christmas traditions. And then, to Piper's surprise, Harry brought up his sister Gemma.
"We used to do this thing where we would make each other a present each year, from scratch," he was saying, a nostalgic grin on his face as he wound the lights around the top most branches. "When we were kids it was cute things like little pictures and crafty things but when we got older, it just got more and more ridiculous. I took up knitting at one point just so I would have something to make her."
"You really love her, don't you?"
"'Course I do," Harry said without hesitation, giving Piper a strange look, "she's my sister."
"Being a sibling doesn't automatically mean you love someone," Piper grumbled. Andrew sprung to mind as the perfect example of how you don't always love your sibling. "You two just seem really close."
"It was just us and our mum for a long time," Harry explained in a soft voice. "My dad had left the picture so we became a really close unit, the three of us. Gemma was older so she became like a second mum when our mum was busy working. She took care of me and I came to trust her above anyone else in my life." Harry paused his work, standing with the last couple of lights held above his head in his hands. He looked at them for a moment, deep in thought. "I think I miss her the most, out of everyone. I'll always love my mum and I do miss her but having a chat with her on the phone is good enough. With Gem, I really do wish I could see her. We're always more in tune when we're together."
"You can't go see her at all?" Piper asked, trying not to pry but wanting to help in some way. She hated the sad look in Harry's eyes and the way he sort of hunched over from his full height instead of standing tall.
Harry shook his head as he tucked the lights around the top of the tree, letting his arms drop to his side. "It's too big of a risk. It's not just her I have to consider – I've got two nephews as well. They're just young, three and five – do you want to see a picture?"
Piper nodded because of course she wanted to see a picture. Harry was actually opening up to her which rarely happened. She wasn't going to squander the opportunity. Harry immediately reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. Tucked away in one of the pockets was a little square photo. Gemma was very clearly Harry's sister because they looked just alike. With her in the photo were two little boys, one that was Harry's splitting image and one that obviously took after his father's side. "They're adorable," Piper cooed as she studied the picture. "And your sister is beautiful."
"She's the best," he said, really quietly. When Piper looked up, she could see a tense set to his jaw that hadn't been there before and she knew he was reaching the limits of what he could handle talking about. She handed him the picture back, trying not to notice the way he carefully tucked it away like it was his most prized possession.
"No time for slacking," she said buoyantly, trying to keep the spirit up. She grabbed the star for the top of the tree from in the box. "We've got to get this finished."
She faced the tree, hoping to give Harry a moment to himself to get whatever feelings and memories he was going through under control. Reaching up, Piper quickly realized she was too short for this. She probably should have let Harry handle it but she was all for women's independence so she shot up on her toes and tried to stuff the star onto the tree top. Immediately a pain shot through her back, radiating from her right hip, and she nearly tumbled right into the tree as she crumpled back down.
It was Harry's arms coming around her waist quickly that kept her from taking the whole tree down with her. "Easy petal," he murmured in her ear gently as he kept a sturdy hold on her. "Don't strain yourself. You've got to let your hip get better, not make it worse. Let me do the star."
Harry placed the topper on the tree just as a throat was cleared from the doorway behind them. Piper glanced back and saw her mum standing there, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
"Oh," her mum said suddenly as if everything was coming together in her mind. There was a bright twinkle in her eyes and Piper didn't like the sly look on her face. "Oh, I get it now. The pulled muscle."
"What are you talking about, mum?" Piper asked with a sigh as she rolled her eyes.
Her mum gave her a sly little wink. "You pulled that muscle having some, um, fun with Harry, didn't you?"
"MUM!" Piper cried, her face flaming with embarrassment. Harry snickered from beside her so she gave him a swift elbow to his ribcage that made him cough.
"It's fine, it's fine," her mum insisted as if she hadn't just mortified Piper. "You don't have to tell me anything." As if she was going to tell her mum any of the details of her sex life in the first place. "You two are young. That's what love is about."
"Oh, god, stop."
"The tree looks brilliant," her mum said, redirecting the conversation as she gazed up at the tree. There was a wide smile on her face but Piper noticed that it didn't quite reach her eyes. There was a sadness there and Piper was pretty sure she knew why. "You two have done a wonderful job."
"Thanks Sydney," Harry said sweetly, being his normal charming shelf. Piper, also being herself, just grunted her acknowledgement.
"The food's just warming up now," her mum explained as she patted the couch, looking to Harry. "How about you take a seat, dear? I'd like to get to know a little bit more about you now that you and Pips are dating."
Piper would rather have stuck pins in her eyes than stick around for this discussion so she shoved Harry toward the couch as a sacrifice and then hurried across the room. "I'm going to try and find the dvd," she said, already halfway out of the room. "I don't think I've seen it around since last Christmas."
She knew exactly where it was, sitting up on the shelf in her room that held some of her favourite dvds that she owned in duplicate. She didn't want to stick around for the chit chat though so she lingered in her room for much longer than necessary, cracking open an old copy of A Christmas Carol and reading a couple of chapters. When she thought it was safe, she grabbed the dvd case and went back down.
She should have known better than to think her mum would be done bragging. It was one of her favourite hobbies after all. In the time she had been gone, her mother had gotten her laptop working (this was usually hit and miss because her mother was just rubbish with technology) and was now showing Harry the double dutch videos that she had eluded to a couple of weeks before. When she walked into the room, her mum was vividly explaining a combination of tricks that Piper was apparently performing. Harry glanced up and the happy smile on his face was infectious so that, despite how awfully embarrassing this was, Piper was grinning ear to ear.
"Leave off, mum," she whined as she deposited the dvd on the coffee table. "Harry doesn't need a play-by-play of my primary school double dutch competitions."
"It's just good fun, Pips," her mum said while begrudgingly closing the laptop and setting it aside. "How about I go check on the food then?"
"Great idea," Piper agreed, waiting for her mum to leave before she groaned, flopping down onto the couch beside Harry. His arm wrapped across her shoulders as she curled into him until it felt like they were one continuous tangle of limbs instead of two bodies. "How bad was it?" she asked Harry, tilting her head back so she could look up at him.
He leaned in to place a chaste kiss against her forehead before muttering into her skin. "You looked absolutely adorable. And so coordinated, I almost didn't believe it was the same person."
"Shut it," she snapped at him, half-heartedly swatting at him disapprovingly. "I'm just glad she didn't get to the baby videos."
"Oh no, she actually started with those," Harry told her, grinning like a madman. "You had a cute butt, even back then."
"I'm going to kill –"
"Kids!" her mum called from the kitchen before Piper could finish her threat. "Come and get something to eat."
"This isn't over," Piper said warningly as she watched Harry stand up beside her. He offered her his two hands and she took them, allowing him to pull her up to her feet.
"C'mon petal. Save the threats for after Christmas."
Piper and Harry ambled to the kitchen where her mum had spread out the takeaway she had brought. Piper happened to love Indian food which was both a gift and a curse. A gift, because Indian food was delicious and often easy to find in London. A curse, because she couldn't decide what she wanted and always ended up ordering half the menu. It worked out for the best for once because there was actually enough food for all three of them.
They shuffled back into the living room together, Piper already digging into her food with vigour before she'd even left the kitchen. Her mum let the two of them have the couch, opting for the armchair instead. It allowed Harry and Piper to curl up with each other as they ate which gave Piper the perfect placement to nick food off of Harry's plate when he wasn't looking.
"Don't think I can't see you," he said as the ads on the dvd came to an end and the proper movie started. "I see everything."
"Alright, Big Brother," Piper scoffed before jabbing her fork out to pick up some of his butter chicken. He could have stopped her if he wanted to – after all, he was a super spy – but he didn't and that was why the two of them worked so well together. Harry certainly knew how to pick his battles.
Love Actually was one of Piper's favourite movies of all time so it was easy for her to fall into the rhythm of it. She loved the way the storylines weaved together so intricately and how all of them were still so different. She loved that it was a who's who of British actors, most of whom she loved. She couldn't think of a better movie to watch for Christmas Eve.
By the time they were about halfway through, Harry and Piper had shifted on the couch so that Harry was leaning against the side and Piper was lounging against him, sitting in between his outstretched legs. His arms were tucked comfortably around her middle and hers were resting right on top of his. Her head tilted against his chest and she could hear the steady beat of his heart beneath her cheek.
Piper had never felt more at peace in her entire life than she did in that one moment. Being in Harry's arms felt like being at home. She felt safe with him, and cherished, and cared for. She felt like a Harry-hug might be the cure to all of the world's ailments and it made her feel so happy that she could call him hers. All the Christmas presents in the world couldn't top the feeling she had lying there on that couch, watching one of her favourite movies in his arms.
The only downer came during the scene where Alan Rickman gives Emma Thompson the Joni Mitchell CD because her mum started crying. It had been the same for the last nine years so Piper was expecting it. Still, it crushed her a bit to hear her mum crying like that.
Harry didn't say anything about it until about ten minutes after the scene had passed and her mum was still crying. She felt him shuffling against her and she turned her head, feeling his hot breath on her ear as he leaned in close. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked Piper quietly, trying not to be overheard.
She nodded slowly. "She does this every time. I'll explain when it's over."
After that, it was mostly forgotten and the two of them got right back into the movie. Piper loved the end the most, when all of the storylines tied together in their intricately woven web. She loved it even more when Harry started softly singing along to God Only Knows as it played in the background. His voice, so low and deep, sent shivers down her spine in a way that drove her absolutely crazy. And she loved it.
The only thing stopping her from turning around and giving Harry an early Christmas present of her own making was her mum sniffling in the armchair. Piper patted Harry's chest, a sign for him to stay where he was, and then she hoisted herself up from the comfort of the couch, crossing the room to the armchair. "Would you like a cuppa, mum?"
Her mum glanced up as if remembering Piper was there for the first time, a startled expression on her face. She caught sight of Harry out of the corner of her eye and cleared her throat, sitting up properly in her chair and tucking the ratty tissue she'd been mopping her face with into the sleeve of her jumper. "No thanks, Pips darling. I think I might actually head up to bed."
"You sure, mum?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm all tuckered out. That movie makes me so emotional," she added with a laugh that sounded insincere and forced. Piper grimaced, giving her mum a pat on the shoulder in what she hoped was a supportive gesture. "You two feel free to stay up for a while if you'd like. Don't worry about me."
Piper gave her mum a helping hand as she pushed out of the armchair, her normally spry body seeming frail and fragile. It was amazing, the kind of things grief could do to a person. When her mum was upright, Piper pulled her in for a cuddle. She felt her mum's arms tighten around her as if holding on desperately, and then they were gone.
"Goodnight darling," her mum said softly as she kissed Piper's cheek gently. "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, mum," Piper said back as she released her mum. "Have a good sleep, yeah?"
Her mum gave her one last warm smile before walking slowly around the coffee table toward where Harry was now sitting up on the couch. She leaned over to give Harry a kiss on the cheek as well, which surprised him judging by the look on his face when she pulled back. "Happy Christmas Harry," she said to him sweetly, "I'm so glad you could be with us tonight."
"So am I, Sydney. Have a good night."
Piper watched her mum walk out of the room and when she heard the bedroom door shut upstairs, she let out a heavy sigh, her whole body sagging over a bit. Rubbing a hand across her forehead, Piper glanced over at Harry. "I'm going to make a cuppa. You want one?"
He had a sympathetic expression on his face and he looked like he wanted to say something but he held off, pushing a smile onto his face instead. "I'd love a cuppa."
Piper took her time in the kitchen, setting the kettle on the stove and then leaning against the counter as she waited for it to heat up. She'd been hoping that this year was going to be different. She was hoping she would finally get through one Christmas Eve without her mum crying. A Christmas miracle, maybe. But it had been too big of a wish.
She made peppermint tea because tis the season and all that. She started sipping hers on the way back to the living room, Harry's tea sloshing over when she wasn't being diligent enough. It burned her thumb a bit and she cursed, craning her head to lick at the spot, thinking that might help somehow. She stepped into the room contorted like a circus freak, appearing to be licking the side of the mug. These were the kinds of things that got people committed.
Thankfully, Harry wasn't sitting on the couch any longer. He had decided to sprawl out with his head stuck underneath the Christmas tree, staring up at the yellow lights through the branches. Piper crossed the room and crouched down beside him. She hissed as her hip tugged in pain and Harry immediately reached over to curl his hand around the site of her injury. "I'm okay," she assured him as she put the mug down on the other side of his head, letting her own mug rest on the opposite side of her. It took some serious manoeuvring but she eventually got herself lying down beside Harry, her head level with his.
"Hi," she muttered to him as she tilted her head to look at him. He tilted his head the other way so they were looking at each other.
"Hi."
"Is there a reason you decided to lie under the tree?" she asked him curiously, raising her eyebrows up her forehead inquisitively.
"I didn't bring a present," he said with a cheeky little grin, "so I thought I'd give you me for Christmas, wrapped up pretty under the Christmas tree."
"Hmm," Piper hummed happily as she leaned over to press a kiss to the side of his mouth sloppily, "the best present I could have asked for."
She rolled her head over so she was staring up at the underside of the branches. Just above her head, the light was reflecting off a deep purple ornament, casting a gorgeous violet shadow. She felt like she was in a weird haze right now lying like this, like the real world had sort of frozen around her and she was stuck in this peaceful moment. It only got better when she felt Harry's fingers thread through hers, holding her hand in his own warm hand.
"I'm serious," she reiterated, her gaze still trained on the branch above her. She took a deep breath of the balsam fir and then shifted her head so she was looking at him. He had already been watching her, his green eyes pale and reflecting the lights above him. Piper wished she had a camera because he looked so handsome and ethereal in this moment. "Having you here tonight was really nice. Usually it's just me and my mum getting wasted and sobbing over Love Actually. Sometimes Andrew's here too but that just means I usually get more drunk."
"Why was your mum crying during the movie?" Harry asked quietly. "I guess it was a sad part but it's Love Actually. You know everyone is going to be happy in the end."
"We had this tradition since I was little of watching a Christmas movie as a family every Christmas Eve. As an early Christmas present when I was fourteen, my dad got my mum Love Actually on dvd and she was so excited because she loved it so much in the theatres. She made us kids and my dad watch it about five times that Christmas. She said that she loved it especially because it was a romantic movie. You see, Christmas Eve was her and my dad's anniversary."
"Oh, petal," Harry said sympathetically already anticipating where she was going with this explanation.
"They only got to have that one Christmas together watching the movie before my dad died. It was the last anniversary memory she has of my dad." Piper could hear in her voice as she got more choked up. Usually she didn't get as upset as her mum on Christmas Eve but she still missed her dad, especially today of all days. "I've tried to get her to watch another movie but she won't switch. I think despite how hard it is for her to watch, it's brings her a little bit of closure each year. It's sort of like he's here with us."
"Sometimes when you lose someone important to you, the pain is just as welcome as the fond memories because at least you're remembering."
Piper looked over at Harry in awe, wondering how he was able to pinpoint what it was that she was feeling but unable to articulate. He was so good at reading people sometimes that it was astounding. But sometimes it was more than that – Piper suspected that Harry had a better grasp on the human condition than anyone else in the world.
"That's it exactly," Piper breathed out. Harry nodded solemnly.
"Your poor mum," he commiserated. "It must be such a struggle trying to stay positive through the holidays when she has so much pain in her heart."
"I think it's why she does all of the stuff she does, the charity work and all that. It keeps her busy and distracted. She spends the entire week up to Christmas, except tonight of course, baking a million treats and volunteering. Not cooking though – wouldn't want the entire homeless population dropping dead of food poisoning on Christmas, would we?"
Harry chuckled and when Piper glanced over he was shaking his head gently, his eyes trained above him. "You're too much sometimes, petal."
"I wish there was more I could do to help," she admitted quietly after a moment of calm had spanned between them. "It breaks my heart to see her get so upset. I know in a way that it's good for her, it's cathartic or something, but I hate seeing her cry."
"You do enough, Piper." Harry looked over at her and his eyes were all serious and meaningful and it made Piper's stomach flip flop. "Being here for your mum is enough. She just doesn't want to be alone, I think. Just having you around makes it better."
"I'm not so sure," Piper muttered warily.
"Trust me," Harry insisted. "You can see it in the way her eyes brighten up a bit when you're in the room. The only time I saw her smiling with her eyes tonight is when she was smiling at you." Piper could feel her cheeks getting hot and she wasn't sure why that embarrassed her. She was happy that she made her mum happy. "You know," Harry added, "she's quite proud of you."
"She pretends to be, at least," Piper scoffed.
"No, I'm serious petal. She couldn't shut up about how smart you are, and all the hard work you're doing to advance your career. She admires your strength and how much dedication and determination you put into your schooling and now your job. She doesn't even know half of what you do and she still thinks you're the best daughter out there."
"Shut up," Piper sniffled as she reached her hand up to wipe away the stupid tears that had decided to fall. Christ, it was Christmas. She shouldn't be crying.
"Petal, you're terrible at taking compliments," Harry said before holding his arms open. Piper rolled over and into him, letting him wrap her up in his warm embrace. "You don't think your mum has reason to be proud of you?"
"I don't know if you've noticed yet but I'm a mess."
"A hot mess," Harry purred into her ear which managed to push a smile onto her face. "You're too hard on yourself sometimes. You should give yourself a break, especially tonight. It's Christmas." Piper nodded against Harry's chest, turning her face into is jumper and breathing him in. Nothing could calm her down better than his smell that was starting to smell like home to her. "I don't know why you seem to struggle so much with who you are, petal. I think you're pretty great just the way you are."
"Sometimes I feel like I just don't know who I am."
"Hmm."
She bared her soul to him and all she got was a hum? Rolling her eyes, Piper ignored him and just sunk against him, pressing herself so hard to him that she was surprised they didn't just fuse into one person.
"That's the joy of being young," Harry said after a moment's thought, "you still have all this time to figure out who you are. It's when you get old like me that you start having problems."
"You're not old," Piper scolded gently, digging a finger into his stomach. "Old people do not have abs like these."
"I've worked for these abs, thank you very much," Harry said as he ruffled his shoulders a bit, puffing his chest out proudly. Piper giggled quietly, biting at her tongue to try and stop it from escaping. Harry noticed though and only shot her an unimpressed look before cracking up into a smile himself. "Speaking of working out, Niall sent me a couple of physio exercises he thinks you should be doing to help your hip heal faster."
"Do not," Piper said sternly, pushing herself up on his chest to glare at him, "ruin Christmas by talking about exercise. Exercise is forbidden for the evening, got it mister?"
She pointed a finger at him threateningly and Harry snapped out and caught it gently between his teeth. Before she could pull it away, he had sucked it into his mouth and was using his tongue in a very not childhood home appropriate way to tease her. She pressed her hips down lewdly against his, the angle she was lying at pressing his hipbone just where she wanted it. She stifled a groan as she yanked her finger back. "Not tonight," she said firmly.
"Can I at least have a kiss?" Harry asked innocently, giving her bloody puppy dog eyes. Like she could say no to that. Not that she'd ever say no to kissing his face.
She let her body flop on top of his, knowing he could easily take her weight (he benched at least double her weight on a regular basis) and smashed her lips down on top of his. Their noses bumped as Harry pulled away to tug on her lip with his teeth. She let her eyes drift closed as his tongue slipped into her mouth, letting her hand drift into the curls at the nape of his neck.
He kept his hands PG, letting them drift gently to her waist and keeping them there despite that fact that her arse was sticking up in the air waiting to be touched. She appreciated the gesture, considering she was in her mum's house, and reciprocated by not grinding her hips against his teasingly. She had to be fair after all.
They snogged like teenagers on the floor which was ironic because their sexual relationship had started so quickly. They had skipped this stage where connection was kept to kisses and innocent touches. It made it even more magical that it was here, under the tree, just the two of them.
When they parted, Piper let her head rest gently on Harry's chest, looking up at his face. The Christmas lights were reflecting off his face, giving his skin a warm glow. They added a sparkle to his gorgeous eyes and shot light through his curls. His lips, after a thorough kissing, looked Christmas red.
"Happy Christmas Harry," she sort of blurted out. He looked down at her bemused and grinned.
"Happy Christmas petal." He stretched his neck so he could kiss the top of her head. "I feel so rude. I didn't even bring a gift."
"You were the perfect gift," she told him as she snuggled against him, letting her eyes drift shut. "But there might be one thing you could do for me to make up for it."
"Anything."
"Sing me something?"
Harry groaned. "Oh no, petal. You don't want to hear my wretched voice."
"I love your voice," she murmured, being completely sincere. She loved his voice when he was talking normal, when he was shouting and when he was whispering. When he was trying to be sexy and when he was being the exact opposite. She loved the deep timbre and the rumble it made. She especially loved listening to him singing to himself, almost as if it was an instinct.
She didn't think he was going to do it but then he started humming All I Want For Christmas Is You. Piper couldn't stop the stupid, infatuated grin that spread across her lips. She pressed her face into his chest so if he glanced down he wouldn't see her.
Eventually he transitioned into the words, turning the Mariah Carey classic into a slower, jazzier number. He had the perfect crooner voice and Piper felt like she was in her own personal Christmas dream. A gorgeous man holding her in his arms while he sang one of her favourite Christmas songs, the twinkling lights of a beautiful Christmas tree illuminating them both, and the world quiet and sleeping around them. It was like a scene right out of a movie. It was magical.
She fell asleep with Harry there on the floor under the tree. When she woke up the next morning, there was a warm blanket draped over her and a pillow supporting her lower back to protect it from the hard floor. She knew without a second's thought that this was Harry's work. She rolled over and pulled herself up, ignoring the pain in her back in favour of smiling from ear to ear.
She shouldn't have been surprised when she shuffled into the kitchen and Harry was standing over the stove. He had promised he would never leave her in the night and that each morning that he stayed, he would cook her breakfast. What really did surprise her was the fact that her mum was standing by his side in her pyjamas and dressing gown, smiling up at him brightly, all the way to her eyes. Harry smiled back down at her, muttering something that made her laugh a real, honest to god laugh. Piper hadn't ever seen her mum so happy on Christmas morning, at least not in the last ten years.
She had tears pooling in her eyes when Harry caught sight of her in his peripheral vision and looked back over his shoulder at her. He noticed the tears – of course he did, he noticed everything – but he didn't mention them which she appreciated. Instead, he held his hand out toward her and wiggled his fingers invitingly. "Morning petal," he greeted her when he finally caught her hand, pulling her forward so he could wrap an arm around her waist. "Sleep well?"
He was smiling cheekily so Piper elbowed him to wipe the look of his face. "I did, actually." She turned to her mum with a grin. "Happy Christmas mum."
"Happy Christmas, Pips darling," her mother greeted as she placed her hands on the side of Piper's head and pulled her forward to kiss each cheek gently. "Where have you been hiding this one?" she asked her daughter as she pointed toward Harry. "He's like a proper chef."
"Piper would probably starve if she didn't have me to cook for her every once in a while," Harry interjected with a chuckle.
Piper's mum laughed brightly when Piper sent a withering stare in Harry's direction. "She got my genes when it comes to cooking, unfortunately. We're both bloody useless at it."
"That's what Harry's for, mum," Piper informed her as she patted Harry's stomach gently where her arms were wrapped around him. "What masterpiece are you making this morning?"
She peeked in the pan and nearly started crying again. Harry had diligently cut circles in slices of bread and had cracked eggs in the centre. Instantly she felt eight years old again, standing beside her dad at the stove. He cooked breakfast in their house (her mother was a safety hazard, after all) and when Piper woke up at the crack of dawn with her dad, he always made her eggs in a basket. Harry had no way of knowing the significance of what he had done but it still made Piper cuddle him tighter.
BBC was playing the Christmas mass from Westminster and despite the fact that she didn't have religious inclinations anymore, Piper followed her mother into the living room with her breakfast, Harry following a moment later with his own food. They sat together and ate, chatting about this and that while choirs sang Christmas hymns in the background.
Piper took a moment to glance between her mum whose face was flushed red from laughing so hard, and Harry who was grinning so hard his cheeks dimpled. She couldn't help but think that even though Harry hadn't brought a gift with him, he had given the Stones the greatest gifts of all – peace, joy and love.