Harry Who?

Harry and I looked pretty damn cute in our matching Christmas outfits, but on the inside I felt like I was going to be sick I was so nervous. Even though Harry had told me all about his family as we drove up to see them Christmas eve, I was still very anxious about meeting them.

“Don’t worry, they’re going to love you,” he said.

“They won’t think I’m, you know, only dating you for your money?” I asked hesitantly.

He gave me a confused look and laughed. “Ellie, don’t be stupid.”

“You’re right, I’m sure once they meet me they’ll realize I’m not smart enough to trick someone into dating me so I can become their parasite.”

“That’s not what I meant. I think, or I hope, at least, they trust my judgement enough to pick a girlfriend who likes me for who I am, and not my net worth.” He explained, but I did not feel any more relaxed.

“But Harry, I’m so… I’m nothing compared to you. I work in a bookstore and have no dreams of ever achieving anything greater than that.” I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I was working myself up over nothing, I just didn’t want to ruin this first impression.

“Actually, you don’t even work in a bookstore.” Harry teased, and for a moment I laughed before the anxiety set in again. “We’re here.”

“What? Why didn’t you give me any kind of warning?” I started breathing fast and panicked as we drove up the driveway.

“Ellie, it’s okay. You trust me, right?” He looked me in the eye after we’d parked, and I nodded. “Then, believe me when I say it is going to be fine. They are going to love you. If anything, I should be scared my mom will bring out the family photo albums to show off my baby pictures to you.”

I laughed and thought my mom would probably do the same thing. “Okay.”

As Harry promised, it was fine. His mom gave me a big hug, his sister was really nice and teased Harry about his hair, and his step-dad was very friendly. I don’t know why I thought they would just stare at me like I was some kind of intruder in their personal family holiday, but it seemed silly now.

“You haven’t seen ‘Love Actually’?” Gemma asked in disbelief. “We have to watch it now. Harry? How have you not shown your girlfriend the best movie ever?”

“Maybe after dinner,” Anne interrupted their sibling bickering. “Would you like more to drink?”

“Yes please,” I held out my glass as she came over with the bottle of wine. “Thank you.”

“So Harry tells us you play hockey?” Anne asked as she returned to her seat.

I nodded and blushed. “Recently I’ve been playing with a local team, nothing serious, but I used to play in college.”

“And your brother plays professional hockey?” She asked.

“Yeah, he plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins,” I replied, and tried to steer the conversation topic away from me. Luckily Harry caught that I was nervous, so he asked his mom about some relative he hadn’t heard from in a while.

After dinner we settled onto the couch to watch ‘Love Actually’, with Harry sandwiched between Gemma and I. They were super excited for me to see the movie for the first time and pointed out all the different actors by naming characters they’ve played in other movies. (“There’s Snape! And that kid’s on Game of Thrones!) After the movie ended, Anne brought us hot chocolate and we opened presents.

By the end of the night, Gemma and I had the crazy idea to braid Harry’s hair, so we each took a side of his head and gave him pigtails. They didn’t line up, and it looked pretty bad, but he was very cute about it.

“So we actually get to sleep in the same room?” I asked as we went to bed. While we did still have separate bedrooms at Harry’s house in London, most nights one of us usually ended up in the other’s bed, if he was around.

“Yes, we do. I don’t think my mum cares since we’re both adults,” he grinned.

“I don’t think my parents would like that, regardless of how old we are.” I thought out loud as we changed into our pj’s.

“So, speaking of your parents…” Harry left the question unanswered.

“What?” I asked. “You want to meet them?”

He shrugged. “It would be fair, since you’ve met mine.”

“You saw my brother at the Rangers game,” I reminded him.

“I don’t think that counts,” he gave me a teasing smile and we crawled into bed. “Do they even know we’re dating?”

“No. I have to tell them, though, don’t I.” I stared up at the ceiling and waited for Harry to turn the light out.

“What’s stopping you from telling them? Are you embarrassed?” He teased, but his eyes looked a little sad.

“No, I just don’t even know how I’d say it. Like, ‘mom, dad, I’m dating a member of One Direction.’ I can’t even imagine those words coming out of my mouth in front of my parents.” Okay, so maybe I was a little embarrassed.

“Then don’t say that. Tell them you have a boyfriend, and he loves you very much, and he would do anything to make you happy,” he leaned over and kissed me goodnight. “And he just happens to be in a boy band.”

I giggled, and remembered his taunt earlier that evening. “Actually, you’re not even in a boy band anymore.”

“1D is still together, we’re just taking a break.” He defended, and I laughed.

“Right, we’ll see about that,” I kissed him goodnight. “Merry Christmas, Harry, I love you.”

Harry fell asleep instantly, but I stayed up too late thinking about what he said. He’s right, I do have to tell my parents who I’m dating. After all, I left the country and moved to London to live with him.


The next morning I woke up earlier than Harry and went downstairs to find his mom making breakfast.

“Would you like any help?” I asked.

“That would be lovely, hon,” she answered. “You know, I can really tell Harry likes you.”

“Really?” I asked and helped her set the table.

“Yeah, he’s just got that look in his eyes.” She smiled. “After the way he talked about you the last time he visited, I’m really glad you guys were able to work things out.” She smiled, and I could tell Harry had gotten his smile from her, and that made me feel a bit more comfortable.

“Yeah, me too,” I smiled to myself and Harry walked in rubbing his eyes.

“I hope you aren’t talking about me,” he said tiredly. “That would be embarrassing.” He slid his arm around me and kissed my forehead. “We have to leave soon to get you to the airport.”

Right, back to Canada to see my parents. I sighed as I remembered what Harry and I had talked about last night. At least I had his mom’s approval, so I didn’t have to worry about that. Now I just needed to figure out how to explain Harry to my mom…




“Your present will be waiting for you when you return,” Harry explained as he drove me to the airport.

“You got me something else?” We had already exchanged gifts last night, I wasn’t expecting more. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, and, yes I did,” he smiled teasingly.

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you, you’ll see it when you get back from Canada.”

“Why do I have to wait?” I complained. “Is this so you’ll make sure I actually do come back?”

“Ellie, I know I don’t have to bribe you with gifts to make you return from spending the holidays with your parents.” He teased.

“True, especially after I tell them we’re dating, I’ll want to get out of there as soon as possible.” I sighed. This was officially the most stressful Christmas ever, and it wasn’t even half over. But Harry was right, I just had to tell them the truth, tell them we love each other, because that’s all that should matter, right?

Notes