"It's nothing, really," he said uncomfortably, but my stomach dropped to my shoes at the look on his face.

"What's nothing?" I asked, when he hesitated.

"Someone made a pass at me, a while ago," he began, and I stared at him, my heart thumping painfully in my chest. "An air hostess, called Megan. She tried to kiss me, and I literally had to lean back to get away from her. I set her straight immediately, but this morning she, uh..." He cleared his throat nervously.

"She what?" I squeaked.

"She sent me a picture. Of herself. Um, sort of topless."

"What?" I barked.

"I didn't ask her to!" he yelped. "It came out of nowhere! I haven't spoken to her in months! Look..."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, but I held my hand out in front of me, shielding my eyes from the potential view of another woman's breasts.

"I don't want to see!" I squealed.

"I want you to," he insisted. "And I need you to see my reply to her, in case this ever comes back to bite me on the arse."

I stared at him, horrified, while he unlocked his phone, tapped the screen and turned it to face me. There was a message thread with the name 'Megan Smith' at the top, and a picture of a girl with her arms partially covering her chest, but exposing enough flesh to indicate she wasn't wearing any clothes on her top half.

"What the fuck...?" I breathed. Who was this little tramp sending naked pictures to my boyfriend?! 

"I'm sorry," he said, helplessly. "Look at the other messages - I didn't encourage her, I swear! I told her I wasn't interested ages ago, and then suddenly, out of the blue, she sent me this!"

I glanced over the thread. There was a text from Harry to Megan back in August, asking how Megan's mother was, and a reply from Megan saying that she was a lot better. The next one was the message accompanying the topless picture, that read, Thinking about you. Wanna meet up? ;) This was followed by a message from Harry: Megan, I've got a girlfriend. Please don't send me stuff like this, it isn't appropriate.

"When did you tell her you weren't interested?" I asked.

"Twice, last summer. She tried to kiss me once but I managed to pull away in time, and then she caught me off guard a couple of weeks later and kissed me on a flight. I told her again it wasn't going to happen and I thought she'd got the message. She's a nice girl, she worked on the jet while we were touring the US, and came to a couple of shows. The other lads used to wind me up about her, saying she was into me. Once I realised they were right and she was, I set her straight. Or so I thought."

"Why didn't you tell me about her sooner?"

"I'd forgotten all about it," he sighed. "You and I weren't even on speaking terms at the time. It was only when I got this picture that I thought I should probably mention it to you, but I wanted to talk to you in person and you were already on the plane on your way here. I was going to show you when you arrived, just to cover my back really. And as you can see, she hasn't replied to me since."

I let out a long breath as I processed his words, relieved that this latest revelation was something and nothing. Harry gave me a tentative smile.

"Are we OK?" he asked, and I smiled softly.

"Yeah, course we are," I assured him. "It would take more than a stupid topless picture to shake us. Even if I am fizzing inside at her sheer audacity."

He sighed deeply and took me in his arms again, kissing the top of my head gently. "Thank you," he murmured into my hair. "I don't know where you find this depth of trust in me, but I can't explain how much it means to me. Everyone else has always run a mile."

"I couldn't walk away from you now," I said, nuzzling into his neck and dropping a soft kiss onto his pulse point. "I love you. But this kind of stuff just makes me want to go public even more. I've had enough of people thinking you're single and available."

"Megan knew I wasn't interested," Harry reminded me, pulling back and looking into my eyes. "I didn't go into details about me and you, as I was still trying to win you back and wanted to keep us under wraps, but she knew I was off limits. Yet she still tried. Twice."

"There will always be those girls who go after other people's boyfriends," I said darkly, as Sara's and Nadine's faces danced in front of my eyes. "But the joke's on them if the whole world knows you're spoken for."

He surveyed me seriously as I spoke, pressing his lips together absentmindedly. He seemed deep in thought, and stayed silent for a moment before answering.

"You'll get hate from a lot of fans, once the world knows we're together," he said. "I'm not trying to put you off, because I really really want this. But I only want it if it's the right thing for both of us."

"I gave up reading my Twitter mentions a long time ago," I told him. "I'm not interested in the haters. And I don't want to spill every detail of our lives, but I do want people to know we're together. I'm not saying I'll find it easy, but it's never going to be easy, no matter when we do it. There will never be the perfect moment; there will always be a reason to delay. But I'm ready now."

He nodded slowly, smiling again, and took me in his arms. "OK," he said softly. "Think about it this week. If you still feel the same way by the time you go home, we'll do it. I just want you to be absolutely sure it's what you want," he explained, as I frowned up at him, about to protest. "And it will give you time to get used to the idea, before we press the button and change both our lives forever. Deal?"

I couldn't say fairer than that. "Deal," I nodded, and he beamed at me, his eyes crinkling at the edges and his dimple deepening.

"I promise I will tell you immediately if she texts me again," he added. "Or if anything like this happens again, for that matter."

"As I'm sure it will," I sighed. "Your desirability isn't going to decrease, just because you're in a relationship. I completely understand that, and I accept it. And as long as you're open and honest with me about everything, I'm fine with it."

"I fucking love you, Jessica Bradshaw," he murmured, crushing me against his chest.

"I fucking love you too, Harry Styles," I murmured back. 

~~~

Anne and Robin joined us in the lounge, and while Harry and Robin discussed one of the Sports channels I took the opportunity to explain my earlier infidelity comment to Anne, as the last thing I wanted was her thinking I was the sort of person to use past mistakes as ammunition. 

"I did think it was out of character for you to say it," she admitted, after I'd finished. "But your relationship with Harry is not something for me to judge. We're all human, Jess. We all make mistakes, and we all say things in the heat of the moment that we don't mean. That doesn't make you, or me, or Harry a bad person. For what it's worth I'm surprised you've managed to turn a blind eye to all these reports about Harry for so long."

"I haven't really," I sighed. "It's got to me far more than it should have. It's taken me a long time to learn how not to be affected by the newspaper stories written about me and the false claims by reporters scrambling for an exclusive. I shouted at Harry when those pictures of him and Kendall surfaced. I even ducked out of attending the London show in September without telling him, because I was afraid of dealing with the media's reaction if they saw me. I let him down that day. I've handled a lot of stuff really badly."

Anne shook her head. "I disagree. I think you've handled it exceptionally well, considering this was entirely new to you when you met Harry. You've remained loyal to him throughout, Jess, despite everything that was thrown at you. You've had multiple opportunities to exact revenge, or accidentally let something slip in public, but you haven't. You've never responded to anything that was said about you or Harry, and that is so important to him. I happen to think you're good for him."

"That means so much to me," I said softly. "He loves you more than anything. To have your approval means the world."

"You definitely have my approval," she smiled, reaching over and squeezing my hand. "You make him so happy, and that makes me happy."

"What are you two getting soppy about?" Harry called over, as I surreptitiously wiped a tear from the corner of my eye.

"Never you mind," Anne called back. She leaned over and gave me a tight hug.

"Are you tired, baby?" Harry asked, looking at me with concern. "You must be feeling jet-lagged. We can go to bed if you want."

"Would you mind?" I asked Anne, apologetically.

"Of course not!" she insisted. "You look shattered. A good night's sleep will do you the world of good."

We said goodnight, and Harry carried my case to his bedroom and set it down next to the bed. 

"I might have a shower, if that's OK," I said, opening the zip and pulling out my bag of toiletries.

"Of course," he said, gesturing to the door of the ensuite. "You don't have to ask. This is your home too. Treat it as such. I bought you some girly shampoo, and some cherry scented shower gel - they're on the shelf next to the temperature gauge."

My heart swelled at this thoughtful gesture, and I smiled softly at Harry.

"Thank you," I said sincerely. "That really is so sweet."

He gave me an exaggeratedly wide, toothy grin. "I'm a sweet kinda guy."

"Yes you are," I agreed, pulling my top over my head as he switched the television on and lay back on the bed. "What are you doing?"

He looked up at me in confusion. "I was going to watch TV while you had a shower."

"I was sort of hoping you might join me," I said, coyly, turning my face towards the floor and looking up at him through my eyelashes, feeling self-conscious in this ridiculously obvious attempt to be seductive. 

"Well," he said, meaningfully, muting the television and sliding off the bed. "I don't need to be asked twice."

I grinned in relief as he stepped in front of me and lowered his face to mine, his mouth twisted into a glorious smirk just as our lips touched. I walked backwards, pulling him with me into the bathroom as we kissed, and he kicked the door shut behind him with his foot as I pulled his tshirt up over his head and dropped it on the floor in front of the sink. He pulled me into his arms again so his warm skin was against mine, soft and smooth and reassuringly familiar, before reaching behind my back and unclipping my bra with one hand.

I tugged his jeans and boxers down, and while he kicked them off his feet I slipped my own bottoms off, and then pushed him carefully backwards into the walk-in shower and switched the water on. He guided me underneath the jets, his lips never leaving mine, his fingers running through my hair as the water pounded down on us. I hooked my arm around his waist and pressed myself up against him, feeling the beginning of his arousal nudging me gently. He broke away from me for a moment to reach behind me, and grabbed a bottle of pink shower gel from the shelf. He squeezed a circle into his hand, rubbed his palms together and then gently ran his hands down the front of my body. I closed my eyes as he pulled me towards him again, away from the direct stream of the shower head, our bodies now gliding together sensuously as our kisses intensified. 

I slipped my arms around his waist and gently squeezed his buttocks. He thrust his hips forward to mine and moaned softly at the gentle pressure it created, breaking our kiss to dip his head and run his tongue delicately along my collarbone. I curled my hand around his erection and swiped my thumb slowly over his tip, earning another soft grunt of pleasure as his hands slid up the sides of my body to my breasts. I closed my eyes as he stroked them softly, and when I opened them he was watching me intently, his eyes half closed and serious expression on his face. 

I pushed him back against the tiled wall and kissed him hard, overcome with passion and desire for him. He kissed me back with equal vigour, pressing himself between my legs impatiently and running his thumbs over my nipples. I lifted one leg up as his tip rubbed gently against me, and allowed it to slip slowly inside me. He grunted again, guiding my lips to his to kiss me, the water running over our faces and between our bodies as I pushed my hips forward to take him fully inside me. His hand gripped my waist as I began to move, the other sliding back down to my breast again to stroke my nipple. 

I closed my eyes and focussed on the feeling of him filling me, and the gentle touch of his fingers. The time I spent away from him, albeit this particular occasion only a week or so, always seemed to strengthen the bond between us. It made me appreciate him, and certainly made each reunion all the more intense. Never before had anyone made me feel this way: so passionate, so connected. So in love. 

I draped my arms around his neck as our rhythm increased its pace, and balanced on one leg so I could wrap the other around the back of Harry's calves, trying to get even closer to him, to envelop him in my limbs and never let him go.

"I love you," I whispered breathlessly against his lips. "I love you so much."

"I know, baby," he panted, pulling away from my lips for a second to press his forehead to mine. "I love you too. You are everything to me."

"You're everything to me," I replied, slowing for a moment and putting my foot back on the floor again, so I was standing on tip toes with him still inside me. He paused, opening his eyes to look down at me. The water beat down on us, dripping off Harry's eyebrows and nose onto my face, and we were both silent for a moment, staring into each other's eyes, with no need to voice our feelings any further because they flowed between us with such intensity that conversation was unnecessary.

He leaned down again and kissed me softly, and I pressed my fingers onto the back of his neck to hold him there while he slowly began moving again. 

"Jump," he whispered, squeezing the backs of my thighs, and I did as he asked, wrapping my legs around his waist. He turned around and pushed me up against the wall, ignoring my squeal of protest at the cold tiles against my hot skin, and began to pound into me hard and fast, pushing his tongue into my mouth as I moaned softly. I cried out as I peaked, a sound that was instantly swallowed by Harry's kiss, and just as I finished he let out a gentle grunt of pleasure, his strokes becoming smoother and longer, before slowing and eventually stopping, and dropping his head forward onto my shoulder. 

I relaxed my legs as he slipped out of me, putting both feet on the floor as he set me down gently. My legs felt like jelly, and it took me a moment to gain my balance. He tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear, and then kissed me again, before rinsing off the residue of the shower gel, handing me a pure white towel and switching off the water. 

My eyes were closing as I blasted my hair with the hairdryer, and I barely remembered climbing into Harry's huge, soft bed, or him pulling me into his arms and tucking his leg between mine. I had never really understood what people meant when they said that home could be a person, not necessarily a place. Until I fell in love with Harry Styles.

---***---

The previous update got this book to #1 in Fanfiction, on the same day it finally surpassed 1M reads! I'd love to hit the number one spot again, and there are only a few chapters left (therefore limited opportunities to rank at the top again) so please please don't forget to hit the little yellow star to vote, and comment loads to help me get there! I also have a disgusting cold and I'm feeling really sorry for myself, so it would make me feel so much better xxx

I'm not sure when the next update will be, as I am busy two nights this week and I also have to factor in present-wrapping at some point. Can you believe it is one week until Christmas?! I'll try and update beforehand, as I know you're dying to know what's going on with Callie, but you know me, I love to keep you hanging off the proverbial cliff ;) Admit it - you'll miss that when this book ends! xxx