"Don't drive too fast," Elenore snapped. "I'm doing my makeup." 

"Well maybe if you'd gotten out of bed earlier, you'd have been ready by now." I grumbled, my hands clenching the wheel so tightly that they'd gone white. I was a bundle of nerves and Elenore's lack of punctuality was only making it worse. 

"Hey - this is my first day off in ages. For once I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn! I think I deserved a lie in, thank you very much." She raised her mascara to her left eye and squinted at the mirror in the sun visor. I pushed my foot down a little further on the accelerator and smirked as her hand jerked awkwardly, smearing a black line up over her eyelid and into her eyebrow. "HEY!"

"Sorry." I said dryly, briefly looking over my shoulder to check on my sleeping child. Her bandana had somehow fallen down her face, making it look as thought she was wearing an eye-mask. 

"I have to look perfect for Niall." Ele sighed, rubbing at her eye frantically. "I want to give a good first impression."

"And what exactly are you hoping to achieve here?" I asked. I was slightly concerned that Elenore had convinced herself that coming along today would bag herself a date with Niall. Quite honestly I wasn't even sure he knew she existed, let alone was on her way.

"I'm not going to answer that." She smiled wickedly into the mirror as she attempted her mascara for the second time. "There is a young child present."

"Gross," I sighed, but my lips twitched with the onslaught of laugher that threatened to come. "That was not an image I needed to visualize while concentrating on the road." 

Elenore shrugged but carried on smiling. "You should be thanking me. It's not like you're getting any with Harry."

I don't know how I didn't crash the car.

"What?!" I spluttered. I wanted desperately to throw her a murderous glare but was too afraid to take my eyes off the road while still recovering from the shock of her outburst. 

"I said-" she began, but I shook my head frantically. 

"I know exactly what you said," I told her in a strained voice. "I'm just not entirely sure why." 

"It's obvious that you're into the guy," she shrugged. " So why not?" 

"How on earth is it obvious when it's not true? Besides, he's not my boyfriend." I could feel myself slowly becoming more defensive and aggitated. It was infuriating that her suggestion bothered me so much. 

"He wasn't your boyfriend the first time you got jiggy in the sheets!" She laughed. My cheeks flushed scarlet. 

"We were drunk." I managed to point out. Elenore shrugged again and began applying a thick black line just above her eyelashes. "Please never, ever, bring up this conversation in front of Harry."

"So you do like the guy?" She pressed. 

"No! It's just that it would be really awkward otherwise." I babbled, clinging onto the steering wheel for dear life. 

"Sure." Elenore muttered and turned up the radio with her free hand. 

I hated that she was permanently so adamant that I had feelings for Harry. Just because he was the father of Nola it didn't mean I was automatically in love with him. He certainly wasn't in love with me which is what made it so uncomfortable to hear. 

The rest of the journey into North London seemed to pass quickly and before we knew it we were on the look out for his house. It was a surprisingly crowded street with unsurprisingly large houses. 

"How exactly would you know if one of these houses belonged to Harry?" I asked, my heart hammering in my chest. I was very much aware of the fact that One Direction were about to meet my daughter and I, and Niall was about to live his worst nightmare. Elenore was frantically checking her make-up repeatedly in the mirror beside me. 

"How am I supposed to know?" She pouted at herself and I rolled my eyes. "What number did he say it was?"

"Number four." I replied, squinting my eyes at the numbers on the doors or gates as we cruised past them. Eventually Elenore stopped staring at herself and pointed.

"There it is!" She squealed. "I can't believe I'm going to meet Niall! Isn't this exciting?"

"Uh, I guess." I gulped, parking the car infront of number four. 

"Don't forget to give me a really good introduction, ok?" She told me sternly before undoing her seat belt and leaping out of the car. I really wasn't surprised that Elenore had forgotten she was only really accompanying me for the moral support...and because I'd had no choice in the matter. After an extremely deep breath and a mental pep-talk, I stepped out of my car and opened the back to retrieve Nola who was starting to come round. 

"Mumma?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes and yawned. I smiled as I lifted her from the car seat and pulled her into my chest, holding her tightly against me. My heart rate began to calm itself the moment we made contact. 

"Hurry up!" Ele groaned, watching me attempting not to come to pieces outside of Harry's house. "They are probably all inside watching us from the windows and wondering what the hell we're doing." Sometimes, just sometimes, I wanted to hit her. 

"Right, sorry. Lead the way." I gestured for her to go ahead as I pulled Nola's bag out of the footwell and shut the door. Without hesitation, Elenore shot towards the front door, smoothing her clothes and checking her reflection in the screen of her phone as she went. I loved her, but sometimes I wished I had more friends, and specifically friends whose personalities were more equipped to deal with situations such as this. 

I joined her on the doorstep and anxiously looked around us, expecting people to appear with cameras. "Harry said the paps don't know he lives here remember?" Elenore said suddenly as if she'd read my mind. I nodded and she rang the doorbell, giggling with excitement. 

It was only seconds later that the door opened and revealed a grinning Harry on the other side. His hair was damp as if he hasn't been out the shower long and I caught myself stealing a glance at a droplet of water as it strayed from the tip of his hair and ran under the neck of his plain t-shirt. I swallowed uncomfortably as Elenore's words from the journey rang in my ears. So the guy was attractive? That didn't mean I had feelings for him. 

"Hey," he breathed, making eye contact with me immediately. "How was the journey?" He gestured for us to come in and took Nola's bag off of my shoulder, placing it next to the collection of shoes in the hallway. 

"It was fine thanks." I threw a look at Elenore who was pulling a strange face at me. "This is Elenore by the way. I don't think you've officially met yet." Harry gave her one of his best smiles and leant in to kiss her on the cheek. 

"Nice to meet you finally," he smirked. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Hopefully all good stuff." She said through gritted teeth and glared at me. Harry laughed and turned back to Nola and I.

"How's my little girl?" He leant forward and took a half-asleep Nola from my arms. She lifted her head and smiled at him, her eyes twinkling. "Hello miss!" 

"Da-da!" She squealed, burying her face in his neck. Harry looked like he'd gone to heaven. 

"So where are the others?" Elenore pressed, looking around impatiently. I frowned. Maybe bringing her hadn't been such a good idea at all, especially if she was going to be rude. 

"Uh, I think they are in the lounge. I'll take you through." He pulled Nola a little closer and began chatting to her as I hung back and admired Harry's home. It definitely wasn't what I had been expecting. I'd envisioned something very modern with a black and white theme and the odd pop of colour, but instead it felt very much like an English country house. Most of the walls were exposed brick rather than painted or wallpapered and pictures hung everywhere in all different frames. I stepped forward to get a closer look at a shot of Harry as a little boy. I could see Nola's features the minute my eyes locked with the photo. 

"We do look alike don't we." Harry said suddenly and my head snapped up. I'd been so preoccupied admiring the interior of the house that I hadn't even noticed he, Nola and Elenore had already gone through to the others. My cheeks flushed. 

"Definitely. I hope she inherits something of mine or those nine months and the twelve hours of labour would have been for nothing!" We both laughed. 

"Her facial expressions." Harry smiled.

"What?" My eyebrows mashed together in confusion.

"Some of the facial expressions she pulls remind me of you." Since when did I have my own facial expressions. "Anyway, come through and meet the boys. Louis already has hold of Nola, I'd barely carried her into the room before she was swiped." I laughed nervously and followed him to the door of the lounge. As we reached it, something caught my eye. Right next to door was a small red frame containing on the photos I had taken of Harry and Nola in their bandanas the first time they'd met. A warm feeling spread through me as Harry pushed the door open and coughed. 

"Guys, this is Marnie." Four pairs of curious eyes all flashed to my face and I suddenly felt very exposed. "Without sounding vain, I'm guessing you don't need an introduction?" I shook my head and laughed. As if anyone was ever going to need an introduction when it came to meeting these boys. 

"Hey, how you going?" All four faces grinned at me in response.

"She's adorable, seriously." Liam announced as he watched Louis zoom around the room with Nola in his arms, pretending to be an aeroplane. 

"I can't get over how much she looks like, Harry," I familiar Irish voice popped up. "I couldn't believe it when I saw the photo, but in person it's even more surreal." Elenore was sat beside him, gazing at his face with an expression that made me want to throw up. 

"She's going to be a heartbreaker this one!" Louis sighed, coming to a standstill. Nola was laughing hysterically in his arms, her head thrown backwards in delight. The scene was so normal that for a moment I forgot who these boys were and their celebrity status. Apart from Elenore attempting to eye-fuck Niall, it looked like an average friendly gathering.

"Are you looking forward to your gig tonight?" I asked shyly.

"I can't wait," Zayn beamed. "I love playing London, it just feels like home." My eyes lingered on the body art that was beginning to cover his arms and then flicked to Harry's. In photos it looked as though they'd been attacked by Sharpie pens, but in person the tattoos were as normal as the dainty butterfly on Elenore's ankle. Everything was so normal that it almost wasn't natural. 

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, coming to stand beside me. 

"Nothing." I told him and smiled as Niall complimented Elenore's make-up on the other side of the room. Maybe it was a good job that I hadn't driven too quickly after all. Elenore was annoyingly right a lot of the time. 

"Still convinced that paparrazzi are going to jump out of nowhere?" He smirked. 

"Something like that." I said quietly. "It's strange seeing you guys like this instead of jumping around on stage."

"You should see us tonight!" He grinned down at me. "It's going to be a good night." I couldn't stop the unease that hit my stomach. Part of me was still terrified that Harry might go out after the concert and repeat  the previous week's incident. I wasn't sure I could go through that again.

"So!" I said quickly, wanting to change the subject. "Tell me about Nola's birthday party."  Harry's face lit up and he looked at the other guys.

"Well we were actually thinking soon, like maybe after these three London shows, just before we tour the rest of Europe." The unease hit me again. I hated remembering that Harry was leaving the country for while. "We'll have it here and I'll invite my parents and sister. You should invite your parents?"

Elenore suddenly started laughing. "That won't happen." 

"Why not?" Niall asked her. Ele looked at me, unsure what to say.

"They just won't." I said bitterly. 

"You should invite Lou and Lux?" Liam suggested, thankfully saving me from further questioning by changing the subject. I looked at Harry curiously.

"Lou is our close friend and hair stylist. She has a two year old daughter called Lux." Harry explained. "Having Lux here might be nice for Nola."

"She'd love it." I smiled, feeling a but emotional. Nola hadn't spent much time with anyone her own age. I hadn't been able to afford to take her out and join a baby group. Harry was already offering her so much more than I ever could. Even now, just taking it in turns to play with all the guys, I knew she was the happiest she had ever been. I'd never intended or wanted to sponge off of my parents once Nola had been born, but their complete lack of involvement and support often left me feeling as though I could have given her so much more. My biggest fear was that the upbringing I gave her wouldn't be enough to help her reach her full potential, and as a result, she'd hate me while I hated my own parents. 

I wasn't intending to sponge off of Harry either. If I had my way he wouldn't give me any money at all, but it wasn't just the extra cash that made the difference. It was the larger support network. With Harry around, Nola was never going to have a shortage of friends or people that cared about her, and right now it was even easy to forget about the trail of paparazzi that came with it. 

I leant over and nudged Harry lightly.

"Thank you." I told him. 

"For what?" He asked, his expression confused. 

"It doesn't matter." I smiled and continued observing our daughter.