It's been a week since the events that took place at the hospital, and I'm surprised to say that Harry and I were a lot closer now because of it.

I was currently in my apartment laid out on the couch chatting with Harry and Brandon when Louis came bursting in. I guess I forgot to lock it.

"There you are!" He sighed once he saw me.

"Where else would I be?" I asked confusedly.

"I don't know. But I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?" I asked, pausing my conversation and getting up.

"It's about Riley." He frowned, grabbing my hand and pulling me out into the hallway. "I'm supposed to talk to her in a few minutes."

"Do you want to practice on me?" I offered, but he shook his head.

"No, I just need to hear you say that I can do this and that she won't hate me."

I smiled and put my hands on his shoulders. "Louis, you will be fine. She's not going to hate you, and I know, without a doubt, that she will support you no matter what."

His tense shoulders relaxed and he nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem." I gave him a small pat on the back and watched him walk to Riley's apartment. Once I stepped back inside, Brandon was walking out of his room with Aurora in his arms. I convinced Brandon to let Anna stay a little longer before she went back to her apartment so he could keep and eye on her and the baby for the rest of the weekend.

It was now Thursday evening and the roads were closed due to it being a little icy. I stayed home all day with the company of Harry, while Zayn and Riley said they would join later since I was making lentil soup.

I walked into the kitchen to stir the pot a little before placing the lid back on and leaning forward on the counter.

"What time is it?" Brandon asked from across the apartment. I look down at my wrist, checking the time on my watch.

"Seven-thirty." I answered, resting my hand on my chin.

"I should put her to sleep then, right?" Brandon asks, cradling the baby and walking around the apartment slowly.

"She was down all day with Anna. Let the poor baby open her eyes for a little. Is Anna still asleep?"

"No, she's in the shower." He sighed before looking down at the baby. "Don't look at me like that. You kept me up all night yesterday."

I smiled and shook my head before rounding around the counter to sit back down on the couch.

"What are we watching?" I asked Harry, who was looking through movies on Amazon.

"I have no idea. Nothing looks interesting." He exhaled, growing at the tv.

"Have you watched The Greatest Showman?" I questioned as he passed over it.

"I have not. Do you recommend it, my movie enthusiast?"

Passing over the fact that he called me his movie enthusiast, I nodded. "I do recommend it."

"Then we shall watch it." He agreed, pressing play and lowering the volume a little so it didn't scare the baby.

Just as the movie started playing, there was a knock on my front door. I groaned and stood back up to answer it, opening the door to reveal Nick and Zayn.

"I don't remember inviting you." I tell Nick jokingly.

"Haha." He sarcastically laughed before flicking the side of my head and stepping inside.

"Riley and Louis aren't here?" Zayn asked me.

"No, they are having a much needed talk at the moment." I replied, checking if the soup was done after giving it another stir.

"Thank god." Zayn muttered. "Those two haven't spoken in weeks."

"I'm sure they will work things out and go back to being all over each other." Nick said, and I had to choke down a laugh at how wrong he was about that.

"Anyone want soup?" I asked, grabbing a few bowls from the cupboard.

"Sure." Zayn accepted just as Brandon stepped out of his room with his phone in his hand and a fearful look on his face.

"We have a problem." He said to me, pulling me aside.

"Oh, okay. Help yourself if you're hungry." I tell the guys before following Brandon into his room. "What's the problem?"

He showed me his phone screen and my lips fell into a frown at the name on the screen.

"You're not gonna answer it, are you?" I asked him quietly.

"I wasn't at first but this is the seventh - seventh - time today she has called me. She isn't going to leave me alone." He huffed in irritation.

"So block her number. That's what I did." I shrugged, folding my arms over my chest.

"I have blocked her number a million times, Maddie. She will continue to call me through different numbers until I answer."

"So answer it and tell her to fuck off. I don't know what you want from me because I'm not talking to her." I tell him before leaving his room.

"Maddie, you know damn well if I answer it, she's going to ask to talk to you." He followed me back out into the kitchen.

"And if you give the phone to me, I will hang up. Do what you want, but leave me out of it." I sigh in annoyance as I put a bowl of soup for myself, walking over to my spot next to Harry on the couch and sitting down.

"What's going on?" He asked me, unpausing the movie.

"Our mom is calling him and he can't make the simple decision to block the number." I answered before turning to Brandon as he sat on the stool at the counter. "I don't understand why you don't just change your number. That's what I did and I haven't heard from her in over a year."

"She's still our mom. She's always going to find a way to get to us - especially you." Brandon tried to justify.

"She was my mom. She lost the title the moment she thought it was okay to abuse her children." I scoffed, taking a bite of my soup and ignoring the situation altogether.

"You know she's not right in the head."

"Exactly my point! She won't even accept the fact that she's mentally ill and even if she does accept it, it still doesn't excuse all the shit she put us through." I argued, setting my bowl down on the coffee table in front of me and looking over at Brandon. "She was my mother at one point. The woman calling you right now is dead to me."

I turned back around and relaxed against the couch, bringing my knees to my chest as my breaths started to shake.

"You're right." Brandon says quietly after a few silent minutes, standing up from the chair. "I'll get my number changed this weekend."

I kept my eyes on the tv as he walked back to his room, and I hadn't even realized my pulse returned to normal until I felt fingers interlocked with mine and a thumb grazing over the back of my left hand.

I glanced down at our hands before locking eyes with Harry, who permitted me with a reassuring tight-lipped smile that I returned. As comforting as it was, I removed my hand from his and covered up the rejection by grabbing my bowl once again.

"Your mum sure sounds fun." Zayn snorted, which earned a glare from both Harry and I.

"You're lucky you went back to England before you had the chance to meet her." Harry replied, referring to his encounter with her just a couple months after we started dating.

• • •

"Come on. I want to meet the lady who birthed this beautiful woman I get to call my girlfriend."

"You aren't going to change my mind by complimenting me, Harry." I frowned.

Of course when I am finally happy, my mom walks back into my life as if I hadn't threatened to get a restraining order against her not too long ago.

"Are you embarrassed of me?"

I stopped walking and faced him. "Of course I'm not. I'm embarrassed of I may be her daughter, but the woman you want to meet so badly is my mother."

Harry looked taken back by how spiteful I sounded when talking about her. "Then let me at least be there to protect you if something happens."

"I appreciate it, but I can protect myself." I say, brushing a loose curl out of his face.

"Madison."

"Fuck." I closed my eyes and cursed to myself, knowing that Harry was about to meet Ruby.

I cleared my throat and turned around to be met with fake extensions and lip fillers. "Mom."

"Oh, well who is this? I thought we were meeting alone." She asked coldly, eyeing Harry with a nasty glint on her eye.

"This is my boyfriend, Harry." I introduced through clenched teeth.

"Another one? Weren't you just dating that boy Andrew? You sure move on quickly."

I chuckled menacingly to myself, my nails digging into my palm. "You sure have a way with words...I'm surprised you didn't hear Andrew and I broke up last December considering you slept with him."

Her smirk dropped into a scowl and Harry looked at me with wide eyes, slipping his hand back into mine comfortingly.

"Imagine being so bad in bed that he had to turn to his girlfriend's mother." She scoffed, and I nearly lost it. I wouldn't have punched her if it weren't for Harry holding my dominant fist in his.

"I think we are done here. Maddie and I have plans so if you will excuse us." Harry jumped in, walking us away from Ruby in a hurry and into the Tim Hortons around the corner.

"Your hand is bleeding." He frowned, lifting next hand and pulling my fingers back to reveal nail marks that surely, had cut through my skin.

I stayed quiet as he walked me towards the bathroom and closed the door behind us, sticking my hand in the sink. After a few seconds of watching him clean the blood off gently under the water, I finally spoke quietly.

"Now you see why I didn't want you meeting her?"

He glanced at me through the mirror and sighed. "You don't have to worry about her stealing me away from you. I love you too much."

I smiled weakly, sighing through my nose when his lips pressed against the side of my head.

"And she's very wrong. You are amazing in bed."

I roll my eyes at his added comment, chuckling under my breath. "That's because you have nothing to compare it to."

"My hand?"

"Oh god." I groaned while he let out a cute laugh.

"No, but seriously. I won't be comparing it to anything because you are the only woman I will be having sex with until the day I die." He says without a drop of hesitation, cupping my face in his hands.

"Wow. So romantic." I commented sarcastically with a stupid grin on my lips.

"I know, right?" He winked, brushing his lips against mine. "I love you, Maddie."

Just before he can close the gap, I glance between his eyes to see nothing but love in them.

"I love you too."

• • •

Harry and I walked back to my apartment after that and he stayed the night with me, telling me a story about his father and reassuring me that I wasn't the only one with an embarrassing, bipolar and narcissistic parent.

"Damn. I would've hated to be you in that situation, mate." Zayn sighed. "But it's adorable how much you cared about her."

I looked over at Harry to see if he thought the current conversation was becoming a little uncomfortable, but he was already looking at me.

He quickly turns his head away when he sees that I caught him, his cheeks turning a dark red as he stared down at his hands. I look away, hiding the fact that I was blushing too.

What the hell just happened?

"I just had a realization." Nick jumped in, completely oblivious to the conversation we were just having.

"What is it?" I sighed, knowing I'm going to regret asking.

"They should change the name of the United States to South Canada."

"Who is they?" Zayn asked while I just rolled my eyes. I knew I shouldn't have asked.

"I have no idea." Nick shrugged.

"Well what about Alaska? That's not under Canada." I counter-argued.

"That can be named Canada A Bit To The Left." He answered.

"That's a mouthful, don't you think?" Harry pointed out, taking my side in this weird argument.

"Doesn't matter, because I'm not done." Nick wiggled his brows before continuing. "South America can be South South Canada; Australia can be Down Under Canada."

"The sun can be called Warm Canada." Zayn adds in, and I shake my head, holding back a laugh at how ridiculous they sound.

"Fuck it. Let's name our galaxy The Milky Eh." Nick clapped as if he made a huge discovery, but I'll admit that one made me laugh.

"You guys are idiots." I shake my head.

Before Nick or Zayn can defend their weird ideas, my phone buzzed on the counter so I got up to grab it.

I was surprised to see a text from Adam.

- hiii

- hellooo.

- to what do I owe the pleasure of receiving a text from you?

- honest response? I have been thinking of asking you out since the day you came into Home Depot...

"Oh." I said out loud, attention of the three men sitting in my living room.

"What?" Nick asked, taking my vocal thought as an invitation to stand next to me and read my texts. "Adam Psych? Odd last name."

"That's not his last name. We had Psychology together so it was just a reminder." I corrected him, chewing on the inside of my lip nervously.

"Wait, is that the same Adam that works at the Home Depot a few minutes away?" Nick smirked, and I nodded in response, feeling a very intense gaze on my face that I refused to acknowledge.

"Well what are you waiting for? Tell him yes!" He urged me to do.

"What? No! I'm not sure if I even want to." I answered, putting my phone down and suddenly finding myself washing the dishes as a way of stalling myself from answering Adam's text.

"Want to what?" Zayn asked from the living room.

"Go on a date with a guy who's been sending signals to her for over a year." Nick scoffed before turning back to me. "You haven't had a boyfriend in years. Give the damn guy a chance because this one actually likes me." Before I know it, he grabs my phone and starts typing.

My eyes pop out of my head and I stop moving as I was in the middle of washing a bowl. "No. Nick!" He started walking away from me while I struggled to finish the dishes before he does something stupid.

"Adam, I would love nothing more than to go out with you." Nick read out loud as he typed.

"If you send that, I swear to god I will kill you." I say through gritted teeth. He waved his phone in front my face as his finger hovered over the send button and I nearly stopped breathing. When he saw my scowl, he dashed for the front door and I cursed, turning the water off.

"Nicholas!" I shrieked, running after him after drying my hands.

Before he can even open the door, I jumped onto his back and reached for the phone as he held it far from me. Curse me and my short ass arms.

"I will if you get off of me, you psycho!" He shrieks, being careful not to drop me.

"Give me the damn phone then I will get off." I tell him. I hadn't even realized everyone's eyes were on us until he turned around we got a sight of two pairs of eyes looking right at us in amusement. Well, one was amused and the other held a frown as he looked down at his hands.

"No, keep going, please. This is fun to watch." Zayn urged with a grin.

I ignored him and lightly tapped Nick on the head several times until he gave up and gave me my phone back, putting me down after. I panic as I go to my messages and groan when I saw the message was sent.

"Are you serious?" I whined, putting my phone down on the counter and flipping onto the empty space on the couch. "Now how am I going to get out of this, Nick?"

He smiles proudly as he sat on top of my back. "Simple: you don't. Go on a date with him and see how it turns out. It's not the end of the world."

I huff and stuff my face into the couch, rolling over so Nick can get off of me.

"I've got to meet a client in the morning so I am going to head out." Harry spoke up as he rose to his feet, making a frown of guilt appear on my face.

"Okay. Goodnight, mate." Zayn says as we all watched Harry slide his shoes on and walk toward the door.

Just as he was walking past me, he whispered so only he and I could here "You should go on the date. Let him know how lucky he is to have the chance."

His words left me stunned along with the kiss he left on my cheek before he left my apartment.

My frown deepened with my guilt, and I turned to Nick with the most nasty glare, who was looking at me with a sheepish smile.

"I'm going to fucking murder you."

• • •