A few days later, Julie stood in the kitchen preparing dinner.  She heard Harry come down the stairs, and she called out to him.  "Harry?"  She watched him walk towards the kitchen.  "What time is your mom coming?"

"About 3:30 or 4.  She has a few things to do in Holmes Chapel first."  He sat on the stool opposite the counter of Julie.  He reached over and put his hands on hers when he noticed she was a bit anxious.  "Why are you so nervous?  How many times have you been with my mum?  How many times have you cooked for her?"

"I know."  Julie sighed.  "But it just seems different.  She's coming to our home.  A home her son built for me, that we're sharing for the first time, and it just seems like a little more pressure."

This girl. He'd hate to see it if he ever got the courage to ask her to marry him.  "It changes nothing.  Mum's known about this for awhile.  And she knew before that I would ask you at some point.  She knows I'm completely in love with you.  Julie, Mum adores you; she may even love you more than me.  Please stop worrying."

Julie felt a little silly after he put it to her like that.  She and Anne had gotten along wonderfully every time they were together.  She wasn't sure why she felt the need to panic over this.  "You may be right.  She probably does love me more."  Julie took her hands and went back to making dinner.

"There's my girl."  Harry stood up and leaned over and kissed her lips.  "It's going to be perfectly fine."  He smiled at her.  "I'm going to make sure the spare rooms are made up.  Gemma and Michal should be here a bit after Mum.  I'm excited to show them our new place."

"I'm never going to get used to that, am I?"  Julie asked.

"Sure you will.  Cuz it's the only truth now."  He smirked at her as he made his way to the stairs and took them two at a time.

Julie shook her head and continued to cut the potatoes and carrots.  After she put them in the slow cooker with the roast, she looked at her phone which was sitting on the counter.  She still hadn't called and told Panda about the house or the fact that she'd agreed to move in with Harry.  She wasn't sure why, but chalked it up to just enjoying her alone time with her boyfriend in their new home.  She had some time now before she had to shower and get ready, so it'd be a good time.  Except that Amanda was in the States with Niall right now.  She thought about the time difference and had to pull up Niall's tour schedule.  She scrolled to the beginning of August saw that he was on the West Coast.  Ok, so it was 9 am here, which would make it 1 am in California.  It was likely Amanda was still awake.  She decided to text her to be safe.  She sent a brief.  "If you're still awake, call me.  If you're not, call me when you wake.  Love you, JJ."

Julie set her phone down and made herself a cup of coffee, and before she even pressed the button, her phone rang.  Amanda must still be up.  When Julie picked up the phone, she was surprised at the name on it.  Weird.  She put it up to her ear.  "Hey, Marcus.  How are you?  I'm a bit surprised to hear from you when it's 1 am there."

"Hey, JJ.  Yeah, sorry to call you so early.  Or is it?  Well, either way."  Marcus laughed.  "Figured it'd be a good time to catch you."

"Yeah, it's fine.  What's going on?"  Julie asked.  She still talked to Marcus pretty regularly, but mostly when she was in LA.  He generally didn't call when she was out of the country.  "Can't say I'm not curious why you called."

"Yeah."  Marcus stopped for a minute.  Initially he knew why he'd called.  He needed to talk to someone.  And she was always good at listening.  Hearing him out completely before she said anything.

"Yeah?  Marcus, are you ok?"  Julie asked as she poured creamer into her coffee.  "What's wrong?  Did something happen?"

"I'm sorry, yes, something did happen."  Marcus let out a breath.  "I probably shouldn't have called you."

"Will you stop? We're friends.  What happened?  You're scaring me here."  Julie sighed.  "Please, you called, so please tell me."

"My Nonna passed away a couple of days ago.  I guess, I just, needed someone to talk to.  I'm not sure why I called you.  Guess I used to tell you stories about her, and you paid such close attention, I thought it would be ok."  Marcus barely was able to get out all the words through the emotion caught in his throat.

"I'm so sorry, Marcus."  Julie fought her own tears.  Marcus had spoken so highly of his Nonna quite often.  Julie was intrigued by the stories he would tell.  She was a strong, stubborn, and kind woman who had made sure Marcus turned into the man he was today.  His Nonna had raised him for the most part.  He was born to very young and very unprepared parents.  They'd made some poor choices, but the best one was to let his Nonna on his mother's side raise him.  "What can I do?"

"I wish I could say 'come here'."  Marcus said softly and sadly.  "I could use someone who understands."

Julie looked at the stairs.  Harry was still upstairs cleaning everything up for his family.  She wanted to be there for Marcus.  But she also had to think about Harry and his family.  "I will talk to Harry, Marcus.  I will see what I can do."

"I'm sure he's going to love that."  Marcus sighed into the phone.  "Don't do that.  Maybe you can just talk to me for a bit."

"Of course, I'll talk to you as long as you need.  But please, send me the details of her services.  I'd like to be there for you, and I'd like to pay my respects to the woman that raised such a kind, generous man."  Julie complimented Marcus.  It was true.  His walking away for her chance to be with Harry was probably one of the most unselfish acts she'd seen anyone do.  She wasn't sure she would have been able to be so selfless if the tables had been turned.

"She was a good woman."  Marcus choked back is tears.  "I'm not sure what I'm going to do without her."

Julie swallowed the lump in her throat as she heard the tears clouding Marcus's voice.  "Remember her.  You're going to remember her in everything you do.  She's always going to be close to you, Marcus.  Completely in your heart.  It won't be easy, but she would want you to be happy.  She would want you to live the best life you could."

"See, this is why I needed to talk to you. But I can't ask you to come here.  If I were Harry, I'm not sure I could understand my girlfriend's need to comfort an old friend.  An old friend who had feelings for her."  Marcus looked over at the bottle he'd been drinking.  Maybe he'd drunk just a little too much.  It wasn't a secret, not even to Harry, but he wasn't going to put it out there like that.

"Marcus, if Harry knows what's happening, he will be fine with it."  Julie looked up when Harry came walking over to her.  He'd undoubtably heard her say Marcus's name.  She put up one finger to Harry and spoke into the phone.  "She was the woman you loved most in this world Marcus, unfortunately this part will never be easy.  It's not supposed to be easy to lose someone you love."

"Yeah, I know.  I'm sorry.  I shouldn't have called.  I don't want to cause any issues."  Marcus replied sadly.  But he did feel slightly better that he'd gotten to talk to her.

"Yes, you should have.  Please send me the information, and I will work it out."  Julie tried to hide her sadness so that Marcus would hopefully pull from some of her strength.  "Try to get some rest.  And I will give you details soon."

"Thanks, JJ.  Thank you for being there for me."  Marcus said quietly into the phone.  "Take care, JJ."

"Anytime, Marcus.  Anytime.  You take care of yourself.  Please."  Julie hung up the phone and let out a deep breath.  She looked up at Harry who was just staring at her.  "Marcus lost his Grandmother a couple of days ago.  She raised him.  She was really the only family he had any contact with.  He's devastated."

Harry came around the counter and hugged Julie tightly to him.  "I'm sorry."  He rubbed her back gently.  "That has to be so hard on him."  He'd tried really hard to be nice to Marcus.  And to be more than civil.  But he still had a bit of a hard time.  Marcus had obviously stepped out of Harry's way when he was trying to win Julie back, and he was grateful, but there was still a bit of jealousy.  Marcus was obviously attracted to Julie and that made it hard.

"It is."  Julie wrapped her arms around Harry and listened to that heartbeat that calmed her so much.  "I want to go back to LA.  I want to be there for the services."

"Julie."  Harry sighed.  "Really?  We just got here. We just made a big decision on living together.  My mum is coming today."

Julie took a deep breath.  She knew this wouldn't be as easy as she wanted it to be, but she was hoping he'd understand.  "I know, Harry.  But he just lost the woman who raised him.  He doesn't have a lot of other people in his life.  He needs someone."

"Does that someone have to be you?"  Harry asked.  "He can't call someone else?  Jaime, maybe?"

Julie clenched her teeth and tried to remain calm.  She understood, and didn't want to be upset with him.  "Harry, Jaime isn't that friend to Marcus."

"And you are?"  Harry pulled back a little and looked down at her.

"He's talked about her to me quite a bit.  So, yes, I guess I am."  Julie looked back up into his eyes.  "I don't want to fight with you about this, please.  It's important to me.    Marcus, whether you like it or not, has been wonderful to me.  He even gave up on me so that he wasn't in the way of us."

"I know he did."  Harry sighed.  He understood.  This was a huge deal.  But why Julie?  "I don't want to stand in your way.  I get this has to be really hard on him.  But why you?"

"Didn't we just kind of go over that?"  Julie stepped back from him.  "I'm sorry, but I'm going to go."  She picked up her phone and looked at the messages.  "The wake is in 3 days.  I'd like to leave the day after tomorrow."

Harry stared at her.  He couldn't be mad.  Or at least he shouldn't be.  "You know I have meetings set up here for the next 10 days, right?"

"I understand.  I can go myself.  I'll just be gone a few days."  She looked up at him from her phone.  "You don't trust me?"

"It's not that."  Harry sighed.  "It's, just, he's the one guy...."

"First Zayn was that one guy; then it was Daniel, now it's Marcus.  So, it's just every guy that's in my life?"  Julie set her phone back down and crossed her arms.  "Are we going to actually do this again?  You still don't trust me?  After everything?"

Harry sighed.  Yeah, he should have kept his mouth shut.  "I trust you."

"Sure doesn't sound like it."  Julie closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  "I do understand, somewhat."  She walked up and took his hands.  "I don't want to upset you.  And if it was for any other reason, I wouldn't even think about going.  But this...it's just...he feels lost.  And thinks I understand because I've heard a lot about her from him.  I know you understand.  I know you do."

Harry took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.  "I do understand.  And I think you're an amazing friend.  I don't necessarily like it.  I don't want you to leave.  But, I get it.  I know it's a big deal."

"I figured you'd understand.  Because, as always, you have the biggest heart of anyone I know."  She put her ear back to his chest.  "And it's still my favorite sound in the world."  She picked her head up and looked him in the eyes.  "I love you, and only you.  I will be back as soon as things are settled.  I won't be gone more than a couple of days."  She smiled up at him.  "Maybe, I can even move a few things of mine into our house in LA."

Harry chuckled and kissed her forehead.  "Well, that sounds lovely."  He closed his eyes as his lips rested on her forehead.  "I do like the sound of that."

Julie reached up and kissed his lips when her phone started ringing.  "Ok, that has to be Panda.  I will talk to you about everything before I book the flight and stuff, ok?"  She answered her phone.  "Panda, give me one minute."

Harry nodded.  Yeah, he didn't like it, but he supposed he didn't have to.  It's what she wanted.  It's what she felt she needed to do.  "Alright, love.  I'll see what I can pull together for you."

"No, really, I can do it babe."  Julie said as he kissed her.

"Stop.  I'll get it sorted."  He leaned closer to Julie and her phone.  "Hey Amanda."  He said and laughed as Julie swatted him.  "I'll be back."  He went to the living room and pulled out his laptop.

"Sorry Panda."  Julie spoke into the phone.  "You're up late."

"Yeah, you know how it is after a show.  Everyone is hyped up."  Amanda told her friend.  "What's up?  What's with the late night message?"

"Well, actually, it's almost 10 am here."  Julie laughed as Amanda groaned.  "I just wanted to talk to you.  Share some news.  But first, do you want to tell me how everything on tour is going?"

"No, you already know that.  If you're messaging me when you know it's 1 or 2 am, I want to know what news you need to share."  Amanda started a bit impatiently.  "Come on, JJ.  Spill."

Julie laughed at Amanda's impatience.  "Always so impatient with me."

"Whatever, can you just tell me?"  Amanda sat on the bed in the hotel room. They were in California and just about to go back to LA for a couple of shows.  She was so excited to be able to sleep in her own bed for a couple of nights at least.

"Well, first, I'm coming back to LA for a couple days.  Probably day after tomorrow."  Julie told Amanda.

"What?  Why?  You just got there."  Amanda questioned a bit concerned.

"Marcus lost his Nonna.  The Grandmother that raised him.  He needs a friend.  He's told me a lot about her.  And no, he didn't ask me to come.  I want to.  He told me he didn't want to cause any trouble.  But this is a big deal."  Julie explained before Amanda could even ask.

Amanda laughed.  "Well, I'm guessing you had to convince Harry if you're already giving me the reason why.  I think it's a good thing, JJ.  He probably needs everyone he can get right about now."

"Yeah, I agree.  He doesn't have many people.  Especially ones that know about his Nonna."  Julie sighed.  "I know this is really hard on him."

"We will be in LA at that time.  If he is ok with it, I'd like to show my support and come with."  Amanda offered.

"Thanks, Panda.  I'll definitely ask him when I speak to him next.  It means a lot."  Julie was grateful.  She felt a little bad for thinking Amanda would give her hell for this, too.

"So, you messaged me at this time of the morning for that?"  Amanda was even more curious now.

"Ok, no.  I messaged you before I knew that actually."  Julie couldn't help but laugh at Amanda's outburst about how she was so frustrating and she just wished once JJ would get to the point.

"That was important.  Geez."  Julie chuckled again.  "Ok, so, Harry, being Harry, surprised me not long after we got here."

"Yeah?  Don't stop there.  Explain the surprise then."  Amanda tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her friend to get to the point.

"Wow.  You need a nap."  Julie giggled. 

"No, I need bed.  But I won't sleep unless you tell me what the fuck is going on."  Amanda advised.

Julie laughed even harder.  "Wow, tour life is not for you."  She continued though before Amanda could respond.  "So, we stayed in London for a couple of days, while Harry had some meetings, and then he took me for a drive.  Saying he had a surprise for me.  We drove North and I figured we were going to see his mom.  Well, we did come up that way, but he brought me some place a bit outside of Holmes Chapel.  To a newly built house on a lake.  This house is amazing.  And the land it's on.  Right next to the lake, it's perfect."

"Wow.  Sounds amazing.  But again, wondering why the late night message."  Amanda interjected.

"Well, let me finish."  Julie shook her head even though Amanda wouldn't be able to see it.

"Yeah, yeah, finish then."  Amanda gave in.

"Well, while we were making dinner, I asked him how long we were staying.  Cuz I'd like to write by the lake and hoped I would get at least one sunny day for it while we were here."  Julie took a deep breath.  This is the first time she was going to say this out loud to anyone other than Harry.  "He said as long as I'd like.  So, I asked again how many days he had rented the place.  And he picked up the house keys and handed them to me.  He asked if I wanted to stay forever.  Panda, he built a house for me, on a lake, in a quiet private peaceful countryside.  And it is absolutely perfect.  And I said 'yes'.  So, we are now living together, I guess."

Amanda was speechless.  So many things were going through her head.  But none of them coming out of her mouth.  She knew this time would have to come, but she'd had no clue it would be now.

"Panda?  Are you still there?"  Julie asked looking at her screen to make sure the call hadn't dropped.

"Uh, yeah, sorry!"  Amanda recovered.  "I'm just a bit shocked."  Amanda laughed.  "Wasn't quite expecting this.  But it's amazing!  And about damn time!"

Julie wiped the tear that fell to her cheek.  "I know.  And I explained to him my doubts and my fears.  And as perfect as the house is.  And as much as it suits me.  It was the realization that he knows me enough to build a house that I completely adore in a place I would choose to live, that made me say yes.  The fact he loves me enough to want me happy and content no matter how inconvenient it is.  I completely love this place."

"And you completely love Harry."  Amanda continued for her.

"I do.  He's more than I could ever ask for.  As scary as it is, it's just time I took that leap of faith.  And realized that it doesn't have to be the same as my past.  I moved in with Johnny too soon, and it was the worst decision I ever made.  I had to get passed that in my mind before I could make the decision to live with Harry."  Julie took a deep breath.  "Maybe it was a long time coming.  But right now, I have no doubts about the decision."

Amanda smiled at her phone, even though JJ couldn't see.  "Well, I want pictures or when I get up, we can FaceTime so I can see this place.  As sad as I am to see you go, this is the only place I will be happy to see you.  With Harry."

"Yeah, it's the only place I belong right now."  Julie let out a happy sigh.  "Ok, get some sleep.  But I had to tell someone.  Sorry it was such a late night message."

"No, this was more than worth it.  I'll see you in a couple of days, and we will talk more about it.  And let me know what Marcus says, ok?"  Amanda said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.  She looked up at Niall and smiled.  She knew he would be thrilled that this had finally happened for their friends as well.  Things were going great for all of them.  It was about damn time.

Hey y'all!  Thanks for reading!  Means a lot.  Slowly working on more.
Want to make sure to do this right!
Any words of support or encouragement welcome! 
Love y'all!