All of this past

New day rising

I had gotten up early, as today was the day I had to leave my list of songs to be produced at the studio. With Liam's help in the form of the list of 'definite keepers', 'not sures' and 'no, there are better songs on here' that he had emailed me, I had narrowed it down to 21 songs. The only way to get rid of the last three and end up with the definitive selection that would go to production to end up on the album, was trying to perform them again. If they went on the album, it was a certainty that I would have to perform them for a gazillion times on my next theatre tour, so they had to feel good and comfortable.

It was 4pm when I finally put my guitar down, not only having eliminated the three songs that needed to go, but also having changed a few bits here and there on my version of Times Like These, creating more variations for live performing. I quickly send an email to Mike with the list of songs he needed to get ready to send before turning my laptop off, remembering to save any changes I had made to the songs I'd played today and grabbed my phone and car keys from the kitchen counter, calling Liam on my way outside.

"Hey Haz!" He sounded cheery as I heard him telling Sam to be silent for a bit.

"Hey Li, are you guys home yet?"

"Nope, we're still waiting at the hair salon, it should be our turn soon now, so I guess we'll be home in about an hour, an hour and a half maybe. Sorry for the delay."

"Oh it's perfectly fine Liam, do you mind if I come to the mall then? I'm kinda done here for the day so..."

"No that's cool. We're at the hair dressers on the first floor. I'll see you here then."

"I'm there in fifteen."

I got into my car, windows wide open to get it to cool down from the sun that had been shining down upon it for the last few hours, humming Times Like These while I drove to the mall. Okay, maybe humming might be an understatement for belting it out as if there was no tomorrow. Just maybe. What was sure is that it earned me a few strange looks from other people at the parking lot, but I suppose that was mostly because I tend to forget I'm already out of the car until I get those strange looks, and only stop singing when I realise it.

I felt a blush rising and looked down to hide it, as well as my smirk that appeared because of my stupidity.

I soon found the hair salon where Liam and Sam were at, and noticed the two of them in front of the sinks, waiting for their hair to be washed and cut. I went over to kiss Liam on the cheek and ruffled through Sam's cute curls before I went to sit down next to Jude and Kate who were looking through some magazines, a bored expression on their faces.

"Ladies." I greeted them smiling.

"Oh hi Harry." Jude looked up and waved her hand at me, as Kate smiled and looked back at the article she was currently reading about some very young looking popstars. Ten minutes later, Liam and Sam's hair still wasn't washed and the girls' sighs became louder by the minute.

"Getting bored ladies?" I asked, unleashing a storm of whines and huffs. "What if we go down to the foodcourt and grab a milkshake? Or check out the gamestore? Your choice." They both jumped out of their seat and started discussing which option they would choose. I smirked at them and walked over to Liam to notify him of the plans, telling him to give me a call when him and Sam were finished here. He nodded gratefully before I walked out with his daughters, not giving him the chance to give them a talk about how they should behave. I was pretty sure I could keep two teen girls in check by myself.

Little did I know, by the time I had dragged them out of some jewelry store, objecting the fact that they had brought me in here at all, survived half an hour with them in the gamestore and finally fell into my seat at the foodcourt, I was tired as hell. I rubbed my face before I took a sip of my banana milkshake, happy they were chatting amongst each other.

"Harry? How did you and dad meet actually?"

I was pulled out of my thoughtless state to be met by two pairs of curious eyes. "Uh, in high school, when we were both 16."

"Oh, and so you lost contact when you both graduated?" Jude asked. I wasn't sure how much Liam had told them and how much he wanted them to know, so I just nodded.

"Yeah, something like that."

"I think it's cool that you guys are in contact again." Kate chipped in, slurping from her strawberry milkshake through three straws at the same time.

"Me too." I grinned and took another sip, almost choking when Jude asked yet another question.

"Are you planning on going out with dad?" What was this? An evil scheme for an interrogation? I started wishing I had never taken them out of the hair salon, trying to think of an acceptable answer.

"Hey guys, mind if we join you?" Relief washed through my body as Liam and Sam were standing next to our table. Jude and Kate were obviously a little bothered they couldn't continue their questioning, but leaned back in their seats, resuming their conversation from before.

I smiled at Sam and how proud he was to show off his new haircut. It was styled in a cute little quiff, his curls cut out completely and he kept on looking around for shiny surfaces so he could admire himself some more. Liam went to grab them a milkshake too, the girls glaring at me as if to remind me they still desired an answer to their question.  He sat down next to me, apologising for the delay again. His curls were shorter than before, but still there, styled in a messy just out of bed look. He looked quite handsome, if I may say so. Not that he didn't look handsome before, but well, you get the picture.

We all chatted for a bit longer, waiting for Sam to finish his giant chocolate milkshake before we got out to the parking lot.

"Dad can we ride with Harry?" I tensed at Kate's question, even though she put up her most innocent voice. These girls would be my death, I swear.

"If it's okay with Harry, then yes." Liam answered, hesitating and searching my eyes with a questioning look. I decided I'd have to face them sooner or later, so I agreed with it, taking them up to my car while Liam and Sam went to find his.

I hardly had the time to fasten my seatbelt and drive out of the parking lot before both of the girls leaned forward from the backseat, eyes trained on my face.

"So? Are you planning to date dad?"

I chuckled, better prepared than before. "I'm not planning on anything. We're just good friends who are happy to have found each other again."

"Awwww you're letting out about as much as dad himself." Jude whined. I chuckled and shook my head at her disappointed pout.

"So you haunted him with your questions too?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah, but he didn't say anything either. But just so you know, we wouldn't mind if you and dad started dating. We don't really know you very well yet, but dad is happier since you've been around, and that's all that counts. So, yeah, you have our blessing," she stated.

I tried hard to cover up for my blushing. Was it true? Was Liam really happier since we had restored contact? Maybe, just maybe we would have more of a chance than I'd thought up until now then...

Liam and Sam were already home when we pulled up to their driveway, my car could just fit in next to Liam's, and Jude let us in with her key. The entire house was empty, but we soon found Liam and Sam outside in the backyard, Sam already running around with his football, Liam preparing the barbecue.

"Care to join Sam and me in a football match girls? Boys against girls? Loser does the dishes tonight." I had seen in a glance at their white board in the kitchen it would be their turn to do the dishes tonight, so they happily accepted the chance to get out of it and went inside to change shoes before we started our game.