𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 〖 𝐰/ 𝐡𝐚𝐳 𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 〗

〖 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐲 〗

Harrison's focus was fixed on the way y/n's smile didn't seem to reach her eyes as the interviewer asked her about him, her shoulders shrugged adorably as she gracefully diverted the question to a particular plot of the movie where Aimee joined her with great enthusiasm. He observed her every movement and analysed every aspect of what she portrayed in front of the cameras and it wasn't far from what she had given him the day they met at the restaurant.

Reserved, professional and serious, little to no laughs or jokes fell from her mouth, overall a very well put-together person. He found it odd that someone her age seemed to be so dull, almost restrained of any sort of showy personality like many young actors —him included— possessed on and off-camera. The blonde figured she was just jaded from all the things the media had ever said about her, so who was he to judge.

The rest of the day was long and uneventful, the press junket finished at around five in the afternoon and the exhaustion was evident in y/n's whole body. Her eyes could barely keep open and she constantly rolled her neck and shoulders back trying to release some tension. "Ready to leave?" Marcella said as y/n approached them. Harrison nodded his head stuffing his hands on the front pockets of his dark jeans. "There's a bunch of people outside, dear." Mar let y/n know once she stopped in front of her. "Do you wanna stop for pictures or do you wanna get straight in the car?"

"Mmh," She shook her head side to side. "I don't look good enough for pictures right now." y/n mumbled as if embarrassed of what she had said or what she thought of herself. It was a lie though, Harrison thought she look just as great as she did when he presented her with her lunch —that she didn't touch.

"You look stunning, love. But whatever you prefer is fine." Mar reassured her with a warm smile.

"I wanna get straight in the car. I'm exhausted."

"Of course," Mar nodded, "Can Harrison escort you out? Is that okay?" Harrison's breath hitched at the request, eyes scanning the side of y/n's face as she looked at Mar for a few seconds ultimately letting out a heavy sigh.

"Whatever just get me out of here." It wasn't the best answer but at least she had somehow agreed to something before doing it and so he hoped this time around she wouldn't be mad at him for touching her without previous consent.

"Great. Do you think you can hold hands?" Mar tested her luck.

"You're pushing it now, Marcella." He could tell she was growing frustrated by her tone.

"Okay, sorry but maybe try being a bit closer to him?" The poor woman was just trying to do her job and sell the stunt as best as she could with little cooperation from y/n. The young actress only huffed through her nose at the comment her publicist had just made and began to walk away without an answer. Mar looked at Harrison with an apologetic and defeated smile that caused him to feel sorry for the woman for having to deal with such attitude from her client.

The blonde hurried to y/n's side, the place he had been assigned to make it seem he was escorting her out. He walked with her through the corridors of the hotel with a fairly big team of people trailing behind her a pair of security guys in front of them. In the lift they squeezed together, her back pressed to the metal wall in the middle of the box while he was pushed to the side away from her. Harrison spared her a glance, her eyes were closed and her head was resting on the wall, breathing steady and calm, peaceful.

Her soft features hooked him in without him even noticing, he spent the long seconds the lift ride lasted scanning every bit of her face he could see from where was standing off to her left. The loud dinging of the elevator prompted y/n's eyes to fly open, rapidly blinking to disperse the sleep off of them. She didn't notice him staring however that didn't stop the blonde from quickly averting his gaze to the busy floor just in case.

Little by little the team exited the confined space leaving y/n and him behind, he heard a sigh coming from the girl and he dared to look at her. "Can I grab your hand?" She said in an exhausted almost exasperated tone. Their eyes met briefly before she took a look out into the hallway where Mar and Darcy were waiting for them. Harrison was unable to find his voice then, he didn't expect her to ask but it didn't come as a surprise to him that she actually asked if she could do it before doing it, unlike he had done more than once. He nodded his head subtly and offered her his hand to hold but she shook her head no. "Not yet."

With that, she exited the lift leaving Harrison on his own.

He had seen the people lining both sides of the barricaded entrance of the hotel, neither of them really paying much mind to him when he came in to deliver y/n's lunch but now the closer they walked towards it the louder the people got. He took in a deep breath and glanced to his left side where y/n's shorter strides tried to catch up with his and the bodyguards in the front.

Flashes attacked them as soon as the doors were opened, y/n's fingers were wrapped around his pinky and ring fingers, not really holding his hand as if she refused to make the full commitment. It all made Harrison's heartbeat speed up, regardless. The way she had reached for his hand so quickly, how her grip tightened the further out they walked and how she caught up with him pressing her face to his shoulder.

Sitting beside her the whole ride to her flat was nerves inducing. He had no idea how to act or sit or even breathe for the car was big but the biggest seat was in the very back where Darcy and Marcella were sitting. The one he and y/n had was probably only half the size of the other leaving them flush to each other; shoulders, arms, hips and thighs pressed together with no space to separate.

Harrison busied himself on his phone, responding to texts from his friends and family and in fear of having nothing else to do he also tackled the ones he had been ignoring. His fingers rapidly tapped a response to a specific group chat when he felt a warm weight on his shoulder accompanied by the soft and tickly brush of hair. In her sleep y/n's head had slipped off the seat's headrest.

The unintentional proximity made the boy swallow and he refrained from adjusting his position on the seat in fear of waking her up after such a tough day she just had. "Is she asleep?" The whisper made him flinch and he winced as y/n stirred in her sleep but only slightly. Harrison confirmed as quietly as he could. "Take a quick video and send it to me." His brows furrowed at the request. "Please, it's a running joke between us."

Hesitantly, Harrison complied. The video was short, just a couple of seconds long and he did his best just to film her and not himself without much luck, he still got half of his face in the frame. Darcy's giggles in the back made him smile and wonder what the running joke was.

That mystery snowballed into the mystery of y/n's and Darcy's friendship. They were so different, complete polar opposites that he couldn't understand how someone so lovely and funny like Darcy could be friends with someone so dull and snappy like y/n.

A quiet ding snapped him out of his thoughts, prompting him to look down at his phone but finding nothing on the screen. It was y/n's phone on her lap that had illuminated with a new text notification from a contact named "reject is the roach 3" Harrison suppressed a laugh as his eyes unthinkingly moved to what the text contained. The smile on his face flattened when the words he read registered on his brain.

Staring ahead at the road over the shoulder of the driver he let the text circle in his head, his confidence taking a blow with each new round the words gave.

: a. n : please let me know how you're finding the series, leave feedback and vote! xx