Painted Lady {h.s}

lorelai

★ LORELAI ★

September 25th
1997

"This is making me nervous... Why did you call a loft meeting?" Harlow speaks on the couch, her face scrunched up with confusion.

It's been a week since everything went down. Since Painted Lady quit FM records, and Harry flew back home on a whim. A week since we finally admitted we loved each other and a week since we decided we wanted to get our own place, just the two of us.

The rest of the band got home a couple days ago, having decided to spend a bit of time just exploring the city they were stranded in since they didn't have to worry about playing a show. When they got home, they were far less upset than I expected. If anything they were ecstatic. They were happy to see that at least the ripping up of their contract was able to bring Harry and I back together. I'll never be able to repay them for not being overly upset with either of this over our selfish act. We've all been lazing around the house for the past week, the band slowly but surely discussing what their next moves are.

This past week, Harry and I have also been keeping a secret from everyone. We didn't want to tell them about our plans to move out, just in case we changed our minds or it fell through. We would sneak out of the loft and view hundreds of different apartments and townhomes that we are interested in, this decision being the hardest. I've been sleeping in Harry's room for the past week, letting Niall take my room for the time being since he has to be here for the daily band meetings anyways.

And, Harry and I did find a place.

It's not too far from the loft, which is good. It's hard enough having to leave all of our friends so why not move to a place that's barely even a twenty minute walk. It's a townhome in the more suburban area of our small town, every house built to look identical and sharing walls with your neighbors. It's quaint, and it's homey. I knew it was the one from the very beginning.

It took Harry a bit more convincing to decide that we wanted to say yes to it. He was very on the fence with every single place we saw, always finding a flaw in them no matter if they were perfect or not. We ended up talking it out, and came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with the little yellow townhouse, he was just scared. Ever since he moved to San Francisco, he's been surrounded by his friends. The loft was the first place he lived in, and he expected to be buried in it too. I know it's hard for him to leave, but I think he's finally ready to say goodbye.

"Yeah, and why do I have to be here? I don't live here," Niall speaks up, his eyes dancing around the room.

"We have some news we'd like to share," I speak for Harry and I, my nerves peaking.

"Oh god, you're pregnant." Zayn mutters quietly, everyone's faces dropping and whipping in our direction.

"No-No! I'm not pregnant!" I cut off the group's nervous rambles.

"Oh my god! Are you two getting married?!" Harlow springs up from the couch, everyone gasping.

"Whaaat? N-No," Harry laughs beside me.

My head whips in his direction, my eyebrows pinched together but I decide to ignore him. "No, we aren't getting married."

"Then what the hell requires us all to be here right now?" Zayn grows more agitated, he's never been good with patience.

I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the worst. Harry places a hand on the small of my back for some much needed support, and I lean into his soft touch.

"Harry and I have decided to move out," I finally drop the bomb on them, watching as all of their jaws go slack and their eyes wide.

"Oh," Mitch is the only one to speak, everyone else looking completely frazzled.