Together

Stolen Kisses

Well, I promised that I'd share what I was up to last night, so enjoy that fun little picture that I linked above.... WOW! WHAT A SHOW!! I could go on for ages about it, but I won't put you through that... instead, here's a chapter! Happy Friday everyone! Enjoy, comment, vote!
-ab

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October 5, 2025

Harper

I wake up bright and early on Sunday morning and make my way to my old flat in Hampstead, where Nessa and Katherine are still happily residing. I'd suspect that it'll stay that way for a bit longer, but once Nessa graduates in the early summer, I don't know what will happen.

As I walk down the streets of Hampstead, I breathe in the fresh morning air. It's not rainy, but it still smells of the rain which fell a few hours ago. There's still a magical little glow off of the pavement in the streets as the sun peeks out from behind a cloud.

This neighborhood is a bit more secluded from the city than the one which I'm living in now, and I can't lie, I miss it. Not that I'd ever give up my life with Patrick for anything, and now that he's got a job nearby, we definitely won't be moving anytime soon.

Once I get to the flat, I knock on their door, which is weird. All this time that I've been away, and I still instinctively want to reach into my pocket and just pull out my key. Of course, I had to give that right up when I moved out.

"Come on in," I hear Nessa call. I turn the doorknob and let myself into the flat, slipping off my shoes as soon as I step inside. "We are in Kath's room."

I walk down the hall to Katherine's room, and open up the door. I'm a bit taken aback when I see a girl who I've never seen before sitting there, curling Kath's hair.

"Hi..." I say, tentatively. "What's up?"

"You must be Harper," she says, smiling at me. "I'm Emmie."

I look at Nessa. "What happened to your friend from university? What was her name again?"

"Oh my god, did we not tell you?" Nessa laughs, sharing a glance with Kath. "Let's just say that there was an incident..."

"Oh, just tell her," Kath laughs. "Nessa apparently has bad judgement in friends, because that chick got busted for drug dealing."

"Oh my god," I laugh. "Wow, okay, well, I'm glad that you've got somebody new in here, then. How do you guys know each other?"

"Kath and I dance together," Emmie tells me. "I hear a lot of stories about you, so it's nice to put a face to the name finally."

I laugh. "I'm honoured."

We all hear Kath's phone ding, and she picks it up to look at it. "James says that he's going to be here in fifteen minutes."

"Well, then we have to finish your hair," Emmie laughs, turning back to the curler. Nessa turns back to the closet, flicking through the clothes in an attempt to find Kath an outfit.

"How about this one?" she asks, pulling out a red jumper. "With jeans? Or leggings? And maybe a scarf."

"Fine by me," Kath shrugs. "I don't have to dress to impress James, you know. He's seen me at rehearsals, with my hair half falling out of the bun and all sweaty."

"But I say that you've got to look cute," Nessa responds, "so just listen to me, and this will be a lot easier."

"Geez," I laugh. "Nessa, you're fired up today."

"Yeah, I'm about to threaten the life out of James. It's going to be a good day."

"Poor guy," I laugh, turning to Kath. "I'll keep Nessa reasonable, don't worry."

"He can handle her," she laughs. "James is like... twice Nessa's size."

"Is that a short joke?" Nessa spits.

"Maybe it is," Kath replies, running her fingers through her hair. "It looks great, Em."

"Thanks," Emmie replies. "You look gorgeous. Not that you don't always, but-"

"Thanks," Katherine laughs, cutting her friend off.

Just after Kath is all changed into the outfit which Nessa picked out for her, we hear a knock on the door. "That must be him!" she exclaims, scurrying off to greet her man.

"Is he a good guy?" I whisper to Emmie.

"The best," she replies. "He was chasing Kath for quite some time before they finally got together, and neither of them could be more thrilled."

"Good," I state. "Just wanted to make sure that she had what she deserves."

"Guys," we hear Katherine call," you can come out if you want to meet him."

"Ready to go threaten the heck out of this kid?" Nessa asks me, to which I roll my eyes.

"Please keep yourself restrained."

"I have no self-restraint. You should know this."

"Right," I laugh, thinking of all of the times that Nessa has been kicked out of stores.

The three of us head out to the living room, where Katherine is sitting on the sofa with a boy, who I assume is James.

"James, these are my friends, Harper and Nessa. Harper's the redhead, and Nessa's the brunette."

"Hey," he smiles at us.

"You had better not hurt my best friend," Nessa snaps.

"Oh my god," I roll my eyes. "I mean, yeah, what Nessa said, but in a nicer, less direct way."

"Don't worry," James laughs. "I'm not going to hurt her. I like her too much to do that." He snakes his arm around Katherine's body, and pulls her in closer to him. She, in turn, rests her head on his shoulder.

"Good. Keep it that way," Nessa commands.

Emmie snickers from the background. "Judging from the amount of kisses that I see them stealing at rehearsals, I don't think that it'll be any sort of an issue. I promise."

"You see that?" Kath asks, her face beginning to blush bright red.

"Oh, we all see it."

James curses under his breath. "Well, at least we don't have to try to hide it anymore."

"Y'all did a lousy job at hiding it," Emmie states. "Seriously, I'm pretty sure that we all knew that you were going to date before you even started dating."

"That's probably true," Kath laughs. "Oh well."

"Hey, it isn't like you're the only couple in the company. Nobody cares unless you break up and then it starts to affect your dancing."

"Which brings us back to my point," Nessa interjects. I simply roll my eyes.

"Pipe down," I whisper to her.

"No, it actually brings us back to my point," James says. "I love this girl, and we won't be breaking up if I have anything to do with it."

At that, he kisses Kath's forehead, and I can see just how happy the two of them are together. It makes me so happy to see Kath finally find the amazing man who she deserves.