Together

When You're Home

Hi kiddos. Wow, I was MIA for longer than I thought I'd be. I was at choral camp and had the absolute BEST time there. I even had a little "Castle On A Cloud" solo in a medley that we sang. I did have some chapters written but was too busy to publish them while I was at camp tbh. But I'm here now, with a little update in honor of the final show of the original production of Les Mis in London. I can't believe that the most beautiful piece of art that I've ever witnessed is gone now, but I know that the new production that they're bringing in will be just as fabulous. Or at least, I hope. Also, can we talk about the fact that the Queen's Theatre is being renamed the Sondheim Theatre in 2019, yet I've written an entire series of books set in 2026, still calling it the Queen's Theatre? Oh well, catch me NEVER calling it the Sondheim. Anyway, I truly need to shut up now and just let you read this chapter. I hope you all enjoy xxxx comment/vote if you wish!
-ab

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July 14, 2026

Harper

On our day off, Kath and I, as well as Nessa, decide to have a girls' day, out in London. We decide that we are going to get tea, then spend our afternoon at the Tower of London.

Taking the tube into the city, I meet the other two girls at our favourite stagey destination, the Theatre Cafe. I have a 'Defying Gravi-tea,' Nessa orders a 'Charlie and the Hot Chocolate,' and Katherine gets a 'Starlight Espresso.'

"Okay, guys," I say to my two closest friends as we sit in the St. Anne's Churchyard. "I've got some amazing news for you."

"What's that?" Nessa asks.

"Okay, so, I've kept this from Kath for a little bit now, because I wanted to be able to tell both of you in person, but Patrick and I are moving. We purchased a nice little house on Tuesday, and we will sign our papers in a few weeks."

"Oh my god, Harper, that's amazing!" Katherine squeals.

"But, it gets better," I tell her. "Because we are moving into a nice little house right down the street from you, looking onto Hampstead Heath."

"Wait, are you serious?" Nessa exclaims with disbelief. A smile breaks onto her face. "That's so cool!"

"We are both really excited about it. It's a nice place where we can be, and where we could hopefully, um, someday, have a family," I explain. "I can't wait to move in, get the last of my things out of my mum's house, and start making it our own."

"That's so amazing," Kath tells me. "I'm so happy for you two."

"It feels like... this might be stupid, but it almost feels like we are going to be more of real adults once we get settled in here."

"Not being married," Nessa jokes. "Owning a house makes you an adult."

"Well, yeah, okay," I laugh. "But, it's like... I still feel like we are two kids trying out that whole 'marriage' thing."

"Is it going alright?" Kath asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh my god, yes. It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. It's just hard to wrap my head around the concept of being an 'adult' as opposed to a university student. I still lived in a flat then, with my best friends. Now, I live in a different flat with my other best friend."

Nessa and Katherine laugh. "I guess that makes sense," Nessa shrugs.

"I can't believe that you'll be living so close to us, Harper."

"It'll be so fun," I smile. "Kath, we can take the tube together to the theatre every day."

"Oh my gosh, we can!" she exclaims. Kath pauses, then speaks again. "You're going to put flower boxes in the windows, right?"

"I'm sorry, what?" I laugh.

"Kath, don't be weird," Nessa rolls her eyes. "She's decided that she likes windows with flower boxes in them, and keeps trying to put them in our flat, but I keep telling her that they'll be too messy."

"You're no fun," Kath folds her arms across her chest. "I bet Harper would put in the flower boxes in her windows."

"House plants are too much responsibility," I remark. "I'll put, like, a baby cactus on a windowsill for you, love, but that's about as plant-ey as I get. Talk to Patrick if you want flower boxes in our windows."

"My god, you're no fun either," she says, trying so hard to be serious, but I can tell that she's fighting back giggles.

"For being a West End actress, you're no good at keeping a poker face," Nessa tells Kath.

"I like being called a 'West End actress,'" Kath smiles, immediately changing the subject.

"You've been in the show for how long now?" I tease her, "And you still can't get over the fact that you're in it."

"It's just such a dream."

"For me, too," I nod.

"So, guys, I've got a list of shows that Gabe wants us to review when we jet off to New York City in November. Harper, I think you'll like one of them."

"Don't tell me he got tickets to the Les Mis revival..."

"He got front row tickets to the Les Mis revival."

"Oh my god!" I exclaim, nearly screaming. A few heads turn. "Tell him that I love him. Not in a weird way. Just in a 'he got me Les Mis tickets' way."

"God, Harper, if I would have known how happy a simple ticket would make you, I would have gotten it a long time ago."

"No, I can't miss an Anastasia show to go see Les Mis," I tell Nessa. "But seriously, why do you think I'm here all of the time?" I look up and across the street at the mural on the side of the Queen's Theatre. "Being in the area of this amazing piece of art just makes me smile. It's still surreal that I got to be part of it, even if it was just for such a tiny part of its legacy. I was still part of its legacy."

"Well, you can look forward to seeing it again, I guess," Katherine smiles. "Plus, it's a saying in the business that you never really leave Les Mis."

"We are also going to see some of the other classics and new shows. Wicked and Hamilton are both on there, I know. And he wants us to go to some jukebox show from a band that I've never heard of, and some others."

"I'm so excited to go back to New York," Kath smiles. She did a summer intensive program in New York when she was a teenager, and completely fell in love with the city, in the way that I love London. I think that, if she didn't have such a dream job here in London, then she would have graduated university, then gone to New York and tried to find a dancing job there. Of course, life didn't work out like that, so she's here, and I couldn't be more glad.

After we finish up our drinks in St. Anne's Churchyard, the three of us throw our rubbish away and head to the nearest tube stop, the Covent Garden station, in which I do not miss climbing the stairs. That's the best part of the location of the Piccadilly Theatre is that I'm able to use a different tube stop than I did when I worked at the Queen's Theatre.

"You know what we should do sometime?" Katherine asks randomly once we are settled on a train.

"What's that?"

"We should go to Burlington Arcade and pretend that we are rich."

Nessa snorts. "I can't even afford to walk in there." Burlington Arcade is a little covered side street, where you could probably pass out just by seeing the price of something. It's in between Piccadilly Circus and the Hard Rock Cafe.

Soon, we make it to the Tower of London. I forgot how cool this place was, I think to myself as I walk in after purchasing a ticket.

The first thing that we decide to do is get in the long line to see the Crown Jewels. Sometimes, it's fun to be a tourist, even if it is in your own home.

I know that it's going to be a very fun afternoon with my girls.