Always You |harry styles| - completed

NINE

Sunrise Avenue: Hollywood Hills

Mornings in L.A. sung a completely different tune than mornings in Washington, there was actually sunshine here! I don't know how I managed to get up from the most comfortable hotel bed I'd ever slept in, but I went to the store and got water, a bag of almonds and three coffees, all before Harry even texted me that he was on his way. Chris confirmed he'd be outside the front entrance shortly and I was so excited to introduce him to Harry. It blew my mind that they'd never met before, both part of the same industry.

"Good morning! Did you have a nice sleep?", Chris was all smiles when he greeted me, despite staying up very late to put finishing touches on the album.

"I slept like a baby. Got back from Harry's when I texted you and didn't wake up once the entire night, it must be the Cali air.", he confirmed that he also slept better in California than in any part of the States, and we talked about missing Europe for a bit. I saw Harry's black Range Rover approach the hotel, and I had to explain the situation to Chris.

"So my friend Harry, he's really a huge fan of yours and I was super surprised when he told me you'd never met in person, since you're both musicians, so I decided it would be fun to surprise him like this.", Chris nodded in amusement.

"I love surprising people! This should be fun.", Harry pulled up and I could see the shock on his face through the tinted windows.

"Teacup! You didn't tell me that Chris Martin would be joining us for our hike.", he hugged my side and shook Chris' hand. The words you'd never expect coming from a starstruck Harry's mouth followed.

"Man, I'm a huge fan of your work!"

"Well, Thea didn't exactly tell me that her friend Harry was Harry Styles, the legend! Likewise mate!", this was already better than I could've imagined, both of them with stupid grins on their faces. And to think it only took a mutual acquaintance, an executive producer that was the employee of one and a friend to the other...

We drove for about half an hour while Chris and Harry chatted about crowds, bridges, guitar solos and more stuff that was so foreign to me. It was honestly informative and I was surprised by how much of their thoughts I wanted to jot down in my little notebook. There's something strange about observing someone's creative process and the specific way they talk about their passions. Harry parked the car and I was already dreading this hike. It's not that I'm not an active person – I walk a lot, but I've never been a fan of exercise.

"Come on, Teacup! What's the worst that could happen?", Harry held out his hand for me to grab and I could see Chris with a puzzled expression in the background.

"You don't like physical activity?", Chris asked as soon as we grabbed our bottles of water and locked the car.

"It's not that I don't like it per se, it's just that I don't like knowingly doing it. If Harry were to tell me we were going on a nice walk to get to the most amazing view of L.A. I would've jumped up and down enthusiastically. He instead told me we were going hiking.", the men broke out into a fit of laughs when I explained my twisted logic.

"You're like my daughter...when she wouldn't eat her veg...unless I told her it wasn't veg.", Chris managed to get a sentence out in between his laughs and that just made Harry bend over from laughing even more.

"I swear getting you two together was my worst idea ever!", both of them strongly objected, but we were already doing this hike and there was nothing more to do but keep walking.

The route was actually pretty amazing, not that I'd ever admit it to either of them. There were a couple of trees, barely, along the path. The sun was already high up, but since it wasn't summer it didn't burn our skin as much as it could. We finally got to a clearing and found some benches and picnic tables to sit at. I automatically pulled out SPF and started moving the hairs on Harry's neck in order to put some sunblock where his shirt wasn't covering his skin.

"Teacup... What are you doing?", he asked carefully, not moving one inch.

"Making sure you don't become a burnt pig in a blanket, you dummy, what did you think I was putting mayo on your neck, getting ready to take a big bite out of it?", as soon as I said it out loud I realized how it would sound, but it was already too late.

"Now that would be... an entirely different story! But, proceed.", I noticed Chris looking at us a bit weird and I knew that the most uncomfortable question was coming.

"So how long have you guys been together?", he went and he said it. I knew he would do it because we live in a world where friendships between sexes are automatically labeled as something more.

"We're not together. We actually met only a couple of months ago.", I jumped to explain our weird friendship dynamic and Harry just snickered. It looked like we were going to change the subject.

"Not that I didn't try to take her out on a date!", I spoke too soon, because Harry appeared to have a different plan.

"You liar! That never happened. Not that I'd say yes, but it never happened.", it soon became a conversation between Harry and I, instead of between the three of us.

"I did ask when I'd be seeing you again, the first night we met.", his cheeky smile was coming out of hiding, and he knew that it was hard to resist it. But I wasn't going to back down.

"That does not qualify as 'asking someone out'! Help me out here, Chris. This discussion is pointless enough, but let's get another man's opinion.", I waved my hand for Chris to get involved in our little bickering fest.

"Uhm... I guess I'm siding with Thea on this one. It does not qualify, sorry mate.", he waged in and brought the discussion to its most awaited end. Luckily, we all dropped it and Harry just continued to pout for the next ten minutes.

We walked a bit more but decided that it was time to head back into the city, since we were all a bit hungry and the almonds I bought this morning weren't going to do much for us. Harry turned on the radio and Sunrise Avenue's 'Hollywood Hills' started playing, which was just pure witchcraft if you ask me.

"No way. That's really weird. I was just thinking of that song!", Harry exited the parking lot and brought the volume up a bit. We dropped Chris off at my hotel, since he parked his car there and we went to Harry's for lunch. He insisted on making one of his famous dishes, so we had to stop at Trader Joe's to get groceries.

"Aren't people going to see us?", I was a bit reluctant to voice my concerns at first, but decided I was more afraid of being photographed and plastered across front pages of tabloids than I was afraid of Harry's reaction.

"Even if they see us, we're just two people picking up chicken and parma ham for dinner. Nobody is going to make a fuss of it, trust me.", he seemed convinced that we wouldn't run into trouble, and I had no other choice than to believe him. His baseball hat was basically shoved all the way down and he put on a hoodie so that his tattoos weren't as visible. I just hoped the poor excuse of a disguise would work.

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A/N: Full transparency, if Harry invited me on a hike I would walk 500 miles for him... 

Chris just seems like such a genuinely cool guy to me, I'd love to have him as a friend. 

TPWK, always. 

Vote, comment, tell me what you think of the story and of their developing friendship. 

T