chapter fifteen

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Indigo

     "This is your car?" I just shrugged as Harry's jaw fell open, his eyes as wide as saucers as he walked around my orange 1971 Volkswagen beetle. Poppy was my prized possession, given to me as a sixteenth birthday present. I instantly fell in love with her, wasting no time in customizing her with bumper stickers, tie dye seat covers, and fixing her up with a new stereo.

     "Had her ever since I could drive

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     "Had her ever since I could drive." He raised a brow at me, a smile creeping along his lips.

     "Her?" I gave him a strange look before nodding once again. His lips broke out into a full blown smile, one I rarely saw on Harry. It was also the smile that seemed to make my heart plummet into my stomach.

     "Yeah, her names Poppy. Don't you name your cars?" He just laughed, shaking his head. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering if this was only a Southern or U.S. thing.

"Can I drive her?" I instantly opened my mouth, intending to tell him absolutely not, "Listen, I know Malibu better than you and I'm an excellent driver. I won't damage your precious Poppy." He gave me a cheeky grin before his lips formed into a pout when he thought I wasn't going to budge. I folded my arms over my chest, pursing my lips to the side before rolling my eyes and mumbling 'fine'. He jumped up and down, chanting in victory before holding his hands out for the keys, his eyes full of excitement.

"If you wreck Poppy, I'll kill you. No exceptions." I held my pinky out for him to pinky promise me that he would be extremely careful, holding my keys hostage until his little finger wrapped around mine. He gave me an amused look before promising me and intertwining our pinky's momentarily. I handed him my tie dye keychain before sliding into the passenger seat.

"This is so sick, Blue." He stated as he got in, running his hands over the dash before starting the car. He smiled at me as he flipped his blue sunglasses that were perched on his head down to rest on his nose. I grabbed mine out of my purse, sliding them on before giving him a small smile, "Alright, what's the plan?"

I took a moment to answer his question, unsure if doing what I usually did would trigger the part of me that completely broke down, the part of me who sobbed uncontrollably and couldn't even breathe without reassurance. I didn't want Harry to witness that side of me, at least not yet.

"Take me to all your favorite places." His eyebrows knitted together over his sunglasses as he threw his arm over my seat rest and backed out of the driveway.

"Are you sure? It's your day. Don't you want to do something you like to do?" I shrugged, still not exactly caring that today was the day I had been born 23 years ago. The idea of new memories seemed better than trying to reminisce in the old ones. Harry seemed like the perfect opportunity for just that.

"I don't know California well and this summer is for new memories so lets go make some. Take me to your favorite places in Malibu." He seemed satisfied with this answer, shrugging before putting the car in drive and speeding off into the busy streets.

"What kind of music do you listen to?" He yelled over the wind that whooshed through the open windows.

"All kinds of music really." I shrugged, watching him huff at my response.

"That's such a generic answer. Favorite song?" The corners of my mouth tugged up as I knew this answer wouldn't satisfy him either.

"Don't have one. At least, not a permanent one. I get stuck on a certain song for a day or two and then hear another one that I like better. That cycle is just pretty continuous. I have favorite songs off of certain albums and by certain artists. I also have a playlist for just about every mood but as far as a permanent favorite song, sorry to disappoint but I don't have one." I answered honestly, watching as he tried to process my words. I could tell that he was biting the inside of his cheek, the wheels in his head spinning with another question or remark.

"I guess that's a fair answer...If I name an artist then, you can tell me your favorite song by them? Any artist?" I nodded, turning my focus back on the road and not his chiseled jawline that really I could just sit and stare at for hours on end.

"Try me." I smirked, feeling his eyes on me.

"Queen." I wasted no time in turning to face him, my answer being Killer Queen. I watched as he gave me an impresses look before spitting out another artist, "The Beatles."

     "Easy, Twist and Shout." I lifted my legs, placing my feet crossed over each other on the dash. We played this game for awhile, Harry never seeming to argue on my choice for favorites and mostly naming older artists. He never judged my choices, always seeming impressed with my music knowledge.

     Once we pulled off the highway and onto a more secluded road, I put my feet back on the floor, looking out my window to see just where we were going. There were no signs and nothing at all stuck out to me that would give me any indication to where exactly we were going.

     "So this is my first favorite place. It's not exactly somewhere I usually take people but it's calming and I'm starving so it's got to be our first stop." I looked at him, my brows knitted together before we pulled up to what looked to be a garden. There was a large fenced in area that I could make out many vines within. I was still extremely confused as he put the car in park.

     "How do you know about this place? There's no land marks or anything significant to give away that there's a ginormous freaking garden back here." I watched as he just smirked at me as he parked the car. He still didn't answer my question as he unbuckled and got out of the car, walking right up to the gates. I scrambled out of my seat, running after him. He pulled a key out of his pocket, unlocking the large gate and swinging it open.

     "I know about this place because it's mine. I bought the land from an old pal and planted my own watermelon garden here. I actually used to live in the cabin just up the hill." My eyes followed where his finger pointed at a cabin that I hadn't noticed when we first pulled up. A watermelon garden? I wanted to find this strange about Harry but considering I didn't know him all that well, I couldn't. And I was both starving and a huge fan of watermelon so I wasn't about to start asking a bunch of questions.

     "Pick one and we'll go up to the cabin to eat it." He started walking through the narrow dirt paths as I just stood there, still trying to process this new information, "You coming?" I swallowed, nodding as I moved my feet to follow him.

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i just had to put in a watermelon garden after finding out he actually had one

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