Cliché || H.S.

Chapter 31

The conversation with Jon Watts has been weighing on my mind for the past month. I haven't told anyone, not even Harry. I don't want to get any hopes up, especially because I still haven't heard anything from Robbie. For all I know, Jon was just pulling my leg and producers already wrote me off as a no.

I'm not sure why I'm getting so worked up about it when it has yet to come to fruition, so I decide to go to a late night yoga class to relax my mind. I've been trying to implement yoga a lot lately. I go through the flow easily while focusing on my breathing and listening to the reassuring words of the instructor. I find it healing in a sense. Every word out of her mouth feels like it applies to me, and I'm so focused on them that I hardly notice the difficulty of the workout.

I leave the class feeling refreshed, my body loose and relaxed. I turn my phone on as I walk out of the studio and notice a text from Harry: Come to my house when you're done. Backyard ;)

I go straight to Harry's, too curious what this is about to go home and change out of my workout clothes. When I enter the house it's eerily silent. I set my keys on the entryway table and the sound practically echoes through the foyer. I wander deeper into the pristine house, making my way to the back door.

The early fall breeze is cool against my bare legs. We've reached my favorite point in the year where the days are warm enough to wear shorts but the nights are rather cold (at least cold for Los Angeles). Situated on the lawn next to the pool sits a tent, a soft glow coming from beneath it's thin walls. What is this boy doing?

I walk across the freshly cut grass and unzip the tent door. Immediately arms are wrapped around my waist, lifting me in the air. I let out a scream as I'm thrown onto the mattress which takes up the majority of the space. Harry's laughter fills the air as he watches me lay on the mattress in surprise.

"Holy shit, I didn't realize I signed up for a WWA fight," I remark, sitting up on my elbows. Harry lays down on his side next to me, a smile on his face.

"Just trying to keep the romance alive," he jokes, his dimple prominent in his cheek.

"What's all this?" I gesture to the tent around us. The mattress beneath us is covered in blankets and pillows, one corner of the tent is full of snacks, and a speaker sits on the other corner. Fairy lights hang on the ceiling, casting a warm glow all around us. It feels cozy in here. My heart warms at the thought of him dragging a mattress out here across the grass, or him trying to hang all the lights. This boy is perfect, I swear.

"We're camping tonight," he says proudly, reaching for my hand, "it might be too cold to do this soon so I thought tonight would be perfect for it." There's a hint of doubt in his voice while he explains, like the doubt that creeps in when he invites me someplace. It's like he always expects me to turn him down, or to be unappreciative.

"It's perfect. You're perfect," I tell him, and he beams with pride, his face and shoulders visibly relaxing. "Hey Harry?"

"Hey Lilian."

"How come you always expect me to say no to things? I kind of get the vibe that you thought I might not like this..." I say the words softly, not necessarily demanding an answer. I feel like I've shown him so far that I would go anywhere with him, I'd do anything he wants to do, but it feels like he still has his hesitations.

"Um... It's not that I thought you wouldn't like it. I thought you would and that's why I did it. But I guess... I don't like to bring them up but the girls I've dated in the past haven't been the best. They didn't like surprises very much. And um... everything had to be about them so they didn't care for my friends much, or doing what I wanted to do. I just kind of went along with everything they wanted. So I guess that's all I've really known," he explains. I had suspected it was because of an ex, and that part makes sense, but I can't believe that's the type of person Harry would be with. Everyone else he surrounds himself with is so genuine, so caring. I don't understand why he'd put up with it.