Moon Tower

17.

this chapter has been edited and updated. enjoy!xx
harry

"Now this is something I could get used to."

I'd woken up in the cabin's master bedroom alone, a little note on Luz's pillow saying that she'd gone for a run and that I had the house to do my morning meditation. I would've liked to wake up with her next to me, but I appreciated that she respected my space and my daily routine. I had a feeling that Luz also liked to keep to a certain routine, even if we were on a mini holiday. She was very organized in that way.

I went through my meditation and got in the shower once I'd finished, another thing I would've enjoyed doing with Luz. Getting dressed in a pair of athletic shorts and a sweatshirt, I walked downstairs towards the kitchen.

The cabin we were in for a few days was big, but it still felt cozy, homey. I wasn't sure what to expect when Luz told me her uncle had a house up in Big Sur, but I was pleasantly surprised. What her uncle did for a living exactly, I had no idea, but it had to be something lucrative enough to own a second house overlooking the ocean from high up on a cliff. The view from the living room was breathtaking, complete with floor-to-ceiling windows so that you could really appreciate the house's best feature. With a beautiful view and the cozy furniture, the cabin was just what we needed to escape LA and all its hustle and bustle before things really started to take off.

I'd known for about a week or so before I had brought it up to Luz that I wanted to get away for a few days. I knew once the album was released, it would be go go go for the next few months, and then I would be getting ready to go on tour shortly after. Even before this trip, I was extremely busy. Just a couple of weeks ago I had been in New York for Saturday Night Live. It was amazing, a totally different rush than when I performed on stage. And then just before we'd left I had released a new song, which always carried some form of nerves with it. So amidst the craziness, I wanted one last chance to hole up somewhere before I was suddenly everywhere.

When I told her about my idea a few weeks ago, I was a little surprised by how receptive she was to it and how quickly she'd agreed; I thought I'd have to at least do a little bit of persuading, maybe even some light begging. Luz was very serious about her schoolwork, as she should be, and I thought it would've gotten in the way of making plans for this trip. Luckily, her Winter break was early this year, so we'd settled on the first weekend of December, a few days after I came back from New York and spent Thanksgiving with her family.

Thanksgiving with the Price family was... interesting to say the least. It was only the immediate family and myself. Luz told me later that Niall was usually with them for Thanksgiving, but he'd been invited to a friend's house in New York, so I was the only non-family member at the table this year.

***

If I had thought that that first party at Luz's house back in May was a production, Thanksgiving was like opening night on Broadway or something. Luz's mum and her older sister Sara were in the kitchen, moving with an efficiency I'd only ever seen on cooking shows. Her brothers were outside in the back garden, playing with their younger siblings. I had first thought that that was a little backwards, but Luz explained that Austin and Robert were in charge of keeping the littles out of their mom's hair so she could work with little to no distractions. Similarly, Luz's twin sisters were in charge of watching Sara's two kids, but that fell to us when we arrived at the house, Julia explaining that she and Rox were going to a small get together at a friend's house before dinner later today.

If it was possible, I think I fell in love with Luz even more than before when I saw how good she was with her niece and nephew. Rox had passed little Mia off to her older sister, and Luz propped her up on her hip with an expertise that only comes with being surrounded by young children, cooing affectionately against Mia's cheeks to make her smile. She'd also given her nephew Dean a hug and a high five and asked him about his day with a seriousness that made it seem like she was asking any other adult, and he babbled his way happily through a response. I teased Luz a little about how I never received that much affection from her, and she joked right back saying that I didn't have such kissable cheeks, but she laughed and kissed me there anyway when I pouted at her playfully.