Songs for the chapter:
Everyday People — Sly & The Family Stone
Ain't We Funkin' Now — The Brothers Johnson
📍 Ghent — 2020
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, analyzing his tuna melt before taking a messy bite causing me to chuckle.
"Just sketching people, going to add some watercolor later." I smiled, peeking up at the people bustling around the little street we sat in front of us. Everyone was so deeply rooted into their day, unaware how they would play a part in my art.
"But how can you do that if the people are constantly moving? Won't you forget their face, what they wore?"
I pushed my tongue into the corner of my mouth as I drew, peeking over at Harry for just a moment, "Well, see...I have a bit of photographic memory, but it goes even beyond that. I love to change up the people I draw. Make sad people happy...angry people relaxed. I like to make even the happy people sad, that's my favorite believe it or not. Only because when I see happy people, I can't help but wonder if they have seen a sad day in their life. It's crazy to me...that some people go through life and somehow avoid sad moments."
"I don't think people can fully avoid sad moments, Lina, I think people are just good at hiding it. At painting, like you, the perfect portrait of life." Harry said, his eyes doing that thing where I felt like he was engraving his words in my mind. Making sure I remembered everything he was saying, that I so deeply understood and believed it.
"That's a beautiful way of looking at it, Harry. It's like they can make everyone wear rose colored glasses when looking at their life." I said and he nodded.
"Exactly. I think about that a lot. How others in the world perceive me. What they think my life is like in their minds. Who they think I am." He said, biting into his sandwich again making me laugh. He was so messy when he ate, but I found myself thinking it was the cutest thing.
"Well how do you want people to perceive you, Harry?" I said, placing down my pencil, turning on my side to face him better.
"As kind, intelligent....someone with depth and understanding. Who sees everyone as equals. To me and among others." He shrugged, a soft blush on his cheeks.
"That's exactly what I've seen, so I don't doubt others see it the same way," I said brushing his hair back softly, last night in bed flashing through my thoughts.
—
We laid close, whispering as if there were others in the room that could hear us. My fingers were toying with his hair, twisting his curls around my fingers. There was a softness to our moment, a closeness I didn't want to melt away. He had his hands to himself and I was choosing to believe it was because he was being respectful, not because he wasn't feeling what I was feeling.
"You know, I used to dream about moving to the states? Portland to be exact. Little breweries, rain and cold weather, nature. It's an earth-tone city to me." I smiled and he chuckled, his eyes looking over my face.
"I didn't know city's could be color toned," he raised a small eyebrow and I nodded.
"They also have a certain place on the saturation scale. Like, Italy, it is earth toned, warmer on the scale. Where as Greece reminds me more of a jewel tone, on the cooler side of things. I guess....as a painter I just see the world this way. So that I know how to recreate it." I smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed, dipping my head down.
"Hey, hey hey...," he said, bringing his hand under my chin, lifting my head up, "Where did you go? I need to know if you see humans that way too." He smiled so big, I felt my legs give out though I was laying down, my feet moving close together.
I chuckled, biting my lip and nodding, "I do. Like you, your skin, it pulls olive, lots of greens and cooler tones. It's why you tan the deep shade you do. Almost brown. But you have warmth to you, like your lips. A nice soft pink." I said, hoping he didn't think too much about the fact I noticed the shade of his lips.
"Hmm, so you would use greens to paint me?" He asked, his hand pushing my hair back softly. I had to fight the need to push into his hand.
"Mhm, olive tones mixed into soft peaches almost," I smiled.
"I love peaches," he chuckled, my giggle soon joining his.
—
"You also have spent a week with me now. Knowing and perceiving someone are two different things," he said matter of factly, my eyes narrowing at him. He made a valid point, but it didn't make me think it any less. Anyone who watched him from just the public eye had to feel the same way as I. There wasn't anyway they didn't.
"Well I still stand by my statement," I said playfully, swatting his forehead softly. He laughed, shaking his head.
"Of course you do, Lina. When do you ever agree with me?" He said, as I turned back to the crowd, starting to sketch again.
"Well....I'm here aren't I? So I agreed to something," I shrugged, biting my lip, teasing him softly.
"You think you're so witty don't you?" He rolled his eyes, as I chuckled, "So what are we cooking for dinner tonight?"
I peeked up at him, "Harry we don't actually have to do tha—.."
"..—Yes we do! Now what sounds good. Maybe? Um, a rice dish? I'm craving rice. We can make a red curry, maybe? Lots of vegetables? We can make chicken on the side for you, I don't want you to not have meat on my behalf." He smiled, pulling out his phone, "Do you have Pinterest? It's my favorite damn thing. Can put all my ideas on a single little board. Kinda like your board back home!" He smiled his big Cheshire smile at me.
"I have one but haven't added much to it honestly. I probably should, I feel like I would enjoy it. I just get bored easily...and then would probably want to do everything on the boards and get upset when I can't." I said, closing my sketch book, knowing I wasn't going to get much more done. He was talkative and excited for dinner. I wanted to stay in that moment with him.
"Well what's the name? I want to do something," he smiled, scheming going on behind his green eyes and I sat criss-cross applesauce, intrigued.
"Linababina," I said, quickly pointing my finger at him, "Don't you mock me, Styles!"
"I wouldn't dream of it, Princess Linababina," an annoying smirk on his face as he moved his attention back to his phone. After a few seconds I got a notification on my phone.
Edward has added you to a board titled "Princess & Pop Star take on Life".
I smiled, opening it and seeing he uploaded a picture of the map he had taken before we left Dover in case our physical map got ruined, "Edward? The middle name is the undercover name, I like it."
He shrugged, "It might still be slightly obvious, but it's working so far. I figured, you and I could add recipes, jokes maybe even. We can print everything out later, or you can, whatever works. The recipes we try and like, we will write out after we've made them. It'll be like...a journal of our own."
I flushed at his statement, my lower lip rolling into my mouth before smiling, "Harry. I adore that."
"I thought you might. So now, we must add some red curry recipes. We can wrap up here and go buy all the ingredients we need."
"Deal pop star!" I said, pushing up to my feet, "Okay, all wrapped up!" I giggled and he laughed, holding his hand out to me. I took it, pulling him up.
"Come on princess, we have grocery store aisles to conquer!" He smiled, taking our hands and linking our fingers as he pulled me towards the nearest store. No actual recipe was picked out, but it only added to the spontaneity of it all.
Catalina danced around, music playing over her phone filling the kitchen as I cut up cauliflower. She added the rinsed chickpeas into the pan, frying them just a little.
"I, am everyday people," she sang along to Everyday People by Sly & The Family Stone, her hips moving in bounces, foot tapping on the floor. Her taste in music was so perfect for her, timeless and effortless.
"This song is like the soundtrack to a brisk walk in the city, trying to get from one place to another." I smiled at her, eyes narrowing.
"So how many times have you seen Definitely, Maybe, Harry. If I remember correctly, Will Hayes uses it as just that in the first couple minutes of the movie." She said, her arms crossing, her weight settling into her left hip.
"I can recite the entire movie if you mute it and turn off the captions." I chuckled, blushing at being caught in a moment she had pointed out previously.
"You're made up of every romantic comedy you've ever watched."
"I had a feeling. It's a fair thing to make reference too. Literally one of the best romantic comedies....that's also, a family movie....in a way?" She tilted her head, moving over to take some of the veggies from me, adding them to the pan. I got up from my seat, grabbing a pot to start making the curry in.
"A family message...maybe?" I said and we both laughed.
"We should watch it tonight and dissect it!" She said, her eyes brightening up, "But you can't recite the movie. We have to watch and dissect together, making note of what moments could actually be used to prove it's a family movie."
"So for research only, clearly?" I said, adding in the premade red curry we bought, adding in some coconut milk to make it creamy.
"Yes, not at all for entertainment purposes." She giggled, picking up her phone and scrolling through her music options, "Oh, this one. This is the cooking song."
A funky soul sound took over the kitchen, "Ain't We Funkin' Now" playing from her phone. Catalina slid to one side, nodding to the beat of the electric guitar, "Come on Harry, join me." She giggled, sliding to the opposite side, mouthing each "Yeah, ah-uh" that filled the room. I joined in on the last one, nodding along with her, her giggle only growing stronger.
We each stepped to our left and then our right, moving towards each other until we were right in front of each other grooving to the music. I shimmed left and right making her laugh, pretending to hit a drum on a beat. She giggled and I grabbed her hand, spinning her around slowly as she twisted her hips to the flow of the music. She tripped over herself, falling softly into me, the laughter coming from both of us seemed to be never ending.
She peeked up at me, with those big ole doe eyes that seemed to control my sense at this point, a big smile plastered on her face, "I used to do this with my mum. Dance around while we cooked. You know what her favorite song was?"
"What song?" I said, pulling her up straight and tracing her features.
"Golden," she giggled and I gave her wide eyes.
"So you are a crazed fan!" I said, pointing my finger at her which she quickly bit.
"That's a point for me! And I said my mum's favorite, not mine!" She exclaimed, pushing her face close to mine, wide eyes.
"I think it's time to take away that extra point!" I exclaimed, pushing my face even closer and she narrowed her eyes, shaking her head.
"Nope, not happening," she stuck her tongue out and I quickly caught it, kissing her nose before letting go. We both sniffed, turning to face the stove, the veggies starting to burn.
"Shit!" We both said at the same time, moving back over and attending to the food. She giggled softly to herself, reaching up and wiping at her eyes. I turned off the sauce, taking the veggies from her and mixing it in the sauce, checking on the rice before turning it off. Lina had moved to the counter, resting against it, pinching her lower lip.
I moved over to her, placing my hands on her waist, "What's wrong?"
Her giggles had turned into small whimpers, small tears in her eyes, "I haven't danced while cooking in a while. Not since she passed. My nonna is very serious when it comes to her time in the kitchen. So I don't do it, and it's not the same by myself. I missed it," she smiled softly, my hand moving up to tap her nose.
"We will dance, everytime we cook. We will sing too, it makes the food cook faster and better," I wiggled my eyebrows at her making her giggle.
"Are you sure it's not just an excuse to hear yourself sing?" She tilted her head, raising an eyebrow. I narrowed my eyes at her, pinching her side softly. She squealed, pushing my arm away playfully and laughing, "Harry!"
"What? I'm innocent!" I said, throwing my hand up, acting in shock.
"You....are soooo," she scrunched her nose at me, making me chuckle.
"Hush, hush. Let's serve our food." I said, turning away to grab plates, knowing she was rolling her eyes at me as I walked away.
—
We sat at the tiny table for two, both of us almost completely done with our meal. We had attempted to watch "Definitely, Maybe", it soon turning into back ground noise as we got lost in our conversation. Lina was desperate to know where we would be staying in Brussels, but I was excited to surprise her. It was the most Catalina place yet, and it had a piano. I could finally start to teach her.
Eventually she gave up on her efforts to know what would look like, slowly writing out the recipe, copying it from her phone as she took breaks to scoop curry into her mouth.
"This is the most delicious thing, I swear. Do you think we can take the leftovers? Or should we just finish it all tonight?" She peeked up at me before writing again.
"You still have room?!" I exclaimed, finishing up my last bit of rice.
"One thing you will learn about me, bottomless pit. I could eat a whole large pizza by myself and down a big ole coke right after. Probably, still be hungry too." She giggled and I shook my head.
"Rotting your insides!"
"Living on the wild side, mister kale is life," she teased, making me laugh, "All done! I'll keep it in my mum's journal for now. We will have to get a little wooden box of something to keep them in. Like those old school recipe boxes!"
She held it up to me and I smiled, "This Is my favorite recipe so far."
"You're going to say this about every single one aren't you?"
"No, no, I will rightfully rank them, but for now, it's my favorite one," I smiled, making her chuckle.
"That's fair. Hmm, I'm ready for Brussels tomorrow. I'm excited for the night life. Going dancing and drinking!" She clapped her hands excitedly.
"Tomorrow, we will start out strong. We will make it a drinking game. A shot at every bar?" I offered and she shook her head.
"Every hour!" She exclaimed.
"Catalina, we can't get alcohol poisoning on the first night!"
She shrugged, "Bottomless pit, remember? Alcohol works the same way. I'm unstoppable."
"You're insane. How about, every hour for two hours and then we wait two hours and continue that pattern." I counter trying to make sure we survive our first night out in Brussels.
"Fine, deal!" She held out her hand and I shook it.
"Let's see how strong your liver actually is, Sloane."
"You'll be surprised, Styles."
"I am everyday."
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I don't know how I feel about this chapter 🤸🏻♂️ BUT I'm super excited for the next one. AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO!
𝙳𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎, 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 & 𝚜𝚊𝚟𝚎.
- 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚢 💋
@𝚑𝚊𝚢𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚜