EARLY UPDATE & OVER 5000 WORDS AGAIN! COMMENT & VOTE BC WE GOT TO #13 IN FAN FICTIONNN 🌻❤️
Jess
"Unfortunately, we are a day behind now," Jane tells me as we eat breakfast downstairs in our new hotel. Paparazzi had gone berserk last night and it was too much to handle, so Jane switched our hotel.
I twisted the ring on my finger. "How much do we have to get done?"
She scrolled through her phone and began listing off everything. "Shooting for the music video, get a dress for the Grammy's, apartment hunting, rehearsals, vocals, studio, creating the set list, opening act discussion, and I'm sure you want to get some fresh air somewhere in between."
A very exaggerated huff left my lips. There was so much to get done and even though I would rather sleep, thinking about apartments and the Grammy's put me in a better, more awakening mood.
"We leave tomorrow, Jess," Jane chimed, an excited smile brightening her face.
The tour, the tour, the tour. It's practically here. I remember when I was counting down from six months and now it's in four days. 53 shows set to be going from February 2 until the end of September.
I took a sip of my coffee to hide my smile. My first show in Tokyo is sold out and I've never been before. I was so thrilled to see what kind of a place it was there.
"We should head to the studio now. Carson said you were starting to record some today?" Jane asked for confirmation.
Because we'd finished over half of the album, one of my friends that helps me with writing as well as being my go-to studio guy, Carson, said that it wasn't a bad idea to start recording before tour.
"Yeah, we're going to try and get as much done as we can."
Jane locker her phone and tossed it into her purse. She smiled. "Well, let's get going then. Big day."
•••
Recording songs aren't the easiest or simplest things ever. You don't record things in order per say. All artists have to sing against is a drum loop in headphones because you don't necessarily have the rhythm section finished.
This first song I was recording was very bass dependent. It also was a song that didn't sound much like the stuff I've recorded previously. It was also the first song that had someone featured on it, A$AP Rocky. I couldn't record at the same as him because he was busy and I was going on tour. He and I had talked and met up in person to write some of the lyrics, though.
"Start with the first verse and we'll go from there. We can change the lyrics around or whatever," Carson told me.
I nod and take out my phone and go to my notes where the lyrics were written. I put the headphones over my head and go along with the rhythm.
"I'm on my 14 carats. I got 14 carats. Doing it up like Midas, mhm. They say I got a touch so good, so good. Make you never wanna leave. So don't, so don't."
I stop and take off the headphones, looking towards Carson. Honestly, the beginning sounded and felt a little rough. I gave him a wince and shook my head.
"I don't like the beginning," I say.
"I agree. I think it's the second sentence."
I nod and then hum and whisper the lyrics to myself, trying to figure out a way to make them different without changing the whole verse. Finally, I seemed to figure it out.
"Okay, I got it," I tell Carson.
I slip the headphones back on and the drum beat starts again.
"I'm on my 14 carats. I'm 14 carat. Doing it up like Midas, mhm. They say I got a touch. So good, so good. Make you never wanna leave. So don't, so don't."
"Perfect! That flows so much better," he told me. We go through it a couple more times, trying out different vocals. After that, we move to the verse after the chorus.
"I'm on my marquise diamonds. I'm a marquise diamond. Could even make that Tiffany jealous. You say I give it to hard. So bad, so bad. Make you never wanna leave. I won't, I won't."
We stay in the studio for only another hour until Jane comes in and asks that we leave. She says that we have to go over to shoot for the music video.
Yes, shooting for any kind of video freaks me the hell out because I feel like I look like an idiot the entire.
Kyle and some of his writers came up with the idea that most scenes will be shot of me driving a car. The whole basis of the music video is a girl, me, reminiscing of her relationship...while she's driving. Throughout the duration of the video, there will be flashbacks of me with my "boyfriend".
Jane and I arrive at a lot at about noon. Trailers were set up as well as several tall cameras everywhere. People were bustling around left and right, from trailer to trailer.
We go into a trailer with my name typed up on a piece of paper and taped to the door. Inside, Meredith and Caroline were seen collecting several makeup palettes and hair products in one area.
"Hi, guys," I say.
"Jessica! Come sit. We have some work to do," Meredith said in a singsong voice.
"Wow, do I look that bad?" I joke, touching my natural, slightly puffed and curly hair.
"Shut up," Caroline quiets me, sitting me down on the chair.
They start by putting heat protectant in my hair and then they start curling my hair. After about twenty minutes, my hair had soft, loose curls in them. As Mere fixes up my face, Caroline spots the ring on my finger.
"That's a cute ring. What does it say?" She picks up the hand that rested on my lap and inspects the ring.
"My last name," I answer. "Inside there's a quote my parents always told me. Harry gave it to me for my birthday."
"Aw," she chimes and starts putting some kind of cream/lotion on my face. She put it on quite dramatically, putting lines and streaks in some sort of pattern on my face. I laugh at my reflection.
"So, there's some chit chat going around that there's going to be some new makeup and hair stylist coming on tour with us," Mere says in a gossipy tone, leaning forward in her swivel chair.
"Where'd you hear this?" I ask.
"Jane. Well, I lied. I didn't hear it, she told me. She said, and I quote, 'Would you mind helping out the new hair stylist/makeup lady? Because you suck and she's going to take your job'."
I laugh and then snort because it's a side effect of hearing bullshit.
"She did not say that," I say, shaking my head.
Meredith shrugs and kicks her feet up onto the vanity.
"Well, that's what she basically said," she muttered to herself.
Caroline laughed and then tilted my head up and told me to close my eyes so that she could put eyeshadow on my eyelids.
I heard the trailer door open and I opened my eyes to see who it was, but Caroline quickly scolded me so I shut them again.
"Good morning," I heard Harry's voice chime. He seemed very happy for waking up at the crack of dawn this morning to meet up with Kyle.
I feel Harry's lips touch the top of my head.
"How's everyone doing? You almost ready, Jess?" He asks.
"Someone's in a perky mood," I mumble.
"I have to finish her makeup and then she has to get dressed," Meredith tells him.
"Okay. And today is the first day I get to work with a real bloody director. Plus, he actually listens to my ideas," Harry tells me, matter of factly.
I smile. "Well, I'm glad you've found the love of your life," I tease.
Harry gives a loud laugh and I can hear something hit the couch. I'm assuming he sat down.
"Oh, Jessy," he sighs.
"Alright. Open your eyes. Mascara and fake eyelashes time," Caroline instructs.
I open my eyes and look at Harry through the mirror, who's looking at me. He has a faint smile on his face and I smile, too.
Caroline finishes my makeup after a couple of minutes and as soon as I get up from the chair, Harry stands and grasps my face, kissing me hard. A squeal leaves my mouth in surprise.
"Don't touch her! We just finished!" Caroline scolds, hitting Harry's shoulder, making him laugh and pull away.
She pushes me towards the door. "Go, go, go. The trailer next door is where you change. I do not want you to be late for the first day of shooting."
"I'll go with," Harry adds.
I thank Meredith and Caroline before Harry and I walk out. He grabs my hand loosely as we head over to the trailer a couple feet away.
"You look beautiful," he whispers to me. When I turn my head, I see his smile and I feel the blush crawl up to my cheeks.
"Thank you. It's the fake eyelashes, huh," I tease.
"No, it's your face."
I laugh and go up the steps and through the door of the wardrobe trailer. Harry follows me in and I was immediately handed an outfit. It was surprisingly simple. A white tee and black skinny jeans. They also handed me a gold colored detailed watch with a couple necklaces matching in color. The shoes I'd be wearing were just my regular Nike shoes because we were only shooting the driving scenes today.
I change quickly and see the awaiting Harry as soon as I get out of trailer. I took in his figure for the first time today. He wore his black Calvin Klein sweater with black skinny jeans and his regular boots. And I'd just like to say now, how lucky I am to have such a drop dead gorgeous boyfriend.
"You're tall," I blurt.
Both of his dimples appeared as he squinted down at me. "Wow. Really?"
He slings an arm across my waist and pulls me into his chest, placing a kiss on the side of my head making my whole body spark up.
"Harry," I whine, pushing him away a little. We were in public and PDA definitely should be at a minimum with thousands of cameras around.
"What?" He asked, genuinely clueless.
"There's cameras everywhere," I say.
He hummed and stepped away from me. I didn't miss the slightly annoyed look on his face, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked outwards.
I frowned. "Harr--"
"Kyle!" Harry cut me off and shouted to the director in the distance.
"Jess, there you are. Hey, Styles," I heard Kyle say, jogging over to us, but I was still looking at Harry.
Please tell me he wasn't mad at me.
"Um, come along with me," Kyle nudged, guiding me over to a table set up underneath a pop-up tent. Long pieces of papers were sprawled all across it with sketches on them.
"So, basically, you'll be in this car, driving on the freeway. We'll be taking shots outside of the car, as well as having a camera inside. All we'll need you to do is sing the song, of course, and we'll keep a walkie talkie in there to let you know anything else we need you to do. Sound good?" He explains, then claps his hands together with a smile on his face.
I nod. "Yeah, sure."
"Great. Here, I'll take you over to the car. It's a black Range Rover, so pretty chic and basic."
As we walk over to a car parked in the middle of the lot, I look around hoping to spot Jane somewhere. Normally she'd be here with me on these things.
It suddenly dawned on me that I'd actually be driving on the freeway that was conveniently right next to the lot we were in. I could see LA traffic was starting to slow a bit, but I guess it would go okay with the video.
"Adrian, here, will be filming from the inside," Kyle introduces me to a man who gives me a warm smile and a welcoming nod.
I give him a small wave and Kyle opens the door to the car. "Now, go ahead and get in and we'll lead you out to the freeway."
Well, this is going to be interesting.
•••
Jane and I entered the fourth apartment we've looked at this afternoon. It was huge and very modern. It was high up in the building with a great view and a balcony. It had three bedrooms and a nice kitchen, which was always a plus. All of the other apartments didn't have what this one had and that's space. In this one, every room had plenty of room to roam around. Plus, this building had a Starbucks about a block away from it.
"Are you liking this one?" Jane asks, walking out of one of the bedrooms.
I open the balcony doors and step out, the cold breeze hitting me and mixing with the hot sun. I could hear the sounds of traffic below me.
"Yeah, I could definitely live here," I say honestly.
"You can obviously keep staying at hotels until this place gets furniture and becomes more comfortable to you. But you won't be here for a while, too, so whenever there's a break, we can come over and sort things out."
I nod my head and let out a sigh, leaning down and resting my head against the balcony railing. I hear Jane come over and stand next to me.
"Tired?" She asks, gently rubbing my back with her hand.
A humorless laugh leaves my lips. "Overwhelmed."
Music video. Tour. Interviews. New album. Harry. Publicity. The Grammy's. Fans.
She gives me a pat before pulling her arm away. "You'll be fine. You always are. Just keep doing what you're doing. Once the tour starts, things will get better."
"Thanks," I tell her and straighten back up, running a hand through my hair.
I'm doing this.
"Okay, where to next?" I ask, not sure that I really want to hear the answer.
"Set list and opening act meeting."
Hey, at least these people are nicer and not at all management. They were the tour managers, crew, lightweight publicists for opening acts, and that's about it. No big bad men in suits.
"Is Harry gonna be there?" I can't help but ask as we head down the apartment building to the bottom floor.
"Should be."
Once outside of the building, two or three paparazzi were waiting. Unfortunately, we'd parked a block or two away near a different apartment building we'd visited.
"Good afternoon, Jess. How are you today?" One of the men asked. I slid my arm through Jane's as we walked. I put my sunglasses on as well.
"I'm good, thank you," I reply, giving a smile.
"Apartment shopping?" The other asks.
"Maybe," I clue.
"My daughter is a huge fan!" He says.
We made it to the car and Jane hurried to the driver's side. I opened the door and tossed my purse onto my seat before turning back around.
"She is? Do you want me to sign something for her, or take a picture?" I ask him. The two other guys followed behind the red headed man.
"Sure! That'd be great, thanks!"
He takes out a stray piece of paper from his pocket and I go through my purse in the car to find a pen. When I did, I turned back around and took the paper from his hand.
"What's your daughters name?" I ask.
"Gianna."
I quickly write down a short, "Gianna, hope to see you soon! Have a lovely day! Love, Jess (:".
The man thanks me several times and the two other men ask for pictures, so I take them. While I do, Jane gets impatient, saying that we really needed to leave. I say goodbye to the men and then get into the car.
"You're in a friendly mood today," she says.
I shrug. "They were nice guys."
The drive to the meeting place was sort of long due to the traffic and the fact that my phone died and Jane forgot her car charger. I spent the time scrolling through the radio stations and looking out the window. Eventually, I think I fell asleep for a couple of minutes, but then we arrived at our meeting destination.
I follow Jane inside and we go into some room where several people are seated, chatting and laughing. One of them being Harry. We make eye contact and I give him a smile. He returns it but it's weak and my heart plummets.
I take the empty seat beside him and Jane takes the one next to me. Everyone is dressed casually and just that little detail eased my mind.
The meeting starts off talking about the set list for Tokyo. Because I hadn't ever toured there before, we're a little more lenient towards the Dreams album songs, but equally incorporating 11:59 ones.
After, came the big deal. Opening acts. This part involved phone calls and a great amount of talking and time.
For Tokyo, we decided on a Japanese DJ and a Filipino DJ for the Philippines. For the 18 shows across Europe, we'd have James Arthur for a couple, Ella Eyre, and a band called Rixton. For the 4 Australia shows, another band, 5 Seconds of Summer, would be opening. They were said to be a very up and coming band from that country, so it would be amazing to tour with them over there.
The next shows were in South America, and we couldn't make any final decisions for those shows, so we'd come back to them at a later date.
Finally, for the North American shows, we decided to chose both Lauren Aquilina and Rixton. Towards the end of my tour, only Lauren would be opening because Rixton was opening for Ed Sheeran (I screamed at the mention of his name) from June to July. But accompanying Lauren would be HAIM in hat remaining time.
After the meeting was over, I felt a little better about everything. Things seemed to be falling a bit better into place as far as the tour was concerned.
•••
I was dead on my feet. After the meeting, Jane had to bring me back to the studio because of something Carson had found in one of my recordings. That took about half an hour. After that, I went to some designer place where a few people sketched out some ideas for my dress that I'd wear to the Grammy's.
It seemed that between all of these errands, there was no time for food, so I was even more exhausted because of that. So, if there was coffee available at any of my destinations, I'd drink it.
Before rehearsals at nine, I went to vocals with my vocal coach, Emily. Everything went smoothly there so right after, we headed to rehearsals.
Getting out of the car, I seemed to have stood up too fast and my head spun faster than the teacup rides at Disneyland.
"Are you alright there?" Jane asked, grabbing onto my arm to steady me. I stood there for a few seconds, regaining my straight vision.
"Yeah, I'm good. I got a little dizzy there," I dismissed.
She nodded, but a worry look stayed on her face.
I greeted everyone when I went inside. I saw Harry and he smiled to me and gave me a swift kiss on the cheek. While we stretched, we all talked about how buzzed we were to go to Tokyo. Lenny, the other choreographer, was the only one who has been before. He'd gone for another tour with a different artist.
Rehearsals did not start on such a good note. As soon as the choreography for the first song started, the dizziness hit me again. As a result, I slowed down my movements and spent a lot of time standing still, trying to regain my balance.
"Jessy? Jess, are you okay?" Harry questioned, the music playing over his voice, but no one danced. He approached me and put hands on either of my shoulders.
"Yeah, I'm just a little dizzy. I think I moved a little too fast," I lied. It was a bad lie at that, I was doing the opposite of moving quickly.
Harry's eyes squinted in thought as he peered into my eyes. "Okay," he said, not sounding at all like he believed me.
"Let's try this again," Lenny announced, starting the music back over.
I concentrated on pushing past my lack of balance. The beginning started off fine, but when I quickly turned my head, I lost my footing again. James, who was right next to me, caught my shoulders with his hands and brought me back up.
"Alright, what's going on, Jess?" Harry asks, coming over again. Lenny stops the music and everyone gathers around me.
"I-I don't know."
"She almost fell getting out of the car, too," Jane adds, coming into the room.
The concerned look came back onto Harry's face and he made me sit down on one of the metal chairs. He kneeled in front of me and put a hand on my forehead, seeing if I had some sort of fever. His lips curled in, in concentration.
"I don't think you have a fever. Do you feel nauseous?" He moves his hands to rest on my thighs.
I shake my head, that being an awful idea.
"Jess, have you eaten today?" Harry blurts in an accusing manner.
Jane cursed and answered for me. "No she hasn't. We've been running around all day." She put a hand on her head, clearly blaming herself.
"Here, I have a granola bar in my bag," Sophie says, going over to her duffle bag towards the corner of the room. She shuffled through it for a little bit while Harry kept an eye on me. She comes over and gives it to me.
"Thank you," Harry and I both say at the same time. My eyes move to him and I laugh.
I tell everyone to keep going with the rehearsals because I feel completely awkward with everyone watching me. I take the chair and scoot it over to the side and watch the rehearsals continue on. Jane sits next to me.
"I'm really sorry. We should've stopped somewhere--"
"No, it's fine. Don't blame yourself. I didn't say anything either. It's just one of those days," I dismiss.
A frown is still on her face, but she nods.
An hour later, Harry still doesn't let me back in and rehearsals come to an end early so that we all could head back to our hotels to pack for tomorrow.
At around eleven, I'm finally done packing and ready to relax. At the same time as I get into bed, a knock comes at my door and I hear a key swipe before it opens.
"You decent?" Harry's voice calls out.
I laugh quietly. "Like that'd matter."
He appears around the corner, a small smirk on his face. I sit up in bed and pat the space next to me so he'd lay down with me.
He came over and crawled underneath the covers, sitting next to me. He puts an arm around me and I lean into him. He squeezed my waist. Both of us didn't speak.
"Please make time to eat during busy days, Jess," he almost pleads.
"M'kay," I mumble.
Silence again.
"Do you love me?" I blurt.
"What?" Harry asks, pulling back and looking at me, searching my face.
I can't help but bring up what happened earlier today.
"You seemed annoyed at me today. For a good reason, too. But...just answer the question, please."
His green eyes softened and he gripped my face in his hands, taking my lips in his. His lips were hot against mine and the kiss was only a few seconds before he pulled back.
My heart was racing. What if he didn't love me? What if in the helicopter, it was only a spur of the moment thing?
"I love you," he says. "I know you better than I know myself, Jessy. Yeah, I will get annoyed at you...a lot. And you'll get annoyed at me and angry at me a lot, too. But that only makes me love you more. Alright?"
His warm smile melts me. I feel like I could explode because he was so damn amazing.
"I love you," I say back and slide my fingers into his hair, pulling him down so our lips touched again.
His lips were hot against mine. The once gentle, soft kiss turned heavy and desperate, like we couldn't get close enough to each other. Harry flipped us over so that he was on top of me. This really went from 0-100 really fast.
He placed open mouthed kisses down my neck that left me completely breathless. He balanced himself over me so that his weight wasn't on me. When his lips went a little under my ear, I felt his teeth graze the skin. A gasp fell from my mouth and he sucked on the skin, a breathy laugh leaving his lips as well.
I pulled his head back up, my lips feeling bare without his. His tongue traced my bottom lip and I parted my lips, the kiss deepening. Then, suddenly, Harry's shirt was off and on the ground. My hands ran down his chest and I stopped the kiss to look at his tattoos. From the swallows, the butterfly on his chest, and the leaves just above the hem of his shorts.
We were both breathing heavily. "I really love your tattoos," I say, the words coming out.
"Yeah?"
I nod. When I look back up at his darker eyes, I pull him to me again. I've never acted this way before. Needing to be so close to someone. Not wanting to lose contact.
His hands come in contact with my bare skin underneath my shirt and he grips my body just below my rib cage. He turns us over again slowly so I am now on top of him. Suddenly my shirt is on the floor along with his and I'm left only in my bra. Luckily, I hadn't gotten to the point of taking off my bra before bed tonight.
I ran a hand through my hair so it'd move out of my face. Yes, I was slightly self conscious right now, but I tried not to think about it.
Harry's eyes climbed up my body before he locked eyes with me. "You're so damn beautiful, Jess."
His hands gripped my waist again and our lips met as I leaned down. My fingers ran through his hair and pulled at the ends, a slight moan left his mouth.
"Um, Harry?" I sputter out.
"Yeah?" He breathes, kissing down my neck.
"I-I, um, haven't..."
"Had sex?" He says, looking up at me once I trailed off.
I shake my head, then laughed slightly at how blunt he sounded.
This time, he gently placed a kiss under my jaw.
"I know," he said against my skin, making me shiver.
"Wait, you know?" I pull back in surprise.
He chuckles. "Yes, I know. I know a lot of things."
"You couldn't have known. For all you know, I went out to some club and hooked up with someone. You don't know me!" I ramble.
He smiles at me and his gaze locks on my lips as he pulls me down to kiss me again.
"I know you, Jessy."
"A-Are we gonna..."
"Have sex?" He finishes for me again, an amused look on his face. "You can't even say it."
"Yeah, I can! Oh my gosh. I'm not a child. I can say 'sex'."
Harry chuckles, his face lighting up and the corners of his eyes crinkle up. He pulls my face down and kisses me gently. "You're so bloody cute."
"Oh my god, no, you can't say that! We were just making out with our shirts off and now you're calling me cute."
He starts laughing again and it's so contagious.
"We don't have to do it, Jess. We're about to travel the world tomorrow. There's no rush."
I narrow my eyes at him and his gaze lingers lower to my chest and I hit his shoulder, rolling off of him and pulling the covers over me.
"You're ridiculous, Harold," I say, giggling.
He turns onto his side and faces me, propping his elbow up and resting his head on his fist. "If I can't call you cute, then you sure as hell can't call me 'Harold'."
"Are we really making rules?" I blurt.
"They're not rules!"
I laugh and lean over to kiss his jaw, making him groan.
"No more touching. I'm already too riled up."
"Riled up?" I tease him.
He narrowed his eyes playfully at me and lifts his hand, flicking my nose lightly. Then suddenly he's out of the bed, taking the pillow he was once laying on and moving it in front of his...lower regions.
Just because I love annoying him, I gave a short laugh, leading him to flip me off gracefully.
"I'm gonna shower. Is that okay with you?" He jokes, walking into the bathroom.
"I love you," I call out.
The bathroom door closes and I hear him say something but the walls muffle it.
I lay in bed smiling like a freaking idiot because of Harry. Because right here, in this hotel room, with Harry, was heaven.
________________
EARLY UPDATE!!! Because currently I'm on my way to LA for a softball tournament and then I'll be hopping onto a flight to see the boys in sAntA CLarA! Ugh IM FREAKING OUT BC I HAVE FLOOR SEATS CLOSE TO THE CATWALK.
I hope ya'll liked the semi-steaminess as well as the rest of the chapter! Hopefully you guys liked the opening act choices. They were thought out a lot and I think they're pretty good. And plus I love them all.
Next chapter is the flight to Japan aaanndddd then tour starts!!! I have some really good ideas for how I'm going to portray the concerts so hopefully you'll like them.
By the way, do you guys think I should make a separate Twitter for this story?? It'd be easier to see who reads the story & it'd be easier to talk to you all and post about the story, etc. I'm vv inactive on my other fan acct.
Have a great day/night!!
-Allyson 🌻😋❤️
IG: @harry.reckless