May 13th 2015, London
"Welcome back" Patrick opened the door of his office and I immediately hugged him since I hadn't seen him in weeks. The night before I had flown from Los Angeles because I had work to do in London and Harry and I thought that focusing on our albums would be easier if we weren't in the same city and we had no distractions. We weren't too worried about it because we knew that I'd be back in the States the following week to attend the Billboard Awards.
"I can check on you finally" he winked, "Kath really stressed me out after you disappeared"
"I'm sorry guys" I sighed, "I didn't mean to make you worry"
"Where did you go anyways?" he wiggled his eyebrows, "you're tanned!"
"Away" I unconsciously smiled, "what are our plans for the day?" I changed topic
"You've got an album to produce" he patted on my shoulder, "and your goal is to stay out of trouble and to, possibly, avoid any more rumors "
"I'll do my best" I giggled
"Your song with Ed is absolutely perfect" he proudly smiled, "I've been listening to it for the last couple of weeks and it might be my favorite song at the moment"
"If you leak it, I'll kill you" I joked and he burst out laughing
"C'mon, let's go to the studio" he said in between laughs. We stepped out of the building and were weirdly harassed by paparazzi. They obviously started yelling things about my private life, especially about One Direction, but I obviously didn't answer. I hated these moments because I even felt rude for not replying to them, but I knew that if I said anything, they'd turn it into something else.
We soon arrived at the studio and I immediately started working. I was surprised when I realized how much I had missed writing lyrics even if it had been only a few weeks. Obviously, my relationship with Harry had been inspiring me a lot when it came to music, and that day the song seemed to be writing itself.
"Nobody sees, nobody knows... we are a secret, can't be exposed... that's how it is, that's how it goes... far from the others, close to each other... that's when we uncover"
"In the daylight, in the daylight, when the sun is shining... On a late night, on a late night, when the moon is blinding... In plain sight, plain sight, like stars in hiding... You and I burn on"
"My asylum is in your arms... when the world gives heavy burdens, I can bare a thousand tons... on your shoulder, on your shoulder, I can reach an endless sky... feels like paradise"
"We could build a universe right here, all the world could disappear, we wouldn't notice, wouldn't care... we could build a universe right here, the world could disappear, yeah, I just need you near"
In about an hour and a half, I had written all the lyrics and worked on the instrumental so, since I was alone in the studio, I called the engineer and we spent the rest of the afternoon recording it.
As we were taking a break, I heard my phone ringing. I looked at the screen and felt shocked when I realized that Nick, my ex-boyfriend, was actually calling me. I felt unsure but decided to reply because I was kind of curious.
"Nick?" I didn't hide my confusion
"Jade, hi!" he exclaimed, "I didn't think you'd answer" he giggled, "so... are you in London?"
"Uhm," I struggled, "actually I am, yeah...why?"
"I don't want this to be awkward but..." he paused, "I have two tickets for Paul McCartney's gig at the O2 Arena and the person that I had planned to go with has just ditched me... and you were the first person to come to my mind because I know how much you love his music... so I thought why not?" he said all that in one breath and I didn't answer because I felt speechless, "Jade?" he said, bringing me back to reality
"Yeah, sorry... when is it?" I asked, still unable to think properly for some weird reason
"Tonight" he chuckled, "I know it's short notice but..."
"No, don't worry about that... I'll come" I said, still uncertain of my words
"Perfect! It'll be like the old times" I could see his grin as I heard his excitment, "I'll pick you up at 6.30pm ok?"
"Sure, thank you... see you later!" I said before hanging up and cursing myself. I was really happy to go to the concert, it was like a dream of mine, but, on the other hand, I was aware that it wouldn't look that good in people's eyes since I was going with Nick. Nethertheless, I tried to calm myself down by telling myself that I wasn't doing anything wrong.
As soon as I finished recording the finishing touches to the song, I rushed home to get ready. Luckily Stella wasn't home, so I wasn't questioned by her, but I knew I had to tell her about it, and she wasn't the only one I had to inform. I decided not to bother too much with my appearence, since I didn't want to get recognized, so I wore a simple dress, didn't do anything to my hair and put some mascara and lipstick on.
At 6.30, I heard the ringing bell and opened the door. Nick looked different, definitely more muscular, but seeing him didn't make me feel anything. I sure was happy and kind of nostalgic about all the memories we shared together, but I didn't love him the way I used to, I loved him like an old friend that I hadn't seen in a long time. We stared at each other for a few seconds before he pulled me into a hug. He held me tight and it definitely felt weird.
"You look beautiful" he said as he pulled away, "are you ready?" he asked and I only nodded. We made our way out and, luckily, paparazzi were no where to be seen. I hopped in his car and memories started playing in my head. We had had our first kiss there. We had taken a lot of road trips with this vehicule. We had laughed, fought and made up in that car. It felt surreal.
"It's crazy" he exclaimed, "all the memories we have in this car" he specified while nostalgically smiling
"I was thinking about the same thing" I said, "I'm happy there isn't hatred between us"
"I am too" he placed his hand on my thigh, making everything feel so wrong. I immediately shove his hand away and awkward silence fell. He probably understood why I had done it, because he started the engine and turned on the radio.
"How are you?" he tried to lighten up the mood, "I've been following on social media, you're already quite big, aren't you?"
"Everything's pretty crazy... surreal" I admitted, "how are you? how is uni?"
"I'm..." he paused, "fine" he definitely lied but I didn't want to make things more awkward so I bit my inner cheek and let it go
"Thank you for inviting me by the way" I said
"I thought it would be mean of me not to call you... knowing how much you love him"
"I made you love him too" I giggled, "you can finally admit it"
"Ok" he giggled, "you did" he finally admitted after years of denying and I childishly gloated.
We walked in and, luckily, his tickets weren't pit ones so it was more unlikely for people to spot me. Nick insisted on taking a selfie together so we did and it turned out pretty cute.
Soon the concert begun and I had the time of my life. I sung my heart out and enjoyed every second of it When Paul sang Heart Of the Country I recorderd the whole performance because I knew it was one of Harry's favorite songs and I couldn't wait to see his face when I showed him. Everything was going perfectly fine, until Nick thought it was a good idea to serenade me a song that meant a lot to us, the song he had dedicated to me the night he told me he loved me for the first time: Beautiful Night.
"You and me together, nothing feels so good, even if I get a medal from my local neighborhood, I won't need a castle, they've got castles in Versailles and I'm still stranded, wondering why... make it a beautiful night for me, it's a beautiful night for love, a wonderful sight for lovers of love to behold" he stared at me in the eyes while singing. I felt weird, out of place and wrong. I realized in that moment that I shouldn't have agreed on going, because his goal was to win me back and I didn't want that. Not only I had led him on, the whole thing would probably disappoint Harry too.
"Nick..." I said, "I need to go"
"What?" he surprisedly asked, "why?"
"I shouldn't be here" I admitted, "I'm seeing someone else" I sighed and I could see his world crashing down
"I-I didn't know..." he looked down, "let me drive you home"
"I'll get a taxi" I looked down, "I'm so sorry"
"Actually..." he said, "let's just enjoy the rest of the concert" he said, "please" he begged and I just agreed because I didn't know how to say no.
I took a look at my phone and was surprised to see a text from Pat saying "you were supposed to stay out of the public eye for a while... for God's sake Jade" and I immediately knew that someone had seen Nick and I and posted pictures of us at the concert or in the car online.
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Writer's note:
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Hope you have an amazing day x