"I'll leave you alone to catch up, yeah?" Harry asks I nod. He knows perfectly well that I'm fine on my own anyways as it's my home so there is no problem about it.
A fair number of people wearing polos and elegant dresses had gathered for my mom's birthday even though they're just mostly business partners, my friends' parents and my friends.
"How was your day, Miss Swift?" I turn around only to see Robbie, my faithful driver and one of my best friends too.
I excitedly wrap my arms around him. How I've missed a very familiar face. When I let go, I just go on to this quick blabber, "Robbie! How were you? I haven't seen you in like months! I mean, this is so— sorry. Sorry." I compose myself and smile. "I just missed you, you guys."
"Miss Stenton and Miss Pressman are currently inside, so are your parents," he informs and I nod along.
"Thanks, Robbie. It's great to see you again."
"Likewise, Miss Swift," he replies with a smile.
I skip ecstatically to the house wherein two of the cats squeal immediately upon seeing me. Isabelli got a haircut, just a little above her shoulders while Madz is still the same with her upwards hairstyle.
I let myself catch up with them for a moment because I haven't seen them in a very long time and, well, I know my parents are a little too busy talking with the adults.
Holding a glass of cocktail in my hand, I keep talking with them, partly looking around wherever if I'll see Harry around but then later on, I just thought if he'll come around, he'll come around.
"So you two are still single?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"No, mine is sort of a long-distance thing," Isabelli answers.
"Single," Madz says. "Told you, boys can't last that long if they know I'd make them wait that long."
"Bitter AF," Isabelli mutters, summing up Madz' whole personality. "But how 'bout you Tay? How is living with the Styles?"
"Not bad," I answer. "It's actually been great."
"Yeah, I've seen your Facebook posts, Taylor and damn it, you've been to Ireland without telling me?!" Isabelli almost yells. "Gosh! You two are like, relationship goals."
"Yeah, but you cats are one year ahead of us," I remind her to at the least, make it a little better.
Madz groans, "I would give anything just to have your one year break."
"Where's Micha?" I ask, looking around and noticing that the loudest one is missing.
"Oh, she'll come around," Madz answers. "I texted her about a few minutes seconds ago."
"And Runner?"
"Um." She smiles nervously, "Uh, lost contact." I did too so I wasn't able to contact Runner.
"I bet Micha knows, though," Isabelli says. "Girl knows a lot."
Harry approaches us, "I'm sorry ladies but do you cats mind if I borrow Taylor for a while? My sister-in-law really wants to see her."
Madz' jaw drops but she says, "Sure. Sister-in-law, you cats must be really serious, right now."
"Very," he replies. "In fact, I would've proposed if she didn't say after college." I don't even understand why we are talking about it. It's still too early.
"You don't even have the ring to show up for it yet so please don't talk about it," I say and drink from my cocktail.
Harry is currently smiling at me with his palm open wide. I lick my lips, waiting for him to say something. "What if I do?"
I hear both Madz and Isabelli gasp.
I set my drink down the table beside me and stand up, smirking. "Not at this moment, okay?"
I am not sure whether he has a ring or not but I'd rather not have him say something right now because it's my mom's event and it can't be any other.
He nods, "Course not." He puts his arm around my waist and kisses me. . . which sort of felt a little weird seeing as he did it front of both Madz and Isabelli.
I hear a shutter sound and when I look, Madz is holding her phone. "Micha will know what she just missed."
Before I can say something, Harry laughs and drags me away from there. Turns out, he wanted me to greet my parents first because I might not get out of the circle of conversation later when Micha and Louis comes into the picture.
I hug both my parents then greet my mom Happy Birthday. And to be really honest, I think Harry is too much of a close-knit to my dad.
"Harry, I hope my daughter hadn't been a headache." Believe it or not, it was my dad who said that.
"Dad, are you kidding?! You're worried that I'll be the headache?!" I almost whine.
Harry laughs and shakes his head, "No, sir um, there'd been a bunch of fits here and there but overall she's lovely to be around."
Yeah, because if he ended it without the last additional statement, I'll murder him when we get back.
"Are you sure you're not just saying that because she's here?"
I sometimes hate how much my dad memorized me.
Again, Harry laughs. "Partially."
I elbow him yet he just kept laughing. It had came to my realization that his drunk self is sometimes actually his real self, minus the jokes and too much flirting.
"Just take care of her, okay, Harry? One wrong move, it won't be just me who will come after you," dad warns and Harry's heard every single warning from the list of whoever will kill him if he does break my heart.
Like every other warning before, Harry simply laughs but I know he's taking it seriously.
"Yes sir, it's a long line from her ex-boyfriend, Louis, the rest of the cats, Robbie, Ivan. Of course, you're first in line." He nods. "I wouldn't dream of hurting her."
As much as I am a little too flattered, I roll my eyes and walk away, saying, "I'll leave you gentlemen to talk."
"No, no, no, we're just about to talk to my family," Harry says, pulling me back. And I just stand there very awkwardly as they talk about me. It's just a matter of few more minutes before I remind them that I'm right here.
Later on he made me go to talk to Cassie –which, I am very delighted at. But it's not just Cassie who wants to see me, talk to me, but also the rest of his family.
I get it, he's very, very, very serious about the two of us but seriously?!
Harry carries the four year-old Warren immediately. "Hey, come on mate, greet Taylor."
"Hey, War," I say. Three years and my general hate for kids haven't changed. It's already in my system and I cannot change that.
Warren only smiles at me so. . . the feeling is mutual.
"What is it with you and kids?" Harry mutters very quietly because Cassie and his brother is already around. "Rich, Cass, shall I leave?"
"And leave Taylor with us to do the answering of questions?" Cassie scoffs. "The Styles way. Harry, you stay here."
Harry laughs, "Well, already got caught. Questions anyone?"
"So Taylor, had Harry been good to you lately?" Rich asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Three hundred and forty-two days without an incident," I answer, both as a joke and a serious one. "About me at the very least."
I see Harry counting before he says, "Ah, almost a year."
"Well, that's great news, isn't it?" Rich says. By then, I think Cassie already knew how much he doesn't have anything to say because the Styles have this habit of flexing their ring finger once they've got nothing else to add to the conversation. Cassie taught me that a few months ago.
"Great, but I need to talk to Taylor for the moment." Cassie says so I walk behind her as we walk away. Lately, I've been dragged around a lot but I think that's fine that way.
She stops once we're already in the kitchen where there's less people than in the living room. For one, she seems excited.
"What did you do to my brother-in-law?" She asks in a non-offensive way.
I shrug, "I don't exactly know —"
"Three years," she starts, "You can just see it in his eyes that those were the happiest in his life."
Admittedly, I feel warm all over with her statement. I try to hold a smile but it just comes out.
"Th-Thanks."
"Oh don't tell me he's not planning to take it further."
I blink a few times, "I'm uh not sure what y-you mean entirely."
She laughs, "Am I to hear wedding bells soon?"
"No," I say, a little too shyly, shaking my head a little. "I uh, I sort of told him to wait until we finished college."
"Well, I can't say that's a bad thing but remember, he's a racer, you know how they live their life. . . very swift," she says, emphasizing the last part.
I laugh, "It's okay, I get it."
"But you two are honestly, okay? Your father speaks a lot of you and one thing I found out is that the two of you have tantrum moments."
"Yeah, we both have that," I say. "It's just more on patience and uh, not letting him drive after a fight."
"Why?"
"I'm honestly a bit. . ." Harry pauses for a moment, "self-destructive. Other term, suicidal."
Well, at least he's that honest to Cassie.
"I'm sorry," he says and shrugs. "I just sort of make mistakes from time to time." And then he smiles.
"Well, you're not dead yet and that's saying something. Thank you for looking out over my brother-in-law, Tay," Cassie tells me with a smile but then looks at Harry with a glare. "Harry, you have a lot of explaining to do."
"I'm terrified of losing people, Cass. That's the only explanation for it."
As much as I don't want to be that cliche, I immediately scoff and say, "Just because we fight, doesn't mean you'll lose me. You're a little bit paranoid at times."
"I'll give you both some time," Cassie says with a smile and starts walking off.
"You can't help me for being paranoid, I'm not always around even if I want to." He says.
"I don't have anyone to replace you, Harry. It's not even possible." I sigh. "Well, I'm just thankful they finally left us alone."
"Yeah, well, they should all leave us alone," Harry whispers and laughs. "Let's take a look at your room."
God! How I missed my room.
As soon as Harry closed the door, I don't really recall whether it was me or him who had sunk in to the bed first. I missed this place so much. It's still home for me.
He looks at me, smiling, and I notice, he's hugging my pillow. The dimples on his cheeks and the brightness in his green eyes is one of the most wonderful sights in these light gray sheets.
"I love your eyes," he says. "We need to go back to the Tenerife Sea."
"Hmm?" I raise an eyebrow, wondering how we suddenly got to that subject.
"I promised you we'll go back there," he says. "We haven't been there twice."
Harry sits up and takes a very deep breath while I'm still lying. "After France, we'll come back. We're flying there." He touches the nearby frame with our picture in it, stares at it and then places it back.
"Okay but I'll make my way back to the apartment," I say. "Mom and dad aren't going to stay here."
"Robbie is taking you there?"
"Robbie is definitely taking me there," I reply with a smile. There are only a few people Harry trusts me with and one of them is Robbie.
"Will I win my race?" He asks.
"Will you?" I ask with a laugh. "I don't need you to win, okay? I just need you to come back to me. . . alive."
That always end up being my thought about him racing.
He chuckles, "Of course. But after, the Tenerife."
I don't know why but we are both obsessed over that sea even though we've only been there once. In my defense, I liked the idea of it ever since I came to Barcelona.
"Yes, the Tenerife. But first, the bridge," I say.
"I promise, bridge first and then the Tenerife." He sighs, lying back, facing me in a little bit shorter distance than earlier.
"Hmm."
"Kiss me," he says and smiles. There's this playful look on his face once more.
"Later."
"Now."
I roll my eyes, "Seriously?" With our rate, he has every permission to that. I don't even know why he wants me to.
"Serious."
He adjusts himself in a push-up position over me and kisses me.
And most of the time, I hoped that no one walks in because then, it would be awkward.
He lies down on the bed, licking his lips. "Remember the time when Trina Waddron walked in and thought we just fucked?"
"I don't forget, Harry," I mumble and sit up. "Your hair was really awful then."
He stands up. "We better head downstairs before they think we're doing something else, again."
I laugh a bit and stand up, "Alright."
He takes my hand as we walk downstairs, as we usually do unless we're both not in the mood. He leads the way quietly and downstairs is where we socialized with certain people whose mind's are most likely centralized in businesses.
The same old mindless chatter reminds me of the life I will soon live into which would be very annoying but I understand why.
Harry left at the afternoon so I spent most of the time with the cats, wherein Micha finally arrived hours later saying she wasn't clear whether it was eight AM or eight PM.
Two days later, I told Robbie to take me back to the apartment which leads me back to the road.
"So you're planning to retire?" I ask Robbie.
"Sometime by the end of the year," he answers immediately.
"Okay, but does mom and dad have any thoughts on who to rep–replace you?" I ask. I don't even want to state the fact that they'll be replacing him but it's just the way things go.
"They're still looking," he answers.
I look out the window, thinking whoever will replace Robbie have large shoes to fill. Until Harry calls around.
"An hour before the race starts," he says once I answer the call. "Where are you now?"
"Still in the city."
"I've had an interview two hours ago, I reckon it went fine," he replies. "How are you?"
"You've only been gone for almost a day and a half," I mutter, rolling my eyes slightly.
He laughs, "Never hurts to be concerned."
"Speaking of, how are you doing?" I ask.
"Suited up because I'm a bit excited for this race," he says and that's an understatement. "I'd rather just stay around and talk to you for about a few moments. So, I need to know what's going on."
"Again, you've only been gone for less than two days, Harry. I'm fine," I say and laugh. "You wanted me to come there, didn't you?"
"I did," he answers.
"You didn't ask me to come." Technically, I'm not really in the mood for traveling at the very moment since the time is a little for resting.
"You've been awfully tired," he points out. "With the break and the places we went after. Plus you don't want to miss your mom's birthday," he says.
"Well, you need to rest too but you're there and I'm here."
"Are we really having that discussion?"
I laugh, "No, I'm just messing with you. Just get back here as soon as you can because all I'll be doing is sleep." Which, I didn't have much.
"Really wished you just stayed around your home for some time. The apartment is very quiet when you're alone." I can imagine him pouting at the very moment because I know he wants to be the one to take me back. He never liked the idea of me staying in one area alone but I'm just glad he's not that overprotective.
"Who knows? Maybe I'll clean up the place," I say even though it's a very rare scenario when I do that.
He laughs, "Yeah, right. Just make sure you stay safe, yeah?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"And rest up, okay? J-Just don't tire yourself up too much."
I roll my eyes, clicking my tongue, "I don't get sick often, Harry, and I'm careful. I think I know the wanted list," I joke.
"You're not making it better for me."
"Right, I promise I'll keep myself safe the same way you'll come back alive. Deal?" I ask, smiling and playing with the button for the window.
"I'll be very careful. When have I ever gotten home with so much as a scratch?" He asks.
"Hello? Ten months ago, you stayed in the hospital for two weeks because of your —"
"Sometimes I want to hit myself for underestimating your memory," he says. "Yes, that broken leg. It was sort of minor, wasn't it?"
"I don't even believe we're talking about it," I mutter, then my phone vibrates a little. I lick my lips, "Okay, Harry, someone's calling so can you please uh —"
"Hanging up. I love you."
"Love you."
After Harry hangs up, I answer dad's call about whatever.
"Yes, dad?"
"Your boyfriend's on TV."
"Well, dad, that's not really a new thing with him being a car racer?" I say in an asking tone for teasing.
"Just wanting to tell you. Where are you?" Dad asks.
I look out the window and see the city almost starting to disappear, letting back the sea. "Bridge going off the city. You?"
"Munich, Germany," dad answers. "Just checked up on you."
"Mhmm, see you, dad."
"See you."
I wish it ended right there.
I wish it did.
"Taylor!"
My head hurts very awfully. It must have been the light. I can't answer to the one calling me.
"Taylor!"
"Taylor, wake up."
Wake up?!