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Tearing the envelope open, apprehensive of what could be written inside. Taking a deep breath, I read the rhyme that is awaiting me.
'Ava,
So now that the journey has come to an end,
Your destination is just around the bend.
In the letter you shall find a key,
Which will lead you straight to me.
I'm sorry for the treasure hunt,
But it's what I had to do.
There's no one here in Melbourne,
Who I'd rather spend it with - but you.
H x'
Harry. It was Harry all along. He wasn't avoiding me after all, and I now realise his texts were all part of the plan, in order for me to be truly surprised. Well done, Harry.
I fumble with the envelope and carefully take out the small brass key. My hand is shaking as I insert it into the keyhole, and my knees are feeling slightly weak.
I push open the doors and walk into the dark foyer, locking it behind me. There are no lights on, but only the eerie feint blueish glow of the water tanks, which cause a beautiful rippling effect on the walls.
My eyes dart around the empty room, heart pounding through my chest. I follow the rose petals that form an arrow shape and my heart literally skips a beat for the picturesque sight before me. The room is filled with thousands of candles of all shapes and sizes, while lush flower petals decorate the marble floor's surface. Looking up, I see the true object of my desires - the man behind all of this.
Harry.
He's standing in the centre of the room, dressed to absolute perfection in his suit pants, fitted blazer, and a crisp white shirt with seemingly too many buttons undone - which somehow just works for him. He looks so pleased with himself considering the effort he's gone through to trick me, and I can't wipe the smile off my face - not even if I tried.
Relief doesn't even begin to express how I'm feeling right now. This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.
"Are you just going to leave me standing here on my own like a prat?" he laughs, running his hand nervously through his hair. I love when he does his hair like this, quiffed up like this. It definitely is one of his best looks.
I start to move towards him, half walking and half jogging, and when I reach him, I throw my arms around his neck and he kisses me, picking me up a few inches off the floor.
"Impressed?" he asks, talking against my lips.
"So impressed!" I exclaim. "So this morning? Your text messages?"
"They were all just a trick. I wanted this all to be a surprise," he says, craning his head down and nuzzling his face along the side of my neck.
"How did you know to take me here then?" I ask, probing him for answers.
There's no way he could have known how much I love this place without some additional help.
"I have Scarlett to thank for that," he answers, "I had a chance to ask her at Calum's birthday when you were away from the table. I told her I wanted to surprise you, and she was all for it."
So she was in on it, after all!
"I am so... this is just... thank you Harry," I say, finding his lips with mine.
"So you're not a grumpy bum anymore?" he smirks.
I look into his beautiful green eyes and shake my head.
"I was actually almost going to give in and tell you everything, but Scarlett said it would be more fun this way."
"I do love a good surprise," I reply. "Just please don't ever scare me like that again!" I warn, hitting him lightly on his chest with the back of my hand.
"I'll keep that in mind," he answers, swiping his bottom lip with his tongue.
"Hungry?" he asks me.
I recall being starved before all of this excitement, but that has been pushed to the back of my mind. And now that Harry is standing here with me...like this...
"Yes," I breathe in a voice that I barely recognise as my own. His eyes widen, and a smile plays on his mouth as he chews his bottom lip. He must have picked up on the undertone of what I meant.
His eyes flit to the corner of the room at one of the security cameras.
"As much as I'd like to," he begins, his voice low and husky, "we're not entirely alone."
He presses his body into me and I feel him firm against me.
"But," he says leaning down to my ear, causing me to freeze and sending shivers throughout me, "You'll have to be patient for what I'm going to do to you when we get home..." he warns, biting my earlobe which turns me on that little bit more.
I both hate and love the sëxual prowess he holds over me. He knows exactly how to drive me crazy and irritatingly, he seems to gain some form of amusement from it.
Well two can play at that game.
I turn us around in our embrace so that Harry's back is facing the camera to shield us from what I intend to do. I trace my fingers lightly up the length of his leg, running them back and forth once I've landed on the bulge forming in his pants.
He groans, while laughing, completely aware of my intentions.
"Touché Miss Sinclair," moving his hips a fraction away, and I can't help but feel the ethereal glow from the power I seem to hold over him. Taking my hand in his, he leads me over to another area of the room.
"Let's go eat before I make some very bad decisions for my career."
My insides flutter over his comment and it only makes me want him more. But begrudgingly, I follow him to the picnic setup that I failed to see earlier. I can't exactly be blamed for missing the set up due to how good my boyfriend is looking. I'm actually impressed with myself that I still remembered that we're in the aquarium, surrounded by fish tanks.
We reach the picnic blanket, laden with plush cushions, and all of the types of food that I love. Dark chocolate dipped strawberries, Camembert cheese, Dutch pancakes with butter, maple syrup and icing sugar, a fruit platter with all of my favourites, and I am glad to see that he's excluded the boring fruits that I dislike. I even laugh as I spot beetroot that has been cubed. It was my absolute favourite thing to eat as a child. I can see he's also had some help with the menu choices.
"You are just too cute," I say, sitting in between his legs on the blanket.
I grab a fork and spike into one of the beetroot cubes and Harry grimaces.
"Scarlett said you would go for that first. Nobody likes beetroot."
I scoff. "You are seriously full of it! Everyone loves beetroot."
He takes out his phone and starts typing a tweet. "We'll soon see."
I take his phone off him to see what he tweeted,
'Does everyone collectively dislike beetroot? I feel like they do.'
"Well that's not fair, they're probably all going to agree with you when you word it like that. If you replaced the word 'beetroots' with 'grandmothers' I'm sure your Directioners would all proclaim to dislike them as well. Beetroot must be an Australian thing, because we love them here. Just try some," I say, with a piece of beetroot on the end of my fork.
I edge the fork closer to his mouth and he purses his lips tightly shut which makes me laugh.
"Try some!" I adamantly order.
He bites with the tips of his teeth, and pushes it back out with his tongue, making a disgusted face.
"Mmm you're right, it's delicious," he says with his straightest face in hopes that I'll leave him alone.
It's probably one of the cutest things I've ever witnessed, and can't help but turn around to kiss him. My knees kneel at either sides of his legs and I sit in his lap, straddling him. When the kiss ends, he takes my chin delicately in his fingertips.
"What was that for?" he smiles.
"I'm just really, really happy. Thank you... for everything."
"You make me really happy too," he tells me, kissing along my jawline. "Incandescently happy."
"Big word," I laugh.
"Big word, for a big man," he jokes, putting a strawberry near my mouth to take a bite.
I relent, taking a bite, and he lets out a satisfactory groan.
"Stop teasing. You can't eat it like that when you're completely aware that I can't do anything about it."
"Like what?" I ask, curious.
"You know exactly what," he quips back.
He bites the remainder of the strawberry and my cheeks flush red.
"And I love that too," he says rubbing his thumb over my blushing cheeks. "I love having that effect on you. You're an endearing little thing, aren't you," he muses, slowly licking his lips. I stand to my feet, holding onto his arms, pulling him up with me.
"Where are you taking me?" he whines, "I was quite comfortable there."
"C'mon I'll show you the rest of the aquarium," I eagerly invite.
"Oh, alright," he moans, getting to his feet. "What's in this one?" he asks, tapping the glass with his knuckles.
"Don't do that," I ask, holding onto his hand, "you'll scare them. And I think this is the angelfish tank."
Sure enough, as we walk around the tank we find a school of brightly coloured angelfish. I place my index finger on the glass and one of the larger, and braver fish follows my finger as I trace patterns over the screen.
"Show-off," he jokingly mutters.
Harry puts his finger on another tank, trying to urge some of the fish to follow him. He begins to get frustrated at the lack of activity and I smirk as I see the Aquarium's description of the particular tank. Just as expected, a moray eel slingshots out of its cave, opening its mouth to bare its teeth, and Harry's reaction is absolutely priceless. He jumps back almost three feet away with a look of pure terror. I couldn't have asked for a better reaction, and I'm in stitches on the floor while Harry tries to catch his breath.
I turn and run towards one of my favourite places within the aquarium - a tunnel completely surrounded by water. I run through the long corridor of water, everything setting off a beautiful blueish tinge, and Harry stops me, grabbing hold of me by one of my arms. Pulling me in closely, I can feel his heart beating at an extraordinary rate, and I'm suddenly speechless. I put my hand over his shirt where his heart would be, and he places his forehead against mine, the intimacy of the moment pure and untouched.
And most importantly, it was the moment. The moment I realise that I am completely and irrevocably in love with him. I am completely his, and he is all mine. He has me fully now, and I just hope and pray that he doesn't hurt me.
"What are you thinking?" he whispers eyes piercing into mine, and almost fearfully, I wonder if he can read my thoughts.
"Nothing," I reply, pressing my lips against his own, our tongues moving in unison with perfected precision. "Absolutely nothing."
Question of the chapter: What did you think of the chapter? Did any of you suspect that Harry was behind the riddles, or were you as surprised as Ava? Also, I love hearing cute things that partners do for each other. What's the sweetest thing someone has surprised you with?
I hope you've enjoyed the story so far, and I would love to know everyone's thoughts on beetroot because we love it here in Australia. A burger isn't a burger without a slice of it (the canned version though) And yes, he actually tweeted that beetroot thing a couple of days ago haha!
I am dedicating this chapter to @jalylecastro for guessing correctly :) Well done! Please make sure you've voted, and that you're following me on social media for any updates!
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