Chapter Twenty-Five
“So, what does today hold for us, Harry?”
He glanced down at me, stuffing his hands into his pockets. I was gazing at him, awaiting a response, as he looked forward again and squinted when the sun’s glare off the fountain hit him right in the eyes. Somehow, I remembered then that we were supposed to be out strolling. I snaked my arms around one of his and walked closer alongside him.
“Well, that depends,” he decided.
“On?”
“You.”
“How does it depend on me? I usually don’t get a choice in these things.”
An amused smile spread on his face. “Well, if I leave you to use the restroom for two seconds, am I going to come back to some random girl I don’t know? Or do you have other plans to somehow abandon me and send a different random girl to my rescue?”
I rolled my eyes at that, ignoring the jab. “Nah. Today I’m all yours.”
“Lucky me.”
This was turning out to be one of my favorite publicity stunts Harry and I have pulled. We simply had to walk around in the public park for an hour or so and look as if we’re having a good time. And frankly, if Harry would be in a better mood, I really would be having a good time. Though, I’ll admit that even with him in a sour mood, it beats the mall any day.
“I like you better when you aren’t so cranky,” I frowned, bumping my head into his shoulder to get his attention.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what you were expecting,” he admitted. “I mean, I don’t even know what yesterday was all about, and you won’t tell me anything, so how am I supposed to act? How do you want me to act today?”
It ceaselessly annoyed me that even though he’s angry, he doesn’t sound angry. He sounds like he’s trying to tell me something funny that happened to him yesterday when he clearly thought it wasn’t funny at all.
I pulled him to a stop and stepped in front of him, working to keep my face at least half calm for anyone who might be watching. This isn’t supposed to look like a fight.
“Stop. I’m supposed to be the moody one in this relationship.”
He rolled his eyes, his expression suggesting that our quiet exchange was full of teasing and jokes to anyone else. “We might have to start taking turns.”
“Harry. Sorry, okay? I’m just trying to help you out; I didn’t think you’d get upset.”
“How was that helping me out? Instead of spending more time together to work on our outward chemistry, you ditched me and left me with some blonde who was more confused as to why you never showed than she was excited to see me there in your place. Nothing good actually came of yesterday,” he breathed, his expression beginning to falter.
“Well, it was supposed to help. Good intentions aside, though, I’m sorry. Okay? Now cheer up or there’s no point for our little outing today,” I sighed, returning to our former position.
Harry pulled his hands out of his pockets, though, and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me closer to him. I couldn’t deny that the proximity was a little more than I expected, but I let him be. I’d already upset him enough in the last twenty-four hours. So I snaked my own arm around his torso, and we proceeded with our walk.
It was quiet for a while until a girl who was probably our age asked Harry for a picture. He, of course, obliged, and before we could continue on, a young girl approached us and asked for an autograph. After she was gone too, Harry’s arm was around me again, and we continued on.
“Tell me one of your jokes,” I said then. I couldn’t quite tell if he was in better spirits yet, but I figured if not, then this will surely do the trick.
“I’m not sure if I’ve got any on me right now.”
“Come on. You always have a joke.”
And finally, he smirked. “Alright. It’s a knock knock joke, but you’ve got to start it.”
I smiled. “Okay. Knock knock.”
He glanced downwards at me, returning my smile. “Who’s there?”
There was silence.
Harry’s grin grew.
And then I got it.
“That was the worst joke I think you’ve ever told,” I laughed. Much to my delight, he began to chuckle as well.
“That’s the one I wanted to tell you the other day in the car,” he mused.
“It’s probably good you didn’t, because I was not in a very good mood. At least not then, in the car,” I clarified. “Got any more?”
“How about you tell one?”
Jesus, did I know any knock knock jokes? There was only one I could think of off the top of my head, and admittedly my mother had told it to me. There isn’t much of a funny bone anywhere in my body.
“Okay, knock knock.”
I felt his hip bump into mine, and I wondered if he did it on purpose. I figured so, so I bumped him back as he asked, “Who’s there?”
“To.”
“To who?”
“To whom.”
My laughter came before his did. First, he had to take a moment to assess that I did, in fact, tell him a grammar joke and that I did, in fact, find it hilarious. And after finally processing that, he didn’t even laugh at all. He just shook his head slowly, his lips tightening into an amused, straight line.
“I’m ashamed for you,” he eventually said.
I shrugged. “Someone’s got to be.”
I could feel his gaze on me, then. “I suppose that’s part of your charm.”
“My non-existent charm, you mean?”
“You have charm,” he nodded. “You do.”
We settled into a comfortable silence after that. The little pathway we were following led us around the perimeter of the park, and we rounded the large fountain that sat at the park’s center probably two times now. There were quite a few trees scattered about, but the sun was filtering through the canopies above just right that every so often both Harry and I were blinded. We’d shield our eyes at the same time, and once we could see again, our hands dropped back to our sides.
There were a lot of people out and about, enjoying the seemingly perfect weather, and I was undoubtedly surprised at how few people had stopped us. I knew that we were recognized; the whispers and points and stares gave it away if nothing else did. But I was beginning to wonder if maybe not all of Harry’s fans were downright crazy. Maybe some of them were polite and respectful of a couple’s privacy, even when one half of that couple is their favorite celebrity.
Harry and I had rounded about half the park for the third time when I finally pulled away from him. I just couldn’t help myself; the fountain was calling my name.
And so was Harry.
“Lexie. Hey. Where are you going?”
I decided it’d be obvious soon enough, so I didn’t answer. Instead, I approached the fountain excitedly, gazing at the clear, rippling water. Coins had been tossed into it over the years, tons of them, and I wonder how many wishes were made and how many were granted. If I had a coin on me, I’d like to think I’d toss it in and make a wish, but the only thing I think I’d wish for would be to go home, and it seems wrong to waste a wish on something as stupid as that. So maybe I wouldn’t have tossed a coin in if I had one.
The marble edge of the fountain was cool against the exposed parts of my thighs when I sat. Carelessly, I kicked off the flats I had thrown on this morning and turned to dip my feet into the water. It was colder than I expected, and goosebumps immediately rose on my legs and arms. I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, but I couldn’t deny that it felt amazing. Walking in circles beneath the sun had clearly been taking its toll on me.
It didn’t take long before Harry was looming tall behind me. “You know, I’m pretty sure this is illegal,” he noted.
I shrugged. “Who cares?”
He sat beside me and bent to untie his boots. As he did so, he smiled over at me. “Not you. And obviously not me.”
After rolling his pant legs, he dipped his feet into the water as well and gasped a bit at the cool temperature. Without looking, I could feel that his hand gripped the edge of the fountain right beside mine. I debated on whether I should pretend to push him in but decided against it; I’m not sure if that’s something celebrity couples ordinarily do.
Harry reached into his pocket after a moment and pulled out his iPhone. I paid him no mind until I heard the sound of a photo being captured; then, my head whipped in his direction.
“Did you just take a picture of me?”
He was trying to hide his smirk, quickly tapping away on his phone, hunching his shoulders. “Maybe.”
“No way,” I told him. “If I have to be in a picture, then you have to be in it with me.”
So he flips the screen so that we can see ourselves in it and holds it out. I’ve never been good at making selfie faces, so I settle for a smile while Harry puckers his entire face in an odd and what appears to be uncomfortable fashion. Once he takes the picture, I begin to laugh.
“What kind of a face was that?”
He’s already holding his phone out again. “Well, yours was boring!”
“But at least I didn’t look – hey! I wasn’t ready!”
“I’m taking another one in three, two – “
“Harry!”
We were both laughing now, and making any face other than our hysterical ones was next to impossible, because neither of us could stop. He’s probably just captured the two worst images of my face in history, and on top of that, he looks ridiculous as well. Except he was looking ridiculous in the pictures on purpose.
“Can we at least take one good one?” I begged. “One where you don’t look like a caricature of yourself?”
“Fine, one good one for Instagram and Twitter.”
“Fine,” I agreed.
“Ready?” he asked, holding his phone out again for hopefully the last time.
I nodded, quickly adjusting my hair.
“Alright. One, two, three!”
And despite the fact that this was supposed to be a “good one,” Harry chose to puff out his cheeks quickly and press his lips against the side of my face, to which I bursted into laughter because it felt strange – he wasn’t kissing me because his lips were somehow tucked in. The resulting picture somehow, I decided, depicted our relationship – if it were real – perfectly.
Harry finally put his phone away, and we just sat and moved our feet around in the water that no longer seemed all that cold. Now that he was in a better mood, I decided that this was definitely the best time I’ve had all summer. I couldn’t decide if it was the fact that I was hopefully going to be of assistance in finding Harry a real girlfriend and that it could happen very soon, or if it was everything that was right with this day, but I was in a good mood. It’s rare for me, so I know when it happens. For the first time since this ordeal with Harry began, I didn’t really want to get back to Brady’s condo.
I must have become lost in my own head, because it took Harry bumping into me as he spun around to notice that we were no longer alone.
At first, it seemed that there were more girls than there really was. I mean, there were a lot, but I’ve seen way worse at this point. And to my surprise, they weren’t very rowdy or annoying or noisy. They stood and their grins looked painful, but at least I knew my ears wouldn’t be ringing for the rest of the night.
Harry was already signing autographs and chatting with some of them by the time the scene before me registered. And when they started sitting beside him on the fountain ledge to take pictures with him, I realized that I didn’t want to be in any of them. I noticed that a few paces to my right, a large tree grew right beside the fountain, and I had an idea.
After picking my flats up off the ground, I stood on the ledge and walking a small ways away to lean against the tree trunk. From here, I wasn’t necessarily out of the group of girls, but I was higher than them all. Suddenly, oxygen seemed to be more plentiful. Everything was just a little quieter. And the situation seemed manageable. I was fine. These girls weren’t chasing us; they weren’t harassing us; they weren’t even being obnoxious. I am fine.
Harry noticed eventually that I had moved, and when he spotted me, he smiled apologetically, but his eyes were more worried than he wanted his expression to let on. I tried to remain impassive and happy and calm, but I’m not sure if I convinced him.
It was maybe ten minutes later when Harry told the girls he had to get going. He’d gotten through almost all of them anyway. Now, they were just standing around and reveling in their idol’s company. It was almost strange, in a way, that I was in his company so often. Again, the thought that he was unearthly famous and I was so entirely plain and unordinary was staggering; how in the world has he not told me to forget it by now, this deal we have? It’s not like I’m the easiest to get along with. Being with me, even just for publicity, was rough.
I think I actually might have to give Harry a lot of credit.
When he appeared before me, his shoes back on and his pants rolled down, he offered me a hand, and I took it. After slipping into my flats again, his fingers slid between mine, and we made our way back to where he had parked his car. To my surprise and delight, we weren’t followed.
“I am extremely sorry about that,” Harry said when we were out of earshot of everyone. “Really, it was probably a foolish idea to – “
“Stop, don’t worry about it,” I waved a hand.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I shrugged. “We can be even now.”
Glancing up towards him, I could see the smile twitching at the corners of his lips, and even if I wasn’t meant to feel it, I was aware of his hand gripping mine just infinitesimally tighter. And maybe I was making it up or seeing things, but I was pretty sure there was something resembling a sparkle in his eyes. Then again, at almost a foot shorter than him, the angle I was at might have been playing tricks on me.
Who knows?