happy update!
i'm sorry this took so long! i went back to school and then life got messy and ahhhhh
but i'm back!
anyways, i'll try not to take this long again.
but in my absence.... I was picked for the #Wattys2018 long list!!!
when i first started this book i never thought it would get any attention, but you guys have been so amazing and so supportive and i love you all so much and can never thank you enough.
Let's see how far we can get 24/7 to go!
—
"My loneliness is killing me, AND I, I must confess, I still believe, STILL BELIEVE. When I'm not with you I lose my mind, give me a sign! HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME!"
I used my pen as a pretend microphone as I flipped my hair back and forth while I sang along to the music playing in my headphones.
"OH BABY BABY!" I sang the next part at I set my pen down and flipped the page in my book.
All of the sudden the door to the office I was in on Air Force One opened and I looked up to see Harry there, and he did not look pleased.
I took out my headphones as he approached me.
"I can hear you from the press cabin." Harry said. "And we're on an airplane."
I bit my lip.
"Sorry."
He shut the door behind him as he stepped inside the room.
"What are you working on?"
"Homework. I don't want to have to have homework to do while I'm in LA so i'm getting it out of the way."
"Smart idea." He nodded as he sat down beside me.
Harry stayed with me in the room while I finished my homework, and when the plane landed we packed up my things and made our way to the front of the plane.
I walked out with Harry and we got to the main lounge where Mila was playing with her toys instead of getting ready to get off the plane like everyone else.
"Mila, pick up your toys. We have to go." Harry told her.
"Not yet." She shook he head.
"And why not." He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Because i'm little, and I need time to do little girl things." She looked up at him so innocently.
I started to laugh and Harry shook his head before kneeling in front of her.
"I'm aware of that, but we have to get off the plane now. And once we get to our hotel then you can go back to playing."
She then reached up her arms towards him, wanting him to pick her up.
"Pick up your toys first and then I will carry you." He told her.
She picked up her dolls, tea set, and stuffed horses and put them back in the bag that an attendant picked up, and then went back over to Harry with her arms outstretched.
He lifted her up in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder as he began to walk down the hallway beside me.
"I miss Tony the pony." Mila poked out her bottom lip.
"I know, but you'll see him next week." Harry said to her, gently patting her back.
"Does Tony miss me too?" She then asked him.
"Of course he does, you're his best friend."
She smiled at this.
"Sissy is my best friend." She said, referring to me. "And you, and Jamie, and Granny and-" she kept going, listing off everyone she knew.
Once off the plane we got in the car to take us to our hotel, and then made our way to the rooms assigned to us.
My parents were sharing a suite that had a second bedroom for Mila, and then Harry and I would have our own suite attached to my parents by a door.
He and I went inside our suite, him closing the door behind us.
Our luggage was on our bed so we unpacked before Harry ordered room service because he was starving.
When the food arrived we took a break from unpacking so we could eat, this significantly improving Harry's mood. When he got hungry he wasn't just hungry, he was hangry.
Harry finished unpacking before me since he only had one suitcase while I had five.
I whined as I pulled my makeup suitcase out.
"I'm sick of unpacking."
"Well if you didn't pack your whole damn closet for a four day trip then you wouldn't have that problem." Harry said from where he was laying back on the bed.
I whined again as I abandoned the bags and crawled up next to him, laying myself down on him.
"I'm exhausted, and I have to be up early tomorrow for the shoot, but we have a stupid dinner tonight and I don't want to go. I just want to sleep." I poked out my bottom lip.
"Well, why don't you take a little nap and I'll wake you up before we leave so you can get ready."
"Thank you." I smiled and closed my eyes as he wrapped his arms around me.
I was so exhausted from the plane ride that I fell asleep right away, only to be woken up by the feel of Harry getting out of the bed.
When I heard him moving around the room I creaked open my eyes to see him unpacking the rest of my bags.
Once done with that he even looked through my binder that had my event schedule and the outfits for the events in it and pulled out the dress I was wearing for that night along with the shoes and accessories.
He was the sweetest thing.
Before I fell back asleep the last thing I heard was him go into the sitting room and shut the door.
Harry woke me up a hour and a half before we had to leave for the event so I could fix my hair and makeup and get dressed.
I thanked him for his sweetness by kissing his cheek, and telling him I loved him.
At 7:00 we met my parents in their room, a nanny there to watch Mila, and we left to head down to another hotel where the dinner was being held in the ballroom.
My dad would be making a speech at the dinner, and so after a standing ovation when we arrived and then having a seat at our table, our plates were set before us and we began to eat.
Harry and I had to shake hands with everyone that came by to greet us, and I didn't think I would ever get over introducing him as my boyfriend.
Once everyone had eaten my father got up on the stage to say a few words to everyone there.
We turned our chairs so we could see him, and he looked at me from the stage and smiled.
"I want to thank you all for being here tonight to celebrate the passing of our environmental conservation act, that will help not only places like the beautiful state of California, but our entire nation and places around the globe work to conserve our natural world. The laws in place are to make sure that years from now after most of us in the room are dead and gone, that our earth will be a beautiful place for our upcoming generations."
Everyone applauded.
"Growing up my parents took me to places like the Grand Canyon, and Yellow Stone, and the Red Wood forest, and I made it a point to take my children there. I believe it was in Yellow Stone that Emma tried to chase a buffalo until she realised the size differences."
I along with everyone else laughed at this.
"I know that together, with all of your help and time put into this act, that we will make a difference. So thank you for helping me make my promise to the American people a reality. Thank you. Goodnight, and God bless America."
The rest of the evening was a whirlwind of pictures, talking to people and moving around the entire ballroom until we were finally able to get back in the car and escape.
Harry and I said goodnight to my parents once we reached our floor, and went to our separate suites.
Harry let us into ours, and as soon as I walked in I kicked off my heels before seeing that in our room was a lavish dessert cart waiting for us. Surrounding the different desserts were rose petals.
"What's this?" I asked Harry as a smile came to my lips, his hands holding my hips.
"A treat, for you." He spoke into my ear.
"But why?" I laughed.
"Because you've been working hard lately, and i'm proud of you."
I turned around in his hands and kissed him.
He then led me over to the cart.
"You got champagne too?" I asked as I saw a bottle in a bucket.
"I got us sparkling cider." He playfully rolled his eyes at me. "Since you know, you're still underage."
I laughed as I took a creme brûlée dish and made myself comfortable on the sofa while Harry poured us each a glass of cider, grabbed a slice of cake and joined me.
"So, are you excited for tomorrow?" He asked me as I leaned into his body.
"Yeah. I know i'll be tired because it will be an all day thing, but i'm so ready to see how it turns out."
He kissed the top of my head before taking a drink.
"So part of the whole thing is that they're going to ask me questions, so if they ask me any questions about us, what do you want me to say?"
"Well what questions would they ask?"
"Just about our relationship. I'm not going to reveal anything personal about us, because I know we agreed on not saying anything, but I could just say that i'm in a very happy relationship with someone I love and care about and who loves and cares about me."
He pursed his lips.
"I think that's perfect answer."
I smiled at him and he leaned down to kiss my lips.
"I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed me again.
He and I finished our desserts before getting ready for bed and then climbing under the covers.
Harry circled his arms around me and I tangled my legs with his. He moved one hand up to tuck my hair behind my ear before resting his cheek on mine.
I was just starting to get warm when suddenly there was a knock at the door and it opened, both Harry and I quickly sitting up, his hand reaching over to the nightstand drawer where he had stowed his gun before my mom turned the corner.
"Mom you scared me." I said, Harry and I moving apart.
I could see Harry blushing at the fact the we were in bed together.
"Sorry, I just wanted to see if you had any moisturizer I could borrow. I forgot mine at home."
"Yeah." I said and got up, leading her to the bathroom where I had several and let her pick which one she wanted.
"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" She asked.
"No. We were going to sleep." I said. "But next time text me or call me."
"Sorry, sweetheart." She smiled.
She and I left the bathroom and went back into the main bedroom where Harry was sitting up in the bed.
"Goodnight you two." My mom gave a little wave of her hand before leaving.
I locked the door behind her and then got back into the bed.
"Well that wasn't awkward." He sighed.
"Hey, at least we weren't doing something else."
"True." He chuckled.
He and I got back in our previous positions and after he kissed my head a few times, and since I knew it would be a long day tomorrow, I went to sleep as fast as I could.
Light moving before my eyelids is what woke me up, and I turned over in the bed, opening my eyes to see Harry sitting up in the bed beside me, watching the television.
"Why are you up?" I whispered in my tired and cracking voice and he looked down at me.
"Can't sleep. Jet lag." He said and I nodded. "But go back to sleep. I'm fine."
I closed my eyes for a minute but then opened my eyes back up to see him staring sadly ahead of him.
I bit my lip before sitting up, Harry looking at me as I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him.
"You look sad." I said as his arm wound around my back.
"I'm not sad." He shook his head. "I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
He didn't say anything.
"I'm not going to beg you for information, but I'm always here to talk to. I may not understand or know exactly what you're feeling, but I do care about you and what you're feeling, so i'll listen."
He sighed.
He clenched and then unclenched his jaw.
"Ive been thinking that you were right about us being together, and that if you want to move in together at the end of this semester, I'm okay with that."
"You mean that?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"Why did you change your mind?"
"Because i've realized that i've been so focused on myself and what I want for myself, that I haven't thought about what you want. I do want to be with you, and I want us to be together so this is the best way for us to continue."
"I want us to move in together because I love you and want to see how far we can go. And if I didn't think we'd be okay living together then I wouldn't have suggested it. But we've come so far, so why not keep going and see where we get?"
He nodded.
"But I want to talk to your parents first and make sure it's okay with them."
"We can do that." I smiled.
"But if we do move in together then I want us to set up some rules and boundaries."
"Like what?"
"How about when we get back to d.c. i'll type them up and we can go over them."
"Oh God, now i'm scared." I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled at this.
"Come on, we can talk more later. Let's go to bed." He smiled as he moved us back down into the bed, wrapping his arms around me so we could go back to sleep.
In the morning I woke up and showered before dressing in my short, white silk robe and slippers.
Harry got up and showered as well before going to change clothes.
I was sitting on the bed scrolling through my phone when Harry walked out and I looked up, laughter immediately falling from my lips.
He was wearing khaki slacks and a light green golf polo.
"That's it, i'm changing." He turned around.
"No! No you look cute! It's just that i've never seen you like this before."
He rolled his eyes.
"I don't want to go golfing." He muttered.
"Then don't go."
"I have to. I told your dad I would."
I smiled.
"Then make the best out of it and then come back when you're done so you can see me at my shoot."
He and I had just enough time to eat breakfast together before it was him time to go and people started arriving for the shoot.
"I hope you have a good time." I told him as he was about to leave.
"You too. I'll see you later." He came up and kissed me before leaving.
Then it was time for the real work to begin.
I sat in a tall chair in the bathroom waiting while the Vogue crew set up their cameras and equipment, and the stylists prepared the makeup and hair station along with the clothes.
The hair and makeup artist I had hand selected was named Jeremy, he had worked on lots of other Vogue shoots before, so I knew he had the expertise and knew what he was doing.
When he got there he introduced himself to me and then he got to work.
For the first look he began to curl my hair, and while he began doing that my mom and Mila came in to watch, my mom making sure Mila wouldn't touch anything.
Then came in Davi, the girl who would be interviewing me for Vogue. She was a tall strawberry blonde woman with big brown eyes and a style that matched a young Jennifer Aniston.
"Emma, it's so nice to finally meet you. I've been so excited to do this shoot with you. We all love you at Vogue."
"Thank you." I smiled at her after shaking her hand.
She then introduced herself to my mother and Mila before sitting down with her tape recorder and clipboard of questions, a camera man beside her with his camera trained on me.
"So Emma, lets start out with the easy questions." Davi said. "Tell me about your personal style. How would you describe it and what do you do to make your style your own?"
"I would say my personal style is very casual. On a typical day you'll find me in leggings, an over-sized tee shirt and adidas. But when it come to events i'm really split, if its a date or a party then i'll dress a little edgier, but when it comes to my first daughter duties, I like to dress more modestly, that timeless elegant look." I said and then blushed when I realized I had mentioned dates.
"So what would be your go to bag?" Davi then asked.
"I'm really not super big on purses, simply because I don't like carrying a lot of things around with me, so I prefer backpacks or clutches."
"Now you've been known to rock a bold lip every now and then," Davi smiled, "what inspires you to change things up?"
"I think it depends on my mood. If i'm feeling super confident then i'll try a red lip look, but I love neutrals too, and I think they can be just as classic and sexy."
Davi finished the portion of the style questions on her clipboard while Jeremy finished my hair, but when he moved on to my makeup it was a little difficult for me to talk so I got a break from the questions.
Once my makeup was done I was changed into the first outfit, a soft grey sweater that tucked into a black skirt and black heeled booties.
We then walked down to a hallway in the hotel that had a long window that had a gorgeous view of of Los Angeles skyline.
The rest of the morning was long and full of posing, changing looks, posing, answering questions, and more posing.
After getting back to the dressing room in the late afternoon I sat down in my chair.
As Jeremy began to curl my hair again I pulled out my phone to text Harry.
—
How much do you love me?
—
—
From Harry:
What do you want?
—
—
Bring me food? I'm starving and the snacks are gone.
—
—
From Harry:
What do you want to eat?
—
—
Idc whatever.
—
I continued to scroll through my phone as Jeremy finished my hair and then moved on to retouch my makeup.
He was working on my eyeshadow when I heard a knock at the open door and I opened my eyes to see Harry there.
His eyes looked around the room at the cameras filming me and he seemed anxious.
"Hey." I smiled at him in the mirror and Harry looked at Jeremy for a second before coming up to me and setting a to go bag from salata on the table.
"I got your favourite." He said.
"Thank you." I went to kiss him as Jeremy moved his hand away to get a different brush.
I noticed Harry puff up his chest a bit at the sight of another male so close to me but I just nudged his leg with my foot.
"So how was golf?" I asked him.
"Fine. I need to work on my game."
I began to eat my salad while my makeup was setting and in between bites I talked with Harry.
"Okay, we're ready for wardrobe Emma." Jeremy said and I got out of the chair.
"I'm warning you now, it will be very boring for you if you stay the rest of the night. So if you want to go do something else I understand." I told Harry.
"I'm going to head back to the room and catch up on the sleep I missed last night." He said. "But have fun."
"Thanks." I smiled and kissed his cheek before he left and I made my way to wardrobe.
The shoot lasted late into the evening and once I was done I went back to the hotel room, opening the door and walking in to find Harry laying in bed on his laptop.
"Hey." I yawned as I walked in.
"Hey." He looked up at me.
I changed clothes, took off my makeup and put my hair up in a ponytail before climbing up on the bed next to Harry.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
"Making my list of conditions for us to move in together."
I glanced at the screen to see there was a lot of words on the page he was typing.
"Wow." I said and he shut the lid.
"I'll show it to you when it's done." He said. "But how did the rest of your shoot go?"
"Fine. I think it's going to look great. I'm ready for the second one at the White House."
"Good." He smiled at me before setting his laptop aside.
"So did you really have a good time playing golf with my Dad?" I asked him as I wrapped my arms around his neck, moving closer to him.
"Yeah. He and I had a good talk about you and I moving in together."
My eyes went wide.
"You actually talked to him about it?"
"I did."
"What did he say?"
"Well I mentioned that you were wanting us to move in together, but I would not move forward unless we had his permission, and your moms of course. And he said that since you and I had lived together successfully for so long, he did not see a problem with us trying it out again, as long as we had some ground rules."
"Ground rules like what?"
"Some of your parents rules will be in the contract i'm drawing up."
"Contract." I sat back. "Why do we need a contract?"
"If we're getting a place together then i'm assuming we'll be paying for it together and that means finances will come into account."
"Harry you're taking this way too seriously." I rolled my eyes.
"No i'm not. Moving in is a serious thing."
"Yeah it's a big step but we don't need all of these stipulations attaches to it. I want to live with you because I want to be closer to you, and you should want the same. I don't want our relationship to be based off of contracts. We've done that before and I thought the whole purpose of us doing this again was to get away from that."
I moved away from him as I spoke.
"Emma there's going to be rules if we live together. That's not up for discussion."
"Rules like what?"
"Like there will be a curfew-"
"A curfew?!" My jaw dropped.
"No drinking. You'll be on a budget-"
I flung back the sheets and got out of the bed.
"You're ridiculous sometimes! Do you know that Harry? You're not my parent, you're my boyfriend. Stop treating me like a child. I'm so sick of it!"
"Where are you going?" He called at me as I began to walk away.
"Anywhere but here." I said as I left our hotel room.
I crossed my arms over my chest as I walked down past the secret service agents in the hall and down to my parents room where I knocked on the door.
A moment later my mom opened it.
"Emma? What's wrong?" She asked me.
"Can I stay in here tonight?" I asked her.
"Why?"
"Because Harry and I had a fight."
She gave me an understanding look and let me in.
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.
I shrugged my shoulders and sat down in one of the chairs, her sitting down in one across from me.
"He's just so bossy sometimes." I said.
"How is he being bossy?"
"We've been talking about possibly moving in together after this semester, and he wants a contract with all of these rules I have to follow. And if that's the case then I might as well stay at the White House. I just want him to stop treating me like a kid."
"Have you considered that maybe his rules are for your protection?"
"I mean I know some are, but others are ridiculous."
She pursed her lips.
"Have you and Harry been to counseling anymore?"
"Not since the first time." I shook my head. "He hasn't talked to me about going back." I said and then sighed. "I just hate fighting with him."
My mom chuckled.
"Emma, can I say something and have you not get mad at me?" She rhetorically asked. "You and Harry are both very stubborn. You have to learn how to compromise. If you don't then your relationship will never get anywhere."
I nodded.
"When your father and I first had Grayson, we had two totally different parenting styles. He wanted to be more strict and I wanted to be more laid back, but we had to learn how to combine our ideas and talk through them in order to raise him into a good person, and then do the same with you. And now we're doing that with Mila." She said. "Go back and talk to him. Don't yell or cry or scream, but just tell him what you think and ask him what he thinks and then tell him you want to find a compromise."
I sat there for a few more minutes in order to calm myself down before going back to the room.
When I walked back in he was sitting in one of the arm chairs, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands. The sound of the door closing made him look up at me and he sighed.
I had to be a grown up. So I needed to apologize.
"I'm sorry for storming out." I said as I sat in one of the other chairs.
He nodded in acknowledgment.
"Look, I don't want to fight, but some of the rules you mentioned are not okay with me, and I think we need to talk about them and compromise. I know you want things your way and I want things mine, but we have to learn how to agree without screaming at each other."
"I agree." He nodded again.
"So...that's what I have to say."
He sat there, very still, for another minute before sitting up and looking at me.
"I know that I can be strict with you, and I get that way only when I feel you are being childish. But you are right, I am not your father, I am your boyfriend, and I need to treat you as you are my girlfriend. My rules are only to keep you safe, you know that. But i'm willing to compromise and listen if you're willing to do the same."
"I can do that."
"Okay." He nodded and then let out a breath.
I decided to make the first move and got up, going over to him and placing myself on his lap as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
"I'm sorry for fighting with you." I said softly.
"I'm sorry for fighting too." He said back before I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
"I love you." I whispered.
"I love you too." He kissed me again. "Now lets go to bed. We'll talk more in d.c."
"Okay." I gave him a little smile and he lifted me up before carrying me over to the bed.
Once we had laid down and gotten comfortable, I spoke into the quiet of the room.
"I know we argue, but when we do it never changes my love for you, and I hope you know that."
His hand rubbed up and down my side.
"I know." He responded. "I don't like fighting with you either Emma, I really don't."
"We're both really stubborn."
"I'm not stubborn." He said and I looked up at him to see him smirking at me.
"Shut up." I laughed.
His arms squeezed me tighter as he laughed, his lips hitting the top of my head.
Oh, Harry.
—
what are your thoughts on Emma and Harry's fight? does Emma have a right to be mad or not?
so heads up you guys, one of the characters in 24/7 is going to "go away" next chapter. any guesses on who?
you'll have to wait and find out ;)
much love xx-m