Fleetwood Mac: Road Runner
Our 'free' week was quite a mess and we ended up staying inside Harry's home in Los Angeles almost for its entirety. Harry tried going to the store once and was swarmed by paparazzi and fans, all wanting a piece of him or his mind. I'd never seen him as distressed before, as he was upon returning home. We decided it was not worth our stress and ended up filling our days with movie marathons, karaoke with the crew, one pool party and a lot of fun. When we hid ourselves and our relationship everything went swell. The moment either of us thought about going to run an everyday errand, we'd start arguing about it. He was sick of hiding and I was too afraid to go out. We'd been going in circles for the first few days so we just decided to avoid the subject altogether. It wasn't the healthiest decision, but we only had a week to spend together and there was no point in spending it fighting over something we couldn't change.
The European leg was almost over, June and this tour had flown by, despite the fact neither of us thought it possible. Our next stop was London and the Brits, one night only, but we were all looking forward to it because Coldplay was performing and Harry was up for 'album of the year'. We talked about how we were going to act at the awards, regarding all the press and cameras that would be shoved in Harry's face for most of the night. He told me we would do whatever I felt comfortable with, and after a lot of pondering I finally came to the conclusion that we had absolutely nothing to hide. A long talk we had in Dublin covered everything from future outings, travels, social media and we agreed on everything. We wouldn't walk red carpets together; we'd only sit at the same table at award shows. We wouldn't answer questions about out relationship when we were apart, and we would never engage with paparazzi. We completely agreed about keeping ourselves off social media when it came to being together – no photos, no stories, no tweets, no selfies. Nothing ever stopped us from taking cute of funny pictures together, having friends take polaroid pics of us or videos of a party we both attended. That being said, there was a strict rule of not sharing any of those anywhere on social media. The Brits would be a true test of how our decisions held up against the real world.
"Would you let me see your dress?", Harry was like an annoying kid that had too much sugar and wouldn't give up, sitting on the floor of his living room.
"God, Harry. It doesn't really matter what it looks like since we're not trying to match. Besides, wouldn't you rather be surprised?", he nodded as a three-year-old's face still inhabited his own. We'd have one of his friends come over shortly to style our hair and do makeup. She knocked on the door of Harry's London house and he sent me to go let her in. When I opened the door I was met by a woman whose face I'd seen countless times in photos years ago.
"Hi love, I'm Lou.", she went straight for a hug and I awkwardly put my arms around her torso. She looked different than I imagined but was still incredibly beautiful. I couldn't believe that the woman who styled the rowdy One Direction lot was in front of me.
"Sorry, I'm Thea. Come in, please.", we walked through the home and straight into the back yard. Harry and she ran to hug each other, probably not having seen each other for a year.
"The legend himself! Oi! You never told me that you met someone, you arse.", she punched his shoulder and he acted as if she'd wounded him with a firearm.
"Well, it wasn't really an over the phone type of news, Lou. I know the drill, don't yell. I'll go hop in the shower and you can work your magic on teacup. Not that she needs it.", he added, retreating from the area slowly.
"Last minute save, eh? So, what shall we do with your hair and makeup today, love?", we moved inside, natural lighting apparently sucked for doing makeup. It was quite nice chatting to her; she shared some very entertaining young Harry stories while she curled my hair and assembled it all into a nice low bun I had no chance of ever replicating myself.
"Cause I'm a road runner, baby / Anywhere is my home. And I love the life I live / And I'm going to live the life I love / I'm a road runner, baby / Don't want no woman, to tie me down / Gotta be free, baby, to roam around.", Harry entered the living room, singing an old tune by Fleetwood.
"Except I do want a woman, only one.", he goofed off in the mirror and attempted to kiss my head, but Lou shooed him off before he ruined 'her work of art'.
"How long have you two been together?"
"Uhm... since mid-April. We met in December of last year, though. Harry attended a party my firm threw for Christmas and we became friends very quickly. Long story short, we kind of ended up dating in the process. I'm not so sure how and why that happened, but let's keep that between us.", I joked, knowing he could hear me from his spot on the sofa, "I heard that, teacup!".
We both went into separate rooms to get dressed and came out at the same time. Harry looked divine in an all-black suit and without wanting to we ended up matching, my black and white dress that looked nice against it.
I'd never been to an awards show, but from what I heard they were pretty crazy. A lot of celebs, an abundance of drinks and food, a plethora of microphones and cameras filming your every move. The after parties were infamous, but we wouldn't attend since we had to catch a flight to Madrid right after the ceremony. Harry and I went in separately, he was accompanied by the band and I followed Chris and the guys inside. A big table in the middle had all of our names on it and I had a feeling it wasn't by accident they sat Coldplay&Co with Harry&Co. The performances were really impressive, but I was dying for them to announce the winner of Harry's category.
"Now, the album of the year award goes to... Harry Styles!", the crowd erupted with a cheer and Harry started getting up. I got up to hug him before he went on stage, knowing it would be the perfect way of confirming what everyone was speculating, but in an environment and situation we controlled. We shared a quick peck and I squeezed his arm, whispering to him how proud I was. Cameras started flashing all around us, and more applauding happened. He climbed up on the stage, gave a short speech about the album and how grateful he was for the incredible response the fans and the industry had for it. I could tell people were glancing in my direction while he spoke, as if they hoped he'd say something about his girlfriend.
We ended on a high and boarded a private flight to Madrid. I'd been there a week ago, but no amount of times I visited Madrid could ever be enough. That city was the definition of home away from home, I knew the little streets like the back of my hand, the locations of the best cafes and bars, the coolest restaurants and not a single city in the US made me feel as welcome as Madrid did. Instead of going to a hotel room the driver dropped us off at a house in the neighborhood of Salamanca.
"What are we doing here, is the entire team staying with us?", I questioned as Harry grabbed our suitcases and punched a code into the front gate.
"Patience, grasshopper. Come on.", we walked through the gate and towards a big blue door. The light was already on inside the house, but I didn't think much of it because it wasn't unusual for owners of rentals to leave some gifts to welcome you. Harry opened the front door and yelled out 'honeeeey, I'm hooome'.
"Who are you talking to, there's nobody here.", he flashed me a cheeky, dimpled smile and urged me to walk into the living space first. My suitcase and the keys to the house dropped to the floor as I saw who stood before me.
"She's gonna need a moment to process. Lads, how've you been?", Harry walked past me and hugged each of the four men. There was a lot of boyish behavior, congratulating and promises not to let more than a year pass before they see each other again. I blinked a couple of times.
"I'm okay now. I'm sorry, Harry, but what the hell are Niall, Louis, Zayn and Liam doing in the living room of our rental?", I honestly don't know how I managed to say their names without whimpering a bit, but all four of them laughed at my confusion.
"Hi, it's so nice to see yer again, this time in person.", Niall, apparently most to his senses, came over and hugged me. The rest of them followed, each saying hi and how lovely it was to finally meet me. I turned around and went straight into the kitchen, rummaging through the cupboards. I finally found what I was looking for, knowing I'd eventually locate it since every decent Spanish kitchen had some hard liquor hidden somewhere. I poured a shot of tequila and downed it in seconds. The five men stood in the living room, not quite sure what the hell I was doing.
"Okay. Now I'm good. I had to check if I was seeing things."
"And you decided to check if you were imagining this by drinking tequila, teacup?", Harry fought off his desperate need to burst into a fit of laughter.
"Well, it felt right in the moment. Now, who will explain this to me?", all of them looked at each other, not knowing who should start.
"Harry called us in early April, telling us he met someone and that he had an epic surprise for her, if we were up for it. Obviously, it had to be the real deal if he'd call us up and ask us to come to Madrid to surprise ya. We worked around our schedules and freed up a couple days to spend here.", Liam spoke first.
"Yeah but I mean nothing could've prepared us for your face when you walked in. Like you'd seen a ghost.", Louis continued and the rest of them reacted like they usually do to anything he says, uncontrollable laughter.
"I'm still not quite sure you lot are real, but I won't question it any longer. I presume this is a celebratory get-together, so I'll find some alcohol and one of you put some music on, please... In fact, Louis, would you be so kind to be in charge of the music station for now?", the rest of them acted offended that I asked Lou to do it, but he was the only one I trusted to figure out what type of music all of us were in the mood for. I mixed gin and tonics, brought out some beer and found snacks already set to be served. Harry really did think of everything.
"This isn't just a celebration, though. Harry told us how big of a One Direction fan you are, and to be honest we haven't been together, in the same place at the same time, for years.", I couldn't believe he'd do this for me, he got the band back together... at least for one night. The music turned louder, we all laughed, they shared stories of the band, drinks got stronger and we were all pretty buzzed after the third one.
"What do you put in these, love?", Louis raised his glass above his head, turning it toward the light, trying to see if there was anything unusual in it.
"It's a Spanish gin and tonic, 70% gin, 20% ice and 10% tonic. You'll be fine.", I explained that Spanish drinks were quite strong, but how I was positive they could handle it.
"Now that we're all drunk enough, I need to hear who your favorite member was? Were you always a Harry girl?", drunk Liam was fun and noisy Liam, apparently.
"Who says I'm a Harry girl now?"
"Touché!", Niall snickered and Harry shot me a fake glare.
"Come on, you've got to tell us.", I refused and Louis had a bright idea, "Then we'll start guessing. I think you were a me girl", I shook my head.
"Damn, not a Louis one... I'm gonna go with Niall, he seems like your type back in the day.", Liam shared his two cents and I shook my head once more, laughing at how off base they were.
"Wow, I think it's Liam, it must be him.", Harry added and Zayn agreed. I shook my head.
"I was actually a Zayn girl, funny that Harry couldn't guess and he knows what I like in a man physically.", they all oohed and booed.
"Interesting, love... do tell us why that is?", Louis leaned forward, almost falling off the sofa.
"Based on what I could find out about you, from interviews and concerts, Zayn always seemed most like me – quiet, reserved, funny but picky about when he shows that side of him.", he shot me a warm smile and Harry rested his fingers over his chin, thinking about what I just said.
"Y'know, that actually makes sense. You don't let your crazy show, not even in front of me.", I threw a pillow and hit his head this time, as the rest of them cheered me on.
"Watch it, teacup! Or we won't sing for ya.", my head snapped in his direction. He wouldn't.
"What did you just say?"
"I remember us having a certain conversation during our road trip to New York, about which songs you'd choose to hear us perform live, if you ever got the chance to. So, I managed to convince these four that we should totally sing those tonight.", I couldn't really contain my emotions any longer and I jumped from my spot on the sofa directly into Harry's lap, hugging him really hard. Did he really do this for me? Even Zayn was here...
"Oi! Even though Harry is technically the youngest, Niall is still the kid here, so if you two would be so kind as to stop snogging, we'd be very thankful.", Louis joked and we all moved from the spacious living room to the amazing terrace. They sat me down and formed a little half-circle around me, preparing to sing.
"Wait! If I cry we're gonna say it's the alcohol and none of you will mention it ever again, got it?", they nodded and started harmonizing. I never thought I'd hear this live.
"...I don't care what people say when we're together / you know I wanna be the one to hold you when you sleep / I just want it to be you and I forever / I know you wanna leave so c'mon baby be with me so happily.", they brought this amazing acapella version of Happily to its end and I had to contain myself to stop the screams of happiness that were threatening to come out. Instead I just started laughing uncontrollably and was met by five sets of eyes that had a hard time figuring out what was so funny.
"It's just that... I never thought I'd live to hear this live... let alone in a setting such as this one. Man... I wish my eyes had little hidden cameras in them that transmitted this live to everyone that needs to hear it.", my hand reached for the big gin-tonic glass that stood on the coffee table in front of me, but the thing was empty.
"Anyone want a refill?" – Harry picked up the rest of the glasses and followed me to the kitchen.
"Nobody's ever done something this nice for me, y'know? I mean, nobody ever had the power to make this particular thing happen... but you make my dreams come to life Harry.", I let go of the clunky glasses and went straight for a kiss. There was nothing I could do, besides kiss him, to try and show him how I really felt, which was a new thing for me. I was always able to do everything with words and it surprised me to see that even I could come to a point where words meant nothing.
"I like making your dreams come to life, teacup. Don't overthink it, just enjoy tonight.", we finished mixing the drinks and made it back to the terrace just in time to find the boys in hysterics over something.
What I wouldn't give to be as happy and carefree as this every single day...
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A/N: this chapter is what dreams are made of, truly... I know some of you are probably solo Harry fans and that's totally cool. I just wanted to live out my fantasy of them all being together once more. If this is the only way us ot5 fans get to relive the good old days, then so be it - this is my gift to you and I hope I did us good. Also, I really did study abroad in Madrid and it's home for me, so I needed to include it in the story. Hope you liked this chapter!
TPWK, always.
T.