F O R T Y - F O U R :
He was a tree blowing blissfully in the breeze as the wind gently lapped his already rosy cheeks, he and his family decided to take themselves on a walk to do something that was penniless but still enjoyable. He was lost within his own thoughts a few paces behind the rest of the Stiles bunch. Why did his feelings feel so foreign to him especially now? He was happy, he was sad, he was confused but when it came to those feelings he didn't know.
Luckily, for the Stiles' the grass was dry and the sun was out, it wasn't particularly hot but it was warm, warm enough to have a picnic in the middle of the park where they could watch the ducks and swans swim around the lake aimlessly and dipping their head far beneath, oh to be a duck.
Emma found the perfect spot, around a metre and a half away from the lakes edge, she placed the tartan red blanket on the grass, which was thankfully big enough for the four of them. James put the rucksack full of sandwiches, crisps, biscuits and drinks on the centre of the blanket then pulled everything out so that they could all help themselves.
"Harri, are you okay son?" James questioned his eldest with his eyebrows drawn together, the twenty year old had barley uttered a word since they set off from their home. The dark brown eyes that he got from his father looked up at the man himself and nodded with a smile. He didn't feel sad or angry or any negative emotion, he just wasn't sure why he was overthinking everything so much, he hadn't any reason to.
"Can I put some music on?" Belle asked her parents. The surrounding area was rather secluded, there were only a few walkers and sitters jotted around the place, there wouldn't be any noise complainants from anyone.
"Don't put it on too loud though," Emma reasoned, she had a moment of hesitance but music was a big part of all of their lives, they all enjoyed it thoroughly and it shaped them in a weird way.
The first song the fell from the speakers of Belle's rose gold mobile was a song called 'She Didn't Care' from STRINGS' second album 'Call It What It Is', Belle often referred to it as her favourite song as of right now but she said that about many a song. Harrison took a sip from his bottle and swallowed the cool water, he still hadn't spoke, he didn't really know what to say but his silence was deafening.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Belle asked, she was concerned too "As much as I love you being quiet I want you to be okay, so are you?" She added with a light joke and smile.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Harrison asked back, sneering at the question he'd been asked twice with a question himself. The truth was, he just wanted to see her again and he knew it sounded weird because he didn't know her but she was nice and the band she was in made some solid tracks.
"You're never usually this quiet when music is brought into the equation, so what's wrong?" Belle continued questioning, she knew there was something wrong because she could read that man like a bloody book, even though she wasn't a massive fan of reading, he was very readable.
She'd noticed that he'd been a bit off since she asked him about whether or not he fancied anyone and she felt insatiably guilty, she didn't mean to offend him if he was offended, she just really wanted him to have a girlfriend who was actually a good person and not a 'clout chaser' as all the young folk say. Everyone he's 'dated' since Georgia was exactly like her, they didn't give a shit about him and his feelings only about what he had in his wallet.
When they met Oak at the gym she remembers how she didn't make Harrison pay for the lunch even though he offered and the brunette admired that, she remembers so transparently when Harrison met a girl, this time last year, they weren't official of anything they were just seeing each other. She was called Lottie and it was a similar encounter, the girl stood back and made her brother pay, she just looked at his hand where he held his wallet then back at the cashier with a smile on her face acting as if it was his duty, that, that single action pissed Belle off and it formed her full opinion on her.
——— ••• ———
Deep down in the very depths of Belle's body she knew that Harrison missed Oak even though he gave no indication of missing her and he didn't even say he liked her, but she was wiser about love than he thought. She was sat at her white desk, her computer on the table plugged in, over the last three and a half weeks or so she'd been working on making her own podcast, which was thankfully nearly done—well, she'd mastered the practicing all she needed now was a logo and some guests.
That's when the brightest lightbulb went off in her head, she was going to invite The Blue to her house to be her first guests but tell Oak to come at an earlier time so she could speak to Harrison too. She hoped that Alex, Charlie and Joe would agree to it because she wanted to play Cupid and get Harrison a girl who was sweeter than a spoonful of golden syrup.
With the idea searing through her brain she went on Instagram and messaged all of the male members of The Blue purposefully excluding Oak so her master plan would fall into place.
With the concocted plan already doing better than she hoped the next stage was to make her brother be aware of the podcast she was due to create but keep it hush, hush about who was starring in it. Never in her life had she thought of something so clever and not to mention how up for it her band mates were, that was a relief. So, with the three fellas agreeing to help with Isabelle's cunning plan, she explained to each of them briefly what it was she wanted them to do.
Belle, herself was going to message Oak, in due time— she asked Charlie if he could get the inside scoop as to when the blue-haired girl was next free. He explained that she worked Monday, Wednesday and Friday's but they were going on the Europe leg of the STRINGS tour in three days so it would have to be some time after the twenty-fifth of the month. The brunette girl said there was no rush for it to happen but she had to keep an eye on time because Harrison could possibly be going back to the States next month.
Quite honestly, she still wasn't sure how she was going to play this out as she'd never actually done anything like this before but she knew her brother and she knew what he liked so that was a bonus.
Another step to get her plan swinging into action was creating her logo, which would be easy because it didn't need to be over the top, less means more, well that's what her art teacher said in year eight. The hardest thing about it was thinking of what to call the podcast, she wanted to have something catchy or something easy to remember so that people would find it. . .easier.
Her podcast was going to be about music and people in general, there was going to be a different topic each episode so she wanted to make it relatable to her, her favourite colour was yellow so that was going to be her base colour. The name was the hardest thing she could think of because the name was the focal point of the whole operation.
She dropped a text box in the centre of the yellow square and typed the words 'The Funk', this was mainly a test to see how the font looked but the actual name didn't even sound too bad so she rolled with it. It was all very exciting, she'd wanted to create her own proper podcast for such a long time now and she felt like this was the best time to do so.
"Harrison, Isabelle!" The voice of their mother called up the winding carpeted stairs, Belle instantly felt a surge of worry wash over her, her mum very rarely ever called her Isabelle and she very rarely called Harri Harrison—what the fuck had they done?
The two siblings stepped out of their white wooden doors, looked at each other in confusion then trailed themselves down the stairs. Emma and James had been planning on doing what they had done for a while now, they just had to wait two months before they could properly do what they wanted to do.
James told them that he had to go to work after receiving a phone call but that was a lie and Emma knew it—the pair were both expecting a call from this lady called Barbra Reynolds, who actually worked at James' place of work, her dog had ten puppies two months ago and she didn't want to keep them all.
The parents knew that Harri and Belle had wanted a dog for a very long time, they constantly went on and on about getting one but Emma and James didn't think it was an appropriate time to get one and they didn't have enough money, Harrison offered but Emma said she didn't want one, as a lie. Barbra was kind enough to let the parents have a puppy for a cheaper price because they knew each other so that was a bonus, she let them pay one-hundred and fifty for the dog that was meant to be double the price.
"What's wrong, why'd you shout us?" Belle asked questioningly as her eyes darted around the room sceptically. Harrison was just as confused but didn't bother questioning it because he felt rather fatigued, he'd rather they got whatever it was over and done with before he dropped to the floor and fell asleep.
"James!" Emma called her 'husband' and in he walked from the hallway door with a large box, at first the siblings didn't want to make any drastic assumptions considering the words their mother spoke just mere months ago.
Gently, the greying man placed the box full of holes on the living room floor with a bright smile on his face "Are you gonna open it then?" He asked with a chuckle as his kids watched his every move suspiciously, this behaviour was odd coming from them.
Still, with hesitance the two youngest Stiles approached the box, they didn't think their parents would prank them but then again they never knew what to expect. "Do you wanna do it?" Belle asked her brother to her left, who just looked down at the box with narrowed eyes.
"We'll do it together," He suggested and the brunette girl nodded her head. Slowly, they grabbed one end of the box each and lifted the lid up and their eyes landed on the cutest thing they had ever seen in their entire lives.
"Piss off!" Belle blurred out in complete shock, no way in hell and earth did she expect to see a puppy in a box in their house.
"Belle!" Her mum warned her again.
Belle's hands steadily reached inside the box and picked up the sandy dog, she held it close to her as Harrison had the biggest smile on his face, he petted it on it's head gently and it licked his wrist as a response. "She's a retriever, if you wanted to know and you two can name her," James explained as the two parents watched their kids with the biggest smiles on their faces, they knew they'd react well.
"Thank you so much," Harrison thanked gratefully and hugged both of his parents in massive thanks, how was this a thing? How did they now have a bloody dog?
"This is. . . She's adorable, thank you!" Belle gushed as the full family sat on the sofa to give the puppy some love. The hardest part was thinking of a name that would suit her adorable little face.
They discussed names ranging from Bambi, Honey, Lennon, River, Sage, Wispa, Dotty, Flora and Venus—it was harder than they thought, they wanted to give her an unusual name so she would stand out from all of the other dogs.
"What about Vanilla?" Harrison suggested and it took a few glances at the puppy to process of that name would fit her and it most certainly did.
wrote; thursday 2nd april 2020
(partially) edited; friday 23rd october 2020
published; friday 30th october 2020