S I X T Y - O N E :
With a spur of confidence within herself, Oak had decided that today was the day she would stop caring so much about what others thought about what she was wearing because at the end of the day, it was clothes, pieces of fabric that concealed what was underneath. It was also to express their personality. She was sick and tired of being in a bubble of expression but not confident enough to wear clothes like Harper, sure she wasn't as model like as her friend but at the end of the day, she couldn't change her genetics.
So, she decided to wear the dress her mum had bought her for her birthday because she was told by her mum that it was a formal-ish restaurant, she looked at herself in the mirror the skimpy dress clung to her body a little, it wasn't figure hugging but it was definitely extenuating the parts of her body that she usually covered with everything she could. Her eyes trailed down her body in the mirror in front of her, her hands slowly smoothing over the smooth fabric, thank god she'd shaved her legs yesterday because her legs were on full display and this was the sort of dress that didn't really allow you to wear tights as it'd look a bit weird. She'd paired it with some white converse because she didn't wear high heels, she didn't need to and they were the only shoes that really went with the dress, she'd put the silver pendant necklace that her nana had bought her on along with a range of all of the other jewellery she'd gotten today.
A weird feeling washed over her as she pulled the denim jacket on and looked at her reflection one last time, she'd put on some plain lip-gloss and mascara to top off her look, what she was feeling was something she hadn't felt since she was like twelve, she felt confident.
She remembers seeing something on Twitter awhile back and it said if you wanted to feel flattered ask your brother how you look, she didn't know why she did it because she knew that Tom was always rather bluntly honest whereas Seb was a little kinder with his honesty. Really, she did it because she wanted a reason to not wear the dress, which was also a weird feeling to have, she just never truly believed she looked good even if she felt it, which was also very rare for her to feel.
"How do I look?" Oak asked her brother who was stood in the bathroom, spitting out the mouthwash he'd just swirled around. He'd decided to wear a pair of grey and black checkered trousers and a plain black t-shirt tucked into them, so it was kind of a smart casual look. Tom's blue eyes looked at his sister stood in the doorway as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly turned around. It was odd for him to see his sister wearing a dress and actually looking fairly confident, she had nothing to be not confident about though even if she saw every flaw she had. Tom just stared at her with a happy smile, which worried Oak, he didn't smile like that much unless he was about to insult her or something along those lines, with awkwardness radiating her she stepped from one foot to the other "It's too much isn't it, fucking hell, I knew it..." She rambled nervously.
"It's not, you look lovely," Tom complimented honestly, he prayed that those fucking lads that Charlie and Louise had invited would keep their hands to themselves because she sure as hell wasn't going to be shy of male attention tonight.
"Really?" His sister asked in shock, her posture standing up straight and her eyebrows raising, she didn't expect that. Not because Tom is a complete dick but because even though she felt confident she was still insecure as hell and wanted someone else to tell her that she was doing too much.
"Really," He responded still with a smile, he was proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and being expressive of herself "Now, come on we've got the table booked for half seven," Tom ushered her out of the doorway. He was dying to see her reaction when everyone surprised her. He'd been made aware of who was going, from the cast of this Netflix show Self-Indulgence that he knew The Blue had worked with, he'd heard about the show but had never watched it, the two bands that they toured with at the start of the year, all of her family that could make it and many other friends and colleagues she'd made. He hoped with everything in him that she loved the party, it was an expression of the love everyone had for her even if she found it hard to believe.
——— ••• ———
Louise had yet to tell Oak what 'restaurant' they were going to because it wasn't real, all she kept saying was that it was a new one in town that she couldn't pronounce the name of; the plan was to keep it a secret until the very last few seconds, until the people jumped out and shouted at her. This process had been very long and awaited, they'd been planning this since the middle of March to ensure that they had enough time to properly organise it and to give the people invited enough notice, Charlie was nervous, Louise was nervous, basically everyone was nervous because keeping it from Oak was so hard to do but thankfully they'd let no clues slip.
The venue wasn't far from where they lived so the journey there didn't take very long especially because Louise was driving the eco-friendly car that Oak had persuaded her into getting. Oak was looking out of the window to see if there were any clues as to where they were going, her mum hadn't even told her what style of food it was, she was adamant on keeping that concealed.
Within a ten minute drive they were pulling up into the car park that was full of cars, making it more believable that it was indeed a food chain, Oak was still confused, she'd never heard of this place--although, she said that, there wasn't even a sign outside that said what it was called. A sense of panic swarmed through her, this was it, her family had finally got sick of her and were now sending her to an abattoir, although she was slightly upset about it being on her birthday, she wasn't surprised, twenty years was long enough with her annoying self.
They'd all clambered out of the car, Louise taking longer than necessary to get everything sorted, she'd managed to set up Oak's Polaroid camera beforehand and had hid it in her bag, she was pissing about so everyone inside had enough time to get ready for the big surprise. Seb as hidden as possible, pulled his phone out and messaged Charlie who was waiting for the signal to get everyone in positions, they hadn't been there that long but the anticipation was killing them and they were just eagerly waiting for Oak to enter the room.
Oak's eyes scanned over the building that was about fifteen feet in front of them, it didn't look like a restaurant, it looked more like a conference hall; maybe it was like a shopping centre inside but it was weird to her that it didn't even have a sign, just how new was this place?
"Come on then," Louise smiled after apologising for taking so long, she was acting as if she'd lost something in the car that she needed, the scapegoat item was her red lipstick that she'd painted her lips with and had brought it with her so she could touch it up.
The four Rivers/Hamish walked towards the building, Oak still feeling apprehensive, there wasn't really any need for such secrecy it was a restaurant not Area-51. Louise would be lying if she said she wasn't a pile of nerves right now, the build up to this day felt like it lasted several years and the fact that it was finally here was pretty unbelievable, she just prayed that her daughter loved it as much as her friends and family loved planning it.
They'd walked through the building, there was no indication to Oak that this place was a restaurant and she was internally shitting herself because her mind always took her to a place that was far darker than what the reality was. She was so anxious that she'd began to sweat, Tom had given her a weird look when she paused their walking to pull her jacket off and tie it around her waist but didn't bother questioning it.
When they reached the room door that concealed god knows how many people Louise's heart jumped out of her chest as she pushed the door slowly open urging Oak to go in first and when she was greeted by darkness her anxiousness doubled "Why the fuck is it dar-" She began but was cut off by some small lights turning on and a loud cheer of happy birthday was yelled in her direction making her jump slightly.
Her blue eyes looked back and forth between her siblings and mum by her side to the large cluster of people at the other end of the room "What?" Oak asked with a laugh before the sound system in the building began playing happy birthday, which made her laugh even more. Suddenly, she felt overwhelmed with emotion--she couldn't believe they'd planned this for her and she couldn't see why they did.
Before she could cry her legs were carrying her over to her group of friends who had large smiles on their faces "Whoever planned this you're dead," She said jokingly before wrapping them in a hug, her eyes filled with water. She was going around everyone hugging them when she reached them and was surprised every time she hugged someone new, she did not expect her family from Australia to be here nor the cast of Self-Indulgence or the STRINGS and Oscar Whinchester's band; this shit was wild and she felt every ounce of emotion wash over until the point where she cried.
As Oak was walking around the room greeting everyone Harrison's eyes followed her every move in admiration, she looked beautiful, which was obviously no surprise to him because she always did. He continued being infatuated by her every aspect, from the way her thin dress strap kept falling down and she'd be constantly pulling it back up with her ring-cladded fingers and how wide she'd smile when she recognised a face in the sea of people.
An arm whacked him out of his thought train and he looked down to his left side "You can stop staring now she's coming our way," Isabelle said to him jokingly, which only made his cheeks go red, it made it worse that she was actually coming their way now, whoever said Isabelle could come he wishes they didn't.
"Thank you for coming," Oak smiled brightly and pulled the man into a tight hug, which he repeated, his hands resting on her shoulder blades gently, he was savouring this moment, probably too much. "I love your shirt," She complimented him as her eyes trailed down his torso, he always looked good no matter what she'd seen him in, it was tight blue and white thick striped shirt that had three buttons undone revealing the small amount of chest hair he had and the thin chain that was around his neck.
Harrison's cheeks tinged even more at her compliment as his eyes darted down to her body and he felt bad for doing so but she looked stunning, he couldn't help himself. Clearing his throat he spoke "Thank you, I like your dress," He thanked, giving her a compliment in return to which she just smiled shyly at.
"Thank you for coming too Isabelle, it's great to see you again," Oak moved a few steps to the left to wrap the shorter brunette girl in a tight hug. She looked flawless too, which was no surprise to Oak--that family had some solid genes, that was for sure both of the Stiles' were fucking drop dead gorgeous and it was majorly unfair. Isabelle was wearing a white and black polka-dot jumpsuit with some black strapped sandal boots, she too always looked nice in everything Oak had seen her in.
"I'm glad to be here but if I'm gonna be at your next one you need to start calling me Belle," Belle replied playfully oozing in confidence emphasising her words, which made Oak laugh lightly, she was jealous of how confident Belle always seemed, she wished she could be like that. It was easy to get on with these two, she usually found it hard but they both just had friendly demeanour's.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind, Belle," Oak joked back, using the girl's preferred name. "I need to go and hug everyone else but when I'm done I'm coming back to dance with yous," She smiled cheekily getting a burst of confidence to suggest dancing and quickly walked away so that they couldn't object to it. She didn't know why she suggested such a thing, she hated dancing but the thought of dancing with Harrison made her belly do a weird flip, she seriously needed to get a hold on that feeling because it was starting to become worrying. The only time she'd had that feeling in the last two years was when she was in a car and went down a very steep hill with a bump in the road, she probably sounded dumb to her brain to not know straight up what that feeling was yet she kind of knew it was butterflies and she liked them being there.
She must've hugged everyone by now because her arms were hurting at her mouth was dry, there were people jotted around all over the large room, dancing and talking with a drink held in their grips with smiles on their faces--it was nice, this was nice, weirdly. Oak had never really been a massive fan of parties especially ones that were for her, she didn't know why, she just never really fancied having one but she loved this. The thing that made her love it most was the fact that everyone she cared about, all her friends, and family who she hadn't see in God knows how long and the people who she'd gotten close to in the short period of time she'd met them like Aray, Elle, Tom, Evan, Julian, Ajay, Zoie, Sienna, Oscar, Jeremy, George, Ollie, Dan, Aaron, Jack and Eddie; they'd all gotten close in such a short amount of time and she was so glad that she got to see them all again sooner than she'd imagined, she'd expected to see the actors at the leg end of next week but the bands she hadn't expected to see them for a while in all honesty.
"Can't lie, I think I'm in love with you," Elias said jokingly as he looked at his best friend, she looked astonishing--like she usually did but this was a different kind of astonishing, it was the kind where you could tell she felt beautiful, which he thought she should feel every single day but she didn't and now you could tell she felt it, you could see it in her ocean eyes that she felt confident and he was living for it.
"Don't say things like that," Oak told him, rolling her eyes lightly. "Because I'll get my hopes up just to get them brought back down again," Oak added obviously joking, he did that a lot whenever he could sense her confidence because he loved her when she loved herself more because she deserved to love herself, she was a dime.
"That's true," Elias shrugged nonchalantly to which Oak just laughed. She'd been speaking to her friends for the last ten minutes, mainly scolding them for organising something like this, it wasn't that she didn't appreciate it she just felt she didn't deserve it.
"Sorry to interject but I need to say this to help a guy out," Joe started and then looked across the room to where Harrison was stood awkwardly, still looking at Oak like she was the only person in the room "If you don't go over to him he's gonna fucking melt, he's been looking at you like he wants to kiss you since you arrived," Joe rambled, if Harrison was trying to hide the fact that he was checking her out, he was greatly mistaken all five of Oak's friends had noticed the way he'd been looking at her for ages and they needed to help him out and her because she probably wouldn't do anything on her own accord.
Oak had followed her blonde friends line of vision to see Harrison stood in the far corner on his own, she felt guilty about it because he looked so out of sorts. "I was gonna dance with him soon," Oak told them and then Elias shoved her lightly away, she glared at him as if to say what the fuck.
"Now is soon, fuck off," Elias smiled with a shrug, the five of them would do anything in their power to get her to make a move, any move, on Harrison because even if it wasn't obvious to him and her, Oak's friends and Harrison's sister could feel their connection no matter how much they tried to deny it. Much to the girl's reluctance, she carried herself across the dance floor that had been created after she gave her brown-eyed friend a glare, he had no place to push her, none of them did but she knew she needed it otherwise she'd put it off even if she really did want to dance with him.
Her heart was hammering in her chest as she approached the six foot plus man standing now only a few meters away from her, she hated the fact that she always felt so nervous around him when she had no reason to be and he felt the exact same way, he'd found himself shifting awkwardly on his feet as she approached with a smile.
The rest of the people in the building were drinking scattered around the place like seeds in the soil, they were all having a good time and the music was making them feel even more hyped, the only people who weren't dancing were Oak's friends who had in mind to carefully watch their every interaction. Isabelle had caught wing of her brother and her potential new sister talking at the far left corner and instantly made a beeline towards Oak's friends, three of which she'd concocted a plan with and they stared and stared until they saw Oak grab hold of his hand and pull him gently near the centre of the dance floor.
Her hand stayed holding onto his both of their rings clashing together with every hand movement they made, the uncertainty that was riddled on his face was one for a picture, he looked so scared yet so involved, it was a weird thing to place. Oak started moving her body along to the rhythm of the guitars in the background to which Harrison just stayed still, he didn't know what to do "Come on," The tall girl tried to coax him into dancing with her but he still just looked unsure, he wanted to because it was with her but he just felt so. . . Confused.
"I'm no good at dancing," He finally spoke after watching her move around like one of those weird inflatables you sometimes see at petrol stations, their hands were still held together and to be honest it looked pretty awkward because he was stood still and Oak was out of sync bopping around like a float in the water.
"Does it look like I am?" She affirmed with a smile, she hated dancing, it was the reason she got her very first detention in secondary school because she didn't want to perform the dance piece her group made--it was purely out of her own insecurities and because a lot of the girls in that class were judgemental bitches.
"Look if you want to do a twirl I'll let you," She reasoned and raised his arm in the air to which he just stared at her "Don't make me look like a dick now, Harrison, turn around," She added still with a smile on her face, Harrison chuckled lightly and complied to what she said and did a little spin, her hand still holding onto his. They both found themselves laughing softly at the action before Harrison grabbed Oak's other ring-cladded hand and started copying her actions, still feeling very out of sorts but he felt more relaxed knowing he was doing it with her.
"See, you're a natural," Oak complimented as they continued to bop to the song in the background Harrison let out another laugh as they moved their arms back and forth, smiles brighter than a torch in the eye, prominent on their faces.
"Anyone wanna make a bet?" Isabelle chimed into the conversation that wasn't happening, they were all far too fixated on watching what was going to happen, she couldn't lie though, she was finding it completely adorable and she was so happy at how genuinely happy her brother looked. The smile on his face, that wide was something she hadn't seen him have with a potential romantic interest and it was the cutest thing in the world.
"A bet on what?" Charlie responded feeling intrigued as to what her plan associate was wanting to bet on.
"That tonight is the night that changes things for them," Isabelle said, adoringly. There was something within her that was shouting that Hoak was going to be more eminent in their day-to-day lives, she could just sense that this night was going to be a turning point in their relationship and she didn't know why.
"In what way?" Harper chimed in, this was her first time meeting Isabelle, she'd been made aware of her and her friends' plan to get Oak and Harrison together so it was nice to meet her, she seemed like a nice young girl.
"Well, I reckon that their both gonna figure out that they have feelings for each other, which is obvious to nearly everyone except them, so yeah," Belle tried to explain what was on her mind to Oak's closest friends, who seemed to be in agreement with her. All the while they were talking they still kept their eyes on the pair who were still dancing, awfully.
Abruptly, Harrison stopped them from moving, which confused Oak a great amount. His large hand gently brushed a strand of Oak's shoulder length hair behind her pierced ear and looked down at her in adoration, a few minutes ago he was feeling beyond uncomfortable but now all that discomfort had vanished, he was in a bubble that he didn't want to pop, he wishes he could stay in this moment forever. "You okay?" Oak asked as she looked into his chocolate pools, she felt concerned by his sudden urge to stop grooving but then that thought washed away when his soft plump lips connected with hers, his hand resting on her hip softly. She was very taken aback at first because she didn't expect that, especially in this room full with her friends and family, she wasn't complaining though because she kissed him back.
wrote; friday 5th june 2020
(partially) edited; saturday 5th december 2020
published; saturday 5th december 2020