Harry
Audrey slept while I played on the piano. She looked so peaceful with her hair covering the pillow, creating a beautiful mess. Her face was plain but I could tell she was completely at peace.
I played random chords, trying my hardest to piece something together.
"Play me something sweet." I heard Audrey's sweet voice fill the air.
Immediately a smile formed on my lips as I spun around.
"What would you like to hear, my sweet girl?" She slowly made her way over to me. My shirt fell to her mid-thigh, my eyes admired her. "I'll play whatever you would like to hear." She hummed as she crawled into my lap.
"Can you play, you are my sunshine?" She asked so innocently.
I nodded. She tried to pull herself out of my lap, but I wouldn't let her, "Let me teach you to play." She looked so shocked whenever I suggested it.
"I-I'm not talented enough." She started to trip over her words. I could see how anxious she was, but I wanted to share this with her.
"Baby," I felt her melt right into me, "please." She immediately gave in to me. I motioned for her to sit in between my legs.
"I'm not going to be any good." She was trying to talk us both out of it, but it wasn't going to work.
"If you're not then we will have a funny story to tell the kids one day." I saw how shocked she was whenever I said that and I'm not going to lie I shocked myself.
"These black keys are called your sharps and flats." She nodded while her eyes ran over the keys. I laid my hands over hers as I started to guide them, "Your left-hand plays the chords while your right plays the melody." She listened eagerly, I could tell she was ready to learn.
"I know all the basics." She reassured me, "My mom used to play and when I was young she begged me to play." I looked at her, shocked, she never told me this before. "I've just never felt talented enough to do anything. I have only been good at photography."
I kissed her shoulder, "I'm going to teach you, and I'm not going to give up on you." She nodded as she leaned back into me, "I'm going to guide you for now." I ran my fingers over hers as we danced across the keys, "You have to sing it." I nudged her to start singing.
I played through the cords once, guiding her hand the entire way. I wanted her to get a feel of each note she would be playing, so I took my time. I wasn't going to rush this and make her any more nervous than she already was.
"You are my sunshine." I could feel how nervous she was, her voice was shaky. I thought her voice was gorgeous.
"My only sunshine," I added as our fingers danced across the keys.
"You make me happy when skies are grey." We sang together, "You'll never know dear how much I love you." We continued to sing. I could see Audrey's smile and it felt like home.
"Please don't take my sunshine away." I sang alone while Audrey continued to melt into me. I kissed her cheek while I wrapped my arms around her side.
you are my sunshine, Audrey Taylor.
**
Dinner usually consisted of Sarah, Mitch, Audrey, and I but tonight Jeff invited himself over. I didn't know the reason yet, but I knew there was going to be. Jeff never invites himself anywhere unless it's to do with business.
I didn't really feel like talking about business right now. Audrey has just started to get back to her normal self, and I wanted to spend a little bit more time focusing on her.
We have all been taking turns telling our favorite stories of each other from the years we've known each other. My sides were hurting from laughing so hard. I glanced over to see Sarah and Audrey whispering to each other. I knew they were talking about me because Audrey kept glancing over to me.
I downed a little bit more tequila before I glanced back over to Audrey. She paused her sentence whenever we made eye contact, I winked at her. I watched her face turn a pale shade of pink before she dropped her head.
You're all mine.
"I need to talk to you all."
As soon as the words fell out of his mouth, the atmosphere shifted. There was tension building up. His eyes shifted between Audrey and I. I looked over to see Audrey staring at me with a look of pure confusion.
I had a strong feeling I knew where this conversation was going, I really didn't want to have this conversation. Tonight was going so good. Everyone was drinking, laughing, and having a good time.
"Not this shit." I heard Mitch say under his breath. He nodded to Sarah before they left the table.
I could feel Audrey staring into the back of my head as if the answer to all her questions were written there. I kept my eyes on Jeff, trying my best to bite my tongue. He should've waited to have this conversation.
"So, I assume you two are getting pretty serious."
I clenched my jaw before I looked over to Audrey, already aggravated. "I would say so," I answered.
Being honest, I had no clue how serious Audrey and I were. I would like to think that we were getting pretty serious, but I have never really asked her how she felt about everything.
"I figured so considering how often I'm seeing pictures of you all together in public." Jeff has a bit of an attitude that was getting under my skin. "I probably shouldn't have waited so long to have this conversation with you all, so I apologize."
Audrey and I didn't say anything, we just stared at each other before looking back to Jeff. I placed my hand on her upper thigh, allowing my thumb to trace over her soft skin. I stared at Jeff with a blank expression.
"Well, as I mentioned there has been an abundance of pictures of you all circulating the internet." We both nodded, "Harry, as you already know, you've made the front cover a couple of times already due to concerns about your 'mystery girl.' Everyone is starting to ask questions. Fans are searching high and low to figure out who you are." He said as his eyes darted to Audrey.
I glanced over and I could see how nervous she was. Audrey wasn't used to living like this and it was a lot for her to handle at once. I can remember how I was whenever fame really started to hit, I was like a deer in headlights.
"What are you wanting us to do?" I spoke up.
"I think it's time for you all to either go public with this or keep it completely private." I looked over to Audrey who was staring at her lap. I squeezed her thigh to get her attention. "The incident the other day could have been very dangerous. If you all decide to keep this completely private then it would keep you out of harm's way."
I knew what Jeff was trying to do and I already knew the answer he wanted from us, but I don't think I could give him that.
"Why can't things just stay this way?" Audrey spoke out. "I really don't see the big deal about it."
Jeff and I were both pretty shocked whenever Audrey finally decided to say something, "I have to agree with her." I said.
"Harry lives most of his life in private." Audrey kept arguing, "I understand how hard it must be to live in the public eye, but it's no one's business who Harry is seeing or who Harry is sleeping with. At the end of the day, his happiness should be the only thing that matters to anyone."
"Are you not worried about yourself at all?" Jeff asked her.
"Uhm, not really." She shrugged, "I knew how crazy everything would get whenever I started seeing Harry. I spent months preparing myself for all the paparazzi, the fans, the ruthless interviewers, the tours. It's something I'm going to have to adjust to, yes, but I'm more than willing to do that for him." My heart fluttered. I looked over to her with so much admiration in my eyes.
"I think I'm going to keep living my life the exact way that I have been." I announced as I turned back to Jeff, "Whether Audrey and I decide to make this public or private, the public reaction is going to be the same."
"It's whatever you all want to do, I'm okay with whatever." He said.
I knew Jeff was annoyed that we hadn't decided to keep this all private. I just couldn't hide Audrey away and expect her to be okay with that. It'd be completely unfair to her if I could only show her how much I adore her in private.
Jeff left a few minutes after the conversation ended, "I gotta say, I'm pretty proud of you for saying something." I admitted to her.
"I already knew the answer he wanted us to give." She said while she started to clean the dishes off the table, "I know he was looking out for you, but either way they are going to tear you down in the media." I followed her into the kitchen with my hands full of dirty dishes.
"Did you really mean what you said?" I asked her as I placed the dishes into the sink. She stayed silent while she wiped her hands with a dishtowel, "You know about willing to go through all that for me?"
Audrey walked over to me, placing her hands on either side of my face, "Of course."
I stared at her lips, I hadn't kissed her since that night at her house, "Can I kiss you?"
"I thought you'd never ask." She said through her smile. I bent down and placed my lips on top of hers. For a second, nothing else mattered.