I couldn't stop my voice from shaking as I asked Harry why he'd been ignoring me for an entire week since the kiss. I was upset, of course - but I was more confused than anything. I didn't want to appear weak, but, admittedly, I was scared he'd just laugh in my face. And, as it turns out, I had every right to be fearful of that.
"Maddi," he laughed in a condescending manner. "It was just a dare. Moreover, it was apart of a children's game. Sorry if you ever had the idea of being more than friends." His "apology" was so sarcastic, it would've been laughable if it was in a different situation. I was too dumbfounded to respond, or even move.
He was about to open his mouth to speak again, or, further twist the knife - but, thankfully, he was interrupted.
The sound of Emily screaming right beside my ear, just happened to prevent his voice from infiltrating my dream once more. In my dream, it'd been a week since the kiss. But, in reality, the kiss only occurred last night. The exact second that Emily heard the word "kiss" fall from my mouth, she began practically interrogating me on every detail, in typical Emily fashion.
That being said, we were awake until around 4:15 AM. Thankfully, today was Saturday, which meant it was acceptable for me to sleep until 1:00 PM. "What," I unintentionally snapped at Emily, although, she did deserve it for waking me up in such an abrupt fashion.
"Well," she purposely yelled just to further provoke me. "Your little friend, what was his name? Harvey? Hubert?" Her sarcasm was evident, especially considering she'd made me talk about him for hours last night. I motioned my hand to push her to continue.
"He seemed to think it'd be a cute little Pinterest-y idea to write you a note and hand deliver it. Unfortunately for him, you're slothful beyond belief."
I paused before replying, "did you just call me a sloth?" She grinned as she rolled her eyes and hit my mattress. "Not the point," she continued to hit my mattress between each word for added emphasis.
"The point, you armadillo, is that Harry wrote you a note."
"Why am I an armadillo?" She rolled my eyes at my inability to stay on one topic. "Jesus Christ. It's because they sleep for like, 18 or 19 hours a day or something. Anyway, if you don't read the note, then I'm throwing it off the balcony."
Knowing Emily, she was fully aware that, that's what I'd need to hear to get up, because it worked. I briskly hopped out of bed to locate the note. "Maddi," she called out to me. I turned around to face her, only to end up finding that she'd had the note in her back pocket the entire time, and there was no real purpose of me getting up.
I rolled my eyes and took the note that she had grasped between her index and middle fingers. "Ew it's warm," I remarked. "Which is exactly why you should never keep a condom in your back pocket," she replied without missing a beat. She laughed as she noticed the face I pulled.
With that, she turned on her heels to walk out to the balcony, where she's pretty much stayed the entire time she's been here. I sat down on the couch and began reading the note.
"Dear Madison,
Firstly, is Madison too formal? I feel like it is. Although, that was kinda what I was aiming for anyway. I'm getting off topic. I was gonna just write 'meet me down by the pier at 3:00 PM,' but I've already written too much for that, so I might as well just continue.
If you don't want to hear me gush about how I think I may have started developing a crush on you - or, already have a crush on you, then it wouldn't be a good idea to meet me at the pier. It'd probably be smarter to just disregard this note and pretend I don't exist anymore.
However, if you would like to hear me go on and on about how I think you're quite possibly the most beautiful girl in Australia, the UK, and America combined, then, like I said, meet me by the pier at 3:00 PM. I guess I could've just put it in this note, but it was originally supposed to only be eight words anyway.
I'll be waiting until 4:15 PM, and if you're not there by that time, then I've gotten the hint. No harsh feelings if you do, in fact, disregard this note. But, I'd really like to see you.
Always,
– Harry."
I would've said it's too early to already be blushing, if it wasn't already past 1:00 PM. I put the note down on the coffee table and immediately ran to make myself look presentable. Although I still had about two hours until I'd leave, this was slightly different than any other time I've seen Harry.
Obviously he was the same person, it's not like he randomly morphed into Ursula from The Little Mermaid or something. But, he did just admit that he was crushing? If that's still a thing? I feel like the word "crush," in that sense, is just very reminiscent of middle school, which, makes me cringe in general.
After a pretty thorough shower, I wrapped a towel around my body and stood in front of my mirror to begin doing my makeup. I nearly jumped out of my skin when Emily swiftly popped in the room and loudly screamed "dude," as if she were an 18 year old frat boy. "Emily, I'm literally in a towel," I exclaimed.
"Right, because I'm clearly a virgin male who has no clue what the female body looks like. If I were to audition for the role of Damon Salvatore right now, I'd use the line 'if I see something I haven't seen before, I'll throw a dollar at it,'" she remarked sarcastically.
"You're also covered by a," she paused before lightly laughing. "Is that a Rapunzel towel?" I laughed as I gripped the fabric between my hands. "Shut up, she's my favorite princess."
"What did you come in here for?" I asked. "Oh, right. What'd the love letter say?"
"It's not a love letter. It's on the coffee table if you wanna read it," I said, but, I wasn't able to completely finish my sentence before she ran into the living room to retrieve the note. She swiftly ran back into my bedroom with the note in her hand.
Since I had the master bedroom with the connected bathroom, I was able to hear her as she flopped down onto my bed with the note. She began reading his handwritten words in the best Shakespearean accent she could muster.
She finished the note and immediately exclaimed "hey, that's how I end all my letters. He should've used 'love,' though, since he's obviously already whipped."
"Emily, for the love of God, stop talking like a frat boy."
"Excuse me, I'm trying to compensate for the lack of men in my household since my dad abandoned me," we both began a mixture of wheezing and cackling at her, probably unhealthy, coping mechanism of making jokes out of her own personal experiences that are really more serious.
For as long as I've known her, she's made jokes about any and every traumatic experience in her own life. I will say though, she's not one of those people that makes really offensive jokes and then blames it on "it's literally just dark humor, stop being sensitive," considering I've seen her get into multiple arguments against people who do that exact thing.
"Honestly though," she continued. "Can I be the flower girl at yours and Harry's wedding? Wait, no," she exclaimed. "When you throw the bouquet, just like, aim it at me, y'know? It's getting kinda lonely when you and Harry are practically already married."
"Emily, shut up," I said with a laugh. "You act like I've even known him for longer than a week."
"See, that's my point," she began. "He's already practically whipped, like I said earlier. And, you guys haven't even known each other for that long. He's probably up in his apartment writing down ideas for your kids names."
"I'm literally gonna kick you out of my apartment," I said sarcastically. "Oh, thank God. At least then I won't have to deal with mini Harry's and mini Maddi's hanging onto all of my limbs."
"Right, because you definitely wouldn't be gushing over little kids and babies 24/7," I, once again, remarked sarcastically. If I were to have kids before Emily, she'd probably move back in with me just so she could constantly be surrounded by kids. I'm almost surprised she doesn't already have like, 4, since she always talks about how bad she wants to be a mom.
I'm positive she'll be a good mom, but she'll be the cool "aunt," that secretly gets on the parents nerves. I feel like she'd sneak them buckets and buckets of candy, which would result in me trying desperately to get them to go to sleep, so I could do the same. Emily is a kids dream and a parents worst nightmare, since she's basically still a hyper 5 year old.
"Are you planning on wearing that white t-shirt with the obnoxious amount of sunflowers on it?" She asked, still lying on my bed. "No, why?" I asked as I applied a light amount of blush to the apples of my cheeks.
"Because I happened to steal it the other day and there's some ketchup on it."
"Emily," I exasperatedly sighed. "Doesn't that stain?"
"Probably," she said nonchalantly. "I kinda did you a favor though."
"How did you do me a favor by staining my shirt?"
"Because, like I said, it had an obnoxious amount of sunflowers on it. It looks like a shirt you'd see a second grader wearing for picture day."
"Then why would you want to wear it?"
"Because I had to go to an elementary school and sing some songs from Sesame Street," she said sarcastically before giving her actual answer. "But I actually wore it because I was gonna do that thing where you can read to kids at the library, but apparently, they weren't doing it that day."
"Aw, you can be nice sometimes," I sardonically replied.
"Only to children that don't act like you," she responded with a laugh. I giggled along, although I didn't have a comeback for that one. I tossed the nearest object, which happened to be a brush, right at her. To my dismay, she rolled over so it wouldn't hit her.
She nonchalantly held up her middle finger as she aimlessly scrolled on her phone. I was almost shocked to see that she'd lightened up on the sarcasm for now.
I carefully combed against my lashes with the little black mascara wand as I coated them in a thin layer. I still didn't apply a lot of makeup, but I did a little more than I usually did. I grabbed an eyebrow pencil that I haven't used in easily a year, and gave my best attempt at applying fake freckles.
Once I finished, I exited my bathroom, still in my towel, and went in my bedroom to find some clothes. Emily looked over and began examining my face. "Did you do fake freckles?" She asked as I nodded my head in response. She rolled off of my bed and approached me. "You need to tap them out a little bit. It just looks like you just had brown watercolor splash on your face," she said with a laugh as she began patting the freckles with her middle finger.
"So, what are you wearing to go see lover boy?" I looked over to see her making obnoxious kissy faces, resembling a six year old on a playground. I rolled my eyes and began searching my suitcases. "I'm gonna unpack for you while you're gone," she added.
I held up a plain white tank top as I asked for her input. "No, that's too boring," she said. This repeated about 4 more times, and I knew I'd have to be leaving pretty soon. "Should I just not go?" She sprang to her feet and loudly screamed "you're going, even if you have to go in your little toddler princess towel."
She began looking through my suitcase for me, making an absolute mess in my room as she threw my clothes in every direction. Finally, her eyes landed on an article of clothing, signaling she'd found the "perfect one," as she put it. "Here, go throw this on," she said as she tossed it at me.
It was a baby blue sundress that I haven't worn since I was about 20. "Isn't that too formal?"
"Jesus, Maddi, it's basically a long, flowy t-shirt. It's not a wedding dress." She said as she ushered me to go change. I rolled my eyes and shut the bathroom door behind me. She was right, actually. It was practically a long, v-neck t-shirt that gathered at the waist to accentuate my curves. I smoothed out the casual dress before entering my room for her input.
She looked up from her phone and began clapping. "See, you could look like this all the time if you'd learn to listen to your senile friend," she said while still clapping. I laughed, acknowledging that she was right about this. "Okay, now go fix your hair. It looks like a mop with hay in it."
"Like yours looks any better," I said with a grin. "You're right, however, I'm not on my way to get married to a handsome British guy in Australia, which, makes so sense, by the way." I simply laughed and returned to my bathroom to go "fix my hair that looks like a mop with hay in it," as she put it.
Since I let it air dry, it naturally formed a few of its own waves, but not enough to look exactly stylish or trendy. I decided I'd just pull it up into a half up - half down style with two front strands to shape my face. Once again, I walked into my bedroom to reveal my hair to Emily, who's basically transformed into my personal stylist today.
"Look at you, having an Ariana Grande moment," she said as she clapped again. "Oh, wait," she exclaimed. She went to the corner of my room and picked up a pair of my shoes before tossing them in my direction. "Wear those." I looked down to see a pair of white, strappy wedges, which I agreed to put on.
I glanced over at the clock I had hanging on my wall, and I noticed it was already 2:48 PM. I decided I should probably leave now, since the pier was a decent distance from my apartment building. I grabbed a small purse and threw the minimum in there, being my phone, keys, and my wallet.
Once Emily noticed what time it was, she rushed me out the door, almost as if she was a mother pushing her kid to get to school on time.
~ ~ ~
I finally made my way down to the pier, and it took a little longer than expected. I was only about eight minutes late, but I still felt bad. Harry glanced over his shoulder as he heard someone, aka me, approaching him. A smile spread across his face as he turned around to pull me in for a brief hug. "I almost didn't expect you to actually show up," he admitted.
"You look very, very pretty, by the way." I blushed and muttered a thank you as I looked down at the wood beneath my feet. The sound of waves and people talking and laughing filled the silence that fell between us.
"So, you read the note, I'm assuming." I nodded my head before he continued. "Well, I really meant it, Maddi. I think you're very beautiful, and, I'd love if we could maybe try to pursue something beyond friendship. I'm not great with words, but, I'm trying to say that I think I like you."
"You think?" I teased with a grin. He began stumbling over his words in the most adorable way possible, before I interrupted him to let him know I was only joking. He flashed a bright smile before adding, "so, what do you think about that? I mean, I get it if you just wanna be friends, but I-" I interrupted him again, so he wouldn't feel like he was making a fool out of himself.
"I'm not great with my words either, but I think I'd really like that, actually. And, quite frankly, I think Emily would throw me over the balcony if I said no," I joked. He smiled and laughed, and, apparently, it was his turn to blush now.
He glanced down at the ground, then back up at me with a smile. Immediately, we engaged in conversation as we always did, as we walked to a nearby bench to sit down on.
~ ~ ~
"You're lying," I said as I tried to cover my laugh with my hand. "Maddi, I'm telling you, I literally have four nipples." I felt bad for laughing, but in my defense, he was laughing as well.
That piece of the conversation was decently irrelevant, but it was definitely one of the highlights, especially considering we both laughed at it for a solid three minutes straight.
We sat out on the pier for around three hours, and it looked like a storm was approaching. Harry and I decided it'd be a better idea if we began walking back to the apartment complex before the storm hit, so that's what we did. Except, we weren't quite lucky enough to completely miss the storm.
We made it to right in front of the building, but, that's when the rain started to heavily pour down onto us. There was a slight, cool breeze as the rain continuously drowned us. Although, Harry and I weren't phased by the rain. In fact, we just started laughing at it - mainly because of how we could've easily beat the rain if we just ran.
Instead, we just stood there laughing and gazing at one another. Then, to my surprise, Harry lifted his hand and began gently caressing my cheek with his calloused thumb. He leaned in, and, just like the night before, our lips molded together in the most gracefully choreographed dance that would never see a stage.
After sharing another kiss, we both pulled away to take a couple breaths. "I've always wanted to experience one of those super cliche rain kisses," he said as his eyes lit up like a little kid looking at a puppy. I laughed and smiled along as I pulled him back in for another brief kiss.
When we were done being cliche, we ran back up to the apartment complex. He walked me up to my apartment, and before I could even consider getting my keys out, the front door jerked open to reveal Emily beaming with delight as she pulled both of us in my our arms.
"Can I please book someone to pour water over you guys at your wedding so you can recreate your kiss that belongs in a movie?" Harry and I both just sheepishly smiled and looked down as our blood rushed to our cheeks.
"Oh my God wait I took a polaroid of it," Emily exclaimed as she ran into the kitchen to grab the picture that had just finished developing. She handed the small polaroid to me as Harry and I looked over it. She wasn't wrong - it definitely looked like a scene from a movie. In fact, it was very reminiscent of The Notebook, especially considering that I was wearing a blue dress.
"Why did you take a picture?" I asked with a laugh. "Well, I figured you'd want something to show your kids how cute you guys were when you were young. They should also know that I'm absolutely the best 'aunt' in existence for taking this picture," she said with a proud smile. "Emily, shut up," I said with a light laugh.
"They should also know that you looked like a cracked out guy at 7/11 at like, 3:00 AM when you took the picture," I said, noticing her extremely messy hair, t-shirt with about three stains on it, and sweatpants that she's had since she was probably 14.
"That's just apart of my creative process," she noted. "You guys should dry off before you make the couch smell like a wet dog," she said as she went to grab two towels for me and Harry. "I can go back up to my apartment - I don't want to intrude on yours and Maddi's evening," he said to Emily.
"Harvey, quit talking so you can dry off," she said dryly as she handed him a towel. He laughed and shook his head. "It's actually Harry," he corrected. Emily nodded her head before continuing. "Maddi, you and Hank should get a book or something to put the polaroid in." Harry and I laughed at her new name for him.
Emily sauntered back into her room as Harry and I walked over to the couch to have, yet another, movie night, as usual. This time, it felt like our cuddling had a deeper meaning - not that I'm against it.
||***||***||***||
(A/N: Hi okay so Maddi (irl) made me include the nipple thing lmao. Also, sorry for not updating for a couple days, I got super busy. That's pretty much all I needed to say, so, as usual, I hope you're enjoying the book so far!
As always,
– Angeleah <3)