Harry and I ate lunch at a small diner near the bar, spending more time talking than eating. He'd asked me a lot about myself, which caught me off guard. I didn't particularly enjoy talking about myself, but I also wasn't given the opportunity very often. I thought it was only fair to ask him questions as well, and I actually learned a lot about him.
He moved here from England a few years before, only a little while before I did. He told me he had some issues with his parents, although he was very vague, obviously not wanting to delve into his personal problems so soon. He said he was craving a fresh start, so he just woke up one morning and decided to move. He'd packed a small bag, left everything in England, and bought the first plane ticket to LA.
I really admired his impulsivity. I mean, I had been pretty impulsive by moving as well, but I at least made sure I had a place to stay before I moved. Harry didn't think anything through, he just did it.
He told me that he was also single, so I should find him a girlfriend. He was a bit disappointed when I explained to him that he'd been the only person I'd hung out with, other than Isabel, since I'd moved to Los Angeles. When I asked why he was single, he explained that he'd had a few girlfriends in the past, but he never felt anything.
It was kind of depressing to think about. I couldn't imagine just dating someone to go with the flow, because it was what I should do. I was ashamed that I'd told him about my ex-boyfriend, but I tried to keep the story vague and didn't go into very much detail at all.
I was also shocked to find out that he was actually a bartender at the bar they'd played at. Apparently no one thought it worth mentioning to me while we were all at the bar the night before, but I guess it just never came up in conversation. It made sense, as soon as we got there, alcohol was being shoved at me.
Eventually, we finished our food and were stuck trying to figure out what to do after we left.
"You told me last night that you paint, what if we had a competition?" he suggested. I don't think he was aware of how competitive I was.
"A competition? You do realize who you're up against, right?" I challenged, earning a smile from him.
"Yes, but I like a challenge," he taunted, and I was prepared to kick some ass.
"Okay, you're on," I answered, suddenly getting impatient for the waitress to bring our checks.
"Here's what I'm thinking, it's only one o'clock. We go back to your place, I win the painting competition, and then we invite everyone over to my house and have a pool party," he suggested.
"Pool party?" I hadn't told him about how much I loved to swim, so I was caught off guard. "How did you know that I love to swim?" I asked.
"Well, Isabel told me you work at the aquarium, so it was just a guess," he admitted. I was already excited to get home to beat him in a friendly competition and now I was even more excited.
"Well you're really good at guessing. That sounds like so much fun," I commented as the waitress brought our checks.
As I was signing the receipt, I realized what he had said.
"Wait a minute, did you say that you were going to win this competition?" I questioned him as he laughed.
"Yes, I did. I guess you're gonna have to prove me wrong," he teased, and suddenly we were racing each other to our cars.
"First one to my house automatically loses the competition," I challenged.
"Hey, that is not fair and you know it," he laughed from his car, speeding off as I followed.
••••••
It was a bit awkward when we arrived at my apartment; I always kept it tidy, except for the dining table, so I wasn't worried about that. As soon as we stepped inside, he insisted on me giving him a tour, eager to be somewhere unfamiliar.
You'd think because I give tours at the aquarium all day long I would be used to it, but it's a lot different when you're talking about a small studio apartment and not sea creatures.
I promptly made my way through the apartment, stopping to show him each room. He took particular interest in my bedroom and the dining room, of course. He said my room was cozy and had a lot of life, which made me feel a bit gushy. Most of my time was spent either painting in the dining room or my room, and it took a long time to make my bedroom feel like me. It was nice to have someone appreciate it.
We made our way back to the dining room and I was getting excited to paint with him. I wasn't very good at many things, so it was always a self esteem boost to show someone my work.
I was especially excited to be painting with Harry, though, because he had a way of making anything you do seem so special and unique, like he did with my bedroom. I knew that even if my painting was terrible, he would find something that he liked about it.
"Okay, so on the way here, I was thinking of some rules for our competition to make it fun," he chuckled, making me even more excited. "So you can paint anything you want, but it has to have a bird, a land mammal, and an animal that lives in the ocean."
"What? I think this is technically cheating. I'm sure you already have everything figured out for your painting," I pouted playfully, although I really had no clue how I was going to include all of those things in one painting.
"Oh come on, it'll definitely lead to a fun painting. Plus I'm sure you'll come up with something great, painting is your thing, and I know you'll have an interesting take on it," he countered, and I knew he was right. It would be a pretty cool painting.
"Okay, but my rule is that we only have an hour to do it. Once the timer goes off, you have to stop. No matter what," I smiled, challenging him as I reached down to grab a canvas for each of us.
"I like it," he chimed while I arranged the supplies on the table. "It's like chopped, but with art."
I laughed at his remark, "Actually, yeah. And here, you can connect to the speaker and play whatever you want. I can't paint in silence, though."
I set the timer on my phone for one hour, waiting to start it until he had the music playing and we were both ready.
"Okay. Three, two, one." I spoke. We both immediately grabbed palettes and brushes. I noticed him grabbing practically every color of paint, his palette soon covered in a rainbow of colors. I grabbed some greens and blues first, working on the background of landscape first.
I didn't have a reason for it, but I always preferred painting landscape scenes. There was so much of a story you could tell through them because they're so vast. There's so much small detail you can add to create a complex story.
I painted a grassy field with a clear blue sky to start. I added some trees in the corners, but left the center of the field open to add something else. As I was reaching for more colors, I tried to steal a peek of Harry's painting so far.
"Hey!" he yelled, shooing me away. " I didn't know you were a cheater. Cheaters never win, you know."
"I was just curious. I already know what I'm painting, it's not like I was going to steal your idea." I clarified.
"Either way, no peeks allowed, missy," he retorted sternly. I laughed to myself, not realizing he would be such a stickler about me peeking.
I went back to painting, adding a few details to the field and trees. I began painting a picnic blanket in the center of the field, with a couple on top of it gazing at the sky. I got so wrapped up in painting the people that I nearly forgot about the animals we had to include.
As I reached to grab the white and black paint, Harry put on a new song, my eyes instantly widening in excitement.
"Oh shit, I'm about to waste four minutes of my time just dancing to this song," I admitted.
[song: Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears]
I added the paint to the palette, swaying with the music and smiling at the pure joy I was feeling. It felt so good to have actually made a friend, especially when he had such a good taste in music.
I sang along, not caring if I sounded terrible in front of Harry, although I probably should have, considering he sings like an angel. I painted a fence on the left of the couple, adding a cow grazing on grass. A land animal: check.
I also added a few birds near the trees, still singing along with the music. A bird: check. I looked up to find Harry staring at me as I sang, smiling so wide you could see his dimple from a mile away.
"What are you looking at?" I laughed, going back to painting.
"Nothing, it's just funny." I instantly looked back up at him, no longer laughing.
"What's funny?" I asked, beginning to feel anxious and insecure. I figured he wouldn't mind me being so carefree considering how kind he'd been to me the night before.
"The first conversation we had last night, you told me you found it really hard to be open and have a good time around people you've just met. And here you are, singing and dancing like I'm not even here," he chuckled. I was relieved to know that he wasn't criticizing me, but he also made a fair point.
"Well, I said it was hard for me to have a good time around strangers. Even though we only met last night, it feels like longer. And I don't think a stranger would have offered to bring me home after 3 hours of knowing each other," I chirped, rushing to get the words out of my mouth before I decided not to say them. "As much as I hate it, I feel really comfortable around you. It's really unsettling, because it goes against everything my head tells me, but I can't help it."
"I had a feeling you were usually a bit closed off before we'd even really spoken," he admitted. "I used to be the same way, after all the shit with my parents. It was hard for me to be open with people, because it was always what ended up hurting me. After I moved here, I started to be more open. I was in a new place and I didn't know anyone, so I told myself it doesn't matter if people didn't like me, it was my choice to be around them, and I could stop whenever I wanted."
I stood there, dumbfounded at everything he'd just said. He really was so vulnerable and open, and it didn't even bother him. There was no way I'd ever be able to say something like that to anyone. It wasn't that I didn't want to be honest, it was that I didn't know how. Any time I tried to really tell someone how I feel or just give advice, I always froze, because it never did anything good for me in the past.
I was still standing there, both of us staring at each other. His eyes scanned me, anticipating some sort of response as I racked my brain, trying to think of anything to say that would change the subject.
"Thank you for that, I'll try to remind myself of that in the future," I said so awkwardly that I wanted to walk out of the front door and never go back, he could just keep the apartment. I looked down at my phone, remembering our competition and checking the timer.
"Well, I hope you're almost done, because there's only ten minutes left," I gushed, trying to fill the silence and get our minds off of the conversation that just took place.
"I think you better be worried," he said, laughing. How could he have just watched me be so weird and awkward and yet act like nothing happened? I decided that it didn't really matter how he did it, I was just thankful that he had.
I went back to painting, adding a few clouds on the blue sky, making the one on the left in the shape of a jellyfish. An animal that lives in the ocean: check.
With just a few minutes left on the timer, I added some extra details and began putting the brushes back in the water cup while waiting for Harry to finish. The timer went off and I looked at Harry, noticing his concerned expression and furrowed eyebrows.
"Okay, you go first." He blurted, and I laughed.
"Are you sure? We can show each other at the same time," I suggested, trying to make him feel a little better, but he refused.
"No. I have to see yours first so I'll know whether to show you mine or just burn it."
"I'm sure it's not that bad," I assured him. "But fine, I'll go first." I flipped the canvas around to face him.
His expression immediately changed, his grin wide and his eyebrows raised. I was glad that he was having such a pleasant reaction, I didn't like seeing him upset, even if it was playfully.
"Are you smiling because you like it, or because you think yours is better?" I laughed and he scoffed.
"There's no way I could do better than that, but it's so beautiful that I can't even be mad." We were both laughing at his comment, but his eyes were hooked on my painting.
"So, you said there had to be a land mammal, which is the cow. And the birds are near the trees. I decided to be creative and made the animal that lives in the ocean a cloud, which I wasn't sure if you'd count, but it was all I could think of," I explained.
"It definitely counts, it's amazing! Plus, I told you that my rules would lead to a really cool painting," he remarked and I laughed, admitting that he was right.
He was hesitant to show me his, but he eventually turned his around to show me. I immediately understood why he was nervous, but it was actually pretty good. On the canvas was a cow in a field with a bird perched on its head, staring into a tank full of fish. The painting itself was amazing, but the concept was so odd that I couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"See, this is why I didn't want to show you," he laughed with me.
"It's not bad at all, it's actually really good. I'm just trying to figure out why there's a random fish tank in the middle of a field, and why the cow is just staring at it," I laughed even harder, my eyes welling up with tears from laughing so much.
Eventually we caught our breath and calmed down, but he was still staring at my painting.
"Do you want to keep it?" I blurted, unsure of why I had even said it.
"Oh no, I can't take it, it's your hard work. Don't you want to keep it for yourself?" he asked.
"Please take it. If you can't tell, I have enough paintings around here, I don't need another," I admitted, and he began to smile and accepted it.
"Well, speaking of paintings, can I see more? It's only fair. I played an entire gig last night when we'd just met." I was reluctant to say yes, for obvious reasons. Painting was really personal to me and I didn't usually show them to people, but he had a valid point. I decided to show him a painting I'd done a while back, but only because it had a funny story with it that I knew would distract him.
The painting was of an old car flying down a highway, with a small house in the background and a couple standing on the porch. It was really simple, but the story is what made it so good. I showed it to Harry, and of course his optimistic ass loved it, even though it was plain and boring.
"The only reason I showed you this is because of the story behind it. And you better not ask to see another one, because I'm not going to," I said sternly and he nodded.
"So, the car is the one my mom had when her and my dad were living together before I was born. One day they came home from getting lunch and as they were about to pull into the driveway someone was pulling out, driving my mom's car," I laughed.
"They went inside and reported that it had been stolen. My dad was so upset, for obvious reasons, but my mom didn't even care. It was a piece of shit and she kept telling him that it would probably break down on them before the cops could even find the people who'd stolen it. It was just so funny because they'd literally watched them drive off and my mom just thought it was hilarious," I concluded, Harry and I both laughing.
••••••
After we picked up the mess we'd made from painting, I changed into my swimsuit, wearing it under my clothes. I was trying not to make it obvious, but I was so excited to swim. I was also excited that everyone would be there, despite the battle in my mind.
I felt in my gut that I could trust these new friends, they were all incredibly nice. Even though I'd only gotten close to Harry, I would consider them all friends now. However, I'd been so used to shutting people out and closing myself off that it felt so wrong not to.
As I followed Harry to his house, I tried to shake the thoughts from my mind, hoping that I could have a good time with everyone.
••••••
Hey guys, thank you so much for reading!!! I realized that I never really specified which Harry era I imagine him as in this fic, so I'm gonna drop some pics below :)
I was also thinking of linking a playlist of Charlotte's usual playlist and Harry's usual playlist so you can have an understanding of their respective tastes in music so let me know if you like that idea!!
I really appreciate all of the support you guys are giving me, keep commenting and voting, it means so much!! I hope you are all doing well :)
I also wanted to let you all know that my pms are always open if you ever need to talk or anything! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one!