A/N: I had NO IDEA what to call this chapter I'm so sorry
Primrose's POV:
"Are you being serious right now?" Harry yelled. I groaned to myself as I pulled the covers over my face, shielding myself from the morning light and Harry's shouting. "Is there nothing we can do to change it?" He barked, sounding frustrated. Releasing the pillow, I roll over to face the door, and see Harry's shadow in the hallway. "Fine. See you later." He huffed, before storming back into the room.
My eyes immediately locked shut, as Harry approached the bed. I felt him perch on the end of it as I desperately tried to look asleep. He shuffled himself up the bed slightly: throwing his legs on the mattress and rolling on his side to face me. Peeping out my eye, I saw a fuzzy Harry, leaning on his arm, just looking at me.
"Is everything okay?" I mumble, forcing my sleepy eyes open.
"Shhhh." He hums, placing his finger over my lip. "Go back to sleep, love." He whispered.
"But I'm awake now." I whisper through his finger, looking at him through my sleepy eyes.
"Did I wake you?" He asks, moving his finger and using it to tuck a loose piece of hair behind my ear.
"No." I lie, smiling warmly. Harry gives me a playful scowl as if to say 'I-know-you're-lying-to-me'. "Yes." I give in.
"Sorry, P. Just my manager calling me - meetings been pushed up." He complains.
"When to?" I ask, pushing myself up the bed to sit up.
"Today." Harry mumbles. "It's for tour. It's finalising the merchandise we'll be selling." He explains briefly. "It was supposed to be next week, that's why you're here now. We had the entire week together. But now the first two days have been filled with fittings and meetings." He says as if he's scolding himself.
I place my hand comfortingly on his bicep, rubbing small circles with my thumb. "Harry..." I say quietly, trying to bring his eyes to focus on mine. "Harry..." I repeat, slightly more stern but still very quiet. His eyes reluctantly drift up to meet mine, and they look tired. His eyes are a pale green, surrounded by a sea of bloodshot. "How long have you been up?" I ask.
"About 30 minutes. I tried to be as quiet as possible." He tells me quietly.
"What time is it?" I question, not breaking my gaze from him.
"About 6:34am."
"When's the meeting?" I smile, trying to soothe the obvious stress building inside him.
"8:30am-5:00pm." He mumbles.
"Let's get ready then. I'll go and make some coffee and breakfast, you shower and get dressed. And don't even think about offering for me to stay home - I would be more than happy to come with you." I tell Harry, continuing the circles over his arm
"I like this." Harry smirks.
"Like what?"
"This" Harry waves his hands around me. "When you're all confident and in control. You have such a diverse, complex personality. I'm enjoying getting to know it. I'm enjoying learning more about you, Prim." He smiles, leaning forward and placing a soft kiss against my lips. I don't have time to say anything, as Harry rolls out the bed and heads straight to the bathroom.
Slipping on some fluffy socks and a cardigan, I make my way to the kitchen. I pulled the blinds open, allowing the beautiful white granite to glisten in the sunlight. To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to make. This wasn't my kitchen, so I didn't know where much was. Finding the kettle was easy: I just flipped on the switch, and took two mugs from the shelf and filled them with coffee grounds. However, breakfast was going to be difficult.
Opening the fridge, the largest selection of food I have ever seen sat before my eyes. There was fresh fruits and vegetables, organic yogurts, fresh juices, oat, soy, and coconut milk - lots of well sourced food. After looking through a few cupboards, I decided to make a selection of things. There was a large mason jar full of granola, which I mixed with some Greek yogurt, honey, and fresh fruit. I toasted some brown bread I found near the toaster, and placed an array of spreads next to it. And to finish, I displayed all of his juices, along with the fresh coffee.
Standing back and admiring my creation, Harry entered the room. "Wow, Primrose." He exhaled in disbelief. "How did you pull all this off in 15 minutes?" He asked, flicking his wet curls over his head.
"It's almost as if I do this for a living." I say cockily, walking over to the table with a slight skip in my step. Harry followed behind, pulling out my chair for me to sit down, then walking round and occupying the chair opposite me.
While we ate, Harry explained to me what to expect for the day. He told me there would be some arguing, some laughing, and a lot of stress. He also gave me a list of names of people, but the only one which stuck out was Mitch. And, to be honest, I wasn't much looking forward to seeing him after the state he saw me in back at Jamaica. It seemed Harry enjoyed the breakfast I made, as he devoured the granola bowl, and had two pieces of buttered toast.
Harry laughed to himself, as I ate my food tediously slowly. Reaching for a piece of toast, I debated which spread to use. "We are now entering hour 15 of Primrose eating her breakfast." He teases in a voice like David Attenborough. "Who knows if the young female will make it out alive." He laughs to himself.
"Am I being slow?" I ask embarrassingly.
"A little, but it's fine. I just enjoy watching you." He smiled. "Will you have time to get ready?"
"Yeah. I'm not washing my hair today, so I'll be fine." I explain, forcing my toast down my throat. Noticing my sudden change in eating pace, Harry's expression becomes concerned.
"Prim... you're gonna choke." He takes a light hold of my wrist, halting me from eating. A small smirk grows across his face, as he takes his thumb and wipes off a spot of jam from the corner of my mouth.
"Sorry." I blurt out, feeling my cheeks burn up. "I'm going to go and get ready." I smile, picking up my plates and moving them to the sink. Harry also rises from the table, and runs to meet me at the sink.
"Love, let me clean up. You've done enough." He says warmly, taking the plates from my hand and moving them to the dishwasher. "Go get dressed." He ushers me towards the door.
"Wait! I don't have anything to wear to a business meeting. You're wearing a fancy outfit, and I have nothing." I begin to panic, feeling my breathing pick up and my chest tighten.
"Wear the blazer I bought you." Harry suggests, stacking plates to carry from the table.
"Really? It's so nice and expensive - I wouldn't want to ruin it." I ramble.
"Primrose, it's fine. You'll look beautiful. You look beautiful in anything." He compliments, causing all my fear to melt away.
About 30 minutes later, I walk down the stairs in my blazer, accompanied with my brown, leather handbag I bought incase we went out for dinner one night, some white trainers, and my hair clipped up into a weird knot thing. I don't know what it's called, but I wear it for work, and it looks professional.
Harry entered the hallway, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. "You look stunning." He said, as his eyes remained trained on me as I walked down the stairs and stood in front of him.
"You don't think I look silly?" I mumble, looking down at my outfit.
"Baby, you worry too much." Harry whispered, leaning down and feathering kisses into my hair. "You're perfect." He said in between kisses, running his fingers lightly up and down my waist, getting closer and closer to my thighs every time. "You're almost too perfect." He hums, his voice sounding more rough and raw - his hand was now tracing over my thighs.
Realising what he's getting at, my fight or flight is immediately triggered. My feet jolt back, as I push Harry off me. Turning to face the wall, I close my eyes and attempt to steady my breathing.
"Prim, I-," Harry began, yet I cut him off.
"No, don't apologise. You didn't do anything wrong. That's what we are supposed to do. We are seeing each other, and that's what couples do. Are we even a couple? I don't know. But, it's fine, Harry. It's my fault." I blurt out, keeping my body away from his.
"Not if it makes you uncomfortable. Primrose, I honestly didn't mean to overstep. I don't know what came over me, I'm never like that. I- I- I don't know what to say. I never, ever want to put you in a situation like that. I'm so sorry I did." Harry apologises, and guilt overwhelmed my body.
Turning to face him, I take a step forward and regain the closeness we had before. "You didn't do anything. You merely stroked my leg and flirted with me. I just- I'm just scared... of moving too fast. I don't feel, well, you see- I, I don't know how to say this." I laugh in attempt to cover up my humiliation.
"Take your time, love." He says quietly.
"I don't want to do anything, until I'm ready. I thought I was fine with things like that: I'm fine in the car when you hold my thigh. But my body involuntarily reacting like that tells me that I'm not. I'm sorry, Harry. Every time someone touches me, I feel like they're going to hurt me... like Dan did. It takes me a while to build up trust. I thought I had already built it up for you, but apparently not." I stop talking, as tears pool in my eyes.
Fearful of touching me, Harry stands awkwardly in-front of me, not knowing what to do. "Primrose, don't cry. It's okay. You're okay. I'm okay - I understand why you feel like this. It's okay. You're safe." He hummed. A single tear streams down my face, as I take another step forward and wrap my arms around Harrys stomach. He gently places his arms over my shoulders, and sways me back and forth slowly.
"Shhhhh. It's okay. You're okay." He hums against my cheek. "You're safe with me." He says, before kissing my cheek gently. I pull myself out of his comforting hold, and fan my eyes for a few seconds.
"I'm fine. Just a little momentary cry. Nothing to be concerned about." I force out a smile. "Let's get to this meeting."
The car journey was long, and - unsurprisingly- filled with traffic. Harry asked me if it was okay for him to put his hand on my thigh 3 times before actually doing so. I appreciate his concern for my emotions; it's a totally new concept for me to have a partner who cares about you equally as much as you care about them. Every few minutes, Harry would look over at me to make sure I was okay, occasionally asking "are you okay?". If I sniffled, or so much as readjusted my sitting position, Harry would shoot his hand off my leg, and immediately check I'm okay.
Eventually, we pulled into the recording studio. Harry opened my door for me, and helped me out the car, before interlocking our fingers and walking me into the building. We weaved our way through the long, bright corridors filled with photo frames and records, until we found the meeting room. Pushing open the door, all eyes were on Harry and I as we entered the room.
"Hey, Harry!" A man said, standing from his chair and pulling Harry in for a hug. Harry engaged in polite conversation with everyone, saying hi and asking how everyone was. My eyes stayed glued to the floor, as I feared even making eye contact with anyone else.
"So, who is this lovely lady you have with you?" The same man asks, and Harry steps aside to reveal me to the entire room.
"Everyone, this is Primrose. Primrose, this is everyone." He smiles, gesturing to the room.
"Uhh- hi, everyone. It's nice to meet you." I say quietly, and Harry tightens his grip of my hand reassuringly. My eyes slowly make their way around the room, looking at everyone and what they were doing. There was a group of 2 girls and a boy having a discussion, a girl sat at a desk typing away, a man talking to Harry, and me. It's not as many people as I imagined, but it's still very intimidating.
"Primrose!" One of the girls calls, and waves her hand for me to go and sit with them. Looking at Harry as if I'm asking for permission, he let go of my hand and I nervously made my way towards them. Perching on the end of the sofa, I smiled warmly at all of them.
"I'm Sarah." She smiles. Her hair was dark and straight, pulled up into a ponytail. "This is Charlotte, and this is my boyfriend Mitch." Mitch? I can't believe it took me so long to notice him. He was so quiet and hidden in the corner!
"Yes, I've met Mitch. It's nice to see you again." I say kindly. "And it's lovely to meet you both."
A few seconds later, Harry walked over and sat next to me on the sofa. He slinked his arms around my waist and pulled me carefully back to lean against the cushion. "Relax, love." He whispered, sending tingles down my spine.
"Hey, guys. Nice to see you again." Harry stands and hugs each of them. "Mitch, I'm sure you remember Primrose."
"Yeah." He says quietly.
"Don't take it personally, Mitch is just quiet." Sarah whispers to me, with a cheeky smile.
"I loved the final song, Harry! Sarah played it for me earlier." Charlotte complimented, causing Harry to stiffen. I found this peculiar, because she said a nice thing.
Mitch's eyes widened, as he turned and looked at Harry. "Oh my god. Is that what From Th-,"
"NO! Mitch... no." Harry interrupts, the tone of his voice harsh and stern. He gave Mitch a strong glare, before looking away.
"So, everyone. I know it wasn't everybody's first choice to be here today. However, it is mandatory..."
"That's Jeffrey." Harry whispered to me as the man spoke. "He's my manager - you'll love him. He's so nice." I nod in response, scared to even make a sound.
"...we need this tour to be perfect. Pushing this meeting back simply wasn't an option. Today, we will go through..."
"That's Mia. She's my creative director for my merchandise." He points to the girl still typing at the desk.
"... it's going to be a longggggg day, guys." Jeffrey says, leaning back on a table. "A very long one."
The hours slowly ticked by, and I stayed sat statuesque on the sofa next to Harry. He noticed my obvious awkwardness, and threw his arm over my shoulder - pulling me close to him. There wasn't a lot of arguing like Harry said there would be: Mia showed a massive PowerPoint about all the different merchandise they would sell, including a very detailed evaluation of how much profit they would make per unit of stock sold. Someone bought us food for lunch - I have no clue who it was - but there was an amazing array of salads, wraps, pastas, pizzas... everything really.
"What would you like, Primrose?" Sarah asks whilst rummaging through all the different bags.
"Oh, I'm not hungry. Thank you, though." I say quietly. Harry gives me a concerned look, sitting forward and leaning his elbows on his knees.
"You're not hungry?" He whispered, flicking his eyes up to the clock. "We had breakfast 6 hours ago." I just shake my head in response, keeping my eyes trained on the ground.
"Guys, we'll be right back. I'm just going to show Primrose where the toilets are." Harry announces, standing up and putting his hand out for me to take. Harry lead me out the door and down the corridor slightly, before we came to a stop.
"Primrose, what's going on? Are you okay? Is this about what happened earlier? I can take you home, if you want?" Harry held my hand tight in his, as the worry grew in his eyes.
"M'fine." I mumble, looking at our hands.
"No, love. You're not. You've been silent all day. You haven't even moved. Somethings on your mind." Harry takes a step closer to me, taking my other hand in his. "You can tell me."
"I feel out of place. Like everyone's going to judge me. I'm scared to say anything because I don't want them to think I'm stupid." I say quietly, so quietly I doubt Harry could even hear me.
"Prim... they would never do that. Everyone in there is beyond nice. You don't have to talk during the business conversations, but they would be fascinated by your job, and your life. I promise you, you have nothing to worry about." Harry leans forward and feathers a kiss into my forehead. A loud gurgle from my stomach breaks the moment, and I see a small grin grow over Harrys face.
"Okay... maybe I'm a little hungry." I smile.
Entering the room again, I sat back in my spot on the sofa and leant forward to look through the food bags. I settled on a chicken salad, and a bottled water.
"So, Primrose..." Sarah began, finishing her mouthful of food. "How do you know Harry?"
I see Harry give me a reassuring smile from the corner of the room, so I decide to suck it up, and have a conversation. "Umm, we met in Jamaica. And then stayed in contact after that." I explain briefly, accidentally catching eye contact with Mitch in the corner. "I also met Mitch, too. I got super drunk, so Harry took me back to his to make sure I was safe."
"I see. Where abouts do you live in London?" She continues, taking a mouthful of pizza.
"Oh, I'm not from London. I'm from Devon. Specifically Woolacombe. It's a small seaside town." I explain, feeling myself warm up to the room.
"I would love to go to the british coast. But someone doesn't want to." Sarah points over her shoulder at Mitch, and a small laugh escapes my mouth.
"It's not that I don't want to, I would just rather be back in California." Mitch says quietly.
Harry came and sat down next to me again, placing his hand over my shoulder. "What you doing later?" He asks the three of them.
"Going to sleep." Charlotte laughs.
"We're going out for drinks." Sarah says. "You guys should come!" She exclaims.
"Well, we would love to but-,"
"We would love to. That's all Harry was going to say. We would love to." I cut Harry off.
"Okay, great! Well, it's like a 10 minute walk from here. So we can all just go after the meeting. Charlotte, are you coming?" Sarah asks.
"No, I'll sit this one out. Jetlags a bitch." She complains.
The rest of the meeting flew by. I was finally confident enough to say things - only a few words here and there - but I did crack a joke which received a laugh from everyone. As the meeting drew to a close, Jeffrey shook my hand and said "it was lovely to meet you, Primrose." Which I thought was rather nice of him.
Standing up to leave, I went to grab my bag. However, it was gone. I frantically looked around the room for it, incase anyone moved it, but it was gone. Maybe I left it in the car. No, no I remember having it by my side the whole day.
"Everything alright, love?" Harry hums, leaning against the door.
"Yeah, I just can't find my bag." I sigh, unclipping my hair and redoing it as it was now falling out.
"Oh, that's a shame." He smiles, looking at his nails.
"I know! I swear I had it next to me, but now it's..." I trail off, pulling my head up to meet Harry. "Where is it?" I say flatly.
"Where is what?" He smiles smugly.
"My bag, Harry. Where. Is. It." I walk towards him, feeling my frustration grow. Harry doesn't say anything, he just stares at me with innocent eyes.
"This isn't funny, Harry. Sarah and Mitch are waiting for us." I snap. Harry straightens his posture, and leans over me menacingly.
"Don't talk to me like that." He smirks.
"Harry! This isn't the time! Where's my bag?" I shout.
"Apologise." Harry teases.
"I- No!" I yell.
"Apologise... or no bag." He leans back against the door.
"Fine. I'm sorry. I'm sorry Harry, that you took my bag. I'm sorry that you won't tell me where my bag is. I'm sorry that I've spent the last 10 minutes looking for my bag, to find out you've hidden it. I'm sorry I-," Harry interrupts me by grabbing my waist and pulling me towards him - slamming his lips on mine.
I wrapped my arms over his shoulder, as he walked me backwards to the sofa. Spinning me round, he fell down onto the cushion - pulling me to straddle his lap. His tongue desperately tried to sneak it's way into my mouth, while his hands trailed up and down my back. Harry dug his nails in slightly, causing me to gasp into the kiss. He took the opportunity to dart his tongue in - dancing it round my mouth. My hands trailed up to his hair, and I pulled at it slightly, causing him to moan into the kiss.
"Guys, we are ready to g- woah!" A voice interrupts. Harry and I dart our eyes round to the figure stood in the door way. "Sorry." Mitch laughs, shaking his head and shutting the door.
I turn to face Harry, before falling into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. He just stares at me as I struggle to breathe, my eyes filled with tears and my stomach desperately heaving for air. I remove my hands from his hair, and shoot them to my stomach. "Ow. Oww." I laugh to myself, as my body begins to ache from the lack of oxygen.
"What are you laughing about?" Harry exhales a small laugh.
"I don't know." I force out. Harry lightly holds my waist and brings me to a stand - opening my lungs and allowing me to breathe.
"Wow, that was funny." I say to myself, wiping a tear from my eye. Harry goes behind the sofa and grabs my bag.
"Thank you." I smile.
"Let's get out of here." Harry takes my hand in his, and leads me out the door.
***
A/N:
How is everyone liking the chapter lengths? Please tell me if they are too long.
Sorry for the slow updates - I'm super busy with school.
Thankyou for reading xx