24th February 2019 (continued)
Harry and Eloise garner a fair bit of attention as they make their way through LAX - relatively busy, even early on a Sunday morning. Despite trying to keep their heads down, their beaming smiles, deep tans and tightly clasped hands don't help their cause much.
After finally retrieving all their suitcases, they're met by a security escort just before heading through to arrivals. With two burly guards in front of them and one behind, they take matching deep breaths as they head through the doors, as Harry surreptitiously tugs her left sleeve down lower.
The few camera flashes and calls of their names by eagle-eyed fans inside the terminal are shockingly magnified as they're shepherded outside.
The usual throng of opportunistic paps hanging around outside the airport is heavier than usual, and, having heard the excited shouts from inside, they're already swarming the exit.
Harry tugs Eloise just behind him to help forge a path through the scrum, but the paps soon close in, hollering and shoving at each other to try to get the best shots of their evident surprise reunion.
"Hey, Harry! Eloise!".
"Over here, guys!".
"Are you together again?".
"When did you guys get back together?".
"Eloise, why are you taking him back?".
"What happened to that other girl, Harry?".
Even with the inevitable line of their abrupt questioning, and as they press ever closer and jostle into them, Harry can't quite wipe the grin from his face.
They're all just insignificant anyway. She's back here with him. And his ring's on her finger.
Peeking repeatedly back over his shoulder to check she's okay, despite the look of surprise on her face, he's reassured by the soothing rhythmic stroking of her thumb over his.
Despite the mayhem - and, well, everything else - she's still smiling, and she's not going anywhere.
And, on the plus side, as it's so busy, he figures it's unlikely any of the paps will get a clear shot of her hand anyway.
Finally making it to the black Cadillac Escalade waiting at the kerb, there's a delay trying to get the doors unlocked and the paps surge even closer.
Harry tugs Eloise past him and cages her protectively against the car. Pressed right up against her, they start giggling and whispering to each other.
"What are you two so happy about?", the closest pap chuckles, trying to stand his own and stop from smacking into Harry's back. "Sorry, man", he apologises quickly. "Hey! Stop pushing, you assholes!", he shouts back to his fellow paps.
Finally pulling the car door open, one of the security guards steps back and knocks the pap over.
Keeping one hand firmly on Eloise, Harry quickly leans down and offers his right hand out to help the guy up before he's trampled. "You alright, man? Is your camera, okay?".
"I'm okay, man, yeah... This is crazy! But that was just an accident. Thanks, Harry; always a gent!".
Huh? A polite paparazzo? Fancy that.
Popping back to his full height and stepping back in front of Eloise, Harry can't help but drop a kiss to her cheek as he leans in to whisper in her ear. "Let's go home, baby!".
Once they're safely in the car, as flashes continue popping through the blacked-out windows even as they pull away from the kerb, Harry throws his arm over Eloise's shoulder and pulls her in close.
Finding her hand again, he lifts it to his lips, thumbing her ring back around before he peppers it with kisses.
"One-nil to us", he grins. "This might be fun, sneaking around a bit?".
"You're crazier than I thought it that's your idea of fun!", she laughs exasperatedly.
"Hey! There's no backing out now! Don't even think about it... This did not come with a receipt", he nods at her ring. "You signed up for a lifetime of this madness, baby".
"No, I signed up for a lifetime of you...", she grins cutely before claiming his lips with a kiss. "And if that's part of the deal sometimes, then it's still more than worth it", she shrugs.
Unable to contain his beaming smile, he drops a kiss to her temple and tugs her back against his chest, hooking his chin over her shoulder as they look out the window.
Blissfully happy and entirely content, he can't help but start humming the melody to that new song under his breath.
>
When they pull through the gates at his house in the Hills, they're taken aback to see the driveway jammed with cars.
As the driver unloads their bags, they crane around to try to identify them all, then whip back around to face each other, mouths agape in surprise.
Straining, they can just about hear hushed chatter and music from over the side gate.
As their driver reverses back out, Harry smoothly tugs Eloise behind a black Range Rover and crowds her again. "Your family and surprises...", he shakes his head playfully.
"Yeah, this has Ben and Mer written all over it!", she rolls her eyes fondly, arching her neck as he bends to pepper it with kisses.
"Don't pretend you don't want to show off a bit though...", she smirks, draping her arms over his shoulders and pulling him closer.
"Always! But it does scupper my plans to get you straight into bed... I haven't had you naked for a solid, what, fifteen hours now? A man has needs, baby", he whines, pressing his hips into hers. Dragging his lips up her neck, he swallows her rueful chuckle in a kiss.
Too distracted to hear the engine on the drive, they're only interrupted by an all too familiar shout.
"Oi, oi!", Louis calls as he saunters past, holding tightly on to three year old Freddie's hand. "If you don't tell Ben I was late, I won't tell him your feeling up his little sister against his car...", he wagers, sending them a cheeky wink. "Oh, and congrats!", he throws over his shoulder before he rounds the side of the house. "I'll give you hugs when Harry hasn't got a raging boner".
>
After taking a couple of minutes to cool off and lug their bags inside, Harry and Eloise step out on to the balcony, hand in hand.
Seeing so many of their nearest and dearest gathered below them makes their permanent grins stretch even brighter. It's a damn sight happier an occasion than when either of them were last at this house, that's for sure. What a homecoming.
Adele spots them first and hollers up in greeting, turning everyone's heads and setting off a chorus of cheers and congratulations.
"What are you waiting for? Get down here!", Ben calls out. "Oh, and grab some more bubbly out the fridge, won't you?".
Emerging outside, they're swooped straight into tight hugs, smothered in kisses and showered with congratulations, as everyone gushes over her ring and seeing the two of them finally back together.
First Ben, soon joined by Mer with a babbling Ruby on her hip. It's a full minute before Harry and Eloise try to prise themselves away, but Ruby kicks up a fuss and ends up cutely hanging on to both of them.
Rosie's next, after handing off Jack to Jason. And then Jeff and Glenne; Mitch and Sarah; Tom and Jenny; then Jules, with a wriggling Charlotte.
"You good? That was quick", Louis heckles crudely, "Or did she make you cream your pants?".
Harry shoves him playfully, mouthing "Fuck off" as he bends down to lift an unusually shy Freddie into his arms.
The girls grill Eloise, eager for her to spill the details of the proposal; but, grinning over at him, she remains coy, keen to keep that for themselves. "It was perfect! Just at the villa, in the sun, on the daybed. Sweet and sexy and honest and emotional and cute and playful", she shrugs as she looks moonily back over at him. "As if I could have ever said no to that?".
He's sweating for a different reason. Hastily explaining himself to the likes of Adele and James and Rande; insisting he didn't cheat, and apologising for falling off the face of the earth and not having been able to tell them sooner.
After toasts and cheers aplenty for the ever-so-happy couple, they all mingle and catch up, sipping on champagne as they pick over an incredible brunch spread.
Harry and Eloise are feeling pretty dishevelled and in need of a shower after their night flight, but it's a casual and relaxed affair. With plenty of little ones milling around - Ruby, Freddie, Jack, Angelo, Max, Carey, Charlotte - they all keep a keen eye on the unfenced pool.
>
By mid-afternoon, the kids - and their parents alike - are all getting a bit fractious and over-tired.
As the others start making a move to head home and try to puzzle the cars out of the tightly packed driveway, Ben and Mer are among those hanging back to help tidy up.
Sorting glasses and bottles in the kitchen, Eloise proffers a half empty bottle of champagne towards Mer.
"Oh, no thanks, Lol... I really shouldn't".
"Go on! What's one more?", she waggles her eyebrows playfully.
"I haven't had any actually...", she lets it hang.
Eloise whirls back around after a beat. "Wait, what?", she eyes her expectantly. "No way, are-?". The party had been such a blur, she hadn't clocked her not drinking.
Biting her lip, Mer tries to try to contain her grin. "Maybe? It's only really early days, but yeah, I think so... I've got a doctor's appointment on Tuesday".
With a squeal, Eloise throws her arms around her and spins her around.
"Oh, Mer! Can you never keep your mouth shut?", Ben huffs with a laugh as he emerges back up the stairs with Harry in tow.
"I'm sorry!", she whines. "But just look at her... Look at that happy face! I can't lie to that", she tries to talk her way out of it.
"No way! Is Rubes going to be a big sister?", Harry cottons on and congratulates them eagerly. Pulling back from hugging Mer, he frets. "Are you feeling okay? As if you went to all this trouble for us?".
"It was the least we could do!", Ben smiles earnestly. "We've been invested in you guys since before the very beginning... I cannot tell you how excited we are for you!", he chokes out. "I can't believe you're going to officially be family, H", he grins.
Harry reaches him first, and pulls him into another tight and back-slapping hug. "Well, if that didn't just cement you as Best Man, I don't know what could...".
"Shit, no way!", Ben pulls back in shock and grips Harry's shoulders. "You don't have to... Please don't feel obligated-".
Harry cuts him off. "I want to! There's no one else I want more at my side before she is".
Mer promptly bursts into tears. "Oh, fucking hormones... Ignore me!".
>
Once they head home too, it's just Mitch and Sarah left with Harry and Eloise, and the couples sit cuddled up on the balcony sofas across from each other, catching up.
When Eloise succumbs first to jet lag, snoozing against Harry's shoulder, he carefully leans her over to slide out, nodding his head to the others to follow him inside.
After shutting the balcony door quietly, Harry perches at the piano bench and looks up at them sheepishly. "I, umm, wrote something on the plane yesterday, and can't get it out of my head... Will you have a listen and think about arrangements so we can have a crack at it when we get to Bath?".
Keen to keep it under wraps from her until it's perfect, he keeps his voice soft.
>
"...I'd walk through fire for you / Just let me adore you / Like it's the only thing I'll ever do".
He gets two thirds of the way through before he hears a noise behind him and quickly stops playing to spin around.
With watery eyes and her hand over her mouth in surprise, Eloise leans heavily against the balcony door frame. "Oh, babe... Don't let me stop you-", she snaps out of it.
"No way! Not till it's finished", he shakes his head cutely, offering up a dimpled grin.
Upping the ante, she struts over, straddling his lap on the piano bench and dropping her hands to his jaw to kiss him hotly. "Don't be a tease!", she says around kisses.
Torn between feeling like awkward voyeurs and feeling warmed by the proof of their rekindled love, Mitch and Sarah clear their throats, but it's to no avail.
Harry's filthy groan as Eloise rolls her hips against his makes their minds up.
"Guys, umm, we'll just see ourselves out...", Mitch mumbles awkwardly as they bid a hasty retreat.
Entirely consumed with each other, Harry and Eloise don't even notice until they hear the front door close.
Pulling back and panting for breath, he smirks up at her. "Oops!".
"They were the last ones, right?".
"Yeah, why?".
In a silent but telling answer, she leans forward and lathes at the hammering pulse in his neck as she shucks off his unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt then pulls his white tank top over his head.
As she fumbles with his belt and tugs at his trousers and boxers, he somehow manages to swiftly rid her of her clothes as she balances astride his lap.
Leaning forward, he grimaces at the clashing chords as her back meets the keys. "Not sure that's the arrangement, baby".
"Sing me the rest and maybe I'll have some ideas...", she simpers.
"No chance", he shakes his head smugly, chasing her lips with his own.
But her hand dropping between them has him groaning again. "Oh, we'll see about that", she trills naughtily.
>
>
25th February 2019
The next morning, it's crowded again in the open plan kitchen and living room.
As Harry tries to hastily wrap up a meeting with two property brokers and one of his LA-based financial advisers, all stood around the kitchen island, Jeff leads Tommy and Tom through, ready for their meeting to firm up plans before they resume work on wrapping up the album in a couple of weeks.
A slightly sweaty and dishevelled Eloise emerges from the stairs amidst the throng, taken by surprise in just her co-ordinating sports bra and short shorts. If hot yoga hadn't quite managed to shake off her slight hangover or lingering jet lag, unexpectedly feeling seven sets of eyes land on her seems to do the job.
After pausing mid-stride, she recovers and offers them a sheepish grin before padding silently towards the kitchen.
The thirsty, flirty realtor - ridiculously overdressed for 10am, with a head full of painstakingly curled platinum extensions - eyes her intently. It's blatant and predatorial.
As Eloise reaches behind her to grab a bottle of water from the fridge, she smirks haughtily at Harry. "So... Does the trainer come with the house? Oh, or is she the maid or live-in help, maybe?". Her obnoxious laugh is as fake as her tits.
Scowling at her unprofessional and unnecessarily catty comment, Harry decides his initial reservations about her were spot on. Clocking the pointed tilt of Eloise's head as she pauses behind the fridge door, he snorts in indignation.
"Well, that was rude... And pretty unwise. This bombshell here will have a definitive say in whether we decide to buy in LA again or not... It probably depends upon how many more Golden Globes she plans on winning...". His threat is clear.
Levelling her senior partner with a look, he makes his displeasure known.
Pivoting neatly with a smirk, Eloise plants her left hand to Harry's sharp jaw and makes a play of waggling her ring in her face as she drops a quick kiss to his lips in appreciation. It's a remarkably effective yet silent fuck you.
Harry fails to suppress his smirk and Jeff struggles to conceal his laughter as Eloise arches an eyebrow at the brokers before strutting haughtily off upstairs to shower.
After they all watch her walk away, Harry addresses Tom and Tommy. "Sorry to keep you guys. Do you want to set up on the balcony? I think we're about done here", he rolls his eyes towards the now po-faced bitch. "Two more minutes and I'm all yours, lads".
>
As Harry steps out on to the balcony, deftly balancing water bottles in one hand, he quirks his brow for them to fill him in on the joke.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen El jealous?", Jeff grins. "That was classily done".
"I think that was more like marking her territory or something?", Harry grins. "But, yeah, I've got no complaints!".
In a sweet and unexpected heart-to-heart, the guys all make a point of telling him how glad they are everything worked out and how he and Eloise are meant to be. It neatly rounds out those tense discussions from Tokyo.
>
When Eloise emerges back downstairs, she's looking stylish but simple, showcasing her figure in a statement high-waisted white skirt with a black ribbed tank top.
The boys, now gathered around the piano, can't help but look on as she moves around the kitchen unaware.
Mentally preparing herself for the emotion in store at her long-overdue catch-up with Adele and Rosie, she's distractedly chatting on the phone.
Rummaging around in the hall closet for her heeled black mules, and then transferring her things from her tote to her slouchy black leather clutch, she takes her phone back in her hand, stretching out her neck.
"Mamma Mia Four? Absolutely not! Charles, I couldn't be less interested... Well, I said no more singing, and I can't stand ABBA, so... I know, I know, I'm a terrible Swede!" she chuckles lowly.
Looking up, she catches Harry's eye and pokes out her tongue playfully as she listens to her agent. "Whoa, what? Yeah, I'm listening... James fucking Bond? ...No way, really? We'll be back in London this time next week, so I'd be around to meet him... Will you send it over? I'm heading out now, but I can start reading it tonight and get back to you in the morning... Okay, perfect. Chat then! Thanks, Charles".
She grins to herself as she hangs up and tosses her phone in her bag, biting her lip as she struts over to the piano.
Draping her arms over Harry's shoulders from behind as he sits on the bench, she bends down to whisper in his ear. "How much do you love me?".
"Mehh...", he jests, twisting to look up at her with a grin on his face.
Fluttering her lashes, she grins hopefully. "Enough to take the Mercedes?".
"It's all yours", he nods with a matching grin.
"Shit, you two are too fucking adorable... I can't take it!", Tom sasses with a groan.
Harry ignores him and scoots around on the bench to plant his hands on her hips. "You look gorgeous, babe. Where are you going anyway, all dressed up?".
Looking down at herself she shrugs, "Am I? Just trying to show off my tan!". With her bright blue eyes popping against her healthy glow and the smattering of freckles across her nose, her toothy white grin only enhances it more.
Prompting her on his question, he reaches to spin her ring around her finger.
"Oh! Don't fret... Just to Rosie's, but I'm picking Adele up on the way".
"Well, have fun... Oh, and call me if you need a lift later. I'll be around, and don't believe for a minute those girls won't crack open some bubbly to celebrate".
Bending at the waist, she drops a kiss to his lips. "Thanks, baby".
She's halfway to the hallway before his curiosity gets the better of him. Turning back from the piano again, he calls out, "Oh, wait, babe... What was that about Bond?".
Spinning deftly in her heels, she struts backwards as she wiggles her eyebrows at him and smiles coquettishly. "Well, I said Mister Bond... But I'll fill you in later!", she squeals excitedly.
>
>
5th March 2019
After a few days pootling around LA, hanging out with Mer and Ruby, meeting with a few more property brokers, and generally dodging paparazzi, Harry and Eloise headed home-home, to London. Finally, together.
The media's excitement at their reunion, and rekindled romance, seemed to be winning out over the wild speculation and theories about their time apart. So far, at least.
They encounter a few paps at Heathrow, but nothing like the scale they'd faced at LAX the week before.
The holding hands and long sleeve trick has been working a treat so far, but, aware they're on borrowed time, they're making the most of sneaking around in plain sight whilst they can.
They'd only been trying to hold out until seeing their families first, and hope they'll manage to complete their rounds within the next couple of days.
>
Their first stop was Richmond Park - to Eloise's parents house to pack up her things and collect her car - but they were disappointed to arrive and find the house empty.
Understandably, Harry found it pretty disconcerting to be confronted with the extent to which she'd settled in back home in their time apart. But plenty of reassuring touches and kisses served to remind him of everything they have since overcome.
Still failing to get hold of either of her parents, they focused on sorting her things and heading home to Hampstead.
>
More promisingly, Eloise squeals with excitement when they find his mum's car parked on their drive.
But it's tempered, somewhat, when they bundle into a quiet house, only to find a handwritten note from her on the marble island in the kitchen.
'Welcome home, lovebirds! Meet me in the pub next door for a glass of bubbly at 6pm ish... Lots of love xo'.
They look at each other with matching quizzical expressions.
"Is she up to something?", Eloise quirks her lips.
"Oh, without a doubt!", Harry scoffs before leaning down to drop a kiss to her lips.
>
After lugging their suitcases upstairs, they have just under an hour to shower and get ready.
"Do we have time?", Harry paws at her almost bare hips as the shower heats up. "I promised myself, that if I managed to get you back in here, I wouldn't waste a minute showing you what you mean to me", he says sweetly.
"You don't need to keep trying to make it up to me, H. We agreed to draw a line...". She reaches up and hopes to reassure him with a kiss, trying to convey the depth of her feelings.
With a flustered expression after she pulls back, his lips dazedly try to follow hers until she lifts a hand to his jaw, halting his progress. "I'm not going anywhere, baby. I promise... And, besides, what I have in mind is way more deserving than a quickie... Just you wait until later, Mr Styles!", she smirks before stripping off her underwear and swinging her hips teasingly as she steps into the shower.
>
Reunited with her wardrobe, she eventually settles on a black floral print mini dress and black ankle boots. Whilst the damp, sleety weather outside suggests she should opt for tights, her legs won't stay this tanned for long, so she bravely forgoes, but snags his leather-trimmed black Crombie coat from the walk-in wardrobe and drapes it over her shoulders.
He's looking sharp in boots, black jeans and a white silk shirt, with his camel suede shearling collar bomber.
Grabbing their charged phones and a key, they bundle close as they head around the corner on foot.
Elbowing each other as they clock a few familiar cars in the dark car park, they can't help but trade knowing grins as they slip through the front door as surreptitiously as possible.
Dave, the friendly landlord, steps from around the bar to greet them with hugs. "They-, err, your mum, is in the back room... Head straight through".
Pausing in the hallway, out of sight of the door frame, Harry steps to Eloise's right hand side and reaches down for a quick kiss. "Act surprised!", he reminds her gamely.
"I think I can manage that!", she grins, pecking him back.
Ironically, they seem to take everyone else by surprise, and Harry has enough time to stash their coats on a chair before anyone seems to realise.
"...Ahhh!".
"...Oh, shit!".
"SUPRPRISE!".
By the time a couple of champagne corks fly, everyone in the room realises the guests of honour have arrived and the chorus of cheers only grows in volume.
All of their immediate family and some of their very closest friends are squeezed into the back room of the large pub. With a log fire licking at the grate and flickering candlelight from every table, the soft lighting picks up the gold foil helium balloons tethered to the back wall spelling out 'LOVEBIRDS', and the metallic streamers adorning every light fitting and picture frame. It's even cosier and more inviting than usual.
Harry and Eloise make a good play of feigning surprise, but everyone's so distracted, too taken with seeing them together and clocking the sparkle of her ring, that they probably needn't have worried.
There's a beat of surprised silence when Elin is the first to reach them. In a surprise move, she throws her arms around them both and promptly bursts into tears. Totally taken aback, they're relieved when Crispin wraps his broad arms around all three of them, holding them tight.
As he has a quiet moment with Harry, and Elin busies herself trying to find a tissue, a bemused but moved Eloise takes the opportunity to step away and embrace Anne tightly, promptly joined by Gemma.
"I'm so, so sorry if I came between you...", she whispers.
"Nonsense, that wasn't on you. And it's all forgotten anyway, now that you're going to be one of us!". As they squeal and coo over her ring, a teary Anne adds, "God, I'm so relieved to finally see that where it belongs".
"I cannot begin to tell you how much this means to me, that you-", Eloise begins as she wiggles her finger admiringly, but Harry inadvertently cuts her off, throwing his arms around them all and jostling them playfully in sheer excitement.
Continuing their tag-teamed hugs and greetings, as Eloise leaves Harry whispering with his mum and sister, she's pulled into Ollie's arms.
Next, she spots Des and makes a beeline for him, only for Harry to soon join them.
From there, she flits between the rest of their family and family friends; Malin, her godparents, Harry's London-based cousins, and Michal and Chloe too.
Afterwards, she's swept into Charles, her agent, then off her feet by Niall. After he introduces Hailee, Eloise then spots Liam and makes a fuss, cooing over Bear. Adam and his wife are there too. And Nick and Alexa as well.
Twirling again, Eloise belatedly laughs as she rebounds into Harry's chest, but he's quick to swoop her up tightly as they laugh.
There are cheers and camera flashes aplenty when he pulls her in for a kiss; her sparkling left hand splayed on his jaw.
From there, it remains a joyful, disorganised and slightly discombobulating swirl of hugs and kisses and congratulations and gushing, and asking about the ring, and the proposal, and even wedding plans.
"Oh, God, we haven't even had the chance to think that far ahead!" Eyeing Eloise intently, Harry laughs them off, realising there's a whole raft of fun in store beyond the engagement celebrations.
Platters of food emerge from the kitchen in an attempt to soak up some of the bubbles.
When Lucas arrives late, having jumped on the train from Bath after training, Harry ensures to clear the air with him and Ollie. But Crispin had already clued them in; no need.
Whilst Eloise is tied up with their mums, Harry makes a point of chatting with Charles and, still curious after her phone call the other day, tries to work out how much work she might have missed out on.
But, never one to miss much, she intervenes and tugs him aside, giving it to him straight in the hopes of reassuring him once and for all. "Yes, bloody Magnus derailed things because I couldn't go out and actively hunt down new roles and opportunities. Then, yes, everyone's entitled to some holiday and downtime every once in a while", she raises her eyebrows in challenge, then sighs. "And, yes, I need to get back into the swing of things... But that doesn't mean I need to drop everything else! I've learnt some lessons about a bit of balance and what, who, is important in all this...". She looks up at him with wide eyes, adding quietly, "I'm not going to let that go because Charles is chasing his commission".
His ears must have been burning, because Charles collars her and can't resist talking a bit of shop, keen to set a few things up now she's back from all her travels. "So, Knives Out; the murder mystery? I did some digging, like you asked... They've lost their young female lead to a scheduling conflict, but they're all set to shoot in Boston from May, so they're starting to panic. Daniel Craig himself threw your name in the hat, and he's being pretty persistent about it! I'll set something up for later this week, okay?", he grins hopefully.
Eloise can't help but feel excited. Resolving the Magnus threat, and getting more than back on track with Harry, then having been unexpectedly travelling for the last month, everything has felt a bit like a paradigm shift of late. She realises quite how much she's looking forward to locking down some plans in the near future. There are huge decisions pending; like where they'll live, when they'll marry, and how she's going to get her career back on it's rapid trajectory.
With a gulp of champagne, she focuses back in on what Charles is saying.
"...You'd be wrapped with plenty of time before Killing Eve kicks off again in August", he reassures her. "And this could be huge, El... If you're on Daniel's radar already, this could bode really well for potential discussions about Bond!".
"I'm sorry, did you just say James fucking Bond?", Ollie gasps loudly, fully ready to start fan-girling after overhearing whilst chatting with Crispin and Harry. "Tell me everything, now!".
Eloise, looks coyly up at each of them, grinning behind her glass of champagne as she takes a coquettish sip.
It's big. Potentially huge.
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