A/N: Reminder! Listen to the song that is underlined, I will put the yt video for you to play if you swipe by the picture up here
With that said, enjoy!
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This was the first real day off for Harry since coming to the states a week ago. What he wished for on this day? Nothing. Nothing, as in just relax and no grand plans. There was no one complaining about that around the breakfast table. Everyone seemed to be on the same page after the day we had yesterday.
"so just a chill day by the pool?" Clare asked the group to confirm, we all nodded in sync.
"Maybe some margaritas?" Grimmy cheesed with a wink at her, making everyone laugh. Well, maybe Mitch didn't actually laugh, a better description would be a small smile. But after spending some time with Mitch now, I knew that it was rare to see a full laugh from him. He wasn't one for big and expressive emotions, even if it was clear that he was a softie at heart.
"Yes!" She sang back, bonding with Grimmy. But the more important question was- who didn't Grimmy bond with?
With Grimmy standing up from the table to go look if we had everything, he seemed to have unconsciously declared breakfast over. Slowly everyone got up from their seat and was now crowding the kitchen to clean after ourselves.
"No, we barely have anything for it." Grimmy whined next to me, head deep in one of the cabinets.
"I can go get everything for us." I suggested, leaning close to him to put the coffee back in the cabinet he had been examining.
"Yes please Sugar." He moaned with happiness, "I'll write you a list." Grimmy grabbed his phone from the back pocket to go over all the condiments we needed from the store. While he was busy with that I turned around to continue helping the others. Instead I almost bumped into Harry's chest.
"I'll go with you." He offered while reaching over me to get in the same cabinet me and Grimmy had been occupied by. I stepped aside so his chest, jawline and tattooed arm didn't tower over me anymore, giving me some headspace to be able to think of something to say.
"You don't have to do that." I rejected kindly, feeling like his day of nothing shouldn't consist of doing boring grocery shopping with me. The only reason I had been up for it was to have an excuse to see more of L.A.
"I know, but I want to." He insisted, now turning to me and making space for Adam to pass the three of us standing in the middle of the cleaning chaos.
"And plus, I think you are underestimating the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the road." Harry grinned at me, and he was right- I hadn't even thought about that part. However, I didn't want him to see that I hadn't thought it through and give him the upper hand in this conversation.
"If you can do it, then so can I." I sassed back, making his eyes go wide at my quick wit. The surprise on his face turned into amusement.
"Have it your way then Bee, you can drive- but I'm coming with." He argued back. Secretly, I was now happy he had offered. I felt safe to have him with me. If I was going to crash, then at least I had another person with me.
Half an hour later we walked out the door to one of the cars. I stopped in front of it, turning to Harry. Gosh, I hated to say this but he had made me nervous about the drive.
"Okay, I'm going to swallow my pride and ask for you to drive." I acted innocent, hoping that he wouldn't give me some of his typical cheeky comments.
"Is that so?" He commented back, giving me a hint of judgement and entertainment in his tone. To top it off he crossed his arms with a half smile. I acted like I didn't hear it nor see it, both to protect my ego and not give him a bigger one.
"Yes, I feel like I'd do a much better job with the aux, and you with the driving." I stated simply, turning my back and jumping in the passenger seat- not waiting for his approval. From inside the quiet car I could hear Harry snort out a quick and loud laugh. It took all my willpower not to look out the window to him, but as he passed the hood of the car I saw the shook of his head together with a big dimple beam.
It didn't take long until we were at the store. I told Harry to stay in the car while I ran in to grab the things, making sure that he wouldn't have a thousand people wanting to get pictures with him. The food store wasn't the best place for him to visit. He tried protesting, but I won the discussion with the argument that it really only was five things for me to grab and that I'd be out in a matter of minutes.
On our way back I considered if I should dare to ask Harry if he truly wanted to go back to the house already. But I decided to not ask, he had said that he wanted to do nothing and the group was waiting for their margaritas.
After a few minutes I noticed that the streets rolling by weren't the same on our way there.
"Where are you going?" I tilted my head at Harry.
"A little boring just going back and forth to the store." He began, taking a pause to concentrate on his driving for a second, "So I figured I could show you something." He spoke mysteriously. I was about to ask him what, but was quick to change my mind. I didn't need to control every little detail, so I shut my mouth and tried to enjoy the moment.
The iconic road laid before us. The wide street and all the palm trees on the side formed a catwalk up to the Hollywood sign as a backdrop view. This was the street you've seen all over social media from Hollywood and L.A. This was the street you've seen in several movies, but somehow the only one that popped up in my head was Shrek. Maybe that said something about me? To roll down Beachwood Drive, wind blowing in my hair from the open window, was something else.
"I like your surprises." I cheesed, not being able to hide my happiness. I didn't want to either. Harry wasn't able to kill the smile that grew on either, as he glanced at me and then back to the road.
"Good." He began, trying to sound chill, "I'll keep them coming then." And at that I smiled so hard that I tried hiding it behind my fist pressed against my lips and chin. He really knew how to make me all giddy with the smallest things.
The experience wasn't long lasting since the road ended rather hastily.
"Should we grab coffee with us for the rest, and grab a quick bite?" Harry proposed and I was not going to pass on getting as many experiences as I could while in L.A. I nodded and he took a turn, "let me know if you see anything that looks good." Harry instructed me and it didn't take long for me to spot a place.
"Maybe that one? It looks good, right?" I pointed a little further up the street to a place with a blue door and sunshades.
Harry agreed, making him look for a place to park. As he found one, he got ready to parallel park. With one of his hands left on the steering wheel, the other grabbed the back of my seat, turning his head to look back when he backed into the spot. I found myself staring at him, causing some kind of racing in my chest. With me realising it I adjusted myself in my seat, forcing myself to turn my head the other way. Suddenly I felt nervous because of my own feelings surprising me.
When the car stood still Harry was getting ready to get out of it.
"Wait!" I raised my voice slightly, realising something that I felt like maybe he should have realised before me. He stopped with his hand still on the handle.
"You're sure that you can go inside? Won't there be pictures and such?" I attempted to ask without making him feel too much of an alien. I hope he knew that I knew that he was normal, but the reality was that is was a side of his life.
"Maybe." He shrugged, "Usually I'm able to dodge the paparazzi's, it's the people taking secret photos that we are at risk for. But that doesn't happen as much as you think it does." He continued explaining, and I nodded my head at all the new information.
"Are you bothered by that?" Harry asked, but didn't give me a chance to answer since he started rambling immediately, "Because if you are, that's fine.".
"No, it's fine. Fans and secret photos I am okay with." I assured him, "it's the paparazzi part that makes me uncomfortable if I'm honest." I admitted. I wasn't being dramatic, I had said it without any weight, value or emotion behind it.
"I wouldn't put you in that situation, and I wouldn't go anywhere without security if I thought I would run into paparazzis." He assured me and opened the door. Since I wasn't being dramatic, Harry wasn't either.
We walked up to the café. The interior seemed beautiful from the outside, wooden furniture with blue and yellow all over the walls and floors. The sign said 'Beachwood Café' when we opened the door to get inside.
Harry knew his bandmates' typical order, and I was sure of Grimmy's go to. We paid for them beforehand, while settling down at one of the tables in the corner to enjoy our lunch. Harry had specifically told me that the corner table would give us the best chance at privacy. And he was right, the whole lunch nobody bothered us. Harry went on about having spider senses, knowing whenever someone took a picture and being able to detect any cameras on him. I laughed at that, and so did he. But he swore that it was a real thing.
For one part of our lunch he asked me about my family. I told him everything about my four parents and sister.
"Four parents?" He repeated when I told him that, "most people settle for two- if not one in a lot of cases." He commented soon after. I spun my fork around, adding a playfulness to my point, "If you can have four, why only settle for two?" I teased back. At that he squeezed one eye shut, giving me a half cheeky smile with a tilt of his head. "Touché" He added.
We continued getting to know things about each other. As we sat there, it hit me that this was the first time him and I spent time together and actually hung out, doing something normal, just the two of us, and having a real conversation. I could almost see it in his eyes when it clicked for him too. The conversation was passionate, almost fighting over who got to ask the other one the next question. Our plates were emptied, but neither him or I was ready to leave yet. At the house we couldn't give our devoted attention just to each other, and neither he or I knew when this opportunity would come again. When I learned one new thing about him, I wanted to know the next one. Before this I had already felt like I knew Harry, but I understood that there was a difference from knowing someone and knowing their being. I was desperate to understand that part of him and I was holding onto this lunch like this was my only chance. Harry did too.
At one point it was like we were both out of breath, asking and learning this new side of one another. I saw his chest raising up and down, like he had been running but we had just stayed at this table for the last hour. With the pulse in my chest I only imagined mine doing the same. I met his eyes and they were focused on mine, it was almost this anticipation hanging in the air between our interlock, but I couldn't figure out what for. The feeling almost eliminated all other sounds surrounding us. That reminded me of our location that I had spent the last hour forgetting about, and it took me out of my haze. The spell broke and we realised the time, making our way back to get the rest of our order and get back in the car.
"Hmm..." I hummed from my seat as I scrolled through my playlist, "which one should we do next..." I thought out loud. And I found just the perfect, "Uh, you're going to love this." I glanced over at Harry, turning the volume up to the max.
The cheerful melodies of 'Honey, honey' by ABBA blasted through the speakers in the car.
I pretended to hold a microphone in my hand turning my head dramatically to the beginning tunes, stopping to look at Harry with peered eyes before the opening lyrics.
"Honey, Honey. How you thrill me" I flickered my fingers in the air over my head, dropping them in front of my face and down to my chest, and peered back at Harry again, "Ah-hah, Honey, Honey." and he looked at me quickly, dimples deep in his cheeks.
"Honey honey, nearly kill me" I danced along, joy filling my chest. It was first at the beginning verse I added my singing.
"I'd heard about you before, I wanted to know some more." I pointed at Harry, teasing him. So far he was too amused by my one man show to join in, but I saw him watching me with sheer wonder.
"Oh you make me dizzy!" I pressed the back of my hand against my forehead in a dramatic act, more so exhaling the words out than singing them.
"Honey honey, let me feel it" I quickly recovered and sang, back with the microphone again. I pointed the microphone to Harry and to my surprise, he sang the next words back.
"Ah-hah, honey honey" He smirked at me. I got excited and scooted closer to him in my seat.
"Honey honey, don't conceal it" I sang again before pointing the microphone back to him.
"Ah-hah, honey honey." Harry got a little more into it with some bopping in his seat.
When the next verse began we both sang,swaying in our seats. The wind was blowing in our hairs slightly, the short curls around Harry's head danced beautifully. This truly was a sight for sore eyes.
Not being ready for it, Harry raised the stakes and took over the song with the male voice of Björn singing in the song.
"I don't wanna hurt you, baby, I don't wanna see you cry" He sang the first line smoothly and cheerful. A smile slowly grew on me as I watched him in awe. This was such a happy moment, and I saw that Harry thought so too. So much so that he couldn't stop the grin on his lips as he sang.
When the girls started singing again it was his turn to point the imagined microphone to my face, glancing at me before returning his focus back on the road.
"But I'm gonna stick to you, boy, you'll never get rid of me. There's no other place in this world where I rather would be." I sang my heart out.
In sync we both played imaginary drums and hitting every beat up to the drop. Realising that, it made us both burst into a fit of laughter before trying to get back into the song. Instead we just jammed for the rest, taking turns on harmonizing. He was giving me silly dance moves, doing the hey-ya hands and a shimmy, taking the spotlight now with his charm. He tried to steal quick eye contact whenever he could, without driving us off the road. But I just danced and watched him enjoy this moment the same as I did. The sun was shining and we were shining. I truly felt like there was no other place in this world I'd rather be. Being in a car, having a full on dance party on a beautiful day with a beautiful person - this was the peak of happiness.
We arrived back at the house. Grimmy complained about waiting for his beloved margarita for two hours, but we made up for it when he saw what we had grabbed for them on their way. They had all ran into the kitchen from chilling out by the pool. We left them with everything, walking back upstairs to get ready to join them.
I closed the door behind me, trying to choose which out of the three bikinis I packed to wear. I felt nervous walking out in nothing but a bikini, it felt like too much to wear almost nothing. With me not feeling like drawing attention I picked the simple black one, it was the triangle model that you tied around the neck and the bottoms were the same with bands falling down a bit on my hip. Lastly I put my hair up in a messy bun, making sure that the sun would also hit my shoulders.
I took one last breath before stepping out, and the door on the opposite side of the hallway was opened. Shit, Harry was already downstairs... Why did I even bother stressing over that? It doesn't matter.
I made my way downstairs. On the kitchen counter there was already margarita poured in a glass, so I grabbed it before walking out. When I stepped through the sliding glass door Grimmy spotted me.
"Eyyyy Sugar!" He hyped me up. While he was thinking he did me a favour, I was not so happy about everyone turning their heads towards me. "Now we can turn up!" He cheered in extension to his previous one. Everyone turned their heads back to Grimmy and laughed, except one. His eyes were glued on me, slowly traveling up to meet my eyes. I felt my cheeks heat up by his not so discreet observation. However it didn't seem like it struck him that he wasn't being discreet when his emerald eyes turned away, pretending like nothing when they had traveled all the way up to meet my eyes. He flipped his nose a couple of times upwards, was he embarrassed or nervous? Maybe both?
With him looking away to Grimmy as he sat on one of the sunbeds I took my chance to examine him. He had black simple bathing shorts. There was nothing special about that. His body was what stood out. He had muscles, he really did. But they weren't too much, or up in your face like boring calvin klein models. This was better than that. A few more tattoos than I had seen before were painted on his body. My eyes were especially drawn to the moth on the upper part of his stomach. It was beautiful.
As I now walked closer to the others I forced myself to focus on anything else than Harry. I sat down next to Sarah on the edge of the pool, who had Adam next to her.
"Cheers!" Grimmy rejoiced the moment I sat down. We all raised our glasses in the air, singing 'cheers' back in choir, meeting a pair of piercing green over the edge of my glass while sipping.
I chatted with Sarah and Adam while kicking my legs in the pool. We were sharing banter, having a blast. Adam was a really easy going and sociable person, making the conversation really smooth. I looked over at the direction of Mitch and Harry and saw Mitch staring at Sarah for the thousandth time.
"I think someone has found a rather large interest in you to stare at this direction every two seconds." I leaned in, whispering in front of Sarah so that Adam also could hear. Sarah threw a hand in the air like it was nothing, but a hint of pink that was not caused by the sun kissed her cheeks. Adam just chuckled for himself.
"I think both of them are rather interested in this trio for some reason..." He began whispering back before sitting straight again and turning to the boys on the other side of the pool.
"Hey! What is up with you two? Take a picture, it lasts longer." Adam yelled, gloating at making both of them uncomfortable. Mitch not being the one with big emotions just rolled his eyes, leaning back in his sunbed next to Harry's, giving him the finger. Harry instead put a hand in the pool and splashed some on Adam.
After dinner we had all gathered on the big sofa to watch a movie. Adam had chosen an action movie series even if everyone protested against it, he got his way. In the middle of the third one I felt myself drift away, cuddled up to a pillow in one of the corners. If it was the jetlag hitting me or the boring movie, I didn't know. Nonetheless, I fell deep asleep.
I didn't know how much time had passed when in the haziness of coming back from my dream I felt a pair of arms embrace me gently.
"Come here Bee." A soothing, sweet and lowly voice murmured. My head tilted to the other opposite side when it separated from the softness of the pillow. It met a hard shoulder, and two hands took a grip of me, one around my back and the other at the lower parts of my thighs. The mixture of sweet and musky hit my nose when it grazed his neck. On reflex I put my arms around it when he lifted me from the sofa. My tiredness not caring about fighting my way out of his hold.
"What are you doing?" I mumbled back, my voice having that tired tenderness. I hadn't opened my eyes, afraid of not being able to fall back asleep if I made myself wake up completely. This all felt like a dream when I floated through the room, feeling his chest breathe against mine.
"Getting you to bed." He replied, sounding angelic. Harry's thumb stroke my back when he carried me up the stairs. And with that action I snuggled closer into the crook of his neck. By the feeling of being somewhere between sleep and awake, my mind didn't do damage control before just acting, and all I wanted to do right now was to snuggle Harry when he looked after me the way I did. By the silence around us I guessed that everyone else had already gone to their rooms.
He laid me down gently on my bed, pulling the cover over me. It felt cold in comparison to Harry's embrace. When I slowly raised my hand to push the few hair strands that had fallen in my face, he beat me to it.
"Go back to sleep now Bee." He spoke from under his breath. And I did, even though my body missed his warmth.
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I really loved writing this one, I hope you loved reading it!
Sending you all lots of love /R