Hey guys!
I just wanted to say this before y'all started reading this chapter
I HIGHLY recommend playing the songs that Oakland plays, because they reflect her moods and such:) the songs in this chapter especially are good to listen to while reading along!!
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I woke up to the rising sun shining through my sheer curtains, and I feel like a whole new person. Harry won't get out of my mind, and I'm not complaining. After the kiss last night, I came back inside to see the rest of my family on the couch, and I sat to watch whatever they were watching. Harry really cleared my head, because if I didn't see him last night, I would have locked myself in my room for the rest of the night and sulked.
I felt refreshed, and looked out the window to see the beautiful landscape. I rolled over and clicked on my phone, and was greeted with a sweet message.
'Want to come over to my house today? I'm feeling very inspired, and I'd love to have you here.' the sweet boy who lives in my daydreams sent to me. I caught myself getting all giddy to what I was sent, and I sent back,
'Sounds wonderful! My parents may not let me have the car though.' I told him, and stood up to head towards the shower so I could get ready. I put on my summer playlist to have some background music as usual. Feels Like a Dream by Emilee started playing, and I smiled at myself in the mirror. The song is very airy and happy, which reflects exactly how I am feeling at the moment. As the water heated up, I danced around in the bathroom, singing along.
It still feels like a dream,
It still feels like a dream,
Playing over and over,
This can't be what it seems,
I'm scared of waking up,
Don't want this dream to be over,
Once I couldn't see my reflection in the mirror anymore from the steam, I got undressed from my PJs and hopped in. The warm water felt so good on my tanned skin, and I lathered my hair up in shampoo, then conditioner. I sang throughout my shower routine, jamming out to song after song. Once I got out, I wrapped myself in a soft towel, and brushed out my hair. I then threw it up in a towel, and brushed my teeth. I moved out into my room, and changed quickly into something casual, but still presentable.
A blue plaid skirt, along with a white tee with a vintage car on it. I paired it with some white platform sneakers and some white socks that cut off right above the ankle. I checked my phone and saw a response from Harry saying,
'No worries, love. I can come get you.'
I responded, and held my phone to my chest as I smiled at myself in the full length mirror in the room.
'Love'. He called me 'love'.
I stared at myself for a few seconds, until I wiped the cheesy reaction off of my face. Why am I getting so excited over a damn boy? I barely even know him, and this is just fun. I'm only here for another week and a half, so there is no use in getting attached to someone I won't ever see again after this trip. I looked myself over again, playing with my fingernails while chewing on the inside of my cheek. Is this worth it? He is only a boy who I know nothing about. I don't even know where he is from, so do I risk the heartbreak I finally just recovered from? I just have to keep it casual between Harry, no real emotions, and especially NO serious feeling. No matter what.
I nod to myself, showing that I agree with the thoughts flowing through my cramped brain. I am snapped out of the mess of notions I perceived in my head by a ding from my phone, signaling a text. Harry is here, and I just realized that I never asked my parents if I could even leave. I rush out of my room, after grabbing my phone and camera. I want to start taking more pictures, and since the camera is older, I will have to wait to get the pictures developed later. I slid my sunglasses on top of my head as I slowed down, entering the kitchen, trying to play off that I wasn't just running down the hall. My mother is sitting alone at the kitchen island, reading a magazine and drinking her coffee.
"Oakland? What are you doing?" she asks, probably startled by my sudden entrance. She stood up, starting to make me something to eat, like it was her motherly instinct.
"Harry asked me to hangout today, could I go?" I asked with puppy dog eyes. "You don't have to make me breakfast, I can just eat a banana." I told her while putting my hand on top of her hands.
"Is he here?" she asked, "is that why you were running down the hallway?" she asked with suspecting eyes. I responded with a nod, and a hard exhale. "How about you invite him in, and I make the both of you breakfast." she offers. I sighed, and looked at her like she was crazy.
"Oh, I don't know mom. He probably already ate." I try to make up a reason to not bring him up here.
"Just go ask, Oakland. It's polite." she persuades. Damn her classic southern welcomeness. She always opens her house up to any and everyone. I give her a small nod and walk out the door towards the driveway.
I reached his car, where he was sitting on his phone. I knocked on the window, signaling for him to roll it down. "Hey," I said softly. "My mother was wondering if you wanted breakfast, but I totally understand if you don't want to. Like you really don't have to feel like you have to." I warn him, stumbling across my fast words.
"I'd love to." he says with a genuine smile. Of course. Of course he would love to.
"Are you sure?" I asked., furrowing my eyebrows at his response. He nods, and shuts off his car. He exited the Jeep, and walked around to meet me. I led him up the driveway, and I looked up at the window from the kitchen, meeting eyes with my mother, smiling from ear to ear. She walked away, and I went back to looking down at my shoes, scraping the concrete.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked, looking down at me with concerning eyes.
"Oh- uh- yeah I'm good." I say quickly. I guess it was too fast to be believable, because he stopped in his tracks and turned towards me. I stopped with him and looked up into his eyes.
"What's going on?" he asked, his accent still thick. I looked down at my shoes, worry filling my thoughts. I don't really know why I am nervous, since this is only supposed to be casual, but nerves are still crawling up my throat. I guess since the last boy my parents met was Lucca, I think that they have a pre deceived notion of how boys should be. And that terrifies me.
"I'll explain later." I tell him. I won't tell him everything that happened with Lucca, but I think I can trust him with the broad things I've told my mother, and friends. He nods, not questioning it anymore, and we headed up to the house. Once we walked in, it seemed that my mother pulled my sister and father into the kitchen and started cooking.
"Hey y'all, this is Harry." I introduced quite awkwardly. My mom and sister gave him sweet smiles and waves, while my father stood up and put out his hand. He always believed that you can tell how a man is by the firmness of his handshake. Harry met hands with him, and shook sturdily. I think it was good enough for my father, hopefully.
"Nice to meet all of you." Harry says. I see my parent's eyebrows perk up at his accent, and I push down the smile that was curving on my lips. I guess I forgot to mention that he was british. Oops.
"British! How lovely!" my mother exclaimed while cooking what looks like pancakes. Harry nods, as I lead both of us to the island seats. I sat on the end, while Harry sat between my sister and I, and my father on the other end. "So Harry," my mother continues, "We've heard you are a singer." she states, more as a question.
He nods at what was said, and responds. "Yes ma'am, I am actually here to get inspiration for my first album." he seems completely calm, while I, on the other hand, am shaking in my boots with nerves. I am sure that my mother loves him already, because she is always a sucker for a foreign man, but my father is as stiff as a board with approval. He has been quiet since we entered the house, probably trying to find something wrong with the man sitting next to me.
My mother finished cooking, and we all moved to the outdoor dining table. I sat with Harry on my left, and my sister in front of me. My parents sat at each of the ends. We served ourselves to pancakes, fruit, and there was also bacon that I skipped over. There was some small conversation, mainly consisting of my mom asking Harry questions about britain. It was pretty chill, but I still had a worried thought at the back of my mind, since my father was unusually quiet.
"Do you have a manager, Harry?" my dad finally peeps up. "I work in the music business, so I may have heard of them." Of course, my dad will judge him on that, since he knows everyone who is anyone in the music scene.
Harry nods, "yes I do, his name is Jeffery Azoff." he tells. My dad's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. I try to hide my scrunched face, because that reaction couldn't mean anything good.
"Oh, Jeff is a good friend of mine." my dad responds. I let out a sigh, a little too loud, causing me to receive a look from Byerly. I am relieved that my father knows him, and that is a step in the right direction. They start chatting about Harry's manager, and other people they know from their work environment, while the rest of us just listen. My dad seems to not be completely hating Harry like I first expected, and that is a relief. The rest of breakfast went smoothly, and before we knew it, Harry and I were heading out the door. My mom told him to come by again, and he replied with a courteous nod and that he would love to.
We walked to his car, and once we got in he turned it on and headed off towards his house. He handed me his phone to play music, and I played Lady By The Sea by Stephen Sanchez. As the music began, Harry turned his head slightly to get my attention, and I looked over at him.
"Why were you so nervous earlier?" he asked, referring to how I was a tad shooken up before we went into my house. I don't really know how to respond, so I gave him a broad statement.
"I guess I just get nervous whenever my parents meet new people who are my friends." I said, instantly regretting how I referred to him as a friend. But what else am I supposed to call him? A silly vacation crush is all he is.
That's all he is... yeah.
"Oh... I understand." he says. I can hear the slight disappointment in his tone, probably due to what I referred to him as. "I love talking and meeting new people, so you don't have to worry about it with me." he moves on. I nod, looking out the window, soaking in the new found silence. After some time, he speaks again, "I really like this song." he tells me, trying to start a conversation.
"Me too, it is so happy and bouncy so I've been listening to it a lot lately." I tell him.
"Bouncy? I've never heard a song be referred to as bouncy... I like it." he tells me. I giggle at the way his accent makes him pronounce the word, and he gives me a side eye. "What are you laughing at?"
"Oh nothing, I just like the way you say the word bouncy. it's goofy." I continue to softly laugh. He playfully shoves my shoulder, while keeping his eyes on the road, and that causes us to both erupt in full laughter now. The rest of the car ride consisted of both of us playing music, and singing along. Harry has a beautiful voice... but me on the other hand, sounds like a dying cat.
We pulled up to the house, and it was insane. It is giant, with full windows and all white everything. It's quite marvelous. He walked me inside, and told me that his team would be here, just to let me know. We walked through the front fourier, and into the living room, where I saw some familiar faces.
"Hey Mitch, hey Sarah!" I greeted them first, hugging both. Then, I met some more team members. One of the men who is helping Harry write introduced himself next.
"Hi, I'm Adam, I'm the bassist" he greets, "So, you must be the Carolina girl," he says to me as I introduce myself. I furrowed my brows at what he referred to me as, confused as to why that is an important trait to who I am. "That explains a lot." he states. I let out a shy laugh, puzzled at how that 'explains a lot'. I look up to Harry for an answer.
"Wait... sorry I'm just confused..." I said as I shook my head.
Harry looked down at me, "oh it's nothing, I just told them that you were southern." he quickly states, acting somewhat off. He clenched his jaw, staring into Adam's eyes. I shrug it off, not trying to pick apart everything that was said or draw attention to a situation that I don't understand.
We moved along, Harry giving me the tour of the fabulous home. It is very modern, with everything pristine and white. There are huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and a glass balcony on both of the floors. There is also a private beach, with an amazing view.
He led me back into the living room, where the rest of the people were already working. Strumming guitars, playing piano keys, so many instruments piecing together sounds to form songs. They were playing a melancholy tune as Harry and I sat on the couch. I am quite interested in the process he goes through to produce music. This morning he said that he was feeling inspired, so this is probably a good day to observe. They are playing the tune to a song I don't know, seeming to all be on the same page without discussing. It is mainly piano, and very calm. Harry starts to sing, and I instantly get chills.
Just stop your crying,
It's a sign of the times,
Welcome to the final show,
Hope you're wearing your best clothes,
The song seems very sad, and the lyrics are talking about getting away. I'm not sure of the backstory or theme of the song, but I can infer that it is about moving on. The piano starts to pick up, along with Sarah playing the drums stronger.
We don't talk enough,
We should open up,
Before it's all too much,
Will we ever learn?
We've been here before,
It's just what we know,
The song is a rock song, with sorrowful lyrics, giving it a unique vibe. The last lyrics really sat with me. He sang his heart out in front of only about 5 people, and it was still beautiful. Once he was done, he turned to Mitch, and was discussing something I couldn't hear, while the rest of the members talked amongst themselves. I sit there, in my own thoughts, quite intrigued with the story behind the lyrics, since they are so despairing.
"What's that song about?" I asked. Everyone turned towards me as Harry began to speak.
"It's actually about a mother who had just given birth, but found out that she only has 5 minutes left to live," he says. I raise my eyebrows at such a sad storyline. "She takes those last minutes with her newborn and tells them to go forth and conquer basically."
"Oh, wow. I really enjoyed y'all," I said to the whole group, "It is as if it told me that this is a hard time, but not the end. Inspiring and melancholic." they all nodded, agreeing with my words. They all went on, doing their own work, while Harry, Mitch, and Sarah all talked to me. We conversed about little things, like how the music process is going. They asked me about what I do, and I told them that I have a year until I go to college, and how I want to move to New York.
"Isn't there a big dance scene in California?" Mitch asked.
"Yea, but I never really saw myself out west, New York has always been my dream." I told him. "Kind of contradictory, considering I was named after a city out there." I joked.
They all laughed, and Harry smiled with thoughts behind his eyes. "You never saw yourself as a west coaster," he stated. I shook my head, with a smirk on my face. He hummed to himself, everyone stopping what they were doing to look at him with suspecting eyes. He took out his notebook, scribbling something down that I couldn't see.
Mitch leaned in to whisper to me, "he's onto something." I looked at him with a smile drawn upon my face. He smirked back, and raised his eyebrows. He nods his head towards the door leading to another room, and he, Sarah, and I stand up and head into it. It's a small den room with a dark brown leather couch and bookshelves lining the walls. "I wanted to get out of there so that he could have some peace while writing." Mitch tells us, hugging into Sarah. I furrowed my brows at the action, not realizing that they might be together.
"Ar- are y'all together?" I asked, feeling stupid by their goofy smiles on their faces. They started to giggle at my comment, looking at one another.
"Yeah, we are. Surprised that you didn't notice sooner, considering Mitch doesn't like to keep his hands off of me." Sarah says while shoving his shoulder, and her eyes wide. We all laugh at her response, and move to sit on the couch. We have some small talk, simple topics flowing through the air. I really enjoy their presence. They are really cool people, and have the best energy.
It was about an hour or so of just hanging out with them, and it was 1pm when Harry found us chatting it up in the side room. He walked in, seeming refreshed.
He let out a relieved sigh, "hey guys, what are you all doing?" he asked once fully in the room. He sent me a sweet smile, caring eyes followed.
"We wanted to give you some space to write." Mitch told him. Harry nodded, and sat down next to me on the sectional couch. Mitch stood up, patting Sarah's leg to signal her to join him, "well, we are going to go work on some things, see you around Oakland." he said as they moved out of the room. Harry and I were left alone, and he looked back at me.
"So, what do you want to do?" Harry asked, ignoring the fact that he was just gone for an hour to write. "Do you want to head down to the beach?" he offered.
"Oh, I would love to but," I said, "I didn't think to bring a bathing suit."
"I'm sure Sarah has one that you could borrow," he recommends, "I'll go ask her." he says while standing up. I follow him out of the room, but stay in the main living room while he heads upstairs to find her. After a few short minutes, he returns with a black and white bikini for me, and he was wearing yellow swim bottoms and the same white t-shirt he was wearing earlier. His black ray bans perched on the collar of the shirt. He led me to the hallway bathroom, where I changed into the suit. I looked at myself in the mirror, glancing over my features. I met eyes with my reflection, and couldn't believe where I even was at the moment. In the bathroom of a singer who I met on vacation, about to go hangout with him on his private beach. What is even going on? I snapped myself out of my thoughts, and exited the bathroom, seeing Harry standing by the door on his phone. Once he noticed I was ready, he glanced over me, smiling to himself. I don't know what that means, so I have a small worry in my head.
"What?" I asked about his smirk. He shook his head, and just waved me over to the door.I grabbed my sunglasses and met up with him. We went out the porch door, and down the stairs to the sand. It was so soft, and the high sun was warm on my skin. I let out a relaxed sigh as we walked down the beach. He had some chairs out, and we sat down, bathing in the Jamaican light. He took off his shirt, revealing a library of tattoos across his torso and arms. Hot.
"You look amazing." He tells me, meeting eyes through both of our sunglasses. I break eye contact and gaze down at my fiddling fingers, flustered by his complement. I know it's small, but knowing the man I am starting to get closer to thinks that of me makes me feel good. I try to not be fazed by what other people think of me, but I'm human, so knowing that feels good.
"Thank you," I say shyly. I can feel his eyes break from looking at me, as he grabs his phone out of his pocket. He starts playing some music, and lays his head back on the chair. Velvet Elvis by Kacey Musgraves starts playing, and I sit up immediately and gasp. "Kacy Musgraves?" I ask, shocked by the song choice.
"Yea, you like her?" he asks. I nod aggressively.
"Harry, I live in a small country town in South Carolina." I deadpan. "I, by no means, like country music, but Kacey is an exception." I tell him. It's true, I grew up with my parents listening to alternative rock and classic music, so if it was old enough to be remastered, I knew all the words. I never was the typical southern girl, but I could always listen to Kacey Musgraves.
"Right, right. You just seem more than a country girl so I didn't think you would know her." he said, referring to the singer. I laid back down, soaking in the sunlight. We both were there for some time, enjoying each other's presence and the summery songs. After a bit, I stood up without saying a word, taking off my sunglasses, and walked towards where the ocean met the sand. "Where are you going?" he called out to me.
I started skipping/running and spinned around to face him. "The ocean, duh. Are you going to come join me?" I playfully asked. He stood up from the chair and ran towards me. He crashed into me, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me up before pulling us both under the water. Once we resurfaced, he kept his hands where they were and my hands found their way to his shoulders after pushing my hair out of my face dramatically. "Harry!" I screamed at him. He laughed at my reaction, causing me to break the angry front I put up. He burned a gaze into my eyes for what felt like forever, before he leaned in and kissed me.
The second our lips met, I melted into him, one of my hands reaching up into the wet curls at the nape of his neck. We were standing in the clear blue water that reached my waist, attached to each other perfectly. Our mouths moved in perfect unison, and his tongue lapsed my bottom lip before entering my mouth, entangling itself with mine. It was exactly like a scene out of a movie, and I couldn't believe I was living it.
His hands guided up and down my petite figure, and finally grabbed the back of my thighs to lift me up, wrapping my legs around his waist to get us closer. After what felt like forever and only a second at the same time, we pulled away, breathing each other's heavy breaths. We stare at each other, taking in the other's features, and then he leans back in for a fast but hungry kiss. He rolled his lips into themselves, and pulled a smirk onto them. I slid down from his hold, and back into the now cold water. His lips warmed me up even more than the sun, so the contrast to the ocean brought me back to reality. To break the high tension between us, I stepped back and splashed him with water.
"Hey!" he yelled, splashing me as well. We both started giggling, and playing around in the water like kids.
"You dragged me into the water, it's only fair!" I laughingly yelled. He stepped towards me, and picked me up, throwing me back into the water. I let out a puny yelp while in mid-air, and crashed down. Once I came back up, I reached out and pulled him with me. We were acting like 10 year olds, but it was fun embracing our child-like sides.
We were back standing up, staring at each other like we always end up finding ourselves. "There is something about you that I can't put my finger quite on," he tells me, "but I'm so enthralled by you." he whispers, as if we were surrounded by people and he only wanted me to hear. I smiled at his words, and stood up on my tiptoes to give him another kiss.
"I feel the exact same way, and I don't ever want to go back to how I felt before I knew you." I spill, not realising how serious my words were until they were out in the open air. I cleared my throat and looked down at the clear water. I could feel his eyes still on me, and I think he picked up on my uncomfortableness, because he said he was going to sit back down on the beach.
He walked away, and I stayed in the water, consumed by both the waves from the ocean and the waves in my thoughts. He has something about him that is so enticing, and I can't get enough of him. He devours my mind, and fills every inch of my brain. I just stand there, looking down at the water with my head hanging down, playing softly with the water on my fingertips. My anxiety starts to build up at the thought of falling for him, and leaving him so soon. I'm sure that he only sees me as a summer fling, but what I feel between us isn't just a summer fling. That's the problem. He can't be anything more to me than a crush. I am brought out of my mind by his singing.
"Oh my lady by the sea, come lie next to me!" he sings out to me. I whip my head around at the lyrics from the song I played this morning in the car. I smiled at how he remembered, which just adds to the problem. He is so perfect.
I got out, and walked back to him in the chair with his sunglasses back on his face. He tilts down his head, so I can meet eyes with him above the glasses. I wrapped my arms around the middle of my stomach, because the breeze chilled me after being in the water. He sat up, and held a towel open for me, and I turned around for him to wrap it around me. He then pulled me down to sit on his lap as he laid back down. Time passed by faster than I expected, and it was already 4:30pm. We laid there for some time, still bathing in the soon setting sun, until he offered to make us some early dinner since we didn't eat lunch. We headed back inside, and we both went to quickly change out of our wet swimsuits. I threw back on my outfit I was wearing earlier, and he came back downstairs wearing jeans, a white shirt, and a blue hawaiian shirt over it.
I sat at the island, as he began to cook. I liked admiring him while doing it, and we made sweet conversation along it. He seemed to be making chicken, which worried me, since I don't eat chicken.
"Oh, Harry... I'm actually-" I try to warn him, but he cuts me off.
"Vegetarian?" he questions, but is more of a statement. I raised my eyebrows at how he could tell, "You seem like the type of girl to be... plus you didn't eat any bacon this morning." he recalls breakfast with my parents. I gape at him, shocked at how he picked up on the small details of who I am. He is considerate and thought about me, even when it came to something so simple as dinner, and that made me feel special.
We continued talking as he made some pasta.
"Do you like cooking?" I asked, trying to learn more about him.
"Yeah, my mum taught me how to while I was young." he tells me. He seemed happy thinking back to his childhood memories, so he probably has a really good relationship with his mother.
"Tell me about her." I said, hoping I wasn't overstepping. He smiled at my words, signaling that I wasn't.
"She is the most lovely woman ever," he tells me. "It was really only her, my sister, and I back then, so she really became my best friend."
"Oh, you have a sister?" I asked.
"Yeah, her name is Gemma, and she is the most confident, badass girl I know." he seems to really love the women in his life, which explains how respectful and sweet he is. He finished cooking once he finished his sentence, and he brought both of our plates over to where I was sitting.
"Well, they both sound wonderful." I tell him as he sits down next to me. We eat, and then move to the living room. We laid down on the couch, with my head on his chest, as he flipped through Netflix. He landed on The Notebook, and told me that it was his favorite movie.
"I've never seen it." I tell him. He gasped dramatically.
"What? It's the best movie ever! We are watching it." he demanded. He pressed play, as the sun was setting though the giant windows. We watched the whole thing, and by the end, I wiped a few stray tears off of my cheeks. "So?" he asked, "did you like it?"
"Harry, I cried." I said obviously. "Yes I liked it." he let out a relieved sigh, as I got up from the couch. "Hey, I think it's getting late." I tell him. It is around 8:45pm by now, so my parents would probably want me home soon. He nods, and stands up to slide on his shoes. I did the same, and we went out to his car. The car ride was peaceful, listening to soft 70s music and humming along. I looked out the window as we pulled up to my house, and turned towards him. "Thank you for today." I smiled at him.
"Thank you for joining me. I really like spending time with you." he tells me. He sits there, seeming to be thinking about something, until he speaks again. "And.. I don't think I want to go back to how it was before I knew you either." he says, going back to what I said in the ocean earlier today. I tilted my head down, but kept my eyes on his while a smile crept up on my lips. I leaned in and gave him a soft, quick kiss.
"Goodbye Harry. I'll see you later." I said, getting out of the car.
"Bye Oakland." he sent back, as I headed towards my house. He waited until I got in to drive away, which is just another one of the little things that is making me like him more and more.
I head straight to my room when I realise that everyone is in theirs, and I change quickly before laying down on my white bedspread. I stared at the ceiling, thinking back on the events of today. The song he sang, playing in the ocean, kissing him, him making me dinner, the movie. It was all perfect, and I caught a goofy smile growing on my face just at the thoughts. I would usually scold myself for feeling something towards a boy, but this time I don't care.
Harry is different. He is more than just a boy.
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Eeeeek!!! I hope you liked this chapter!!!
I made a Spotify playlist for this book, with all the songs I put in each chapter, so if you have spotify... go check it out! My account is @new.611
Let me know how y'all are feeling/if y'all are enjoying it!!!
Sending all my love<3<3<3