Finding Balance
Warmth
*Kennedy's POV*
Harry and I left my hotel room to his apartment a few minutes later. We walked down the hallway and rode the elevator to the lobby. When the elevator arrived in the lobby, Harry and I were unpleasantly greeted by what seemed like a million photographers outside the hotel doors which I assumed were trying to get pictures of Harry and I together. My eyes widened and I looked to Harry for a plan or escape route. He shook his head. Unfortunately, there was no escaping this.
Dozens of thoughts flooded my brain at this. What would the national comity say? What would Will and Momma and Dad say? What would Riley say? What would Harry’s fans do? What if they all get the wrong impression…especially Will…he’s so protective ever since…Austin. Austin. Oh no. He’ll flip. Dear Lord what have I—I was interrupted by Harry trying to get my attention.
“Ken? Are you alright? We’re going to have to push through them, the doormen will help some but it’ll be weir for you…I’m sorry about this. Put on your sunglasses and follow me.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” I was still a little shocked by all this. I guess it’s not different from gymnastics photographers, except of course, the audience was significantly larger.
The doormen opened the door for us and Harry put his arms around me shoulders and led me to his car. The flashes were like summer heat lightning back home. The photographers shoved us around and asked almost a million questions.
“Harry, is this your new girlfriend? Are you dating?”
“Hey Blondie, what’s your name? How do you know Harry? Are you one of his one-night-stands? When’d you meet?”
They were relentless. Finally, Harry and I reached his car door and Harry basically pushed me into the car. He ran around to the other side and we quickly drove off. I was still in shock. It was weird to me that they’ve just started following us around, and weirder that they knew where I was staying. I shifted feeling uncomfortable at the thought.
“Babe, I am so sorry about them. They’re all a bunch of damn assholes. They don’t deserve to be alive I swear.” He clenched his fist. “Sorry I pushed you; I just didn’t want them bothering you anymore.” He apologized a little angrily.
“Don’t talk like that. It’s alright Harry.” I put my hand over his fist. His skin was warm and soft. He sighed. “Sorry.”
The ride was silent as Harry was still cooling off. We pulled up to his apartment and walked up to his door. He opened up the door and there were three boys sitting in his living room, all with dark hair.
The only one I recognized was Louis from the plane. Harry’s cat found me and jumped into my arms and I cuddled it for a moment before looking up to greet the boys, cat still in my arms. They all got up from the couches and walked to me and Harry with warm smiles.
“Where’s Niall?” Harry asked.
“Kitchen.” The one with the darkest hair replied and Harry rolled his eyes. “Of course!” He nodded and pulled me into him with his arm around my waist.
“Guys, this is Kennedy, she’s American, and we met on the plane. Kennedy, this is Liam and Zayn, and you already know Louis.” He explained who was who to me. I put the cat down and went in to hug Liam then Zayn, then Louis.
“It’s so nice to finally meet y’all! I’ve heard really great things!” I smiled brightly after pulling aware.
“So friendly” said Zayn.
“Adorable accent” added Liam.
“And she can do flips!” Added Louis, who was incredibly enthusiastic.
“Flips?!” Added both Liam and Zayn.
I blushed and looked to my feet. “Yeah, I’m a gymnast.” I explained and looked up to Harry who was overly content with the fact that his friends were attacking me with enthusiasm. Before anyone could reply a blonde headed boy walked from Harry’s kitchen with a half-eaten sandwich in his hands.
“IS THIS KENNEDY?!” He exclaimed, mouth full. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. He ran over and squeezed me till I couldn’t breathe. “Nice—to—meet—you!” I managed to get out due to the fact that my lungs were being crushed. “Harry never stops talkin’ bout ya love! I can see why. Harry, she’s adorable!” He finally set me down.
“Kennedy, this is Niall, the group’s ball of energy.” He smiled.
“It’s wonderful to meet all of y’all, I can honestly say I’ve been nervous about this all day, but y’all are so nice!” They all stared at me curiously. Did I say something? They all started giggling like fools except Harry who just smiled.
“What is ‘y’all’? Are you from the…country?” Louis questioned. I face palmed myself. They’ve probably never even heard someone say that before. I probably sound like an idiot.
“It’s short for ‘you all’! And yeah I guess, I live in Georgia, which is on the southern east coast of the U.S.” I smiled and laughed at their lack of knowledge on the south.
“That’s so interesting! What’s it like there?” Liam asked curiously. I walked over to Harry’s couch and sat down, and they all followed.
“It’s great! I mean, it’s home to me. It’s warm almost all year, except December through February. I live near the Doboy Sound, so we get to go to the beach a lot. My brother and Dad work our farm, and my mom’s an anesthetist. Everyone knows everyone, ‘cause our town’s real small, and everyone’s super friendly.” They all stared at me like I was an alien and I laughed.
“Yeah, and guess what she farms! Woodson Peaches! They’re her peaches! All of them!” Louis added. Niall sighed at the thought of food.
“Are you here for the World Championship?” Zayn asked.
“Yep, for Team USA obviously, but yeah, I’m the team closer for Beam and Floor.”
“Is that a good thing?” Liam asked politely.
“I guess, the closer is usually the team mate with the highest start score, so I close off the team scores by adding in the highest number, hopefully giving us gold.”
“That’s amazing. We’re singing there, but I’m sure Harry already told you. But if the Championships end two weeks from now, why are you staying for so long? Won’t you miss home?”
“Well, yes, but after the Championships, my best friend Riley from back home is flyin’ over with my brother Will, and we’re all gonna take vacation in Paris and Rome, then back here for a week, then home.” I smiled at the thought. I missed both Riley, and Will.
I noticed Harry had dropped his gaze so I smiled at him.
*Harry’s POV*
After the lads finished questioning the death out of Kennedy, we all retired to the trampoline, where Kennedy after an hour of begging, gave into the guys and showed them a few tricks. After she stopped, we all sat down and got to talking about all sorts of random stuff.
Around 1am, the guys all left back to their flats and I went to change into some sweatpants, a decided to go shirtless. Kennedy waited on the couch for me and I brought out a t-shirt for her to change into, she said to leave the pants ‘cause my shirt would be like a dress, so I did. To my surprise, she didn’t even bother to leave before changing. She stripped down to her underwear in the middle of my living room. I walked into the kitchen to grab some water but found myself staring at Kennedy instead, luckily, she didn’t seem to notice.
She tripped down into a matching lace bra and underwear set, that was a white and light pink color. Her tanned skin glowed. She threw on my t-shirt and folded up her clothing and set them in a pile. My shirt fell just below her bum which I found quite amusing. She was so small and cute looking. She turned around and smiled at me.
“So, how do you like me new dress?” She joked, before hopping up on the counter in front of me.
“It’s quite adorable!” I joked back, although, she was pretty adorable. She gave me a quick peck on the lips before leaning back on her hands.
“So are these the famous extra nipples?” She giggled, pointing to them.
“Sure are, better watch it darling, they’re insured.” I joked, and she laughed and rolled her eyes.
“I’m sure they are!” She laughed some more and winked at me and bit her lip.
“You wanna do something?” I asked. She sat up and crossed her legs. The wild side of her was beginning to shine through again.
“Like what?! Something fun?!” She asked excitedly.
“Yeah! Follow me, and put your clothes back on, we’re gonna go somewhere.” I winked back to her and left to go change into some clothes.
We left a few minutes and we go in my car and began driving. I started driving farther and farther out of London till we were headed towards Bournemouth. I takes two hours to get there, so naturally Kennedy fell asleep during the ride. I turned on the radio and sang along to keep myself awake.
Around 3:30am we arrived at Bournemouth. I woke up Kennedy and she immediately lit up at the sight of the ocean. It was still fairly warm so we both kicked off our shoes and headed down to the water. It was cool on my feet so I decided not to go much deeper than low calf. Kennedy on the other hand, had already thrown off her dress and ran waist deep into the water, before flinging herself backwards into the water till she was invisible.
*Kennedy’s POV*
Submerged. Completely submerged in the cool salt water. It gave me a sense of letting go; letting go of all my fears, and going neck deep into something new. I felt for a moment like I was 7 again, playing on the beach with Will. I came up from the surface and wiped the salt water out of my eyes.
Harry hadn’t even gone deeper than his ankles. He smiled at me and I ran to him to embrace him.
“Harry this is perfect. I love this so much I can’t even—I just don’t even know what to say. You have to come in!” I looked up to him with pleading eyes. The green pools in his eyes were highlighted by the moonlight.
“No way love, you’re crazy!”
“Am not! You said we should do something fun, now darlin’, we’re doin’ it!” I dragged him by the arm into the water. And he stopped before we got waist deep.
“Alright, alright! Just let me get my clothes off, love!”
He stripped down to his boxers and through his pants and shirt onto the sand before greeting me again with a warm embrace. The warm skin on his chest rubbed against my cheek and I closed my eyes. I truly did not want this moment to end. I would give anything to live in it forever.
“Harry?”
“Yeah, love?”
“Tell me I’m crazy.”
“Why?”
“I think I love you.”
Harry and I fell asleep on the sand together around 4am.
Around 6am, I was woken by warmth on my cheekbones. I looked around only to see the sun beginning to rise. I sat up and looked down at Harry, still sleeping.
“Harry? Harry wake up! The sun’s risin’ you gotta see it!”
“I’m up, I’m up!” He grumbled sleepily.
I sighed at the view.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yeah, it really is.”
I looked over to Harry only to see him in a complete gaze at me. He was talking about me.
Harry and I left my hotel room to his apartment a few minutes later. We walked down the hallway and rode the elevator to the lobby. When the elevator arrived in the lobby, Harry and I were unpleasantly greeted by what seemed like a million photographers outside the hotel doors which I assumed were trying to get pictures of Harry and I together. My eyes widened and I looked to Harry for a plan or escape route. He shook his head. Unfortunately, there was no escaping this.
Dozens of thoughts flooded my brain at this. What would the national comity say? What would Will and Momma and Dad say? What would Riley say? What would Harry’s fans do? What if they all get the wrong impression…especially Will…he’s so protective ever since…Austin. Austin. Oh no. He’ll flip. Dear Lord what have I—I was interrupted by Harry trying to get my attention.
“Ken? Are you alright? We’re going to have to push through them, the doormen will help some but it’ll be weir for you…I’m sorry about this. Put on your sunglasses and follow me.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” I was still a little shocked by all this. I guess it’s not different from gymnastics photographers, except of course, the audience was significantly larger.
The doormen opened the door for us and Harry put his arms around me shoulders and led me to his car. The flashes were like summer heat lightning back home. The photographers shoved us around and asked almost a million questions.
“Harry, is this your new girlfriend? Are you dating?”
“Hey Blondie, what’s your name? How do you know Harry? Are you one of his one-night-stands? When’d you meet?”
They were relentless. Finally, Harry and I reached his car door and Harry basically pushed me into the car. He ran around to the other side and we quickly drove off. I was still in shock. It was weird to me that they’ve just started following us around, and weirder that they knew where I was staying. I shifted feeling uncomfortable at the thought.
“Babe, I am so sorry about them. They’re all a bunch of damn assholes. They don’t deserve to be alive I swear.” He clenched his fist. “Sorry I pushed you; I just didn’t want them bothering you anymore.” He apologized a little angrily.
“Don’t talk like that. It’s alright Harry.” I put my hand over his fist. His skin was warm and soft. He sighed. “Sorry.”
The ride was silent as Harry was still cooling off. We pulled up to his apartment and walked up to his door. He opened up the door and there were three boys sitting in his living room, all with dark hair.
The only one I recognized was Louis from the plane. Harry’s cat found me and jumped into my arms and I cuddled it for a moment before looking up to greet the boys, cat still in my arms. They all got up from the couches and walked to me and Harry with warm smiles.
“Where’s Niall?” Harry asked.
“Kitchen.” The one with the darkest hair replied and Harry rolled his eyes. “Of course!” He nodded and pulled me into him with his arm around my waist.
“Guys, this is Kennedy, she’s American, and we met on the plane. Kennedy, this is Liam and Zayn, and you already know Louis.” He explained who was who to me. I put the cat down and went in to hug Liam then Zayn, then Louis.
“It’s so nice to finally meet y’all! I’ve heard really great things!” I smiled brightly after pulling aware.
“So friendly” said Zayn.
“Adorable accent” added Liam.
“And she can do flips!” Added Louis, who was incredibly enthusiastic.
“Flips?!” Added both Liam and Zayn.
I blushed and looked to my feet. “Yeah, I’m a gymnast.” I explained and looked up to Harry who was overly content with the fact that his friends were attacking me with enthusiasm. Before anyone could reply a blonde headed boy walked from Harry’s kitchen with a half-eaten sandwich in his hands.
“IS THIS KENNEDY?!” He exclaimed, mouth full. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. He ran over and squeezed me till I couldn’t breathe. “Nice—to—meet—you!” I managed to get out due to the fact that my lungs were being crushed. “Harry never stops talkin’ bout ya love! I can see why. Harry, she’s adorable!” He finally set me down.
“Kennedy, this is Niall, the group’s ball of energy.” He smiled.
“It’s wonderful to meet all of y’all, I can honestly say I’ve been nervous about this all day, but y’all are so nice!” They all stared at me curiously. Did I say something? They all started giggling like fools except Harry who just smiled.
“What is ‘y’all’? Are you from the…country?” Louis questioned. I face palmed myself. They’ve probably never even heard someone say that before. I probably sound like an idiot.
“It’s short for ‘you all’! And yeah I guess, I live in Georgia, which is on the southern east coast of the U.S.” I smiled and laughed at their lack of knowledge on the south.
“That’s so interesting! What’s it like there?” Liam asked curiously. I walked over to Harry’s couch and sat down, and they all followed.
“It’s great! I mean, it’s home to me. It’s warm almost all year, except December through February. I live near the Doboy Sound, so we get to go to the beach a lot. My brother and Dad work our farm, and my mom’s an anesthetist. Everyone knows everyone, ‘cause our town’s real small, and everyone’s super friendly.” They all stared at me like I was an alien and I laughed.
“Yeah, and guess what she farms! Woodson Peaches! They’re her peaches! All of them!” Louis added. Niall sighed at the thought of food.
“Are you here for the World Championship?” Zayn asked.
“Yep, for Team USA obviously, but yeah, I’m the team closer for Beam and Floor.”
“Is that a good thing?” Liam asked politely.
“I guess, the closer is usually the team mate with the highest start score, so I close off the team scores by adding in the highest number, hopefully giving us gold.”
“That’s amazing. We’re singing there, but I’m sure Harry already told you. But if the Championships end two weeks from now, why are you staying for so long? Won’t you miss home?”
“Well, yes, but after the Championships, my best friend Riley from back home is flyin’ over with my brother Will, and we’re all gonna take vacation in Paris and Rome, then back here for a week, then home.” I smiled at the thought. I missed both Riley, and Will.
I noticed Harry had dropped his gaze so I smiled at him.
*Harry’s POV*
After the lads finished questioning the death out of Kennedy, we all retired to the trampoline, where Kennedy after an hour of begging, gave into the guys and showed them a few tricks. After she stopped, we all sat down and got to talking about all sorts of random stuff.
Around 1am, the guys all left back to their flats and I went to change into some sweatpants, a decided to go shirtless. Kennedy waited on the couch for me and I brought out a t-shirt for her to change into, she said to leave the pants ‘cause my shirt would be like a dress, so I did. To my surprise, she didn’t even bother to leave before changing. She stripped down to her underwear in the middle of my living room. I walked into the kitchen to grab some water but found myself staring at Kennedy instead, luckily, she didn’t seem to notice.
She tripped down into a matching lace bra and underwear set, that was a white and light pink color. Her tanned skin glowed. She threw on my t-shirt and folded up her clothing and set them in a pile. My shirt fell just below her bum which I found quite amusing. She was so small and cute looking. She turned around and smiled at me.
“So, how do you like me new dress?” She joked, before hopping up on the counter in front of me.
“It’s quite adorable!” I joked back, although, she was pretty adorable. She gave me a quick peck on the lips before leaning back on her hands.
“So are these the famous extra nipples?” She giggled, pointing to them.
“Sure are, better watch it darling, they’re insured.” I joked, and she laughed and rolled her eyes.
“I’m sure they are!” She laughed some more and winked at me and bit her lip.
“You wanna do something?” I asked. She sat up and crossed her legs. The wild side of her was beginning to shine through again.
“Like what?! Something fun?!” She asked excitedly.
“Yeah! Follow me, and put your clothes back on, we’re gonna go somewhere.” I winked back to her and left to go change into some clothes.
We left a few minutes and we go in my car and began driving. I started driving farther and farther out of London till we were headed towards Bournemouth. I takes two hours to get there, so naturally Kennedy fell asleep during the ride. I turned on the radio and sang along to keep myself awake.
Around 3:30am we arrived at Bournemouth. I woke up Kennedy and she immediately lit up at the sight of the ocean. It was still fairly warm so we both kicked off our shoes and headed down to the water. It was cool on my feet so I decided not to go much deeper than low calf. Kennedy on the other hand, had already thrown off her dress and ran waist deep into the water, before flinging herself backwards into the water till she was invisible.
*Kennedy’s POV*
Submerged. Completely submerged in the cool salt water. It gave me a sense of letting go; letting go of all my fears, and going neck deep into something new. I felt for a moment like I was 7 again, playing on the beach with Will. I came up from the surface and wiped the salt water out of my eyes.
Harry hadn’t even gone deeper than his ankles. He smiled at me and I ran to him to embrace him.
“Harry this is perfect. I love this so much I can’t even—I just don’t even know what to say. You have to come in!” I looked up to him with pleading eyes. The green pools in his eyes were highlighted by the moonlight.
“No way love, you’re crazy!”
“Am not! You said we should do something fun, now darlin’, we’re doin’ it!” I dragged him by the arm into the water. And he stopped before we got waist deep.
“Alright, alright! Just let me get my clothes off, love!”
He stripped down to his boxers and through his pants and shirt onto the sand before greeting me again with a warm embrace. The warm skin on his chest rubbed against my cheek and I closed my eyes. I truly did not want this moment to end. I would give anything to live in it forever.
“Harry?”
“Yeah, love?”
“Tell me I’m crazy.”
“Why?”
“I think I love you.”
Harry and I fell asleep on the sand together around 4am.
Around 6am, I was woken by warmth on my cheekbones. I looked around only to see the sun beginning to rise. I sat up and looked down at Harry, still sleeping.
“Harry? Harry wake up! The sun’s risin’ you gotta see it!”
“I’m up, I’m up!” He grumbled sleepily.
I sighed at the view.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yeah, it really is.”
I looked over to Harry only to see him in a complete gaze at me. He was talking about me.
9/3/13