Let me start by saying, thank you.
Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your understanding. Thank you for your support. Thank you for helping me work through the worst case of writer’s block I’ve ever had in my life.
Here goes nothing.

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“Attention passengers, we are beginning our descent into London’s Heathrow Airport where the current time is 11:55 AM and the temperature is 10 degrees Celsius. We ask you to please fasten your seatbelt and return your seats to their upright position for landing. We want to thank you for flying Virgin Airways and hope you enjoy your final destination,” came the announcement over the PA system in the plane. I sat up from where I’d been sleeping with my head on Harry’s chest. I repositioned my seat, took the hoodie I’d been using as a blanket off and rubbed my face. I saw Harry doing the same. I moved my neck back and forth causing it to pop loudly.

“Jesus. Was that your neck?” he asked.
“It was. Just a pleasant reminder of why I don’t fly commercial.” I glared at him. I’d really tried to convince him to just go for it and take the private jet. It was technically SME business and if we’d taken the jet I wouldn’t have had to worry about the weight of my luggage which we spent a good 45 minutes on the night before we left while we were packing.
“We didn’t need to take a private plane for three people to fly to London.”
“It would’ve been so much easier.”
“And way too expensive. You may have a private plane but that does not mean you need to take it.” He leaned forward to kiss me. “You survived the flight. Now just shut up while we land.”
“I hate you. If I end up sick tomorrow from sharing air with all of these people, you are dead to me.” I looked over to Eliza who looked exhausted and like she’d slept in a funny position. She’d gotten the window but had a woman who would not shut up next to her the entire flight. Even in business class I hated flying commercial for a flight this long. LA to Vegas, sure I’d do it if I needed to but never international. I get that it’s more expensive, I get that it requires more stops because the plane isn’t as large but dear god it was a pain in the ass. I always ended up sick which meant that wherever I was flying I was annoyed for the first few days as I dealt with whatever cold or plague I’d gotten from the germ filled flying tube.
“You’ll be fine. Vitamin C dear. We will get you some juice when we land.” I flipped him off. I looked back over at Eliza.
“If I kill him can we make it look like an accident over here?” I asked.
“Uncle Mikey travels, right?” she replied making me laugh.
“You two are going to get in trouble. What if there is an air marshal or something listening to you? You’re threatening my life. That’s never a good thing on an airplane.”
“Add that to the list of reasons why flying private kicks flying commercial’s ass.”
“You won’t be flying private to come see me in France,” he replied.
“Try me.”
“Your father wouldn’t let you take the plane for just you to come to France.”
“I don’t have to ask him, I just have to arrange it.”
“Everlee Mae Scarcello, if you take a private plane by yourself to see me in France I will be so pissed at you.” I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms.
“I hate that you used my full name.” He laughed. “My mother uses my full name when I’m in trouble.”
“If you take a private plane by yourself from Los Angeles to Dunkirk you will be in trouble.”
“I like the kind of trouble I get in with you.” His laughter got loud enough that someone in the row across from us glared at him.
“Sorry,” he said quietly. “You survived this flight and you’ll survive the one home.”
“And then I get to fly private to Mexico. Thank god!”
“I let that slide because your father will be us. Well and The Circus. Did Ty decide if Eli got to come to Mexico? Your Mom invited him right?” Ty and Eli were starting to spend a lot more time together, he’d even been on a weekend trip to Malibu with us already.
“I think he’s coming if he can get off work. He was having to ask Ben if he could swing being out of the office for like 10 days. Even if he can’t come for the whole thing I think the plan is a long weekend.”
“That’s good. So it’s your whole family, Kammi’s family plus her sister’s boyfriends, Eliza’s family, and the Jonas family?”
“Yes, the whole Jonas family actually, which is a first.”
“That seems surprising,” Harry said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders pulling me into him.
“I know, right? With as close as the Mackin and Jonas families are it’s shocking. But I think they usually do a trip to the Hamptons together every year so they had always done their thing without everyone else. Mom this year decided that with two Jonas boys dating some of the girls the whole family should come.”
“How big is the place we are staying?”
“Giant. There’s 32 of us going. There’s I think four or five villas as part of this place. It’s not where we usually go. The group grew significantly this year.”
“Well, I’m excited. Time away before we spend time away from each other. No work. Just fun and family.”
“Exactly.” I laced my fingers between his as the plane jerked when it hit the ground. I exhaled the breath I’d been holding in. “Our pilots don’t even make me feel that.”
“It’s probably the amount of champagne you usually drink based on the stories Kammi told me about you and international flights.”
“You need to stop asking my friends for dirt on me. I know you were texting with Rachel on my phone while I was packing. Don’t think I didn’t see that. I mean at least if you’re going to ask for embarrassing stories about me use your own phone.”
“I don’t have to ask for it, darling. They willingly hand the dirt over these days. Your sister is perhaps the worst, which is hilarious. And I didn’t do much on your phone, she finally told me to take her contact info and text her from my own phone.”
“You should watch out what you and my sister talk about. I am meeting yours tonight. I’m going to guess she has a lot of stories to share about you.”
“She probably does, but she may not be as willing to hand them over as Rachel is. You should see the picture of you two that she text me last night after you went to bed.” I rolled my eyes as the seatbelt light went off because we’d parked at the gate. It didn’t take long for us to be off the flight and walking through the airport. We waited for our luggage before finding the car service that Emma had arranged for us.
I sat quietly as we drove through the city, I loved London. And this gorgeous spring day was just perfect. It had been at least six months since I’d been able to make a trip and instantly I remembered how much I missed it. Harry had asked the driver to take the long way to his house from the airport so that we could drive through the city. I tried not to take pictures every time the car stopped but it was hard not to. I wanted to remember this trip forever and share it with everyone.
Harry and I had gone to dinner with Rachel and Luke right before we got on the overnight flight to come here. The entire time Rachel was talking about how jealous she was. Her doctor was concerned about her pregnancy and didn’t want her doing any extensive traveling for a while. She hated that. She made me promise to send pictures of London and all of the amazing things we were doing. And when I agreed to that she told me that as soon as she got the clear for travel or as soon as the baby was here that we would go on some fabulous vacation. Harry had already started brainstorming fabulous trips for the four of us to take together. It made me so happy to know that he didn’t find my relationship with Rachel even the slightest bit odd but beyond that he was building a friendship with her and her husband.
We pulled up to his house and Harry quickly had the gate open so that we were inside the wall that surrounded the property. His house looked beautiful from the outside. He’d shown me a few photos of it before we left Los Angeles so that I knew what to expect. As he opened the door and I walked into the house I realized that the photos didn’t do this place justice. I heard him speaking to the driver and saw him tip the driver, which sort of pissed me off. We’d had this conversation before we left that because this was a work trip he had to let me pay for things but he wasn’t doing it.
“Alright girls,” he said. “Let’s have the grand tour and then you can both get settled in your rooms before we head out.”
“Head out?” Eliza asked. “Don’t we get a nap?”
“You slept on the plane. We have a week in England. We are having fun. My friends and I have all planned dinner for tonight. I want you to be able to meet them.”
“You can stay home if you want.” I looked to Eliza. “Don’t feel like you have to come out with us tonight. I figure you and Joe didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“We didn’t but I’d hate being the party pooper of this trip. So maybe if I shower I’ll feel less like a gross airplane.”
“It’s the whole flying commercial thing,” I replied. She started to laugh and I could feel Harry’s glare on the back of my head. “If someone hadn’t been such an ass we could’ve flown private, had a more comfortable ride and snuck the kitty with us.”
“We are not the weird people who are traveling with their cat, love. Harold will be fine at home with Rachel this week while we are gone.”
“I still can’t get over the fact that you adopted a cat together,” Eliza said as we walked into the kitchen.
“Together? We didn’t adopt it together. He adopted the cat while I was with Rachel and Cynthia. I came home to the cat.”
“But you’re the one who worked from home for a day so you could spend time with the cat.” I shrugged. It was true. The day after he adopted the cat I worked from home so I could hang out with the cat, which we had both started calling Harold. “So Rachel is taking care of Kitty Harry?”
“She is. Technically, Rachel and Lucas. She was there the day I worked from home. As much as Ty usually does most of our styling I have to deflect to her a lot of the time, she has a lot of really great connections with labels and had a bunch of stuff she wanted me to try for some shit I’ve got coming up. So she brought racks on racks to the house that day and fell in love with Harold, so she volunteered to kitty sit, and when Lucas found out he got pissed. Pregnant women and cat litter boxes aren’t supposed to mix. So he’s joining her for some of the visits to help with that.”
“You know that they have pet sitting services in LA that someone would come and take care of the cat.”
“I do know that,” Harry said. “But I don’t like the idea of someone I don’t know going through my house when I’m not there. Security cameras aren’t really a deterrent. So, Rachel and Luke, it is.”
“That’s nice of them. I hear you and Luke are becoming good friends.” Eliza had been busy enough that she’d barely been at the house in the last week or two since Harry finally met Lucas.
“We are. At first, I was pretty sure that we were polar opposites, me with my long hair and arms full of tattoos and him in his suit and tie. But turns out he’s pretty cool and has a few tattoos. We went golfing this week and he kicked my ass but it was a lot of fun. Much less pressure than the few times I’ve gone golfing with Jimmy. Luke and I both agree that having a partner against the terror twins is a good thing.”
“Terror twins?” Eliza asked as her laugh filled the stairway.
“What they’ve started calling Rachel and I because they are both assholes.”
“We aren’t assholes, we are two men who are in love with two women who look nothing alike but apparently share a brain when they are together. I honestly thought you two were bad together and that she and Kammi would give Nick and I a run for our money when we had them out, but she and Rachel are like this other world.”
“They have a weird way of communicating. It’s years of hiding what they were talking about from their parents.”
“And the little sisters. The twins really are the terror twins, just wait until you meet them. I’m right, aren’t I, Eliza?”
“You are very right. Kourtney and Kayci are the terror twins for sure.”
“I’ve heard this,” Harry added as he started up the stairs. “So we have reserved the right to retract the name and give them something different. But currently, terror twins. Alright, Eliza, you can have your pick of these rooms.”
“Which one is directly below your bed?” she asked which of course caused me to flip her off.
“That one,” he said pointing to the bedroom that ran along the back of the house. He laughed a bit and shook his head.
“I will stay in this room so I can avoid that noise.” She made a gagging noise. I flipped her off.
“You know I found condom wrappers in the room you stayed in at our house when Joe stayed over. So you can keep the gagging noises to a minimum.” Harry started to laugh harder as he grabbed my hand pulling me up to the third floor which from his explanation to me was completely the master bedroom.
“You called it our house,” he said as we made it to the first landing of the stairs.
“You call it our house. You’re rubbing off on me.”
“Hmm, I like the way you think.”
“Pervert.”
“You like it.” He stopped in the bedroom and pulled me into him kissing me as his arms wrapped around me. “I can’t even explain how happy I am to have you here with me.”
“I am pretty happy about it too. I’ve missed London.”
“Well, we have two days here before we get to go home. I think you’re gonna love it there. I’ve been contemplating buying a country house there at some point. So when I just want away from everything I can go home and be cut off from the normal world.”
“That’s what Ed did. His house is gorgeous.”
“You’ve seen it?” Harry looked at me confused. We still hadn’t even made it into the bedroom as he was still hugging me and had started to kiss my neck.
“He FaceTimed me when he got back home after he left LA so I could see the place. He’s got that fancy new iPhone that I’ve forced him into having.” He giggled against my skin. “Can we get out of the doorway? I want to see this fancy bedroom you’ve told me about.” He stepped aside and I saw the master bedroom finally.
“Welcome home, love,” he said directly into my ear before kissing my neck again. The bedroom was rather big, though still not as big as the master bedroom in his home in Los Angeles. I could tell in LA he’d had a decorator come in and do it all. This house was different. There was still a lot of the sleek, modern look that his house in LA had but you could also tell he’d lived here for years and had made this place feel like home, instead of a place that he just slept when he was in a city. The art that hung on the wall looked more like something he would pick than someone would curate for his home. There were personal photos all over the place, things that showed who he was. And I was pretty sure he just tried to hide a teddy bear under the bed.
The entire house felt more lived in than his place in LA. I’d seen the framed records hanging on the wall in one of the rooms downstairs that he’d obviously made a makeshift studio with a piano, guitars and a few microphones. But it wasn’t like he wanted to flash the awards and the platinum records, though no one would blame him for it because he deserved to be proud of his accomplishments. They hung in between photos of him with his friends, art that he’d obviously acquired over the years, and a few random prints of bands he clearly worshipped. There were shelves of records and books surrounding the room and comfortable furniture for people to sit in and get into the zone to write.
“This house is beautiful, H. It feels like home.”
“It could be…someday.”
“Someday,” I replied. We’d finally decided to tackle the distance problem we would face soon on the drive back from dinner at my father’s one night. He went so far as to ask how flexible my job was for me to be able to live and work in a different city full-time. We had offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and London. He knew that if he wanted to leave LA permanently that for me to ever even consider it I’d either need to decide I never wanted to work again, find a different career or move to a city that SME had an office in. I’d told him that I’d always considered the idea of spending some time outside of Los Angeles. I’d obviously considered New York for a while because of the relationship I was in. I’d been offered a job in London and had considered it pretty seriously for a while but ultimately knew that even if I did someday want to do something outside of Los Angeles or SME that I wanted the opportunity to know what it was like to really work with my father and be with him every day.
“I think you’ll love the neighborhood there’s a lot of cute shops. The park is gorgeous. We’ll have to take a walk while we are home.” There he was saying it again, home. He admitted that London felt like home and that while in LA he got the opportunity to do amazing things and live in this city with incredible weather that he missed the rainy days that England held and the cooler weather. That he missed being a car or train ride away from his Mum. That he missed being able to meet his sister for dinner during the week to catch up on where life was taking each of them.
I’d confessed the details of this conversation to my father during lunch one day because I was terrified and needed to talk to someone who got the way my brain functioned when I was in love. While I wasn’t exactly like my father in relationships we were working on building ours back up. We were talking about things that kids often went to their parents about. While normally I would’ve gone to Mom about this I went to him and when I told Mom she told me she was proud that I wanted to include my father in this area of my crazy brain. I told him that I was afraid I would lose Harry because he’d want to come home. I wasn’t overly interested in doing a long distance relationship permanently and it was unlikely that he’d ever completely give up living in England and be happy spending 365 days a year as a resident of Los Angeles. The following afternoon I walked into my father’s office and caught him looking at real estate in London. Maybe he really had turned a new leaf and just wanted me to be happy instead of just working my life away.
I hadn’t told Harry that I caught my father looking at real estate in London. I hadn’t even really admitted it to my father. I just mentioned that he appeared to be house hunting again. He played it off like he was always in the market of finding new real estate investments, which was true. He owned two homes in California, a condo in New York, and a ranch in Colorado. He truly did believe in investing in real estate, but looking in London meant that at some point he thought he might need to stay for more than a few nights in a hotel for work. I got giddy but tried to hide that. It could all come back to bite me in the ass. If a decision was made that my job needed to be based in Los Angeles I’d have no choice but stay here to focus on my career. I mean at least I think that’s what I’d have to do. I hadn’t decided yet if I knew myself without my job, I’d been trying to think about it since the initial fight with my father after the first article telling the world that Harry and I were an item was published. I wasn’t sure I would be ready to make the decision between Harry and my career if I had to. I was just hoping it never came to that.
“I’m sure I will. I’ve been to some of the homes of our London team, most of them live in Notting Hill or Primrose Hill. All gorgeous homes. I’ve told you over and over that I love London and I’m excited about the possibility of spending a bit more time here than I usually do. My team here are all excited to have me at least in the same timezone as them. I have a lunch planned for us tomorrow with some of my staff here in London. We really need to have someone in the London office that helps handle your business. I want you to meet the team and tell me your thoughts on who that is.”
“Can’t it just be you?” he asked. His lips were back on my neck and his hands moving under the shirt I was wearing.
“It can when I’m here. But since we both know that won’t be full-time I need to have someone who can help manage your shit with me. We will eventually need to pick someone in Los Angeles to help too.”
“I’m going to just pretend not to think about it. I get my girl with me now.” I turned to look at him and the smile on his face made my heart melt.
“You get your girl with you now. But eventually, your girl will have to be in different places than you. So having a team of people is a good plan.”
“I know.” He kissed me. “So do you want to shower off the plane grossness and get ready to go meet Gemma?”
“That sounds perfect. I’ll need to call the office here to let them know we are in town and get the schedule they have for me.”
“You don’t just do vacations.”
“Oh I do and when I vacation I go hard. But this isn’t a vacation, for any of us and you know that.”
“Are you working constantly?” he asked as we walked into the bathroom and started to get ready to take a shower.
“No, I can’t do a lot of work from Holmes Chapel. The only person I’ll have with me up there is Eliza unless we decide on something else. It will be all email and phone those days but I’m overseeing a photoshoot for my hottest client so I’d rather just do that.”
“I’m currently overseeing a shower for my hottest manager and have decided she needs to get naked right now.” I started to laugh at him. He pulled my t-shirt over my head before hugging me again. He was being super affectionate which just made me happy. He’d been this way at dinner last night too. It was easy to become overly affectionate around Rachel and Lucas, they were constantly holding hands and kissing and sharing food. They would be obnoxious if they weren’t so cute.
“You are so weird.”
“You love it.”
“You’re right. I do love it.” We took a shower together that consisted of a lot of giggles, a fair amount of kissing and the world’s greatest boyfriend provided scalp massage a girl could ask for after an almost 12-hour flight in a germ-filled flying tube. We made it out of the shower and started to get ready. I dried my hair, redid my makeup and got dressed in something that Harry had deemed appropriate for me to wear to meet his sister. I’d been nervous about it. He’d decided he was picking what I wore to meet his whole family. Considering tonight was dinner with his sister and a few of his friends he thought I should be dressed more like myself than I would normally pick because I was always trying to impress people. He’d picked a pair of ripped black jeans and a black blouse with a v-neck. He had claimed that it looks like I wear when we are going out on a date but not like I wear when we are going out on a date with his friends. He was right, when we went out with the Winstons and Cordens despite know them all I spent an hour debating what to wear and ended up wearing a dress and heels.
“You look beautiful,” he said as he kissed me before we headed out of his room.
“I love you too, despite the fact that you are wearing a Cosby sweater.”
“What is a Cosby sweater?” he asked as we headed downstairs. We found Eliza in the kitchen with a glass of water on her computer on the island.
“Hey there, Mr. Huxtable,” Eliza greeted as we walked in the room.
“What the hell?”
“You’ve got a Cosby sweater on dude.”
“Told ya,” I said as I stuck my tongue out at him.
“I think my jumper looks cozy and wonderful.”
“Joe, your vote. Cosby sweater or cozy and wonderful?” She turned the laptop so the FaceTime conversation she was having with Joe was focused on us.
“Full on, 100% Cosby sweater.” Joe started to laugh and that’s when I heard Nick and Kammi in the background.
“Cosby sweater?” Kammi asked.
“I need to see this sweater,” Nick added. They jumped into view of the camera.
“Oh that is one beautiful Cosby sweater,” Kammi said through fits of giggles.
“What the fuck is a Cosby sweater?”
“It’s that your sweater looks like it could’ve been worn on the Cosby show, there’s a scene in High Fidelity about it, which I totally blame my Mom’s love of John Cusack on all of us being able to quote that movie.”
“Yes, blame Grace,” Joe said.
“You do look cozy though.” I looked up at him and smiled. “I like when you look cozy because it makes me want to get cozy.” I heard the gagging coming through Eliza’s computer.
“They are on another continent and still make me nauseous.” Nick enjoyed picking on us. I saw Harry flip him off before he bent down to kiss me.
“Go with thinking it’s cozy. It will make me want to just sit and snuggle you all night. Maybe bring you home and make love to you all night.”
“No complaints here.”
“If I didn’t love my mates so much and want to have you meet them I would take you up to bed right this second. You look cute.”
“I would hope so since you picked the outfit. Are you sure I shouldn’t wear a dress or skirt or something?”
“Nope. You look gorgeous and happy.” He kissed me softly. “You ready to go, EJ?”
“I am. Joe, I’ll FaceTime you when we get home.”
“Have fun tonight. Ev, don’t get too crazy you are meeting his friends for the first time.”
“I will be on my best behavior. Now don’t take the opportunity to not write and work while I’m gone. I expect demos before we leave for Mexico, Joseph.”
“Yes, boss lady!” He laughed before he and Eliza said their goodbyes. We went outside and climbed into Harry’s Range Rover and were off to go meet Gemma. We were meeting her first before meeting the rest of his friends out for dinner. I was nervous, there was no way to not be.
Here was this guy. This guy who in the little bit over a month that we’d been together I’d not spent more than 3 days apart from. That most days we didn’t go more than a long workday without seeing each other and it was rare that he didn’t send me text messages almost constantly throughout the day. Our days had grown longer as we’d been together with me working and him finally starting the writing process or at least what he could before he left for the summer. But despite that, we had grown closer. We’d meet for lunch or he’d sneak into my office to spend time with me before he works. I’d lay on the couch with my feet in his lap reading through emails and proposals while we listened to the demos I was getting from artists.

And here we were now, back in his home country in the car headed to meet his older sister and his closest friends. I don’t know how he survived this with all of my friends and family. He literally met almost my entire family in a weekend when we’d been together for two weeks. He handled it like a pro. He didn’t look nervous at all, not once. He had my aunts, Nonna, Marie and most importantly, my Mother in love with him before we flew home to Los Angeles. He became best friends with my Dad and I often caught them on the phone discussing everything from when we needed to go home to Chicago for a weekend to their plans for a huge trip to Wisconsin this fall for a football game. For the first time in ages, my parents weren’t worried about me and whether I worked too much or my anxiety was getting out of hand. The conversations didn’t start with “How was your day” but rather “How are you and Harry doing?”, We were this thing that I didn’t expect.
He was so cool and calm in comparison to my crazy and neurotic. He’d been trying to convince me that there was nothing to be worried about. That his mother would love me and be so happy that her little boy had found a woman like me. That his step-father would think I was hilarious and we’d crack jokes at his expense together. That his sister and I would be fast friends and we’d miss each other more than either of us would ever miss him. That his father would be impressed by how hard I’d worked and how far I’d gotten. But most importantly he told me that they would see the way he looked at me, they would know that he loved me and that nothing else mattered. He’d told me little tidbits about each of his friends. Like despite being much older than him his two best friends were Nick and Louise, one a radio host and the other One Direction’s former hair stylist and makeup artist. He was positive that we’d get along well and I’d feel comfortable being in London more often because I’d fit into his group of friends the way he had mine.
I was much less confident about this than he was. Everyone who met him loved him. I was often the person people hated because they thought I was intentionally not paying attention to them because I was on my phone when the reality was that I was constantly afraid I’d miss an email that was important or that somehow the world would come crashing down if I stopped working for a moment. I sometimes talked too much or too fast when I was nervous and if anyone knew the way I talked to myself in my head they’d have me committed. He must’ve sensed that I was feeling off, it was this thing he’d developed. I hated it. I knew he sensed it because he grabbed my hand in his and as I turned to look at him he smiled and mouthed out ‘I love you’. I smiled back and watched as the lights changed and he took off driving again. Our hands stayed linked and I quickly snuck a picture.

everleemae: we keep this love in a photograph

We pulled to a stop on a small street. Cute shops lined both sides of the street and you could tell that above each of them were flats. He squeezed my hand tightly in his before letting go so that we could get out of the car. He stepped out before I did and as he shut the door I took a deep breath in.
“You’re gonna be okay, E. She’s going to love you and she’s going to see how much you love her brother. There’s no way anyone could miss that. And his family will love you for that alone, but seriously, you’re amazing. Don’t be nervous.”
“Thanks, EJ. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You’d be fine. You’d do what you needed to do to make the best of this situation and enjoy having a week with your boyfriend without any of The Circus around to pick on you.”
“Thanks,” I said. I finally opened the door knowing that if we waited any longer Harry would grow concerned.
“You alright?” he asked.
“Yeah, you know how I am. Just a bit of nerves.”
“You’re gonna be great. I love you, that’s all that is gonna matter to Gem.” He bent down to kiss me. He hugged me as I saw Eliza buzz Gemma’s apartment. A window on the second floor opened and a woman with white-blond hair stuck her head out and looked down at us.
“Hey! Sorry, the intercom system is broken. I’m gonna buzz you up.”
“Thanks, Gem,” Harry called back. I saw the window shut and he kissed me again. “You’re gonna be great. Though I must admit, this woman that I’ve fallen in love with is fearless when it comes to her work. I’ve watched you prepare for meetings with men who had decades more experience than you and you never looked nervous. Here you are shaking like a leaf in my arms to meet my sister.”
“What your sister thinks about me has a much larger effect on my personal life than if the head of some studio thinks I’m a bitch.”
“Don’t be nervous, love. You love me and I love you. That’s all that matters.” I heard the door unlock and Eliza pulled it open, holding it until Harry and I made our way over. He held my hand as we walked up the stairs. We made it to the landing on the second floor as the door flew open. The woman who had stuck her head out of the window threw her arms around Harry. It was his sister, Gemma. He’d shown me photographs of her and told me a lot about them while they were growing up and the friendship they’d developed as adults. “Hey Gem.”
“Hey H. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.” He squeezed her tightly before breaking the hug. “Gemma this is…” Dear god, am I ready for this? I probably look like trash. I knew I should’ve curled my hair differently. “My friend Eliza. She’s tagged along to get to know Emma since she has been doing a lot for me in LA recently.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Eliza,” Gemma said shaking her hand. Harry winked at me.
“Nice to meet you too.” Harry moved so he was standing behind me and put his hands on my shoulder.
“Gem, this is Everlee, my girlfriend.” I reached my hand out to shake hers.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Gemma.”
“Likewise,” she said as she shook my hand. “Aww fuck it. I want to hug you.” She pulled me into a hug and I started to laugh. “If you haven’t figured it out with this one, we are huggers in our family.”
“He is a bit of a hugger.” I tried to laugh and not sound uncomfortable.
“I’m so glad I’m finally meeting you. He’s told me loads about you. Apparently, you’re a gift from heaven.” The slight bit of anxiety was no longer apparent in my voice as I laughed.
“He’s crazy. I’m probably a pain in his ass more than anything.”
“Gift from heaven, I’m gonna stick to that,” Harry said as he kissed the top of my head. Gemma let us into the apartment and immediately we were greeted by a tuxedo cat. “Hello, Olivia.”
“She’s adorable,” I added as I bent down to pet her a little. “I’m assuming your brother told you that he got a kitten.” I looked up at Gemma to see her smile and laugh a little.
“Yes, he had to FaceTime me so I could meet the little guy. Have you come up with a nickname for him that is less confusing than Harry?”
“I call him Kitty Harry,” Eliza replied.
“We both sort of call him Harold. It just happened that way. I’d never in a million years call your brother Harold since it isn’t his name. So the cat gets to be Harold. Speaking of Harold I should call my sister.”
“Wait…I thought you were an only child and had half brothers.” Gemma seemed confused and looked at her brother in a panic as if he’d lied to her about my family.
“Yeah, my father was married to a woman when I was younger, they’d dated for a few years before that as well. She has three daughters. The oldest and I are still extremely close. She’s watching the house while we are gone and going to check on Harold.“
"Wow. How many siblings have you had over time?” Gemma asked. I started to laugh and Harry looked a bit uncomfortable. He’d obviously told her my father loved a good wedding and a bad marriage.
“Well, I have my three little brothers; Jonny, Mason, and Christopher. Then there were the step-sisters from my father’s second marriage; Rachel and the twins, Kayci and Kourtney. His third wife had two kids; Jacob and Jillian. The fourth didn’t have any but let me tell you she tried so hard to get pregnant that even I knew when she was ovulating.” Just as I expected the room laughed. I was really good at making light of the way the world viewed my father and his marriages. “He’s had some girlfriends with kids but usually they had one and were hoping he’d put a ring on it and give him a second. Oh and then there’s the current girlfriend who you mention baby to or worse bring one near her, she gets this look on her face like she might vomit. My father however really loves babies. You’d think he was going to be a grandfather with the way he talks about Rachel’s impending addition. He was the oldest of eight children; four boys and four girls. It shocks most people that I’m his only child.”
“That does seem surprising unless he hated having that many siblings,” Gemma said.
“I think if he had more than her he’d be broke,” Harry added. I stood up and turned around to look at him, giving him my best glare. “I love you.” My face scrunched a little more. “You look very pretty tonight.”
“You are so lucky I love you.”
“I am, I will admit that so easily.”
“Well, my boyfriend should be here in a few minutes. He was working a bit late today. Then we can all head out. Louise was telling me how excited Lux is to see you and the poor thing didn’t even realize she didn’t get to go to dinner tonight.”
“Why isn’t she coming?” I asked. I’d heard about Lux as well, his friend Louise’s daughter. He loved that little girl a lot judging by the way he talked about her.
“We will all be out too late for her,” Harry replied. “It’ll be okay. I figure we can stop by Lou’s tomorrow to see her. Make sure I get to visit her before we head up to see Mum.”
“When do you leave for home?” Gemma asked.
“We haven’t decided. We thought we could either drive up Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning. We are doing some location scouting with the photographer Wednesday afternoon.”
“Did you hear that, Gem? We. This one actually lets me make a handful of the decisions.” We all laughed at Harry’s behavior.
“That’s a good thing,” his sister replied. “It is your career after all.”
“I know. Isn’t that refreshing? MINE.”
“Such a child, you are.” Watching them banter made me happy. We eventually sat down in Gemma’s living room waiting for her boyfriend to get home from work. I sent a few texts to Rachel to make sure everything was going well at home. She had stopped over before the weekly brunch she attended at her mother’s. She claimed that Harold tried to make her late. Gemma’s boyfriend, Michael, got home from work and we talked for a little while before we all climbed back into Harry’s car and headed to the restaurant that Louise had planned tonight at.
In the week leading up to our trip, I caught Harry on the phone with Louise multiple times a day to plan this dinner. I could tell he was a bit anxious about me meeting everyone, this was probably because I was usually in paranoid nutjob mode about meeting people. Harry normally found ways to make me laugh through my initial anxiety of any activity that had me on edge. Tonight he was quiet though, which meant he was a bit nervous. I could understand why. If his core group of friends in London didn’t like me our world would become incredibly difficult. I wasn’t just his girlfriend. I wasn’t his manager. I wasn’t just his roommate. We were part of everything. Everything would be messy. I reached for his hand and squeezed it in mine. He turned to look at me and he smiled brightly before bringing my hand to his lips and kissing the back of it. It was a small gesture but one he did a lot when he could tell I was feeling unsure of the situation.
It reminded me of a night about a week ago. There’d been a relatively large industry event that I needed to attend because my father was getting honored at it. I’d told Harry not to worry about joining me. I had planned on being Pops’ date because Jessica had actually managed to get work and had a night shoot. Ty had picked out my dress and had a stylist come to the office to get me ready for the event and as I walked out the door to meet my father I saw both he and Harry standing together, both of them in black suits. My father, of course, had a tie on, Harry had a black shirt that was mostly unbuttoned. I’d been so surprised that he wanted to be there for this. It was usually a boring night, I almost always tried to get out of it but Pops had asked me to be the person who introduced him so I had to not only go but talk in front of the room of people.
Harry stayed glued to my side the entire night. He expertly deflected any conversation about what he had coming up to me and my father. I told him to flaunt what he was working on when we had a moment alone and he told me that it didn’t feel right. The night was to honor my father, not feed his ego. When I walked on stage and was announced to the room I could hear Harry cheering above the claps of the rest of the room. It was that night that I realized he did the hand thing. Holding and kissing it to reassure me that he was with me. When the seasoned agents and managers in the room would make a comment about my age or that I was a woman or worse my dress, he would just squeeze my hand and kiss it ever so lightly. I realized as he did it that this was something he’d done all along, his silent way to show me that he was there to support me and that he loved me.
He pulled up in front of the restaurant and parked the car. Eliza, Michal, and Gemma all climbed out of the backseat of the car excited for dinner. Harry paused for a moment before turning to look at me.
“We got this. Right?” he asked.
“Of course. I survived meeting your sister. This is a piece of cake.” I smiled brightly, I was hoping that I could convince him I was fine because he did look nervous.
“You’re a terrible liar, love.”
“Eh, at least you know I can’t lie to you about anything that way. But really, we will be fine. You’re right. I love you. You love me. That’s all that matters. Right?”
“Right.” He leaned forward and kissed me softly, his hand resting on my cheek. As he ended the kiss he rested his forehead against mine and looked into my eyes. “I fucking love you so much.” I laughed at him.
“I fucking love you so much, too. Now let’s get out of this damn car babe.” He kissed me again, this time a little bit more passionately before we climbed out of the car and went inside.
“What bloody took you two so long?” a man with brown hair yelled. It was Nick Grimshaw, I knew this because I wasn’t dumb. I worked in the music industry. Getting an artist on his show was the goal when they were doing press in England. I also knew because he and Harry texted nearly every day and there were pictures of him in my bedroom. Ugh, did I really just call it my bedroom in my head? Yup, my bedroom. Oh well, fuck it. Let’s see what his friends think of the fact that I am living with him already. Based on what Ben and James have told me during the few dinners we’ve had all of this is completely out of character for him.
“What are you talking about?” Harry asked as he hugged Nick. “We didn’t take long at all.”
“You’re a wretched liar, mate. Now introduce me to the lady.”
“Nick Grimshaw meet Everlee Scarcello.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said as I shook his hand. He pulled me into a hug.
“It’s nice to meet you too. You’ve kept this one in LA longer than he planned.”
“I have nothing to do with that,” I replied.
“You have everything to do with that, love.” Harry smiled as he pulled me into his side. “What can I say? She’s hard to leave behind.”
“I need to get used to it soon.” I started to pout.
“Oh don’t do that to me!” I knew Harry couldn’t resist my pout.
“You’ve learned quick.” I looked to see that it was Lou talking. We’d briefly met when she and Harry were on FaceTime a few days ago. “He can’t resist a good pout.”
“He can’t, which plays into my favor a lot. It’s nice to meet you in person, Lou.” We hugged each other before Harry pulled me back into his side.
“You as well.”
“Wait…how do you know each other already?” Grimmy asked. I could tell he was going to be a fun person to know.
“We met on FaceTime when she and Harry were planning tonight.”
“Unfair. Why didn’t I get to meet her?”
“Honestly?” Harry asked. “I thought you’d met before. She manages a lot of artists. I figured she’d accompanied a few of them to the studio.”
“Babe, I hate to break it to you but I don’t typically travel to overseas for clients who are doing promo. I send a junior agent for that.”
“She says typically because I’m special. She travels with me.”
“She’s traveling with you because she wanted to meet your family you nitwit,” Gemma said laughing. I shrugged. It was true. It was convenient that to go along with him for this photoshoot meant that I’d meet his family and friends, which seemed appropriate considering he’d met everyone in mine.
“You are exactly right, Gemma,” I replied.
“I’m hurt. Absolutely hurt, love.”
“Oh shut up.” He smiled as he bent down to kiss my temple. “I love you,” he whispered in my ear making me smile. "You’re doing great.” I pinched his ass, he turned to look at me with the funniest look I’d ever seen. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Introduce me to everyone, babe.”
“Everyone, this is my girlfriend Everlee. Everlee, this is everyone.” I shook my head at him as he pulled the chair out from the table so I could sit down. I had him on one side of me and Gemma on the other. I saw Eliza had made her way next to Emma, Harry’s assistant. They’d developed a friendship over the phone and via email over the last month.
“He’s an absolute lunatic,” Gemma said as I got settled.
“Eh, I’m growing used to it. Most of the time it’s at least mildly entertaining to watch.” A waiter came and took drink orders, Harry being smart ordered a bottle of wine he knew I would like for us to split.
“I’m only gonna have a glass, love. I need to make sure you and Eliza get home from dinner safely.”
“We should’ve taken a taxi or an Uber or something. You should be having fun.”
“I’ll be fine.” He reached for my hand under the table and squeezed it.
“So what have you been writing lately, Gemma?” I asked turning my attention back to Harry’s sister. He didn’t let go of my hand but turned to talk to Nick. “Harry’s shown me some of your writing, it’s incredible.”
“I’ve got a few different pieces I’m working on. I didn’t realize that sneaky brother of mine was showing off my stuff.”
“He’s incredibly proud of you. I think he misses being near you is part of why he misses London so much. I have this sick feeling that we are going to be here for the trip, I’m gonna pack to head home and he’s going to put me in a taxi with Eliza and send me off.” She laughed a bit.
“He wouldn’t do that. He seems excited about this trip to Mexico, which frankly I’m jealous. How do I get an invite?” I smiled.
“Mexico might be crazy. So many people. We travel like a village of idiots. Next year I’m putting you on the list.” I saw her smile. Shit. I said next year. That means I just admitted to my boyfriend’s older sister that I was thinking about things we’d be doing in a year. Shit. Shit. Shit. Fuck. I’m thinking about next year. Is it wildly inappropriate to pound my head on the table in the restaurant and then guzzle the bottle of wine sitting in front of me?
“You’re freaking out in there aren’t you?” she asked.
“Yes, I said next year.”
“You’re fine.” She and I were both now laughing. “To be honest, I like that you are thinking next year. You make him happy. You also clearly put up with how weird he is. He told me you’re living together already.”
“I mean not really but yes.”
“He told me how that happened,” Emma said across the table. “I told him he was being mental and he’d be lucky if he had a girlfriend after.”
“I was lucky I had a job after,” Eliza said. “I had to bring some of her stuff over. She was passed out asleep from a migraine and he was FaceTiming me picking what should be packed.”
“Absolutely mental. My brother has this odd level of confidence that possesses him to do crazy things. Moving you in his house while you were apparently on drugs administered by a doctor is rather funny.”
“It is a bit funny. Most people find it entertaining when they figure out that’s how we started living together. I feel like I would normally have had a major problem with living with someone so early but it works for us.”
“I get it,” Gemma replied. “You’re going to be spending all of the summer apart, then someday he’s gonna end up back on the road with his music. Enjoy the time together while you can. No one in the family thinks you two are being crazy. Mum sort of loves it. She’s very excited to meet you.”
“I’m so nervous about that. I mean I was nervous about meeting you because I’m an older sister, I get the job.” She laughed a little. “But parents are a whole other ballgame. Your brother has all three of mine wrapped around his pinky finger. In fact, he and my Dad talk almost more than I talk to my Dad.”
“Don’t you work with your Dad?” She looked a bit confused.
“Ah, yes sort of. I work with my father. He and my Mom got divorced when I was 5. My Dad is my Mom’s husband. I call my father Pops. It was something when I was that young that I just decided was going to happen and happened. Most people found it weird.”
“That’s actually sweet. Harry has told me that he and your Dad have become close. He seems to love your whole family.”
“Well, Pops was a challenge at first but they go golfing at least once a week together now. I am honestly beginning to think my entire family loves your brother more than they love me.”
“Well, I will happily trade you out for him.” We did a friendly side hug and I realized that Eliza had taken a picture of us. “Now, Eliza you need to warn. Let’s pose for one instead of you sneaking one.”
“Well, that was because while Everlee may be ignoring her phone but I’m not. The Circus is curious how you’re doing.”
“Oh, my word.” I grabbed my phone from my purse and looked at it. She was right The Circus was texting like crazy.
The Circus
JJ: Is she breathing?
ER: Yes.
NJ: Has she said anything stupid?
ER: Of course.
KM: Did she really let him pick out her outfit?
ER: She did. He actually did a really great job.
TK: No floral prints or ruffles?
ER: Nope. Black jeans, black top.
TK: Thank god. The last thing we need is a headline in a blog of “Harry Styles replaces Ty Kirkwood as Everlee Scarcello’s Stylist?”
KM: Because a blog would know you’re her stylist T?
TK: People know me!
KM: Of course we do. ;)
TK: I hate you.
KM: So she’s handling everything ok?
ER: She is. She and Gemma are getting along really well.
ES: You guys are crazy. I haven’t self-destructed.
HS: Yet…
“You are dead,” I said as I turned to look at him.
“You are doing great,” he replied as he leaned in and kissed me. “Don’t worry about what they are saying. Plus you wouldn’t kill me, you find me funny.”
“I do find you funny.” The rest of dinner went well. Harry’s group of friends were all wonderful people and were welcoming Eliza and me to their group with open arms. At Harry’s suggestion, we headed to his house with several of them for drinks. I’d grabbed myself a glass of wine and found Harry and Nick sitting together in the living room. I sat down on Harry’s lap and got comfortable. “Alright, Nick. Give me dirt on him. He’s been getting stories from my friends and family for weeks. I need some retaliation.”
“She really does. You should see the pictures her sister sent me this morning.” Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. I looked down and saw what he was talking about and shook my head. A picture of Rachel and I at one of her high school dances. I’d had a long weekend off from school, hopped a plane, bought a dress and went to homecoming with one of Rachel’s friends. The next picture was the two of us on a weekend trip the summer after I graduated from high school. I’d dyed my hair pink and attempted to have a rebellious streak before heading to college.
“Love the pink, Ev,“ Nick said. I laughed.
“Rachel is clearly having too much fun with this.”
“She is. This isn’t all she’s sent but the others I will keep to myself.” I shook my head again.
“I expect to see them,” I replied.
“Of course.”
Nick shared a few embarrassing stories about Harry over the years. Most of them involved him having a few too many drinks, which was something I realized he didn’t do very often. He took his work seriously and didn’t want to do anything to alter the way he could do his job. As soon as he’d started writing and working with the team he’d picked for his album the number of glasses of wine he had with me over dinner lessened. It was impressive to see someone in his position with the self-control he had. The crowd of friends cleared out early and we cleaned up a bit before heading to bed.
Message from Eliza
It really is nice seeing you so happy.

The picture of us was cute. I smiled at it as I clicked to save the photo. I then quickly clicked to set my alarm for the morning. I was really going to regret having as much wine tonight as I did considering the all team lunch meeting we all have tomorrow. Harry finished in the bathroom and I saw him as he leaned against the doorway, completely naked.
“Hi,” he said. His voice was gritty, being tired was catching up with him.
“Hi,” I replied as I put my phone down on the nightstand.
“You were wonderful tonight.”
“Thank you for making the introductions go so smoothly for me.” He stalked towards the bed before getting on his knees and crawling towards me.
“Of course. I want them all to love you as much as I do.” His lips captured mine as he held himself above me with his forearms rested on either side of my body.
“You look really tired.”
“I am. But you also look incredibly sexy right now. Hard to resist a gorgeous woman lying in my bed when I know for a fact that she’s naked.”
“How do you know I’m naked?” I asked as I bit my lip. I had the covers pulled up around me.
“Your shoulders are bare.” He bent down to kiss them and then across my collarbone.
“So…”
“Well, you don’t sleep in tube tops and you’ve been becoming rather accustomed to sleeping naked recently.”
“I have been. There’s this person and he’s a terrible influence when it comes to that.” I felt the blankets slide down my skin as he pulled them back. His lips moved down and onto my breasts. My hands moved up his back and into his hair. I pulled at the long locks at the back. “I’m gonna miss this.”
“You’ve got time before you have to miss my lips on your skin,” he said. I felt his breath on my stomach and my skin erupted into goosebumps.

“I was talking about your hair. It’s going to go away soon and I’m going to miss it.”
“You’ve got time for that too,” he replied. He moved so he was above me making direct eye contact, his hair falling into his face. I leaned up and our lips locked. He was moving slowly tonight. Worshipping my body in a way that almost made me self-conscious. “I love you, Evie.” He said this to me nearly constantly but it felt different just now.
“I love you, Harry.” My hands rested on his cheeks pulling him back down to kiss me again. I could feel his heartbeat racing against my chest.
“Thank you for coming home with me. I am so happy you are here.” He laid next to me and started to brush my hair out of my face.
“I’m glad you invited me.”
“I would’ve brought you home after the first date if I could’ve convinced you to get on a plane with me.”
“Liar.”
“I am not lying. I would’ve brought you home immediately.”
“You are such a liar.”
“I knew there was something special about you the minute I laid eyes on you. After that first date I knew I was going to do whatever I could to make sure there was a second date and after every date, my goal is to make sure I get another. I love you more than I’ve ever loved any other woman, Evie.” His face had softened as he said it. His thumb grazed my cheek.
“I love you in a way I never dreamed was possible, Harry.” I smiled at him. “You make my life better.”
“The moment I laid eyes on you I knew you would change my life.”

Notes

I can’t even begin to say what a relief it feels to have finally gotten through this chapter and have it posted. It’s been mentally exhausting to have a case of writer’s block like I’ve had over the last two months. It’s been six weeks since I posted an update. No lie, it felt terrible. I had something in my work life that shattered my confidence about my writing skills and couldn’t manage to get my shit together to get this written. So like I said before, thank you for sticking by me.
Okay…well we’ve made it to London! We have some teases about Mexico. Evie has met Harry’s friends and his sister. She is going to be her normal neurotic nutjob self as she prepares to meet Anne in the coming days. But it’s fun to see them evolve. To know that even during this time jump of a few weeks to get them to England that things are just growing and blossoming for them.
I’m excited for what I have in store for the next few chapters. I am going to put this out as a warning, In the Heat of Los Angeles will be coming to an end within the next several chapters. BUT I already have plans for a sequel!! I just can’t quit Harry and Evie yet. This story will come to a natural end and a sequel will pick up for them. The few people (my editor and my Mom) who know of the plans for the sequel are excited so I hope you are all willing to stick by me through the next phase of this story.
Thank you again for sticking by me. I can’t wait to hear what you think of this chapter. If you’re curious about the chapter title choice, it was seeing Ben Harper in concert this summer that started to break my writer’s block. Forever is one of my favorite songs and is so incredibly romantic. I suggest you give it a listen.
Ben Harper - Forever
xx AM.