Over Again
Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
The movie premiere was in two days; considering the fact that this was a red carpet event that people were prepared for months in advance and me, Dani and El had not yet acquired dresses, time was in short supply. I woke up that morning, threw on Harry’s t-shirt that was residing on our floor, and made my way to the kitchen where I poured myself a bowl of cereal. Not long after Harry appeared, similarly attired, in a pair of plaid boxers.
“Good morning, love,” Harry said with his crooked smile as he bent down to give my forehead a gentle kiss. He then turned to walk away, but I caught him from behind, pulling him back to me. His face wore a look of confusion and I laughed.
“Are you forgetting something, Mr. Styles?” I asked him as I raised my puckered lips up. Harry smiled down in absolute adoration.
“Regrettably so,” he laughed as he bent down to kiss me back. As usual, the kiss became heated, neither one of us willing, or desiring, to pull away. With both of our hands tangled in the others hair and our posture becoming increasingly more intimate we heard the door to our room fling open followed by the clearing of a throat. We looked over at El, Dani, Perrie and Lou. Lou wore an amused little smile; Eleanor blushed delicately; Perrie smiled warmly, while Dani stood with her arms across her chest, a sarcastically amusing comment pursed on her lips.
“Sarah, in case you haven’t noticed, we are all going to a red carpet event in two days and last time I checked, none of us here have dresses.” Dani said. I rolled my eyes at her.
“Well, last time I checked,” I began, staring dramatically at the clock. “It was eight thirty in the morning.” Lou laughed, much to Dani’s dismay, and walked over to throw himself in a chair. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eleanor give him a wink, but was quickly distracted as Dani abruptly reclaimed my attention.
“That’s no excuse,” Dani glared down at me before quickly shooting an anxious look to El. I got up, put my dirty dishes in the sink and sat on Harry’s lap, draping my arm around his neck.
“Easy there, Dani. They just needed a quick morning romp,” Lou said cheekily before turning to Harry and I. “Why don’t you two go finish up, we’ll wait in here.” Lou smiled, clearly enjoying himself. I let out a loud sigh as Harry shot an amused look Lou’s way. I looked down at Harry’s face and his hands began rubbing my back.
“Well,” I sighed again. “I guess I’ll go get dressed.” Even as I said the words, I made absolutely no attempt at removing myself from Harry’s embrace.
Lou laughed wickedly.
“Why? Can Harry not perform under pressure?” he winked and Harry threw a soggy cheerio at his face. Lou quickly slapped it away with a rather feminine flare, his smile unwavering at his joke.
“Harry can always perform,” I began, standing up and making my way to the bedroom. “The real problem is we can’t always make ourselves stop.” I smiled, not bothering to turn back and see their expressions although the sound of Lou’s laugh followed me into the room and I felt Harry’s gaze on my back, no doubt wishing with all his might that he could follow me and “have a quick morning romp”.
--
I was now dressed and Dani, Perrie, El and I were making our way to the elevator. Uncharacteristically, we met Liam, Zayn and, most unusually of all, Niall on our way.
“Morning,” Liam said with an easy smile. He was suave that one. Zayn barely said a word, although his countenance was more awkward than Liam’s.
“Is there a band thing I didn’t know about?” I asked them, staring at their faces that on any other day off would still be sleeping soundly at this hour.
“Yeah,” Liam answered me. “Last minute thing, shouldn’t be long though.” He looked at Dani, and for a split second I thought I could detect a trace of anxiety in the exchange. As quickly as I’d seen it however, it was gone. I shrugged it off, they must’ve had a slight row. Niall remained slightly behind them with a dorky smile playing on his lips, before silently slipping into the room mine and Harry’s hotel room.
“Well Dani,” I said, feigning exasperation. “You got me up and out at this ungodly hour, so let’s get going.” Perrie reached for Zayn, giving him a gentle parting kiss as Eleanor grasped my arm, linking it with hers, and began towing me down the hall.
“You’re absolutely right, I have a feeling it’ll be a long day ahead of us.” She shared a sly look with Dani, who stifled a quiet giggle.
--
We sauntered our way into the dress boutique, gazing at the magnificent gowns that adorned the walls. El and Dani went straight up to one of the employees, and I overheard them confirming our time slot; I’d never been to such a boutique that required reservations. I was immediately taken by a flouncy, blue gown with a slight v-plunge decorated with diamonds; surely, I thought to myself, they couldn’t be real. Another thing I noticed about this foreign little shop was that the prices weren’t marked.
“I see your eye’s been captured already,” Perrie said, coming up behind me. I reached out and gently stroked the fabric dangling in front of me.
“It’s quite exquisite,” I breathed. Perrie smiled sweetly at me, hugging my shoulders.
“Harry won’t be able to keep his hands off you in this little number,” she laughed and I turned to look at her. She winked quickly, giving me another squeeze before Eleanor and Danielle came over with the employee.
“I see you are interested in the newest arrival from Paris,” the woman said. “The encrusted diamonds make the dress, really,” she stared at it, drifting off. We all stood silent for a moment, in awe of its splendor.
“Well, Sarah would love to try this on,” Perrie told the woman. Danielle gave her an envious look; clearly she’d been hoping to snatch this dress. However, she acquiesced gracefully, rather unusual for Dani.
“Of course,” the woman said as she began gathering the dress for me.
“Thank you,” I mouthed at Perrie to which she replied with a wink, causing my smile to widen. I was still baffled beyond belief when I realized just how well I’d gotten on with these girls; not only had I acquired the world’s best boyfriend, but the most wonderful friends as well, something that had been truly unexpected.
I followed the woman to a dressing room. I began stripping down, still looking at the dress; admiring it. I slipped into it and it fit perfectly, like it had been designed especially for me. I began doing up the zipper, although holding my long hair up whilst stretching uncomfortably to reach it became increasingly difficult. I walked out of the small room holding the front of the dress up. I looked around for someone to help me. I saw Dani and Perrie out in the main room looking at all the other gowns before spotting Eleanor sitting on a red velvet covered bench.
“Oh my God, Sarah!” She gushed. “You look absolutely stunning! You need me to do you up?” she asked me, standing up.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, slightly embarrassed by her compliments. Her delicate hands slid the zipper up and then arranged my billowing hair around my shoulders. She stood behind me as we both gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Perrie and Dani also drew near, mouths agape at my dress.
“You look like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Perrie said. “So beautiful,” She stated.
“It’s like it was designed with you in mind! You look fucking fantastic,” Dani said. We all laughed at her. They continued to compliment me, and soon began discussing the dress in great detail; but I wasn’t really listening. I’d never had tons of friends group around me and tell me how pretty I was, in fact, aside from my family and Harry, I don’t think anyone else ever had sad those words to me. Growing up, playing with boys, I never heard these things, never thought myself worthy of these things. With every nice thing I heard them say, my cheeks burned more and more. I didn’t know where to look, and I certainly couldn’t meet their eyes. I stared at myself in the mirror harder; picking myself apart. But then, I zoomed out, and saw what everyone else saw; I detached myself and as I did so I was stunned. I saw a girl that was slender but soft, clearly not an athlete, but she looked good. She had pale, pale skin that looked like a blueberry bagel on her forearms; her veins extremely apparent under her translucent- like skin. She had ashy, light brown hair that reached the end of her rib cage which was draped in blue fabric; fabric that resembled an icy, midnight ocean, drawing the blue out from the centre of her irises. Her features were pleasant and for a moment I saw my mother in her looks, drawing me out from my reverie, a small tear escaping from the corner of my eye, yet managing to go unnoticed by my company.
“Sarah, what do you think?” Eleanor asked me, breaking away from her conversation with Perrie and Dani. I sniffled, but only slightly, managing to conceal my emotions and I smiled at their faces in the mirror.
“For the first time,” I said, my embarrassment dissipating. “I feel beautiful!” And I did; I really did.
The movie premiere was in two days; considering the fact that this was a red carpet event that people were prepared for months in advance and me, Dani and El had not yet acquired dresses, time was in short supply. I woke up that morning, threw on Harry’s t-shirt that was residing on our floor, and made my way to the kitchen where I poured myself a bowl of cereal. Not long after Harry appeared, similarly attired, in a pair of plaid boxers.
“Good morning, love,” Harry said with his crooked smile as he bent down to give my forehead a gentle kiss. He then turned to walk away, but I caught him from behind, pulling him back to me. His face wore a look of confusion and I laughed.
“Are you forgetting something, Mr. Styles?” I asked him as I raised my puckered lips up. Harry smiled down in absolute adoration.
“Regrettably so,” he laughed as he bent down to kiss me back. As usual, the kiss became heated, neither one of us willing, or desiring, to pull away. With both of our hands tangled in the others hair and our posture becoming increasingly more intimate we heard the door to our room fling open followed by the clearing of a throat. We looked over at El, Dani, Perrie and Lou. Lou wore an amused little smile; Eleanor blushed delicately; Perrie smiled warmly, while Dani stood with her arms across her chest, a sarcastically amusing comment pursed on her lips.
“Sarah, in case you haven’t noticed, we are all going to a red carpet event in two days and last time I checked, none of us here have dresses.” Dani said. I rolled my eyes at her.
“Well, last time I checked,” I began, staring dramatically at the clock. “It was eight thirty in the morning.” Lou laughed, much to Dani’s dismay, and walked over to throw himself in a chair. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eleanor give him a wink, but was quickly distracted as Dani abruptly reclaimed my attention.
“That’s no excuse,” Dani glared down at me before quickly shooting an anxious look to El. I got up, put my dirty dishes in the sink and sat on Harry’s lap, draping my arm around his neck.
“Easy there, Dani. They just needed a quick morning romp,” Lou said cheekily before turning to Harry and I. “Why don’t you two go finish up, we’ll wait in here.” Lou smiled, clearly enjoying himself. I let out a loud sigh as Harry shot an amused look Lou’s way. I looked down at Harry’s face and his hands began rubbing my back.
“Well,” I sighed again. “I guess I’ll go get dressed.” Even as I said the words, I made absolutely no attempt at removing myself from Harry’s embrace.
Lou laughed wickedly.
“Why? Can Harry not perform under pressure?” he winked and Harry threw a soggy cheerio at his face. Lou quickly slapped it away with a rather feminine flare, his smile unwavering at his joke.
“Harry can always perform,” I began, standing up and making my way to the bedroom. “The real problem is we can’t always make ourselves stop.” I smiled, not bothering to turn back and see their expressions although the sound of Lou’s laugh followed me into the room and I felt Harry’s gaze on my back, no doubt wishing with all his might that he could follow me and “have a quick morning romp”.
--
I was now dressed and Dani, Perrie, El and I were making our way to the elevator. Uncharacteristically, we met Liam, Zayn and, most unusually of all, Niall on our way.
“Morning,” Liam said with an easy smile. He was suave that one. Zayn barely said a word, although his countenance was more awkward than Liam’s.
“Is there a band thing I didn’t know about?” I asked them, staring at their faces that on any other day off would still be sleeping soundly at this hour.
“Yeah,” Liam answered me. “Last minute thing, shouldn’t be long though.” He looked at Dani, and for a split second I thought I could detect a trace of anxiety in the exchange. As quickly as I’d seen it however, it was gone. I shrugged it off, they must’ve had a slight row. Niall remained slightly behind them with a dorky smile playing on his lips, before silently slipping into the room mine and Harry’s hotel room.
“Well Dani,” I said, feigning exasperation. “You got me up and out at this ungodly hour, so let’s get going.” Perrie reached for Zayn, giving him a gentle parting kiss as Eleanor grasped my arm, linking it with hers, and began towing me down the hall.
“You’re absolutely right, I have a feeling it’ll be a long day ahead of us.” She shared a sly look with Dani, who stifled a quiet giggle.
--
We sauntered our way into the dress boutique, gazing at the magnificent gowns that adorned the walls. El and Dani went straight up to one of the employees, and I overheard them confirming our time slot; I’d never been to such a boutique that required reservations. I was immediately taken by a flouncy, blue gown with a slight v-plunge decorated with diamonds; surely, I thought to myself, they couldn’t be real. Another thing I noticed about this foreign little shop was that the prices weren’t marked.
“I see your eye’s been captured already,” Perrie said, coming up behind me. I reached out and gently stroked the fabric dangling in front of me.
“It’s quite exquisite,” I breathed. Perrie smiled sweetly at me, hugging my shoulders.
“Harry won’t be able to keep his hands off you in this little number,” she laughed and I turned to look at her. She winked quickly, giving me another squeeze before Eleanor and Danielle came over with the employee.
“I see you are interested in the newest arrival from Paris,” the woman said. “The encrusted diamonds make the dress, really,” she stared at it, drifting off. We all stood silent for a moment, in awe of its splendor.
“Well, Sarah would love to try this on,” Perrie told the woman. Danielle gave her an envious look; clearly she’d been hoping to snatch this dress. However, she acquiesced gracefully, rather unusual for Dani.
“Of course,” the woman said as she began gathering the dress for me.
“Thank you,” I mouthed at Perrie to which she replied with a wink, causing my smile to widen. I was still baffled beyond belief when I realized just how well I’d gotten on with these girls; not only had I acquired the world’s best boyfriend, but the most wonderful friends as well, something that had been truly unexpected.
I followed the woman to a dressing room. I began stripping down, still looking at the dress; admiring it. I slipped into it and it fit perfectly, like it had been designed especially for me. I began doing up the zipper, although holding my long hair up whilst stretching uncomfortably to reach it became increasingly difficult. I walked out of the small room holding the front of the dress up. I looked around for someone to help me. I saw Dani and Perrie out in the main room looking at all the other gowns before spotting Eleanor sitting on a red velvet covered bench.
“Oh my God, Sarah!” She gushed. “You look absolutely stunning! You need me to do you up?” she asked me, standing up.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said, slightly embarrassed by her compliments. Her delicate hands slid the zipper up and then arranged my billowing hair around my shoulders. She stood behind me as we both gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Perrie and Dani also drew near, mouths agape at my dress.
“You look like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Perrie said. “So beautiful,” She stated.
“It’s like it was designed with you in mind! You look fucking fantastic,” Dani said. We all laughed at her. They continued to compliment me, and soon began discussing the dress in great detail; but I wasn’t really listening. I’d never had tons of friends group around me and tell me how pretty I was, in fact, aside from my family and Harry, I don’t think anyone else ever had sad those words to me. Growing up, playing with boys, I never heard these things, never thought myself worthy of these things. With every nice thing I heard them say, my cheeks burned more and more. I didn’t know where to look, and I certainly couldn’t meet their eyes. I stared at myself in the mirror harder; picking myself apart. But then, I zoomed out, and saw what everyone else saw; I detached myself and as I did so I was stunned. I saw a girl that was slender but soft, clearly not an athlete, but she looked good. She had pale, pale skin that looked like a blueberry bagel on her forearms; her veins extremely apparent under her translucent- like skin. She had ashy, light brown hair that reached the end of her rib cage which was draped in blue fabric; fabric that resembled an icy, midnight ocean, drawing the blue out from the centre of her irises. Her features were pleasant and for a moment I saw my mother in her looks, drawing me out from my reverie, a small tear escaping from the corner of my eye, yet managing to go unnoticed by my company.
“Sarah, what do you think?” Eleanor asked me, breaking away from her conversation with Perrie and Dani. I sniffled, but only slightly, managing to conceal my emotions and I smiled at their faces in the mirror.
“For the first time,” I said, my embarrassment dissipating. “I feel beautiful!” And I did; I really did.
Notes
Now, I know that the premeire didn't actually take place in L.A, but I needed to make the small change for this story. Besides, I some changed dates and ages around too, so whatever, it's all just artistic, not a biography or anything. Hope you're liking everything so far! Please rate/comment/subscribe as I love you all!
P.s
If anyone wants to fangirl with me about 'This Is Us' (I'm most lkely seeing it Monday!), the premeire or whatever message me or leave me a comment below, I can promise you I will be more than obliging!
Ah!! They're too adorable. Really, they are! And I just have this sneaking suspicion that a proposal is very near in their future. Maybe even at/ after his mom's wedding. I can't wait til the next chapter!! More please!!!
3/16/15