Over Again
Chapter 8
Chapter eight
“Well,” Harry said as he stood up from the table, standing behind me and giving my shoulders a soft squeeze. “I think this moment calls for a little bubbly.” He smiled and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Anne. I watched her face as her eyes followed Harry. When he was gone, she turned back to me. She reached for my hand, holding it from across the table.
“It is SO good to see you,” she smiled.
“I know, Anne, you don’t even know how much I’ve missed you!” I said, squeezing her hand.
“I was so surprised when I saw you come around the corner,” she paused. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I knew that he’d never gotten over your break up, and I had a feeling that things were unfinished between you two, but I was scared to even hope for this.” She looked down at the table.
“Trust me,” I breathed a laugh. “So was I. Things without him just weren’t the same. I’ll tell you, all this time a part made me appreciate even the worst days with him.” Her eyes shot up suddenly and she looked like she wanted to say something, but then she reconsidered and lowered them back down to the table. “What is it, Anne?” I asked her. She lifted her gaze to mine again, weighing what she wanted to say over in her mind.
“I don’t want to seem pushy or anything, and I don’t want this to come across as rash, but,” she hesitated, weighing her words. “I really want you to be part of the wedding procession.” She blurted out, worried of my reaction.
“Really?” I asked. I was touched, I felt so loved knowing that she wanted me to be part of such a special day. “Anne, I’m honoured that you’d ask me!” I smiled at her before continuing. “But please, don’t do this because you feel obligated, I’d totally understand if you just wanted family-”
“Sarah, you are family!” She said, putting an end to my rambling. I smiled back at her. “Now, I want you to come with Gemma and I when we go to the boutique in a couple weeks, I won’t have my bridesmaids in dresses they hate.” She laughed, and I joined in, overjoyed at the thought of seeing Gemma again.
“It’s a date.”
“Excellent, am I invited?” Harry asked as he emerged through the doorway with a bottle of champagne, his dimples out in full force.
“Sure,” Anne laughed. “You want to pick out your dress, too?” She teased him. Realizing what we were talking about, Harry quickly back tracked.
“On second thought, I think I’ll just stick with a suit and tie.” He winked cheekily. He sat down, placing the bottle on the table. I got up, and retrieved a corkscrew and some glasses.
“Miss. Anne, perhaps you would like to do the honours?” I laughed, offering it to her.
“When would I not?” she laughed loudly as she popped off the cork and began pouring our drinks.
Not long after, we decided to call it a night. Anne crashed in one of the many, many spare rooms in the house, excusing herself so that she could go call Robin. No doubt in my mind she wanted to tell him all about the reconnection between Harry and me. With Anne checked in for the night, Harry and I made our way upstairs towards our room, arm in arm. I was exhausted, and so I simply stripped down to my underwear, removed my bra and replaced it with Harry’s tank top. It didn’t cover me at all but I didn’t care, and I loved the way Harry’s eyes popped when he saw me in it. He stripped down to his boxers, and was waiting for me to join him between the sheets. He opened his arms wide, waiting for me to crawl into them, which I did most willingly. His shirt fell around me, exposing more skin than I thought it would. Harry groaned quietly in my ear.
“You’re such a tease,” he breathed, his hands raking across my body in the dark as he began kissing my neck in the hollow below my ear. “Now it’s time to keep my promise.” Confusion struck me.
“And what promise might that be?”
“I think it goes a little something like this...” He said as he rolled over top of me, pressing himself into me while still supporting his weight with his arms. He began kissing my mouth with an urgency that was undeniably sexy. His hands explored every inch of me, continuing their experience prior to Anne’s appearance. I laughed quietly.
“You sure you want to do this right now with your mother down the hall?” I asked him, grabbing the back of his neck and forcing his face down to mine, our lips meeting with unyielding desire on either side. He exhaled into my mouth, and I inhaled the sweet taste of his breath on my lips. I felt his lips stretch into a smile, taking the opportunity to trace his mouth with my tongue. He laughed a muffled laugh.
“I guess we’ll just have to be quiet then.” He said, but he did not give me the chance to reply, nor did the opportunity arise for the rest of the night.
--
I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. I assumed that Harry and Anne were spending some time together before she headed back to her hotel room. Wanting to give them their privacy, I headed towards the shower. I was in there a while, the warm water beating down on me was relaxing. I washed my hair slowly, and gave it a thorough condition. Eventually, my skin started to prune, and I decided that maybe it was time to carry on and make my way downstairs. I exited the shower, and wrapped myself in a white fluffy towel that was hanging on the wall. I then retrieved another towel from under the sink and wrapped it around my hair. I walked back into our room and pulled out a pair of leggings, a baggy t-shirt and a super soft and comfy cotton bra. When I was dressed, I unwrapped my hair, letting it hang wet down my back, staining my shirt where it came in contact. Throwing my towels into the laundry hamper, I started towards the stairs, noticing on my way down that it was almost one o’ clock in the afternoon. I was surprised that Harry had let me sleep in that long, surely Anne would have headed back to her hotel by now. First, I went to the kitchen to see if Harry was in there. Empty. I decided that the living room was the next best bet. As I got closer, I heard faint noises, maybe the TV.
“Harry,” I called in a playful tone. “Don’t you know it’s rude to bed a woman and then make her wake up alo--” I stopped short as I entered the room, seeing five sets of eyes looking at me with amused expressions.
“Well,” Louis exclaimed. “Harry, I am appalled!” He said in a mock horror tone, standing up to take my hands in his. “I’m so sorry that we ruined your morning love.” He winked at me and I blushed, thoroughly embarrassed.
“Shut up and sit down, Lou,” Harry tossed a pillow at him and came over to us, removing me from Louis’ grip and folding me in his arms. “Sorry, babe,” he breathed in my ear. “I thought I’d let you sleep in.” I laughed.
“Well thanks,” I giggled. “You’re just lucky that I came down as decent as I did.” I winked at him, and the four other boys in the room erupted into wild roars of laughter, causing Harry to blush. “Now, are you going to introduce us, or what?” I asked him.
“Of course, my lady,” Harry swiveled around, a smirk on his face, gesturing towards them. “This here is Liam.” Liam jumped off the sofa.
“Hello Sarah, great to finally meet you!” He said, giving me a one-armed hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You, too.” I said with a smile.
“This is Niall,” Harry continued and Niall got up from the sofa, Zayn standing up with him and hovering slightly behind as he folded me into a tight bear hug.
“Hello, Sarah!” he laughed.
“Well hello!” I laughed with him.
“Zayn,” Harry went on. Niall sat back down on the couch as Zayn immediately took his place, giving me a gentler hug.
“Great to meet you, love,” Zayn said, kissing my cheek.
“Great to meet you!”
“And of course, this is Louis,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” Louis came over to me, a sassy look on his face. “Spare us the formalities.” He joked with Harry. “Come over here, darling.” Louis said, holding his arms open for me. I readily accepted his embrace and he gave me a tight hug, and rubbed my back before releasing me. “Welcome to the gang!” He laughed.
“Thanks.” I smiled at him.
“Well, come, do come and sit,” he said, ushering me to the couch where Liam and Niall scooted over for us. He fitted me between him and Liam, with Niall on his other side and Zayn sitting in one of the chairs. Harry smiled at the sight of me sitting on the couch under both Louis and Liam’s arms. He bent down and kissed my forehead.
“I’m going to go and make you some breakfast,” He said before pausing. “Or more appropriately, brunch for my little sleepy head.”
“Ha ha,” I said teasingly. “But you don’t have to do that, babe, I can go find something.” I said, trying to wiggle free of Louis and Liam’s arms.
“Uh-uh,” Harry said. “I’ve got this.” He smiled as he left the room, leaving me with the four boys.
“Isn’t that cute?” Louis laughed. “Harry being so domestic, how sweet.” I laughed with him.
“He’s quite good at that.” I joked. “Harry tells me that you’ve just bought a house close by, Zayn.”
“Yeah,” Zayn said. “Its super close, actually, we’ll get to see a lot more of each other.” He laughed.
“Pssh,” Louis scoffed. “We’re all going to be seeing a lot more of her Zayn, aren’t we love?” He asked me.
“Hopefully!” I laughed.
“Has Harry talked to you about coming on tour?” Liam asked me.
“No,” I said. “It hasn’t really come up yet, and I’m still in university so...” I trailed off. I had thought about this, and it had been one of the things making me hesitant to re-engage in this relationship.
“No worries,” Liam said, clearly sensing my anxiety and he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“You guys can work it all out.” He smiled at me.
“Not like it won’t come up tomorrow.” Niall said, absentmindedly nibbling on some biscuits he’d found.
“What’s tomorrow?” I asked.
“Our meeting with Simon, did Harry not tell you?” Louis asked.
“Ohh, that’s right, he did, I just forgot.” I laughed. “What’s the meeting on?”
“Well officially it’s for our ‘Where We Are’ tour and the fragrance premiere.” Liam explained.
“And we’re petitioning for our girlfriend’s to be allowed on tour for the last month.” Louis added.
“Oh,” I said. “Where are Danielle and Eleanor? Harry said they’d be here.”
“Dani’s driving up tomorrow,” Liam said. “She’s just finishing up shooting a music video.”
“Wow!” I said.
“Yeah, and Eleanor is driving up with her.” Louis finished.
“I can’t wait for you to meet them, Sarah,” Liam said. “They’re totally going to love you!”
“That’s sweet,” I laughed. “I’m super excited!” Truthfully, I was super nervous, but they didn’t need to know that, and underneath the nervousness I was excited.
“I’m baaack!” Harry sang carrying a tray stacked full of food through the door. He set it down in front of me. There was a pitcher of orange juice, a stack of pancakes with a jug of maple syrup next to it, a bowl of fruit and a pot of hot tea with a cup and saucer.
“Thank you, Harry,” I smiled, sitting forward admiring his work. “You’re amazing.” He bent down and kissed me, lingering a little too long considering we had company and the lads did not hesitate to complain.
“Oh God, you two need to go back up stairs for another toss in the sack!” Niall laughed, reaching for a pancake. Harry slapped his hand away.
“Stealing my girlfriend’s pancakes, are we?” Harry gave him a look of mock insult.
“How dare you!” I played along, laughing as Niall threw it back on the plate. “If you’re going to have a pancake, at least put some syrup on it.” I said teasingly as I made up a plate for him. Niall took a bite, looking extremely satisfied.
“Oh my gosh, Sarah, you’re the best I literally love you.” Niall said through his full mouth.
“May I remind you, that I was the one who made them?” Harry laughed.
“Yeah, you’re alright, too, but you weren’t willing to share.” Niall retorted and we all laughed. Already I felt so comfortable with the lads; I could feel that this group of random, hilarious, and talented boys were going to change my life. And I couldn’t wait.
“Well,” Harry said as he stood up from the table, standing behind me and giving my shoulders a soft squeeze. “I think this moment calls for a little bubbly.” He smiled and walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Anne. I watched her face as her eyes followed Harry. When he was gone, she turned back to me. She reached for my hand, holding it from across the table.
“It is SO good to see you,” she smiled.
“I know, Anne, you don’t even know how much I’ve missed you!” I said, squeezing her hand.
“I was so surprised when I saw you come around the corner,” she paused. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I knew that he’d never gotten over your break up, and I had a feeling that things were unfinished between you two, but I was scared to even hope for this.” She looked down at the table.
“Trust me,” I breathed a laugh. “So was I. Things without him just weren’t the same. I’ll tell you, all this time a part made me appreciate even the worst days with him.” Her eyes shot up suddenly and she looked like she wanted to say something, but then she reconsidered and lowered them back down to the table. “What is it, Anne?” I asked her. She lifted her gaze to mine again, weighing what she wanted to say over in her mind.
“I don’t want to seem pushy or anything, and I don’t want this to come across as rash, but,” she hesitated, weighing her words. “I really want you to be part of the wedding procession.” She blurted out, worried of my reaction.
“Really?” I asked. I was touched, I felt so loved knowing that she wanted me to be part of such a special day. “Anne, I’m honoured that you’d ask me!” I smiled at her before continuing. “But please, don’t do this because you feel obligated, I’d totally understand if you just wanted family-”
“Sarah, you are family!” She said, putting an end to my rambling. I smiled back at her. “Now, I want you to come with Gemma and I when we go to the boutique in a couple weeks, I won’t have my bridesmaids in dresses they hate.” She laughed, and I joined in, overjoyed at the thought of seeing Gemma again.
“It’s a date.”
“Excellent, am I invited?” Harry asked as he emerged through the doorway with a bottle of champagne, his dimples out in full force.
“Sure,” Anne laughed. “You want to pick out your dress, too?” She teased him. Realizing what we were talking about, Harry quickly back tracked.
“On second thought, I think I’ll just stick with a suit and tie.” He winked cheekily. He sat down, placing the bottle on the table. I got up, and retrieved a corkscrew and some glasses.
“Miss. Anne, perhaps you would like to do the honours?” I laughed, offering it to her.
“When would I not?” she laughed loudly as she popped off the cork and began pouring our drinks.
Not long after, we decided to call it a night. Anne crashed in one of the many, many spare rooms in the house, excusing herself so that she could go call Robin. No doubt in my mind she wanted to tell him all about the reconnection between Harry and me. With Anne checked in for the night, Harry and I made our way upstairs towards our room, arm in arm. I was exhausted, and so I simply stripped down to my underwear, removed my bra and replaced it with Harry’s tank top. It didn’t cover me at all but I didn’t care, and I loved the way Harry’s eyes popped when he saw me in it. He stripped down to his boxers, and was waiting for me to join him between the sheets. He opened his arms wide, waiting for me to crawl into them, which I did most willingly. His shirt fell around me, exposing more skin than I thought it would. Harry groaned quietly in my ear.
“You’re such a tease,” he breathed, his hands raking across my body in the dark as he began kissing my neck in the hollow below my ear. “Now it’s time to keep my promise.” Confusion struck me.
“And what promise might that be?”
“I think it goes a little something like this...” He said as he rolled over top of me, pressing himself into me while still supporting his weight with his arms. He began kissing my mouth with an urgency that was undeniably sexy. His hands explored every inch of me, continuing their experience prior to Anne’s appearance. I laughed quietly.
“You sure you want to do this right now with your mother down the hall?” I asked him, grabbing the back of his neck and forcing his face down to mine, our lips meeting with unyielding desire on either side. He exhaled into my mouth, and I inhaled the sweet taste of his breath on my lips. I felt his lips stretch into a smile, taking the opportunity to trace his mouth with my tongue. He laughed a muffled laugh.
“I guess we’ll just have to be quiet then.” He said, but he did not give me the chance to reply, nor did the opportunity arise for the rest of the night.
--
I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. I assumed that Harry and Anne were spending some time together before she headed back to her hotel room. Wanting to give them their privacy, I headed towards the shower. I was in there a while, the warm water beating down on me was relaxing. I washed my hair slowly, and gave it a thorough condition. Eventually, my skin started to prune, and I decided that maybe it was time to carry on and make my way downstairs. I exited the shower, and wrapped myself in a white fluffy towel that was hanging on the wall. I then retrieved another towel from under the sink and wrapped it around my hair. I walked back into our room and pulled out a pair of leggings, a baggy t-shirt and a super soft and comfy cotton bra. When I was dressed, I unwrapped my hair, letting it hang wet down my back, staining my shirt where it came in contact. Throwing my towels into the laundry hamper, I started towards the stairs, noticing on my way down that it was almost one o’ clock in the afternoon. I was surprised that Harry had let me sleep in that long, surely Anne would have headed back to her hotel by now. First, I went to the kitchen to see if Harry was in there. Empty. I decided that the living room was the next best bet. As I got closer, I heard faint noises, maybe the TV.
“Harry,” I called in a playful tone. “Don’t you know it’s rude to bed a woman and then make her wake up alo--” I stopped short as I entered the room, seeing five sets of eyes looking at me with amused expressions.
“Well,” Louis exclaimed. “Harry, I am appalled!” He said in a mock horror tone, standing up to take my hands in his. “I’m so sorry that we ruined your morning love.” He winked at me and I blushed, thoroughly embarrassed.
“Shut up and sit down, Lou,” Harry tossed a pillow at him and came over to us, removing me from Louis’ grip and folding me in his arms. “Sorry, babe,” he breathed in my ear. “I thought I’d let you sleep in.” I laughed.
“Well thanks,” I giggled. “You’re just lucky that I came down as decent as I did.” I winked at him, and the four other boys in the room erupted into wild roars of laughter, causing Harry to blush. “Now, are you going to introduce us, or what?” I asked him.
“Of course, my lady,” Harry swiveled around, a smirk on his face, gesturing towards them. “This here is Liam.” Liam jumped off the sofa.
“Hello Sarah, great to finally meet you!” He said, giving me a one-armed hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
“You, too.” I said with a smile.
“This is Niall,” Harry continued and Niall got up from the sofa, Zayn standing up with him and hovering slightly behind as he folded me into a tight bear hug.
“Hello, Sarah!” he laughed.
“Well hello!” I laughed with him.
“Zayn,” Harry went on. Niall sat back down on the couch as Zayn immediately took his place, giving me a gentler hug.
“Great to meet you, love,” Zayn said, kissing my cheek.
“Great to meet you!”
“And of course, this is Louis,” Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah,” Louis came over to me, a sassy look on his face. “Spare us the formalities.” He joked with Harry. “Come over here, darling.” Louis said, holding his arms open for me. I readily accepted his embrace and he gave me a tight hug, and rubbed my back before releasing me. “Welcome to the gang!” He laughed.
“Thanks.” I smiled at him.
“Well, come, do come and sit,” he said, ushering me to the couch where Liam and Niall scooted over for us. He fitted me between him and Liam, with Niall on his other side and Zayn sitting in one of the chairs. Harry smiled at the sight of me sitting on the couch under both Louis and Liam’s arms. He bent down and kissed my forehead.
“I’m going to go and make you some breakfast,” He said before pausing. “Or more appropriately, brunch for my little sleepy head.”
“Ha ha,” I said teasingly. “But you don’t have to do that, babe, I can go find something.” I said, trying to wiggle free of Louis and Liam’s arms.
“Uh-uh,” Harry said. “I’ve got this.” He smiled as he left the room, leaving me with the four boys.
“Isn’t that cute?” Louis laughed. “Harry being so domestic, how sweet.” I laughed with him.
“He’s quite good at that.” I joked. “Harry tells me that you’ve just bought a house close by, Zayn.”
“Yeah,” Zayn said. “Its super close, actually, we’ll get to see a lot more of each other.” He laughed.
“Pssh,” Louis scoffed. “We’re all going to be seeing a lot more of her Zayn, aren’t we love?” He asked me.
“Hopefully!” I laughed.
“Has Harry talked to you about coming on tour?” Liam asked me.
“No,” I said. “It hasn’t really come up yet, and I’m still in university so...” I trailed off. I had thought about this, and it had been one of the things making me hesitant to re-engage in this relationship.
“No worries,” Liam said, clearly sensing my anxiety and he gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“You guys can work it all out.” He smiled at me.
“Not like it won’t come up tomorrow.” Niall said, absentmindedly nibbling on some biscuits he’d found.
“What’s tomorrow?” I asked.
“Our meeting with Simon, did Harry not tell you?” Louis asked.
“Ohh, that’s right, he did, I just forgot.” I laughed. “What’s the meeting on?”
“Well officially it’s for our ‘Where We Are’ tour and the fragrance premiere.” Liam explained.
“And we’re petitioning for our girlfriend’s to be allowed on tour for the last month.” Louis added.
“Oh,” I said. “Where are Danielle and Eleanor? Harry said they’d be here.”
“Dani’s driving up tomorrow,” Liam said. “She’s just finishing up shooting a music video.”
“Wow!” I said.
“Yeah, and Eleanor is driving up with her.” Louis finished.
“I can’t wait for you to meet them, Sarah,” Liam said. “They’re totally going to love you!”
“That’s sweet,” I laughed. “I’m super excited!” Truthfully, I was super nervous, but they didn’t need to know that, and underneath the nervousness I was excited.
“I’m baaack!” Harry sang carrying a tray stacked full of food through the door. He set it down in front of me. There was a pitcher of orange juice, a stack of pancakes with a jug of maple syrup next to it, a bowl of fruit and a pot of hot tea with a cup and saucer.
“Thank you, Harry,” I smiled, sitting forward admiring his work. “You’re amazing.” He bent down and kissed me, lingering a little too long considering we had company and the lads did not hesitate to complain.
“Oh God, you two need to go back up stairs for another toss in the sack!” Niall laughed, reaching for a pancake. Harry slapped his hand away.
“Stealing my girlfriend’s pancakes, are we?” Harry gave him a look of mock insult.
“How dare you!” I played along, laughing as Niall threw it back on the plate. “If you’re going to have a pancake, at least put some syrup on it.” I said teasingly as I made up a plate for him. Niall took a bite, looking extremely satisfied.
“Oh my gosh, Sarah, you’re the best I literally love you.” Niall said through his full mouth.
“May I remind you, that I was the one who made them?” Harry laughed.
“Yeah, you’re alright, too, but you weren’t willing to share.” Niall retorted and we all laughed. Already I felt so comfortable with the lads; I could feel that this group of random, hilarious, and talented boys were going to change my life. And I couldn’t wait.
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