Beautiful Thing

Concerts are fun. With my sister being a well-known singer, I've been to many of her performances, and others. But with this concert, Harry's concert, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew the music on his album would be the material that he would be performing, but in what manner would it be displayed. Would there be fire, dancers, or crazy lights? With me knowing Harry's personality and the size of the stage, I'm assuming this is just going to be an intimate concert with him, his band, and fans.

Currently, I am one girl amongst the abundance of fans who are happily cheering for their idol to come onto the stage. Looking around at them, I couldn't help but feel the swell of pride that bubbled up in my chest for Harry. I haven't watched him perform on this tour yet but I can already tell by the media, and from the stories that he has told me himself that he puts everything he has onto that stage.

The lights began to dim which created an aura of excitement in the room knowing that Harry would very soon take on the stage. I amongst many others began to cheer for the main event. The intro of "Only Angel" began to play and the venue erupted into cheers louder than before. Once the guitars began to play, the curtain shielding us from Harry had dropped, revealing him and his band to the audience.

When I looked up at him I could immediately tell that he was excited and in the zone. He wore the biggest smile on his face as he began singing, and I noticed that he had to keep moving; I'm guessing it's because of all the energy he has been building up for this evening.

As I was watching him perform, his eyes met with mine. Living in the moment, I gave him a huge smile, which typically, I'd give him a shy smile. He returned the gesture and let out a loud growl to add to the song. It definitely gave it a rock vibe and for sure gave me goosebumps.

Watching Harry in his element put me in a bit of a frenzy. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my body was definitely sweaty in anticipation of what was yet to come. I couldn't help but notice features about Harry that I've never noticed beforehand. His pants were tight enough to outline the firm roundness of his bum. The outline of the veins in his neck as he belted out the words of each song was oddly attractive to me. Likewise with his prominent jawline; it was enough to make me squirm in my seat, especially with the sweat rolling down his face. I don't think I've ever been this sexually frustrated before.

I shook my head to rid the erotic thoughts that passed through my mind. I shouldn't think of Harry like that. We are just friends and that is how it shall remain. But slowly, all at once, the thoughts returned to my mind and remained there until the end of the show.

When the show ended it was a total frenzy of people moving opposite ways trying to find their way out. I being sat in the VIP section, made my way backstage to congratulate Harry on his successful show, even though it wasn't his singing that I was really concentrating on.

As I was walking backstage I saw all the stage crew hustling around to take everything off of the stage and pack it away for Harry's upcoming shows. I tried my best to not get in the way of all the commotion but I managed to run into a man carrying a large box filled with I'm sure some stage equipment.

"I'm sorry" I managed to squeak out and ran away from the situation but noticed the grumpy huff that came out of the man's mouth. I rounded a corner and ran into someone else. With me being anxious about all the commotion happening backstage, I felt the unwanted tears begin to make their way into my eyes.

I managed to apologize once again but before I could leave I felt giant but gentle hands make their way to my sides to prevent me from running away once again. "Tess?" the very familiar British voice asked.

"Shit," I thought to myself. I do not want Harry seeing me in this state. I swallowed all the pride I had left and looked up to meet his friendly gaze which quickly turned to concerned when he saw the state I was in.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Harry asked, genuinely concerned.

I shook my head and quickly blurted out, "No. I need to leave."

I never discussed my struggles with anxiety with Harry before but I think when he saw the state I was in, he knew I needed to get out of there. "Alright. Let's go. I can drive you back to your place if you'd like. You don't look like you're in the right state of mind to drive."

Harry wasn't taking no for an answer, so I rooted around my purse to find my keys and gave them to him. "I just need to grab a few things from my dressing room and then we can go," Harry said calmly. I just nodded at him.

When we got to his dressing room he engulfed me in a big hug. I was tense at first because I wasn't expecting the close contact with Harry, but it was his embrace that made my body relax but my eyes fill up with tears once again. I then let it all go and began to cry.

Harry began to rub my back and began to hush me soothingly. I shook as he whispered to me "Everything will be fine". I hid my face into his neck and breathed in his musky scent which helped me calm me down.

I sniffed and looked up at him, "I'm so sorry Harry."

Harry reached a hand up to wipe away a stray tear, "Don't be sorry. Why don't we get going to your place and we can chat about it, or we can do whatever you want." Harry suggested.

I nodded, "I'd like that." I whispered quietly.

I had fallen asleep on the journey back to my place. I had entered my address into the GPS before we left so Harry knew where to go. I was woken up by Harry gently shaking me. "Hey," he smiled at me gently. "We are here. I would've carried you in but I didn't have your keys and I didn't want to set off your security alarms."

I smiled sleepily at him, "It's okay," I yawned, then got up out of my seat. I unlocked my door, then hung up my coat. I turned around to Harry. "Welcome to my home I guess," I let out a small laugh.

Harry smiled, "Looks lovely," he said as he looked around.

"I could give you a tour if you'd like," I had suggested.

"Sure, lead the way," Harry smiled.

My home was something I was very proud of. It wasn't too big but it was quite spacious for one person. Since I worked for my sister, I was definitely not underpaid or stuck for money. I had spent it wisely. My house had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with a spacious kitchen, living room, and office. I had shown Harry all of this until I had gotten to the last bedroom.

"This was originally a bedroom when I first bought the place, but I transformed it into my music room." I paused for a few moments, "Music calms me."

My music room was filled with a bunch of posters of artists I admire, my bookshelves with sheet music, music books, and a few pictures and awards from piano recitals and competitions. Then, in the middle of the room was my grand piano. This was the one thing I really worked for.

Harry was looking around in amazement. "This is awesome," he then walked over to the piano, dragging his fingers along the keys. He looked up at me, "You play?"

I smiled gently, "I had started playing piano at a very young age because of my grandmother. She had a piano at her house and taught me a few things before I got too advanced for her. My parents had a friend whose daughter went to school for music. They paid her to teach me. I've been playing ever since." Harry watched me intensely as I told my small story.

"Play for me. Please." He breathed out.

I took in a breath of air. "I guess." I made my way over to the bench. I patted the spot next to
me for Harry to sit down. He gave me a small smile and made his way next to me. "What would you like me to play?" I asked him.

Harry sat in thought for a moment until he thought of something, "Play me the most recent piece you have learned."

I began to blush furiously. "Okay, well this one was inspired quite recently. You can sing along if you'd like." I sighed nervously.

(Play this to set the mood if you like! It adds to the scene ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oy4NHhMu58)

I placed my hands gently on the keys and then began playing the intro of "Two Ghosts", Harry's song. While I was listening to his album I had discovered that this was my favorite and I had to learn how to play it.

Harry got it as soon as I started. He gasped and gave me a look that held an emotion that I didn't recognize. He began singing softly as I played into the first verse. This was a side of Harry I've never seen. In his purest form and raw talent and emotion.

I looked up at Harry while I was playing. He began to smile largely while he was singing. Butterflies erupted in my belly at the sight. It gave me confidence that I was doing something right. I began to add extra notes here and there to make it sound even better.

As we got to the second verse, I got a little too confident because I startled Harry when I began to sing. Harry stopped singing I'm assuming to listen to me. I was a bit shaky at first, but as I went on, the nerves went away. I looked up at Harry, he wore a straight face like he was thinking intensely about something.

The final chorus came and Harry began to sing with me. With my knowledge of music, I sang a bit higher to harmonize with him. Harry gave me a wild but excited look when I did that.
I finished the song on a soft note. I then looked up at Harry. "So, what did you think?" I asked hesitantly.

For the first time in my life, I think I had rendered someone speechless. I don't know if it was a good or bad thing. I sighed, "I shouldn't have shown you this room." I began to get insecure with his silence.

Harry had jumped, "NO! Tess, that was... so beautiful. I'm speechless because I am lost for words. I've heard many people play this instrument but, watching you pour all these emotions into it, changes everything. Music is something that everyone can relate to, but when you feel the emotions that the performer is putting into it, that is when you know it is great music. Tess, you are phenomenal."

I was then speechless. I had performed in front of judges, audiences, and my family, but no one outside of that. I've been criticised and complimented, but none of that matched up to what Harry had told me.

"Harry... I use my music as a gateway." I paused. Was I really going to tell him about my problems? "When I was younger, and I had to explain something, it would always help me to do it through a song. I struggle with things every day that normal people don't really struggle with. I have all of these thoughts in my head. It feels like everyone is out to get me... well, that's what my inner demons tell me. Growing up, I had gone to councilling, but I wasn't getting any better or any worse. My family, they try to push me to do things but it's not as easy as they think. That's why I put everything into my music because, the thing about pain... it demands to be felt. I play with emotion because of that. It's how I tell my story."

(PLEASE PLAY "KISS ME" BY ED SHEERAN RIGHT NOW! YOU WON'T REGRET IT)
Harry breathed out and held onto my hand, "Tess... I haven't been through what you are going through, but, please know that I am always here for you. I don't care if we are on opposite ends of the globe and you wanted to talk about any random topic out there to get your mind off of things. I know it's not easy but please remember, I'm always here."

Tears started welling up in my eyes. "Ugh, I'm crying for what feels like the millionth time tonight. I'm sorry."

I reached up to hide my face until Harry grabbed my hands, then reached to pull my hair out of my face. "Don't," he whispered.

He then looked into my eyes with so much emotion. Something I wasn't used to. He then looked down at my lips, then back up to my eyes. I then wanted to kiss him. It felt like gravity was pulling us together slowly, almost too slowly. He moved his hands to cup my face. My heart began to speed up rapidly. He was so close that our noses were touching. "Harry" I breathed out.

"Can I kiss you?" He whispered. I felt his breath on my lips, it made me dizzy. I slowly nodded my head. Harry then closed the distance and met my lips softly.

I hadn't kissed many people in my life. Only three people to be exact. First was little Johnny when we were five and in kindergarten and were just curious on what would happen, let's just say it didn't end well with me and I ran away as soon as it happened. Then it was when I was sixteen and curious once again and did seven minutes in heaven with Keegan, a guy at a party that I was forced to go to by some girls I was "friends" with in high school. Let's just say, I ran away again. Finally the third was the guy from university that I thought had liked me but only used me for two things, notes and sex. It didn't settle well with me.

When Harry kissed me first, I felt tingles all through my body. I then leaned in for more. He was gentle with me as he wrapped his arms around my waist to pull me in closer. My arms moved their way gently around his neck, fingers clutched at his curls, pulling him closer to eliminate the distance between us. Gasoline ran through my veins and his kiss was the spark that made me on fire.

With Harry, there was no sense of time. The emotion that he put into this kiss left my mind swimming and fuzzy, my body full of butterflies from head to toe; I felt alive. Harry then began to kiss along my jaw, to my neck. I was heavily panting out with his gentle assault. Never in my life had I experienced something like this. What was this?

Harry has pulled away and looked into my eyes while heavily breathing. "How are you feeling?" he asked me with his hands still wrapped around my waist.

I nudged his nose with mine, "Happy" I whispered and pecked his lips with mine gently.
Harry smiled and pulled me in for a hug. I rested my head in his neck and breathed in his scent. "Good." he whispered into my hair.

For the first time in a long time, I felt free of any constricting emotions. Harry decided to stay for the night since it was already late. The rest of the evening was spent telling stories, occasional kissing, and playing around in the music room. I could say that this was probably the best evening of my life.

Notes

WELL! WHAT DID YOU THINK!?!?

Sorry for the long delay. I was very busy with university stuff, but now I'm free for the summer! Let me know what you think in the comment section! <3