That Summer Feeling: SUMMER 4EVER [H.S.]

52. Summer Girl

LACEY

"Don't go," I say against his lips.

He pulls away first, grinning. "I have to."

"Just a few more." I press my lips against him again, repeatedly pecking them to get as much as I can while my arms remain wrapped around his neck.

He laughs. "Darling, I'm going to pee myself if I don't go now. Don't think I'd be very fun to be around drenched in urine."

My nose scrunches up at the thought. "Fine. Go."

He laughs again, tipping his head back in the process. He briefly kisses me one last time. "I'll be right back. Stay here."

I nod and watch him walk off towards a hallway around the corner where the bathrooms were. My cheeks are sore from smiling and beaming with happiness all night long, needing to force myself to drop my smile so I don't actually hurt myself.

I have only been here for about an hour and I was already having the best time I've had in the last 24 hours, possibly all summer. It's been an incredibly insane rollercoaster— from waking up this morning in Harry's arms to rushing to the hospital then hopping on a plane and coming straight here. There were a lot of times when I just wanted to crawl into a hole deep enough to hide and stay there forever. Now I don't. Instead, I feel like a freshly bloomed flower that grew from that hole.

A flower that is loved. Harry loves me. He loves me! God, that feels so good to think. To say, to hear, to know.

And I felt all of that and more as he held me with such tenderness and as he hummed along to the song he later admitted to me that specifically requested for us— a song that was instantly my favorite just because of tonight. We danced and danced as if we were the only two people in the world. A fucking meteor could have hit the earth at that exact moment and I would have no idea. All I could think about and see and feel is Harry. All I wanted to do was keep dancing with him. It was so perfect and beautiful and magical, I choked back tears as it happened. The kind that springs out of pure happiness and love.

A few slow songs later, I still wanted to have an excuse to remain pressed up against Harry surrounded by a beautiful garden, even as the aches in my toes grew tighter from being pressed inside my heels. I haven't worn heels like this in a very long time so I was a little rusty. I didn't want us to stop but I knew Harry wanted to get going soon and I still haven't officially met anyone here. I feel like I've crashed this party.

Usually, I'm all up for an Irish goodbye, especially if it means having Harry all to myself, but a side effect of being so annoyingly happy is wanting to spread that everyone no matter who they are and do anything you want because you feel like you're on top of the world. Nothing can hurt you this high up.

We met up with Gigi and Zayn first and took pictures of each other and all together, mostly because this night seemed unbelievable that we just had to capture it all so we know it wasn't some sort of fever dream. Then we all mingled with some of the other guests, parting ways shortly after.

Meeting more of Harry's family put a reasonable amount of pressure on me. I wanted to be as polite as possible and impress them but I was still really nervous. I almost felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, watching me interact with Harry's family and being introduced as his girlfriend. Thankfully, he was by my side the entire time and beamed just as much as I was, which made me more comfortable. We were both trying to make the most out of this event. After all, we were too happy that nothing could really ruin it.

I spent more time talking to Penelope than I had with anyone else I met tonight. She was just as lovely as Harry described her and made me feel more at ease than William did when I first got here. She showed me pictures of her baby, Greyson, shortly after we met. Admittedly, the little guy was cute with big, bright blue eyes and tiny chubby cheeks.