Under Pressure {H.S}

Chapter 50

Mia's POV:

America's favorite pastime:

Talking on the phone.

At least once every one-to-two weeks, it's normal for people to call loved ones and check in on them.

Then, there's the loved ones that you call or text every one-to-two days.

For me, those people are my mom, my dad, my sister, my brother— and his wife and daughter, Audrey, and Elli. I mainly just text them. Family group chats and whatnot. And, well, I don't really call Harry. We practically live together. But if Harry and I are separated, he usually calls me twice a day, sometimes more, and he texts me the whole day. Usually, he's the one on a 'business trip,' so I don't like to bother him unless he bothers me first.

Then, there's also the people you like, but you don't like to talk to them often.

That's Grayce, who I haven't really talked to in months, and Jay for me.

Jay has been my brother's best friend since day one. He's always been like an older brother to me. He's protective, obviously, but at the end of the day, I've got to keep some contact with him.

Does he not like Harry? Maybe. Is he a bit of a dick? Absolutely. Is he good to me? Yeah. He is.

I'm on a walk right now. I'm in Central Park. I never go on walks here, but I thought that since I'm feeling good, I've caught up with my work at Hippie Haven, and it's nice outside, today would be the perfect day to start.

The trip to Italy was a dream. Gemma was wonderful. Harry was— and always is— beautiful. I enjoyed every second. Well, every second that I wasn't talking to Megan. That phone call sucked.

We stayed in Italy for a week and a half. We've been back in New York for only a few days now, and we're leaving again soon.

It's July. You know what's coming up? The 4th of July. Three days from now.

I don't love America. There's a lot of hatred here. But I swear, something switches in me on Independence Day. On the Forth of July, I'm the most patriotic I'll be all year.

The Forth of July in New York is fun, but there are so many people. It's also too hot. Almost every year, I fly back home.

I asked Harry if he's ever had a true American Forth of July experience. He said no. He's been to parties, but I told him that didn't count.

Since I need to visit my family, and my family misses Harry, we figured that this would be the perfect opportunity for us to spend some time with them.

But back to what I was saying. I need to call Jay. I might as well call him now because if I call him at home, Harry won't leave me alone. He'll want to know everything Jay is saying, and it'll get annoying.

I find Jay's contact and click the call button. My thoughts trail off as the phone rings.

It's hot out here. Thank god I'm wearing shorts and a sports bra. My bruise is almost gone now. You can definitely still see it, but it's not nearly as visible as it was before.

"Hello?" Jay answers.

"Hey, loser," I respond.

"Oh hey, cupcake," he says with a chuckle like he wasn't expecting it to be me. "Watcha need?"

I smile. "I figured you were missing me. Thought I'd call. How is everyone?"

"They're great. You need to come see Hadley. She's so big. I was babysitting her the other day and she was rolling around everywhere. She babbles and I swear I can understand her."