ASSUMPTIONS [H.S.]

chapter 59

February.
The 13th.

Harry Styles.

I'm a man of my word.

To be fair, I usually complete my side of a promise much later than supposed to. Nevertheless — I always keep my word.

Even with Gemma in the car seat next to me right now, I've just managed to fulfill a promise I should've done a long time ago.

"Cover of Vogue!" Gem exclaims, rolling down the car window to let some pedestrians know. My car's going too fast for others to comprehend that, though. "You hear that? My brother will be on the cover of fucking Vogue!"

"Shhh." I push down the control to close the window in her place. Furthermore, I turn on the child-safety lock — a button I'm still not familiar with pressing. "It's confidential."

"It's wild." She eases into the leather seat. I rarely see her show excitement about something like this — she's usually much more held back.

"You're in it as well." I remind her, wanting to see the excited side just a little longer.

"I know." She smiles as if it just hit her. "There are finally some benefits to having you as my brother. Only took about 25 years."

I chuckle loudly, this time being the one rolling the window down. "Hey!" I yell out, making eye contact with a random guy passing by. "My sister will be in Vogue! You hear that?"

"Alright, alright." Gemma lets out a nervous laugh, interrupting me before I could continue scaring pedestrians. "I just think it's massive."

"What exactly? My dress or the trampoline?" I push out a bad joke I regret even telling because she barely catches on to it.

"Neither and both at the same time." She rubs her forehead.

I keep my grip on the steering wheel relaxed. "I was told they'd create a video, having VHS tape clips inserted somewhere there as well."

"I know for a fact the whole video is going to be the sweetest one ever made." She declares. "I mean, you singing 'Cherry' will definitely melt everybody's hearts."

"That's the plan." I nod, drawing my lips into a thin line.

Somewhere between the sound of the radio and the car's engine, a ringtone blasts out. Gem immediately scrambles through her bag, needing about a minute to find the device.

"Hello?" Gem picks her phone up, and I wish I caught a glance at the caller ID because, from what I can hear, it's a man's voice from the other end.

It's silent before she speaks again. "Yeah, obviously I'm going. Tomorrow, right?"

Another bit of silence. "Yeah. I probably won't go backstage, but definitely will stay for the concert."

What concert?

"Alright. See ya there!" Gem exclaims before hanging up and pretending like nothing just happened.

"What concert are you talking about exactly?" I raise my brow, watching her tense up a little.

"My... friend's." She hesitates. "Niall will be performing there as well. He invited me, in fact."