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nine

With finals over, Nina felt a weight already lifted off her shoulders. Especially knowing that by the early evening Harry will be back from the LA trip from hell. Both were ready to spend some time hiding out in Anne's home, sharing quiet, quality time together as a family.

The paparazzi were pretty much stalking Harry at this point, hungry for any information they could get on his lovelife. After Jeff swiftly shut down the Olivia rumors, much to Nina's delight and Olivia's dismay, the paparazzi were doubling down on their hunch that he was seeing someone. They thought perhaps Harry's team was throwing them off, especially since Olivia decided to join the same gym Harry had a membership to, and they were determined to get the next breaking headline right.

Harry was over it. He complained to Jeff any chance he got over the last three days, hating that being in LA meant being stalked. It was a big reason why he and Nina ruled Los Angeles out of their relationship, not even daring to step foot in the state of California together. But now that this director was following him around on top of the paparazzi, he found any excuse to get back to New York earlier than planned. He missed the privacy that he gained over there, never once being photographed in the last year unless it was pre-planned for work.

Even Nina was tired of the constant stream of photographs and headlines. Fake sources claiming he and Olivia were in the early stages of a relationship, pictures and videos of him just trying to go to his car after meetings. He looked just pissed off and annoyed in every single one, and she just hated knowing he was upset. She wished she could be there to comfort him, even if that was an unrealistic wish.

And though Harry reassured her over and over that everything about Olivia was false, it still bothered her. She didn't understand how stalking him could ever manifest into him joining her movie or even being in a relationship with her. Jeff combated every headline almost immediately, making it clear that there was nothing going on, but people just ran with the headlines, not bothering to read any further.

At night, instead of facetimes full of lovey-dovey dialogue and quietly enjoying each other's presence, they were full of rants and frustration over the entire media circus. Both just wanted to be together again, pretending that he wasn't famous and that they were just normal.

Nina's family and Jen had to deal with the brunt of stabilizing Nina and letting her get all her insecurities out. Amanda and Nathan even came for a visit, just to check in on if these headlines were even true. They were glad to hear that the couple was still going strong, secretly relieved since they knew of Harry's intentions to propose. Harry had wanted to involve them and Mabel into the proposal, since they were the reason he even met Nina, but they unfortunately couldn't go to Manchester.

Ava sat on the couch with Jen at the apartment, watching Nina pack up her last bag for the trip. "I agree, it's weird."

"Right? Like it's basically stalking, how are they allowed to just get away with it?" Nina sighed, folding up a sweater to put in the suitcase.

"It's because it's their job, I think. Like paparazzi have special privilege to follow celebrities around since they're like public figures." Jen adds before taking a sip from her wine.

"Like, how does a person feel comfortable stalking someone and saying 'well I'm just doing my job?'"

Nina looked at the girls, shaking her head in annoyance. "Well Harry has some sort of restraining order against some paparazzi in England so at least there's that. But now you both see why I avoid Los Angeles like the plague."

"Well because it is a plague, first of all." Ava teases, making the girls crack a smile. "Seriously though, if you went to LA with him for those shows over the summer you would be public enemy number one. I guess at least now that director chick is taking the heat off you. The fans will be so distracted with her, you won't even be a blip on their radar. You should thank her."