Everywhere: Book 3 of the Nowhere Trilogy

53. Endless Love

Two hearts that beat as one; Our lives have just begun - Diana Ros

9:59 AM, Wednesday, May 18, 2022

"So what's the plan?" Chele asks Jeffrey as they sip coffee from Brainwash in the kitchen of their AirBnB penthouse apartment. "Is it just that Harry and I stay away from each other?"

"Can't do that, baby," Harry speaks up. His eyes have circles under them, and she knows he must not have slept well. All because of her. She feels horribly guilty, and her stomach churns. Raising her head, she stares at Harry, trying to convey all of her emotions.

Tears well up as she makes eye contact with him. "But..."

"Nope. I won't hear it. Come here." He scoots his chair back and pats his lap.

Without hesitation, she curls up on his thighs, her head buried against his chest so she can hear his heartbeat. The tears start to fall, and now she feels awful for dampening his shirt. The scrape of Jeffrey's chair on the floor followed by footsteps lets her know that the manager has vacated the room.

"Shhhh. It's okay, Chele. It's going to be fine."

"But word is out there now, Harry. I feel so stupid for not being more careful."

"Hey. Would you please quit beating yourself up?"

"I screwed up, Harry."

"Excuse me?" He takes on that tone of voice that she remembers hearing him use with Liam in old One Direction interviews, and she feels the comforting rumble of his chest as he talks. "I believe we both screwed up. But at least we weren't caught screwing." The chuckle that follows seems forced, and she grimaces.

"H? Don't joke. This is too important."

"It's not the end of the world, Chele. Hell, even if there were photographic evidence of us groping each other, it still wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen."

"Seriously? What do you think would be worse?"

"Ummmm..." He pauses for a moment, and Chele feels her body tense in fear. "I think it would be worse if you were to beat me at a game of Scrabble."

She raises an eyebrow and giggles slightly. "Yeah, 'cause that would be the most disastrous thing ever." He's not going to budge on this topic. She can tell, so she decides to drop the subject after making one more comment. "I love you, Harry. I'm sorry that I'm the root of such trouble."

"Nope. Apology not accepted."

"What? Why not?" Affronted, she stands and glares at him, hands on her hips.

"You are not the cause of any trouble, so you have nothing to apologize for. You and I exist in a world where it's not okay for us to publicly be together for a variety of reasons -- and only one of those is your boss. My fans are a second reason." Rising from the chair to stand alongside her, he takes her hands. "I want to protect you, but the more deeply involved we are, the less I'm able to do that."

His noble gesture touches her heart.

"So what's the answer, H?" she frames his chiseled cheeks with her hands. "Can we just move back to Nowhere and then every once in a while you go out on tour to make some money? I mean, honestly, we could probably both get jobs right there in Nowhere. I can go back to work at the library. Maybe you could teach music at the school?"

Her response isn't serious, but wholly wholesome wishes! How she wants that simple life alongside this man. However she also sees how his face lights up when he performs and how very much he adores his fans. She would never take that away from him.