How It's Going To Be [h.s.]

Chapter 34

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read HIGTB. For some reason, having 600 reads feels pretty special. I suppose it's because I never saw this story getting the attention of anyone but me. So thank you.

I was mostly awake, though my eyes were closed and my breathing remained slow. I was in a comfortable state as I passed into a stage of consciousness no longer allowing dreams, but keeping me sleepy. I was aware of Harry beside me, his leg against mine. I squinted my eyes in the early morning sunlight and saw him looking down at me with gentle eyes full of affection and adoration.

"Morning, love." Harry's hand slipped below the duvet and effortlessly found the hem of my shirt. He lifted it slowly and ran his hand across my back, feeling my skin that was hot from lying in bed.

"Morning," I mumbled.

"We haven't got any plans for tonight, have we?" He kept his hand moving against me. His fingertips were careful as they wandered the expanse of my back. I thought back to the night he spelled "I love you" on me over and over.

"No."

"I have friends in town for the evening. I haven't seen them in ages. They wanted to meet up with us for dinner tonight. Is that something you would want to do?"

To me, it was not even a question. Harry should see his friends before leaving on tour. "Of course," I nuzzled my head into my pillow and stifled a yawn.

"You sure? We could have another day in bed."

That was a tempting offer. Staying with Harry all day and just relaxing had been perfect. "No, we should go out. We definitely need some air."

"Tonight then," he smiled. Harry's hand stopped on my back and he just let his palm rest for a moment.

"Tonight," I repeated.

"We'll go to dinner and then can go back to doing this," Harry sank back down in bed and cuddled me into him.

The day moved slowly; it was perfectly dreamlike. We arrived back to Harry's townhouse with hours of morning left. He made lemon tea for us and I even coaxed him into sitting out on his balcony as we drank it. We walked through the park and I hardly noticed the photographers standing on the fringes of the grass with massive lenses following our every move. He tangled his fingers in mine and the rest of the world slipped away. I was lost with him.

____________

I picked a short body-con dress for dinner. I let my hair remain down and I darkened my makeup for the night out. Harry wore his standard black skinny jeans and a shirt with very few buttons fastened. He had showered and his hair glistened with the shine of whatever hair product he had used. As we stood side by side in the mirror we looked like an impressive pair.

"Ready, Kate?" Harry twirled his keys around his finger like he had in my dream. "Yeah," I nodded.

"You look really beautiful." He kissed my temple and flashed a big smile.

"Thank you," I bit my lip.

"Let's head out, yeah?"

"Yeah."

We got in Harry's black SUV and he pulled out onto the street. He picked a lane and sat back comfortably in his seat with one hand on the steering wheel and the other on my knee. I realized I didn't know where we were going to dinner. I also didn't know which friends we were meeting.

"Tell me about these friends," I said quietly to Harry. "Have I met them before?"

"Uh," he thought for a moment. "You have met three of them. We'll be having dinner with Dominic and his boyfriend Lawrence. They're friends of mine I met through some of my charity work. They're a laugh. You met them at a charity event last summer."