Through the Lens

Tigger

Harry's POV

I took a deep breath as I grabbed my keys and headed out the front door, determined to go into town and try to blend in. It had taken me a while to prepare myself to go, the fear of being recognized giving me anxiety. I'd been there a week and loved every minute of it, the thought of having someone recognize me and losing the anonymity that I was enjoying so much was upsetting. I was just starting to settle in and feel free to roam around, slowly easing myself into being around more people, and I figured if it all came to an end at least I had a good week.

In a lot of ways, it felt like I was being arrogant. So worried about people recognizing me as if I was so famous there was no way anyone wouldn't know who I was, but it wasn't coming from a place of arrogance so much as worry. I knew there were a lot of people in the world who paid no attention to boy bands and would have no idea who I am, and the people in Lily Ridge didn't seem to pay much attention to anything Hollywood related in general. I was just enjoying my time there so much that I worried about it coming to an end, the little bubble I'd tried to create being popped.

I'd decided to go in the middle of the day, thinking most people would be working or in school at that time and there would be less people around. I'd been dressing rather casually anyways, wearing more shorts and t-shirts to suit the spring weather rather than my typical black skinny jeans. I'd put a beanie on to attempt to tackle my curls, which had now grown back quite long since I cut it for the movie, and threw on some sunglasses.

I figured I would start small, maybe grab a tea somewhere and just wander around looking at the various shops on Main St. I originally had planned to just walk into town but I figured it would be handy to have the car if I needed to make a quick getaway for some reason.

I parked the car at the end of Main St. and took one more look at myself in the mirror, trying to gauge how "me" I looked before I just took a deep breath and got out of the car. I looked around, feeling out of place and strange, as I started to walk down the street. I knew I was being ridiculous and probably drawing attention to myself by being so awkward, I just desperately wanted these four months to be like I had planned and I didn't want to mess it up.

I began to relax a little after nobody seemed to be paying me any mind, everyone I passed would offer me a polite smile like they seemed to with everyone else and I started to feel stupid for worrying about it so much. It was a nice day and everyone seemed to be mulling about, going in and out of the shops getting what they needed and chatting as they ran into people they knew.

A smiled to myself as I walked around, the feeling of freedom was stronger than I'd felt in years as I completely blended in with everyone around me. Nobody stopped me to talk or ask for a photo, nobody was following me or shoving a camera in my face, I was completely out in the open and nobody seemed to care.

The longer I walked, I built up the courage to start looking into some of the shops, popping in and out as I looked at various things and just enjoyed browsing. There was a neat little vintage shop that had some cool stuff, and I made a mental note to go back when I could really get into looking.

There were all the kinds of places I would have imagined a small town to have on Main St., the smell of fresh baked bread was wafting down the street from the bakery, women going in and out of the hair salon with their hair and nails freshly done, and a book store that I planned to check out another day.

I popped into the general store to see if there was anything I could grab to tide me over for the next day or so until I decided to do my grocery shopping, and picked up some fruit and random things I could snack on. I tried to look casual as I passed the magazine section and scanned the covers, praying I wouldn't see my own face.