Together

Home Sweet Home

Okay, so, ew I hate this chapter, but it is what it is I guess haha. My little life update is that I met Jenn Colella a few days ago which was SO COOL. I adore her and she was so sweet. Anyway, I might not be seeing you all again for a few days, but I'll try my hardest to update. Comment/vote if you wish xxx
-ab

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August 8, 2026

Harper

"Are you all ready to go?" Kath asks me, sticking her head in the door of my dressing room after our show.

"Yep," I reply, putting the last of my makeup back in its place on my dressing table so that I'll be able to find it easily tomorrow. Then, I zip my backpack closed and sling it over my shoulder.

Katherine and I head out to the stage door together to sign autographs and take pictures with fans of the show. I really do enjoy meeting the fans every night. They're so sweet and enthusiastic.

After we have met everyone waiting around, Kath and I walk to the Piccadilly Circus tube stop.

"So, I guess this is a permanent thing now," she remarks. "I mean, you're heading back to your new home."

"Yeah," I smile. "I can't wait."

"Nessa and I will get to see you so much more with this arrangement," she says. "It'll be fun. We can have so many dance parties to musical theatre songs. It'll be almost like it was when we were roommates." She gives me a sad little smile with that last remark.

Both of us miss those days, when it was just Kath, Nessa, and I. We had so much fun together, the three of us doing all that we could to make our schedules line up, so that we could spend time together, with the three of us cuddled under a blanket and an old movie musical on the telly.

In spite of how much we may miss it, I know that I wouldn't trade what I have now, being with the love of my life, for anything.

"Almost like it," I nod.

Once Kath and I find ourselves back in Hampstead, I walk with Kath to her flat, then head on to my new house.

It feels strange, pulling the key out of my backpack and letting myself into this unfamiliar place. But as soon as I see Patrick waiting for me on the sofa, surrounded by boxes that have yet to be unpacked, everything feels familiar.

"How was the show, love?" he asks me.

"It was good," I reply. "But coming home right now, this is the best part of my night."

He smiles at me. "It's a nice place, isn't it? We will have to start unpacking tomorrow, but right now, I think that it's time to just cherish our first night here together, hm?"

"That sounds perfect," I tell him. He wraps his arm around my waist and we walk upstairs to the master bedroom, which is going to be ours, of course. The other two bedrooms, we will fix up as guest rooms for now. Someday, I hope that they will be the rooms of our children.

In our room, he seems to have set up our bed, but there's not much more. Sure, boxes are scattered around, but for the most part, it's barren. There's nothing hanging on the walls yet. They're just a boring white colour. We are going to paint them soon.

I walk over to what I love most about this room- the glass doors that open onto a small balcony. I push it open and step onto the balcony. Patrick walks up beside me, and the two of us stand there in silence. We can hear the faint lullaby of the city in the background but there's not a lot going on in our immediate area. A few of our new neighbors still have their lights on, but most of them are asleep.

"When I lived in the flat with Katherine and Nessa," I say, turning to Patrick, "I used to come back from my shows late at night, and I wouldn't be able to sleep, becuase I was so hyped up from my performance. There was a girl who lived across the street from us who would always have her curtains open and her bedroom light on, so I could see into her room. I would make up stories about her, and that would lull me to sleep."

Patrick doesn't reply, instead just plants a little kiss on the top of my head.

I don't know how long we stand there, taking in the nighttime air and cherishing this moment together. It feels both like an eternity and no time at all. Eventually, though, we go inside after I yawn and realize just how exhausted I am from the day.

It takes a bit to find the box with my toiletries in it, but I eventually do so, then brush my teeth. After that, I need to find the box with my pyjamas in it.

"Patrick," I whine, "do you know where the boxes of my clothes ended up?"

"No," he tells me. "Check the other rooms if they're not in here. Do you want me to help you?"

"If you don't mind..."

"Okay," he says, rolling out of the bed. We walk out to the living room, and he quite quickly finds the box that I'm looking for.

"Thank you so much," I tell him.

"Not a problem. We have got to get these things unpacked, though."

"Yeah," I agree. "Especially because our mums are going to dump off all of our other things pretty soon."

Now that we have so much more space than we had at our flat, both of our mums said that they want all of our 'rubbish' out of their homes.

"Right," Patrick laughs. "That'll be fun to go through."

"I have way too many things from when I was a kid that I absolutely don't need, and you're going to have to force me to get rid of," I laugh.

"Same to you," Patrick tells me. "Now, get changed and we can go to sleep, alright? You have two shows tomorrow, love. Promise me that you'll sleep in, okay?"

"Okay," I smile. We head back to our room and I get changed, then climb under the duvet next to Patrick. He wraps me in his arms, and that's where I fall asleep, almost instantly.

In spite of not being familiar with this new house, it feels just as comfortable as our old flat did. I'm here, cuddled up with Patrick, in a house that is really ours. It's such an amazing feeling.