Canyon Moon: The Making of the 2019 Album, Fine Line {H.S}

No Time Like The Present

July 10th 2019

{ANNIE}

"He's gonna hate me." I plead.

"He's not gonna hate you." Harry reassures.

"You don't know him like I do." I gripe. "You honestly might get murdered when I tell him."

He leans in and kisses my temple. "I can hold my own. You're gonna be fine, Annie."

I slouch back in the couch inside the studio, anxious of Adam's arrival. Harry and I had made a few close calls with Adam almost finding out, so we decided, since everyone else already knows, it's probably a better idea just to tell him before he finds out himself. However, I wish I didn't have to deal with it in the first place. I've ran through every possible reaction Adam might have, but none of them end well. Harry's optimistic. He thinks it'll all work out fine. But, my track record with luck has stayed on a downhill slope for as long as I can remember, so this time should be no different.

"You know, the plus side to all this is that we won't have to be in secret anymore." He notes, laying back on the couch to meet my eyes. "I can kiss you whenever I want to."

"Don't push your luck." I tease as his lips meet mine. His arm drapes over the back of the couch and the other runs up my back. I get lost in these little moments of ours. Harry has a special talent of making all my troubles vanish with just one touch.

Our moment is quickly cut short, though, by the sound of the front door creaking open.

"Let's get this over with." I sigh, Harry giving my hand a squeeze of reassurance.

I stand and create distance between me and Harry in anticipation of Adam's entrance. "Hey, Adam!" I greet in a squeaky voice, my nerves getting the better of me.

"Hey." He breathes. He sounds just as nervous as I do, but I have no idea why.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit." Harry interjects, making his exit through the door.

There's a moment of silence, neither of us having any clue what to say next. Suddenly, we both blurt our in unison. "I have something to tell you."

We both exchange a puzzled look. "You first." I say.

"Okay." He takes in a shallow breath as he sets down his bag. "Um, so I don't really know how to start."

"You're making me nervous, Adam." I press.

"No, don't be nervous. It's good news." He says. "So, I don't think she's told you yet, but Tommy got a fashion job in LA."

"She did? That's great!" I say, my hands still shaking with anxiety.

"Yeah, it is! It's only a few months, but I'm happy for her. Anyways, that's not the news. She and I were talking last night, like, about the future and stuff. And, I don't know. We kind of just decided there's no time like the present, so..." He breathes, "We're gonna get married."

"Oh my god, WHAT?" I gush. "Adam, that's amazing! Holy shit!" I bring my brother in for a hug.

"Yeah! It is." He responds. "And it's gonna be soon. Like, in the next few week."

"Wow, that is soon."

"We just don't want to wait." He explains. "Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

Shit, I almost forgot. The nervousness I once had floods back over me like someone just poured a bucket of ice on my head. "Oh, you know, it's not that important."

"It seemed important when I walked in." He pushes.

"It's really not. It can wait." And it can. He's extremely happy right now, no reason to ruin it by saying Hey, you know how you're working on Harry Styles' new album that's, like, the biggest thing that's happened in your career? Well,  he and I are having sex now! But, don't worry! When he leaves at the end of the summer, I might be completely heartbroken again! It's the perfect engagement present for you!

"Annie, I think you're forgetting I'm your brother." Adam pesters. "I know you too well for you to act like it's not important."

He's right. And if I know Adam as well as he knows me, I know he's not gonna let this go until I spill the beans.

"Fine." I say, taking in a shaky breath. "So. I wanna start by saying that I'm an adult. I can make my own decisions. And I'm also...smart! I'm not a kid."

God, what am I even saying right now?

"Uh, okay?" Adam laughs.

"Look, you're gonna think I'm being stupid and maybe I am. But...Harry and I...we're kind of...you know."

"Kind of what?" He asks. I can't get a read on him no matter how hard I try. I really can't tell if he's upset yet.

"Together. Like...not friends." To be honest, I don't really now how to define whatever this relationship we have is. Dating? A fling? Friends with benefits? None of them really seemed to fit.

I shut my mouth before I make it any worse and wait for Adam's reaction. When Adam's upset, he's loud. It's no secret when he's angry about something. His brows with furrow and he'll pace around the room until he thinks of the next thing to blow up over. However, none of those things are happening. I think that's even scarier than the norm

"I know." He says to my surprise.

"Wait, what?" I ask. Maybe we were hiding as well as we thought we were.

"Tommy told me." He confesses.

"That bitch." I mutter. Of course, I can't say I'm surprised. The fact that I believed she didn't go right home to Adam and tell him after she found out is my own fault.

"So...are you mad?" I sheepishly ask.

I expect him now to blow up. Lecture me on how stupid this whole thing is, how he's just going to hurt me. Instead, he laughs. "You said it yourself, Annie, you're an adult. It's not my job to protect you from assholes and douchebags anymore."

"So, you're saying Harry is a douchebag?"

"No. In fact, if you picked anyone I'm glad it's him. He's a good guy." He explains. "But, be careful, Annie. It doesn't matter how good of a guy he is with guys like him."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"He's famous, Annie. You don't know what LA is like. It's a different world and that's the world he lives in. One wrong move from him and he ends up on the face of every tabloid in the world. I'm not saying he's gonna hurt you. I'm just saying...he might not be able to help it."

It's not like I haven't considered what Adam's saying. I'd like to say I understand. That I get what Harry's life outside of Solana is like. But, at the end of the day I don't. And I don't know if I ever will. Or if I'll even be around in his life long enough to see it.

But, right now I don't want to think about it. Maybe it's irresponsible of me not to consider the consequences of us being together. But, Harry and I makes me feel like I'm in the eye of a hurricane. The world could be collapsing around us. And I might feel the weight of it when it comes crashing down on me. But, right now, it's peaceful. And I'll live in it as long as I can.

-

{A/N: Soooo, fun story. I'm sitting here in bed, rereading a few chapters of this book, when I realize that THE LAST HALF OF THIS CHAPTER IS GONE. I don't know, I guess I never hit save like the dumbass I am, so the entire last half of this chapter has, like, disappeared or something. So, I quickly rewrote the end of it just now.

So, if you've been following this book and you got an update notification, lol sorry. But, it's been fixed, so happy rereading this chapter. And if you started reading this story after I updated it...well, ignore this}