Still the One

Harry’s Point of View

Libby softly snores beside me while her smalls hands are carefully resting on my chest. One minute she was telling me about some presentation she had to do with Max and Christopher, then the next she was out like a light. I’m guessing she hasn’t got much sleep while I’ve been gone. I press my lips to her temple before slowly slipping out from under her. I take the time to finish packing our suitcases for the flight tomorrow afternoon. Libby being the organized soul she is, had all her things neatly folded so all I really had to do was put her things into her bags. Me on the other hand? I threw a bunch of winter-ish clothes into my suitcase sloppily before zipping it up. If I needed something I could have my mom mail it since Libby would be with me. I was relieved that I was taking her to France, far away from him and that university. She needed it – we needed it. I needed to reconnect with my favorite girl. It’s been a long two weeks. Once I’m finished, I press my lips to hers and leave them there until she smiles against my mouth. ‘I love you so much.’ I confess, pulling her as close to me as possible.

‘I’m pretty sure that I love you more.’ Libby whispers, not bothering to open her eyes as she talks.

‘No baby, I’m sure that you do not.’ I argue causing her to look up at me.

‘Do you really want to have this fight right now at two in the morning?’

‘Fine.’ I cave, wanting her to get all the she sleeps she wants, ‘Today you love me more but tomorrow I’m loving you more.’

‘Whatever you say, bub.’ She kisses me once more before settling back down into her pillow.

When I wake up a couple of hours later, Libby emerges from the bathroom in nothing more than a towel. ‘You should have waited for me.’ I complain with open arms. ‘I mean, it’s not like we do much showering while we’re in there but nonetheless, I think it’s better when it’s the two of us.’

‘How about I make it up to you?’ Libby teases with the smallest smile as she drops the towel to the floor. I hear myself gulp while throwing the sheets back allowing her to fall into me. I didn’t care that her wet hair dripped against my sweats.

‘Good morning to you too.’ I mutter as she places herself securely onto my lap. ‘I think that we should start every morning like this.’ With a smirk, I use my finger to trace her body.

‘Mhm.’ She muses with an excited nod before leaving slow kisses against my jawline.

‘We’re supposed to be getting breakfast with my mom. She wants to see us before the flight later on.’ I remind her quietly, attempting to control my ragged breathing. ‘We probably should hurry up.’

‘Okay then, let’s hurry.’

Libby’s Point of View

I tug at my black jeans while following Harry into some small diner that Anne suggested. She and Robin stand to their feet with warm smiles to greet us. ‘You’re about twenty minutes late.’ Anne comments eyeing her son.

‘It was definitely Libby’s fault. She was quite the hold up this morning, dragging her feet and all that.’ Harry stifles out a laugh and I could feel my skin go warm.

‘Surely it wasn’t the lovely Libby.’ Robin smiles taking a sip of his coffee. I could see the steam from across the table. ‘I thought now that you’ve cut all your hair, you would get out the house quicker.’

‘I’m just gonna pretend that I didn’t hear that.’ Harry grins, pretending to be offended by Robin’s comment.

‘How’s filming been?’ Anne wonders, eagerly placing her hands under her chin to listen to Harry’s stories from set.

‘I’ve been in the water for so long, I’m surprised that I haven’t grown any fins of my own. Actually, I think I did feel something coming in on my neck, I could be sprouting gills at this point.’

‘I want dozens of pictures whenever you get back onto the set.’ Anne points a finger at Harry as the check is placed on the table. Harry quickly places several bills into the waiter wallet and hands it back to the waitress before Robin could object.

‘What is with you and this one asking for pictures all the time?’ He jokes placing a hand on my head, ‘I’ll send a hundred. Be sure to send my lovely sister my love whenever she gets back from her trip with Connor.’

‘Of course. You’re still dropping Bandit off before the flight, right?’ Anne inquires leaning against Robin’s SUV.

‘Yeh, so we’ll just see you in a couple of hours.’ Harry waves one last time while leading the way back over to his Range Rover. ‘I finished packing pretty much everything while you were sleep last night. Do you need to bring any of your assignments from class or stuff from Glamour while we’re on this side of the city?’

‘No, I can just email them for any assignments. Jackie’s not a problem, so I guess that’s a bright side of having your Literature class strictly email-based now.’

‘Oh yeah. Are you happy with that choice?’ Harry questions genuinely, as he places his deep green eyes on me. ‘I want the decision to be solely yours and not the president’s. I will stand outside that damn place for the rest of the term until you feel like you’re respected there. I know that I was the loudest voice saying that you’re not going back to his class but something about the minor slap on the wrist he got isn’t sitting well with me.’

‘I’m okay with it.’ I murmur, already feeling nauseous about even looking at Mr. Jacobs ever again.

‘Just let me know if you’re not later on. You’re allowed to change your mind and if you do, I’ll make a thousand phone calls if need be to make sure he’s out on his ass. Does that sound good?’

‘It does, thank you.’ I intertwine my fingers with his as he focuses on the road once again.

‘Good.’

While Harry loads up the heavily-tinted SUV waiting outside, I rush to get Bandit’s things together so he could spend the next week or so at Anne’s until I came back. Harry hovers in the doorway with her arms folded securely around his chest with an amused smile on his face. The driver comes inside to get one last suitcase while I left Bandit up into my arms. ‘Ready?’

‘Yes.’ I beam, thrilled to be visiting yet another place I never been. ‘Tell Anne and Robin I say bye.’ I chime as Harry leaps out the car to take Bandit into the house.

‘They say bye.’ He retorts, fastening his seatbelt once he’s back into the car. ‘Bandit seemed pretty happy to be back with Dusty. It’s good because he doesn’t have to be stuck in some fancy hotel all day.’

‘They would probably charge you an arm and a leg the moment he scratched anything.’ I laugh to myself, nestling against Harry in the large back seat. ‘I was thinking that while you’re filming, I could explore the city a bit and take some photos.’

‘I like the sound of that.’ Harry replies taking his eyes from his phone, ‘I’ll be on set for ten plus hours so you would probably get bored just sitting around watching me jump in and out of water.’

‘I do want to see you grow those gills of yours.’

‘Give it time baby, give it time.’

Harry insists that I go wait on the plane while he helps the crew get all our luggage put away. I watch from the window as he politely shakes each and every one of their hands, making sure to thank them all as he went. It was one of the many things that I loved about Harry, his kindness. He didn’t have to try like your typical celebrity. He was just genuinely kind. He constantly went out of his way to be kind to everyone he encountered. ‘What’s that smile for?’ He crashes into my daydream about him once he flops down into the seat beside me.

‘You.’ I simply reply taking my eyes from the window, ‘how long until we get there?’

‘Well we have to take a flight to a city out of Dunkirk which is about two and a half hours then we’ll be in the car for like an hour until the hotel. It’s not too bad.’

‘No, it’s not.’ I agree, pulling out my journal to do a little writing in order to kill time during the flight. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Harry peering over my shoulder, attempting to get a peek at the words as I jot them down. ‘Harry, no.’ I feel my eyebrows furrow, shielding the page with my sweater sleeve.

‘Aw c’mon, I didn’t bring anything with me and I’m dying over here. Just a little peek. I want to see if you’re still writing about me these days.’ He recalls the story that I would dabble in from time to time about our relationship. Things were difficult the first time around so it was a nice outlet.

‘It’s stupid.’

‘Libby, nothing that you do, especially if you enjoy it will ever be stupid. Not to me.’

‘Okay.’ I nod, sliding my journal over to him. ‘Don’t read it out loud.’

‘This is amazing,’ Harry speaks up after what felt like an eternity, ‘I’m not just saying that as a supportive boyfriend either. You’re so talented. Have you talked to Jackie about your writing? She should have you writing articles over there.’ Harry raves on and on causing me to get nervous butterflies. I was always nervous when it came to someone else reading my writing. Even though, I was beyond comfortable with Harry, I still feel vulnerable while he reads anything I write.

‘You really think so?’

‘I do. I wish you shared more of your writing with me but I understand, I get the same way with my lyrics. It never feels good enough but this is so much better than just good, Lib.’

‘Maybe I will.’ I smile as he places the journal back into my lap.

It wasn’t long before we were off the plane and into some small white van. The car ride was what felt long. Harry spent the hour fast asleep so I was on my own with my current writer’s block. None of the lines felt good enough and the dialogue felt bland. I hadn’t written for myself in a while so it felt like I was in a rut. I was beyond thankful when the driver finally came to a stop outside a large, clearly expensive hotel. Harry’s eyes slowly flutter open while he attempts to stretch his long legs in the small backseat. ‘C’mon.’ He thanks the driver and helps me out of the van before grabbing handfuls of our luggage.

I wait patiently near the lift while Harry checks in with the front desk to get the room keys. As I’m peering out the expansive window overlooking the city, Harry talks with security to coordinate his schedule for tomorrow. He was arranging to have someone be with me while I explored the city since he would be on set for around ten hours tomorrow. He comes back and wraps his arms around my waist to look out at the busy city underneath us. ‘So, what should we do first?’