Clarity

“And I think we’re here,” I say as I look over at Brooklyn, a small smile on my face as we come to a slow stop in the Range Rover. As I look out the window, I see a two story house with green grass in the yard and a garden of flowers along the front of the house. A large oak tree stood in the middle of the yard and there was a sign near the front door that read ‘Welcome to the Hawthorne’s’ in big letters that made it look very inviting.

As I look back at her, she was staring out the windshield like she was thinking about something. Soon, she snaps out of her trance and unbuckles her safety belt before reaching to open the door. I can’t help but smile as I look at her.

“I’ll um, hope you don’t mind if I walk you up, love,” I tell her with a smile as I put the car in park.

She smiles a bit and nods her head slowly as she looks at me before mumbling a soft “its fine” in reply. I decide to get out after I undo my safety belt so I could go open the door for her, being the gentleman I was raised to be. As I pull the door open, she smiles and I reach for her hand to help her out. She mumbles a soft ‘thanks’ as she stood beside me and slams the door shut.

I lead her up toward the front door, my hand resting on the small of her back. We stand a little ways from the door. I smile as I turn to look at her and take in her beauty. “Had a great time with you, Brooklyn, I’d love to see you again,” I tell her with a smile as I lean over and press a kiss to her cheek. She smiles a bit and opens her mouth to say something when the door swings open. A sigh escapes her lips as she looks over to see a dirty blond haired woman standing there who I presume is her mum.

“Hi there sweetie, noticed you uh…just got home. Who’s this?” she asks with a smile and gestures toward me. I notice Brooklyn let out a sigh as she looks at me.

“This…uh…mum, this is Harry, that one friend I was telling you about…” she trails off and crosses her arms over her chest. She seemed nervous as she looks at me and then back to her mum. Have to admit, I was kind of nervous because I wanted to make a good impression on her when I make a move on her daughter if ever.

“Hello um…” I begin a bit of a nervous smile on my lips. “Mrs. Hawthorne?” I finish and bring my hand up to my hair and run a hand through my curls a bit nervous like I was. Brooklyn looks over at me with a small smile.

“None of that…you can call me Leanne, love,” she tells me with a smile and leans against the doorframe. I nod and smile a bit.

“Harry, how ‘bout you come on in, yeah? Just put in some fresh cookies, you’re free to stay if you’d like,” she says looking at me and then turning to her daughter who stood beside me.

She pushes the door open a bit more. I could smell the strong aroma of cookies baking in the oven. Made me think of home where my mum bakes all the time, she used to before I got put in One Direction on the X Factor. Speaking of my mum, it made me miss her, who was back home in Holmes Chapel. I even thought of the bakery I used to work at before auditioning for X Factor, W Mandeville, where I worked with the older ladies behind the counter at the cash register taking orders.

“I guess I could come in for a bit, it’s cold out here,” I reply with a smile and stuff my hands in the pocket of my jacket. The wind had started to pick up a bit.

“Alright, come on inside, lovelies,” she motions for us to come inside. I just stand there for a moment while Brooklyn moves to walk in through the door.

“You comin’ inside?” she asks smiling a bit as she looks at me.

I continue to stare off in space for a minute or two before I blink and look back up to be met with her beautiful eyes. “Yeah, just let me go shut off my car and I’ll be right there,” I reply as I begin to rummage through the pockets in my jeans for my keys to the car. They weren’t there; that’s when I realize they were still in the ignition.

“Alright, I’ll um, be waiting here for you, I guess,” she tells me with a smile.

I give her a small smile in return before I begin to walk off so I could shut the car off. Once I make it to the car, I open up the door and let out a sigh of relief when I realize I didn’t lock it. Thankfully I didn’t or else I would’ve locked the keys in there. I take a seat in the driver’s side and turn the engine off along with the headlights. After I shut off the car, I drop the keys in the pocket of my jacket and climb out of the car, stepping down onto the pavement.

I make my way back up to where Brooklyn stood on the porch, waiting for me. As I walk up to where she stood, I give her a small smile. I was still a bit nervous considering I had just met her mum but was nervous especially if I meet her dad.

“You a bit nervous or something, yeah?” she questions me with a slight laugh as I follow her inside.

She shuts the door behind us after we walk in. I begin to look around the room, the walls were a foam green color and there was a big sectional couch along with a flat screen telly. It was obviously the living room from what I could see. A bunch of antique looking things lined the walls, a mirror on a wall along with a china cabinet.

A little girl soon comes running forward and envelops Brooklyn in a tight hug. She had blond hair that was wavy and came to her shoulders that looked just like Brooklyn’s in a way. I can’t help but smile as she presses a kiss to both of the little girl’s cheeks. She was quite adorable with how she acted with her sister.

“Hi there, Bridget,” she tells the younger girl as she sets her back on her feet.

“Hi Brooklyn, who’s your friend? He’s pretty,” she mentions and points at me. She just smiles and lets out a laugh. I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips and smile wide.

“He’s a friend of mine, that’s all,” she tells her sister with a smile. “You’re a goof, you know that, love,” she tells the smaller girl and begins to tickle her. Bridget, her younger sister, begins to giggle, her laughter filling the quiet room and I feel my lips curve up into a smile as I watch them. Reminds me of how Gemma and I were when we were little.

“I’ve seen him before, I think, I know I have, Brooke,” she says, a grin on her face. This tiny girl really knew how to talk big. Brooklyn lets a laugh fall from her lips. I can’t help but smile and let a laugh out myself. Her laughter was contagious.

“Where’s that, Brie?” she asks with a laugh.

“On TV, that um, singing thing,” she exclaims with a smile.

“The X Factor, love? My mates and I got third on that show,” I say and lean down to her level, a smile on my face as I stare at her. She grins back at me.

“Yeah, that one I think!” she says happily and grabs for Brooklyn’s hand before reaching for mine. We both laugh as she pulls us toward the kitchen.

“C’mon, mummy’s making cookies!” she exclaims a wide smile on her face.

The smell of the freshly baked goods soon overtakes my nose. I smile as I am pulled toward the kitchen by Brooklyn’s sister, dragging the both of us to where the amazing smelling goods were coming from. As we are led into the kitchen by Bridget, Brooklyn’s younger sister, my eyes go wide at the sight before me. Stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and dark stained wood cabinets lined the walls, which probably held all kinds of foods and sorts.

“Just in time, my dears,” Mrs. Hawthorne, or, Leanne, says as she sets a tray of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on the stove, oven mitts on each of her hands. The apron she wore was littered with spots of flour every now and again.

“Harry, you’re the guest, you can get yours first, love, go on,” Leanne gives me a polite smile and motions for me to come forward so I can get mine.

I nod and let go of Bridget’s small hand before I make my way across the spacious kitchen to the stove, where the cookies lay on a baking sheet. I grab a napkin and put two cookies on it before I take one and bite into it. I go over and take a seat next to Brooklyn, who got two cookies as well, on one of the bar stools. The two of us talk for a few minutes before we’re interrupted by Brooklyn’s mum.

“So, Harry, tell me, where are you from?” Leanne asks with a smile, breaking the silence in the room. I smile and swallow the bite I took of the cookie before I open my mouth to answer her question.

“He’s part of One Direction, mummy!” Bridget pipes up with a wide smile on her face and smeared chocolate from the cookies.

“No, love, t’was asking where he’s from, where he grew up,” she replies with a slight chuckle and presses a kiss to the smaller girls head. Leanne takes a napkin and hands it to her youngest daughter for her to wipe her face.

“Oh,” she replies. The three of us, Brooklyn, her mum and I all laugh at the younger girl’s words.

“I’m uh…from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire,” I say and look over at Brooklyn for a second before I turn back to Leanne. Brooklyn nods her head and smiles as she looks at me.

“That’s a lovely little village, been ‘round there a few times,” she replies with a smile. I just smile and nod in reply. I sit and chat with Brooklyn and her mum for a while before she went off along with Bridget, leaving me in the kitchen with Brooklyn. The two of us laugh at her sister’s remarks and we talk about a bunch of random things and laugh about some, too.

Next thing I know, my phone is going off again. I wonder who it was, one of the lads most likely. “Sorry, love, got to take this,” I tell her as I look up from my phone when I see that Liam was calling me. She nods her head and tells me to take the call, a slight smile on her face, which told me she didn’t mind. I roll my eyes as I get up to answer the call.

I swipe my finger over the bottom part of the screen and put it up to my ear. “’Ello?” I ask into the speaker as I make my way into a different room. I soon notice I was in a hallway, pictures of Brooklyn and her siblings lined the walls. My lips curve up into a smile as my eyes trail from each picture of her and I can’t help but smile. She was quite a beauty and I was beginning to fancy her, a lot.

“Haz? You there mate?” I’m pulled from my thoughts as I hear Liam on the other line.

“H-hey, I’m here, Liam. What’s goin’ on?” I ask as my eyes trail from picture to picture of Brooklyn, a small hint of a smile on my lips. My eyes soon land on a picture of her when she was younger, smiling, with one of her front teeth missing. I can’t help but smile at that.

“Just wonderin’ what you’re up to. Are you still hangin’ with Brooklyn?” he asks a bit of humor in his voice. I laugh a bit and tell him I was.

“Nice! Mate, you know it’s almost nine and we have to meet at the studio in the morning, right?” he questions as my eyebrows scrunch up at his words. I almost forgot, lost track of time since I’ve been with Brooklyn the past few hours chatting with her and her mum.

“Crap, really? Well, I’ll be home in a bit,” I tell him and end the call before he can get another word in. As I lock my iPhone, a yawn escapes my mouth and I muffle the noise with my hand.

“Everything ok?” I look over to see Brooklyn standing there in the doorway, a slightly concerned look on her face. I give her a nod in return along with an ‘it’s all good’ and a smile.

“Good,” she smiles.

“Think I may get goin’, that was one of my mates, we have an early mornin’ tomorrow,” I tell her as I stare over at the beautiful girl with long blond hair and captivating blue eyes I could stare into for hours on end. A small smile appears on her lips as she moves forward to where I was.

“I’ll uh, walk you out,” she says and comes forward, grabbing hold of my wrist. I smile as she leads me through the living room toward the front door. I reach for the door so I could pull it open. Her hand soon brushes against mine as she reaches for the door. I feel my cheeks heat up a bit at the contact.

“See you later, beautiful,” I say as I lean forward and hug her and kiss her cheek. She smiles and nods her head slowly as I pull away.

“Let me know when you get in, alright,” she replies with a smile. I nod my head and tell her I will before I pull the keys from my pocket as I look at her.

After a minute or two, I begin to make my way from the porch to where I parked the Range Rover in front of her house. I climb in the driver’s side and start up the vehicle. As I drive off, I roll down the window and tell her to have a good night with a wave and lay on the horn as I head on my way back to the flat. She laughs as I did so. The entire drive back to the flat, the smile stayed on my face as I thought of her pretty face. It was a good night, and I couldn’t wait to spend more time with her. I was definitely falling for Brooklyn, that’s for sure.