Firewall

It was around 10 am when Gemma kicked my door open, Starbucks in hands. We've known eachother for less than a day and she's acting like I've known her for years. "I have an idea!" She announced.

I was sitting at the counter looking through my instagram feed. "That is?"

"We should go shopping! Like major shopping because my closet is hungry."

She walked in and was followed by a guy with more Starbucks. He closed the door behind him.

I nodded towards the guy. "Who's that?"

"Him? Oh, that's Harry." Gemma briefly introduced.

"Harry? Like twitter Harry?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's my little brother." She said, punching his arm playfully.

"Well Harry," I said, taking the Starbucks from him. "You need to buy me some dish soap so I can wash my forks."

"Hello to you too." He said with a small smile that poked dimples into his cheeks.

I gotta admit, it was nice to put a face with a name. He had fluffy brown curls past his ears and a curled quiff that tilted to the right. His name suited him but I was surprised by his bright green eyes.

"I figured you didn't have any food so I brought some." Gem handed me a coffee and a lemon cake. She had one for herself and Harry too.

"Not to be rude, but why'd you bring Harry?" I asked.

He gasped. "I am offended! I just wanted to keep you ladies company but I see now that I am not wanted."

"You're so dramatic." Gemma laughed. "I brought him so he can lift all the heavy stuff."

Harry sat on the other side of me. "You're Irish." He said, "Wasn't expecting that."

"Why are you wearing glasses? You weren't wearing them yesterday." Gem said.

"I feel like I'm being interrogated." I laughed, taking a bite of my lemon cake.

It didn't take us long to eat, and after that it was all about unpacking. I plugged my phone into my iHome and turned my music on.

"You two get the TV up before someone kicks the screen in" Gem suggested, "I'll get your rugs out."

I already had nails in the wall where I wanted the TV. Harry easily picked it up. I watched his biceps, they were flexed and covered in tattoos. I looked up to see Harry watching me watch him. I'm not sure if my face was as red as I thought, but based on his smirk I'm guessing it was. I guided the TV onto the nails and we plugged all the cords in. "Sadie?" Gemma called. "What the heck is this?"

I turned around to see Gemma holding up a rug in the shape of a clown face. It looked innocent like it was made for a baby but it still kinda creeped me out. Harry was laughing behind me. "It's nothing I ordered. One of my orders must've gotten mixed up." I told her.

"This is going in your room." She smiled.

She went off to my room. "No! That thing is creepy as hell!" I shouted.

She kept walking and I sighed, opening a box full of my clothes and a bunch of hangers.

"This is sweet." I hear Harry say from my kitchen.

I turn around and see he has my mom's note in his hands. He looks up at me. "What's this for?"

"Oh um..." I absently scratched my neck. "My mom sent something here without me knowing, as a gift, and that was in it."

"What did she send?" He asked in his raspy voice.

"Hold on." I said, walking off to the table next to the balcony door. I grabbed the camera and came back. "This." I handed it to him. "I wanna be a photographer. That's why I moved here in the first place."

He looked it over. "It's a nice camera. How fast do the pictures develope?"

"Pretty fast I guess." I said in uncertainty since last time I took a photo it flew away.

"Say cheese!" Harry said and took a selfie with me.

The film came out and he stuck it to the fridge, next to my mom's note. We stood there and watched it develop. I smiled at it. Harry's dimples stood out from his teethy grin and I was looking at the camera cluelessly, my mouth in an 'o' shape that made my lips stand out.

"It's amazing." He whispered.

"Yeah." I agreed.

We stood there looking at the picture.

"We should get your pictures on the wall." Gemma said from behind meand I jumped. "What are you guys doing?" She asked.

"Just looking at a photo. Where are your pictures at Sadie?" Harry asked.

"There in a box next to the couch." I say, heading towards it.

We speant the next half hour hanging pictures in my bedroom, office, and living room.

"Last one." Harry said with a small frame in his hands. "Who is this?" He asked.

I looked at the picture. It was taken about ten years ago. "Well that's me." I said pointing to the girl with long black hair and eyes that were slightly almond shaped.

"No way! You look so different!" Gemma said.

"Well it was taken ten years ago." I said obviously.

"Who's the red head?" Harry asked, pointing to Carter.

Yeah, it was a photo of Carter and I. We were in the field by Gram's house and Gram had taken a picture of us. We were eating ice cream and he had his arm around me. I smiled at the picture. "He was my best friend." I told them. "Back when I lived in America. His name was Carter. He gave me this." I showed them necklace.

"I'll put this right here then." Harry said, standing the picture up on my office desk. "When did you live in America?"

"It was only three years when I was younger. After my parents divorced my mom needed to get away. So that's where we went. She'd heard that my dad moved to Hungary with his brother and we went back to Ireland." I explained.

"So what ever happened to your dad?" Gem asked.

"I don't know. I haven't heard from him since I was six."

We left the subject at that. "We should go shopping now. The lunch rush is starting soon." Gem said. "I'll pull the car up front, you guys get ready to go."

She hopped out the door.

Harry put his head in my lap, lying down with half of his lanky body hanging off the other end of the couch. "What are you doing?" I giggled.

"Laying down, what does it look like?" He said like I was stupid.

I just giggled and let him stay there. I weaved my fingers through his curls and hummed along to the music playing over my speaker.

The song that was playing ended and Life of The Party by Shawn Mendes started playing.

"I love it when you don't take no. I love it when you do what you want 'cause you just said so." Harry sang.

I gotta admit, I was completely blown away. Harry's voice was so clear and amazing I didn't even know what to do.

"Let them all go home we out late. We don't care what them people say." I sang.

Harry looked up at me and smiled.

"We don't have to be ordinary, make your best mistakes. 'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry. So baby be the life of the party. I'm telling you to take your shot it might be scary. Hearts are gonna break. 'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry. So baby be the life of the party." We harmonized.

I giggled. "That was cool. I didn't know you could sing."

"I could say the same for you." He smiled.

I started to play with his curls again. "We should go before Gemma comes up here." I said.

He sat up from my lap and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Let's go."

Five minutes later, the three of us were driving through London. "First we're going to Johnny's because Harry made an appointment a few days ago then we can go to lunch okay?" Gem said, focusing on the road.

"Sure." I agreed, taking pictures of the city with my phone.

There's so much to see here! I lived in a rural area back in Ireland so city veiws have never been common for me. Sure the countryside is beautiful but London has unique values that are equally stunning.

Up ahead I could see black sign with flashing neons that read "JOHNNY'S".

I tapped Harry's shoulder. "What exactly is Johnny's?" I asked.

"At tattoo shop." Harry laughed.

My eyes grew wide as we pulled up. "You're getting a tattoo... right now?" I asked.

"No, come with me." He smiled, undoing his seatbelt.

Harry and I got out while Gemma stayed in the car reading a magazine. A bell rang above our heads when we walked through the door. Rebel Love Song by Black Veil Brides was playing over the store's speakers. "Lily!" Harry called into the shop.

A woman came out from behind the curtain. She looked to be a bit older than Harry. "Ey! What can I do for ya Harry?" She asked.

"Nothing much to do. I just came to cancel my appointment. I have stuff to do today." He said slowly.

Her eyes flicked over to me. "What about the girl?"

He smiled. I knew he must've planned this when he asked me to get out of the car. "I don't think I'm gonna get a tattoo..." I said in uncertainty.

"You don't have to get one. You could just look at some patterns." He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

I sighed knowing that I wouldn't win this. "Fine."

Lilly handed me a book for us to look through. We spent quite a but of time looking through all the tattoos. They were pictures of the clients after they'd been "inked up" and as I'd suspected, Harry was in the book more than once.

We were almost through with it when one girl's picture caught my eye.

"Oh my god." I whispered.

"You like it?" Harry smirked.

And that's how it happened. Harry convinced me to get a tattoo.

It was three dream catchers, one big one and two small ones with feathers on the end. They were done in black and various shades of gray. Along the edge of the biggest one, it said "HOPE". It was on my chest, just under my left shoulder.

We walked out of Johnny's and I turned to Harry, who still had a cheeky grin on his face. "You planned that didn't you?" He nodded. "When?"

"When I saw you looking at my tattoos earlier."

"You're evil." I said, hitting his arm before getting in the back of Gem's car.

"What did you get?" She asked her brother.

"I didn't get anything. Sadie did." He pointed to me with his thumb.

"Really? Let me see." She demanded. I pulled my shirt down a little so she could see. "Ooh pretty."

"Where are we going to eat?" Harry asked, turning the radio on.

"McDonald's, we need to be quick about it too so we can go shopping." Gemma drove away from the shop.

I watched sunlights dace along buildings and the windows of cars, reflecting back out. It was pretty and somewhat hypnotic. It wasn't until Harry started singing that I tore my gaze from the buildings. "You say I'm crazy 'cause you don't think I know what you've done. But when you call me 'baby', I know I'm not the only one." He sang along with Sam Smith on the radio.

I pulled out my phone and started to record. His smooth voice sang each note perfectly as he continued with the song. "And I know and I know and I know and I know and I know, know, know. I know I'm not the only one." He finished the song.

It wasn't until then that he saw me recording. "Hey!" He said in realization.

I giggled. "What's with you and your fascination with me singing?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe it's just because you're amazing!" I exclaimed.

"Whatever." He waved off.

Gemma rolled her eyes. "You two are idiots."

Harry and I laughed at that and I turned back to watch the city.