Arranged.
Two.
The next morning, I took the walk of shame back to my house that I shared with my best friend and Niall's girlfriend, Arielle. I walked into the house and she and Niall were in the kitchen drinking coffee and making breakfast.
"Well good morning," Arielle said.
"Hi," I said, rubbing my forehead.
"Rough night?" Niall laughed.
"So listen to this, my dad is forcing us to spend 4 nights a week together, we have to have date night at least once a week and make appearances together. We have to make it convincing and legitimate."
"Well, I mean that won't be too hard will it? Seeing as you're in love with each other," Arielle said.
"That's not quite the point. It's the fact that my dad is forcing it. I just want to do it on my terms, not his."
"Maybe you should tell him that you two actually do want to do this."
"I don't know. I mean, of course I want to marry him. When we were 10 we made a pact that if neither of us was married or with someone who we wanted to marry by the time we were 30 then we would marry each other. Apart from the arrangement, everything in our lives has set us up to do this anyways. I just... Man I don't even want to go on the internet to see who is talking about all of this and what they're saying."
"Actually," Niall said, "They like the idea. Although they all believe it's incredibly medieval as well, the fans seem to understand that there is some circumstances that are out of your control at play here. No clue how they found out about it being arranged, but it doesn't really matter now does it?"
"I suppose so."
"By the way, we have a meeting with Simon tomorrow morning," Arielle said.
"About what?"
"Probably a few things. The official reason is to go over album covers."
Simon had signed Arielle, our friend Talia and I at the beginning of this year, and we had finished recording our album about 2 months ago, and since then we had released a single, done our album cover shoot and been promoting all over. Our affiliation with One Direction had given us an automatic fan base.
"At what time?"
"8."
I nodded, "Alright. I'm going to go take a shower and try to relax a little bit before everyone gets here."
The Christmas dinner with all of us was one of the best get-together's we have all year. Everyone comes over at around noon and we all make dinner together and just enjoy each other's company, since we don't all get together for dinner as often as we would like. We spend time with each other individually, but not usually all together.
I went upstairs and took a shower. I got ready and by the time I was done, I heard more voices downstairs. I jumped down the stairs.
"Sam!" Louis yelled as he saw me.
"Louis!" I yelled before jumping on him.
He wrapped his arms around me as I hugged him before he set me back down on the ground.
"Harry will be here soon, he said he had one last present to pick up," Niall said.
"Alright," I nodded before hugging Eleanor and kissing her cheek.
I hugged Perrie, Zayn, Liam and Gemma before plopping myself down beside Liam and putting my arm around his shoulders.
"So how are you doing buddy?" I asked.
"I'm okay," he nodded.
I gave him a look.
"I miss her. I just want her back," he said, talking about Sophia.
"I know you do Li, and it's understandable to want her back. But you have to see that she's done the same shitty thing twice now, it's not worth the pain anymore."
"I just feel like everyone is paired up but me."
"Excuse you," Gemma said.
"You have a thing with that one dude."
"Yeah you're right," she nodded, "Continue."
"You don't have to feel bad because you're single, own it," I said, "We don't always do couple-y things anyways. We actually rarely do."
"I know, it just sucks. Especially this time of year."
"I know, I know. But everything will be alright, I promise."
He nodded and rested his head on my shoulder.
The front door opened and Harry came in with arm fulls of presents.
"What the hell," I said.
"Help me," he whined.
Zayn and Louis helped him take the presents, and then they went out to his car and brought more in.
"Again, what the hell," I said.
"What? I like to spoil you all," he said.
I laughed and rolled my eyes as he kissed my cheek.
We had a SmarTV in our living room, and we were able to Skype on it. The Skype ringtone started playing and we were getting a call from Simon Cowell. I answered it and everyone sat down so he could see us.
"Hey Simon!" we all said.
"Hello everyone," he said, "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas Simon," we all said again.
"I just wanted to call to remind Arielle and Sam that we have a meeting tomorrow, Talia too but she doesn't appear to be there," he said.
"She should be arriving any moment now. She got back from America this morning," I said.
The front door opened.
"Jesus Christ it's cold," our best friend, Talia said as she walked in, "Oh hey Simon, happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas to you as well Talia. I was just reminding you all of our meeting tomorrow morning."
"I remembered," she smiled and nodded, kissing the top of my head as she stood behind the couch.
"We're going to sit and listen to your whole album, you get to see the final cover, and then afterwards we'll do the live acoustic session."
"Gotcha," I nodded, "We'll be there at.... 7?"
"Yes, 7. Alright kids, have a good day and happy Christmas again."
"Happy Christmas, have a good day! Say hi to Lauren and Eric for all of us," Arielle said.
"I will," he said.
We all waved and he waved back before ending the Skype call.
"It's so exciting that your guys' album is coming out soon," Perrie said, clapping her hands together.
"Have you talked about who you're going on your first tour with yet?" Eleanor asked.
"Yeah we have, they're in the works of setting the dates," Talia said.
"Who is it?" Louis asked.
"Well, since Simon doesn't want everyone to think they're only putting us on tour with you boys to make us big and famous, the first tour will be with 5SOS, starting late next year probably in November then we'll have a little time off for Christmas and New Years then start again in January," Arielle said.
"Wait you knew that but you didn't tell me?" Harry asked.
"It never came up, don't blame me," I said.
He pouted and I poked his nose.
"Have you two talked about honeymoon yet?" Perrie asked.
"Nope," Harry and I said in unison.
"Well, not yet at least," he said.
"My dad still has so much shit for us to figure out with the wedding before we even get to that part."
"Surely he has the date and the place figured out already," Talia said, finally taking a seat after setting her presents down.
"Oh for sure," I nodded, "Not as if we actually know that information."
"Of course not. But Modest knows I bet."
"Without a doubt," Zayn said.
We cooked dinner, drank wine and just hung out and talked all day. We opened presents together, except one which Harry said he wanted to open when we were alone. We hung out until about 9:30 when everyone was tired and we knew us girls had to wake up early tomorrow. Everyone left and Arielle went to Niall's for the night, while Talia was going to stay at Liam's to keep him company.
"So, are you gonna let me open that present now?" I asked him.
"Yessss," he smiled and handed me a medium sized box.
I pulled the wrapping paper off and it was an unlabeled box. I looked at him funny and opened the box. Inside, was a slightly smaller unlabeled box. I opened that one. The box-in-a-box game continued until I reached the last box, which contained a red velvet box. I looked up at Harry and he was so conveniently on one knee.
"Harold," I said.
"I just wanted to do it kind of right," he said.
I opened the velvet box and inside was a beautiful ring. My jaw dropped.
"Holy shit," I said as I covered my mouth with my hand.
"Samantha, will you marry me?" he asked.
I nodded, not being able to muster any coherent words anymore. He took the ring out of the box and placed it on my left hand ring finger. It fit perfectly and I just sat there and looked at it, still covering my mouth with my right hand.
"Do you like it?" he asked after a moment.
I nodded repeatedly before tackling him to the floor and kissing him.
I woke up the next morning at 5. I showered and got ready. I dressed simply, since I knew they would dress us before the live session anyways.
"Alright, Arielle and Talia are going to be here any minute now," I said to Harry as he sat up in bed.
He groaned, "I don't want you to leave. How dare Simon take you from me."
"Shhh, just go back to sleep alright?"
"I can't. The boys are coming over here and we're all going to watch the live session later."
"You're all so sweet," I said, hearing a honk outside the house, "Alright babe, I've got to go. I'll text you when I can and I'll see you after."
He nodded and kissed me, "I love you."
"I love you too," I said, kissing him again before quickly getting up and leaving the room.
I ran out to the car and got in.
"Good morning ladies," I said.
"Let us see it," Talia said.
I held out my left hand and they both gasped.
"It's even more beautiful than how Harry described it," Arielle said before she started to drive.
"I honestly didn't expect it. It was never something he and I talked about," I said.
"Well, he does want to make it legit," Talia said.
We pulled into the Syco office building and got out so the valet could park it.
"Let's do this," Arielle said, linking arms with both of us.
"Well good morning," Arielle said.
"Hi," I said, rubbing my forehead.
"Rough night?" Niall laughed.
"So listen to this, my dad is forcing us to spend 4 nights a week together, we have to have date night at least once a week and make appearances together. We have to make it convincing and legitimate."
"Well, I mean that won't be too hard will it? Seeing as you're in love with each other," Arielle said.
"That's not quite the point. It's the fact that my dad is forcing it. I just want to do it on my terms, not his."
"Maybe you should tell him that you two actually do want to do this."
"I don't know. I mean, of course I want to marry him. When we were 10 we made a pact that if neither of us was married or with someone who we wanted to marry by the time we were 30 then we would marry each other. Apart from the arrangement, everything in our lives has set us up to do this anyways. I just... Man I don't even want to go on the internet to see who is talking about all of this and what they're saying."
"Actually," Niall said, "They like the idea. Although they all believe it's incredibly medieval as well, the fans seem to understand that there is some circumstances that are out of your control at play here. No clue how they found out about it being arranged, but it doesn't really matter now does it?"
"I suppose so."
"By the way, we have a meeting with Simon tomorrow morning," Arielle said.
"About what?"
"Probably a few things. The official reason is to go over album covers."
Simon had signed Arielle, our friend Talia and I at the beginning of this year, and we had finished recording our album about 2 months ago, and since then we had released a single, done our album cover shoot and been promoting all over. Our affiliation with One Direction had given us an automatic fan base.
"At what time?"
"8."
I nodded, "Alright. I'm going to go take a shower and try to relax a little bit before everyone gets here."
The Christmas dinner with all of us was one of the best get-together's we have all year. Everyone comes over at around noon and we all make dinner together and just enjoy each other's company, since we don't all get together for dinner as often as we would like. We spend time with each other individually, but not usually all together.
I went upstairs and took a shower. I got ready and by the time I was done, I heard more voices downstairs. I jumped down the stairs.
"Sam!" Louis yelled as he saw me.
"Louis!" I yelled before jumping on him.
He wrapped his arms around me as I hugged him before he set me back down on the ground.
"Harry will be here soon, he said he had one last present to pick up," Niall said.
"Alright," I nodded before hugging Eleanor and kissing her cheek.
I hugged Perrie, Zayn, Liam and Gemma before plopping myself down beside Liam and putting my arm around his shoulders.
"So how are you doing buddy?" I asked.
"I'm okay," he nodded.
I gave him a look.
"I miss her. I just want her back," he said, talking about Sophia.
"I know you do Li, and it's understandable to want her back. But you have to see that she's done the same shitty thing twice now, it's not worth the pain anymore."
"I just feel like everyone is paired up but me."
"Excuse you," Gemma said.
"You have a thing with that one dude."
"Yeah you're right," she nodded, "Continue."
"You don't have to feel bad because you're single, own it," I said, "We don't always do couple-y things anyways. We actually rarely do."
"I know, it just sucks. Especially this time of year."
"I know, I know. But everything will be alright, I promise."
He nodded and rested his head on my shoulder.
The front door opened and Harry came in with arm fulls of presents.
"What the hell," I said.
"Help me," he whined.
Zayn and Louis helped him take the presents, and then they went out to his car and brought more in.
"Again, what the hell," I said.
"What? I like to spoil you all," he said.
I laughed and rolled my eyes as he kissed my cheek.
We had a SmarTV in our living room, and we were able to Skype on it. The Skype ringtone started playing and we were getting a call from Simon Cowell. I answered it and everyone sat down so he could see us.
"Hey Simon!" we all said.
"Hello everyone," he said, "Happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas Simon," we all said again.
"I just wanted to call to remind Arielle and Sam that we have a meeting tomorrow, Talia too but she doesn't appear to be there," he said.
"She should be arriving any moment now. She got back from America this morning," I said.
The front door opened.
"Jesus Christ it's cold," our best friend, Talia said as she walked in, "Oh hey Simon, happy Christmas."
"Happy Christmas to you as well Talia. I was just reminding you all of our meeting tomorrow morning."
"I remembered," she smiled and nodded, kissing the top of my head as she stood behind the couch.
"We're going to sit and listen to your whole album, you get to see the final cover, and then afterwards we'll do the live acoustic session."
"Gotcha," I nodded, "We'll be there at.... 7?"
"Yes, 7. Alright kids, have a good day and happy Christmas again."
"Happy Christmas, have a good day! Say hi to Lauren and Eric for all of us," Arielle said.
"I will," he said.
We all waved and he waved back before ending the Skype call.
"It's so exciting that your guys' album is coming out soon," Perrie said, clapping her hands together.
"Have you talked about who you're going on your first tour with yet?" Eleanor asked.
"Yeah we have, they're in the works of setting the dates," Talia said.
"Who is it?" Louis asked.
"Well, since Simon doesn't want everyone to think they're only putting us on tour with you boys to make us big and famous, the first tour will be with 5SOS, starting late next year probably in November then we'll have a little time off for Christmas and New Years then start again in January," Arielle said.
"Wait you knew that but you didn't tell me?" Harry asked.
"It never came up, don't blame me," I said.
He pouted and I poked his nose.
"Have you two talked about honeymoon yet?" Perrie asked.
"Nope," Harry and I said in unison.
"Well, not yet at least," he said.
"My dad still has so much shit for us to figure out with the wedding before we even get to that part."
"Surely he has the date and the place figured out already," Talia said, finally taking a seat after setting her presents down.
"Oh for sure," I nodded, "Not as if we actually know that information."
"Of course not. But Modest knows I bet."
"Without a doubt," Zayn said.
We cooked dinner, drank wine and just hung out and talked all day. We opened presents together, except one which Harry said he wanted to open when we were alone. We hung out until about 9:30 when everyone was tired and we knew us girls had to wake up early tomorrow. Everyone left and Arielle went to Niall's for the night, while Talia was going to stay at Liam's to keep him company.
"So, are you gonna let me open that present now?" I asked him.
"Yessss," he smiled and handed me a medium sized box.
I pulled the wrapping paper off and it was an unlabeled box. I looked at him funny and opened the box. Inside, was a slightly smaller unlabeled box. I opened that one. The box-in-a-box game continued until I reached the last box, which contained a red velvet box. I looked up at Harry and he was so conveniently on one knee.
"Harold," I said.
"I just wanted to do it kind of right," he said.
I opened the velvet box and inside was a beautiful ring. My jaw dropped.
"Holy shit," I said as I covered my mouth with my hand.
"Samantha, will you marry me?" he asked.
I nodded, not being able to muster any coherent words anymore. He took the ring out of the box and placed it on my left hand ring finger. It fit perfectly and I just sat there and looked at it, still covering my mouth with my right hand.
"Do you like it?" he asked after a moment.
I nodded repeatedly before tackling him to the floor and kissing him.
I woke up the next morning at 5. I showered and got ready. I dressed simply, since I knew they would dress us before the live session anyways.
"Alright, Arielle and Talia are going to be here any minute now," I said to Harry as he sat up in bed.
He groaned, "I don't want you to leave. How dare Simon take you from me."
"Shhh, just go back to sleep alright?"
"I can't. The boys are coming over here and we're all going to watch the live session later."
"You're all so sweet," I said, hearing a honk outside the house, "Alright babe, I've got to go. I'll text you when I can and I'll see you after."
He nodded and kissed me, "I love you."
"I love you too," I said, kissing him again before quickly getting up and leaving the room.
I ran out to the car and got in.
"Good morning ladies," I said.
"Let us see it," Talia said.
I held out my left hand and they both gasped.
"It's even more beautiful than how Harry described it," Arielle said before she started to drive.
"I honestly didn't expect it. It was never something he and I talked about," I said.
"Well, he does want to make it legit," Talia said.
We pulled into the Syco office building and got out so the valet could park it.
"Let's do this," Arielle said, linking arms with both of us.