Dandelion

My house in Budapest
My, my hidden treasure chest
Golden grand piano
My beautiful Castillo

You
Ooh, you
Ooh, I'd leave it all

My acres of a land
That I've achieved
It may be hard for you to
Stop and believe

But for you
Ooh, you
Ooh, I'd leave it all

Ooh, for you
Ooh, you—

"Flight 428 from Kansas City, Missouri now arriving."

I hastily shoved my earphones and phone in my purse, jumping out of the uncomfortable plastic chair. I was right in front of the gate so I would see Sadie as soon as she walked around the corner. Knowing how the little brat was, I knew I'd hear her before I saw. And boy was I correct. Her voice carried from one end of the tunnel to the other.

"Is Veve picking me up? Because I really want her too."

"Yes, Sadie, she's picking you up," my dad replied. "She should be here waiting for you."

"She better have crunchy Cheetos. And there better be a Sonic close to her house."

My dad laughed in response. As soon as they rounded the corner of the tunnel and her eyes landed on me, she took off running. Her bags were long forgotten as was her stuffed elephant Murphy. She came barreling into me, letting out a shriek when I returned her hug.

"I missed you, so much Veve! I haven't seen you in, like, ten years!"

I let out a chuckle. "You haven't even been alive that long, Bug. It's been more like two years since I've seen you."

"Well it feels like it's been ten years," she replied. "I think my age is causing me to lose my mind."

And there it was. Her insane attitude and the insane things she said. When she was around, no one was ever short on laughter. She kept us on our toes and kept our wheels turning. Without a word, I busted out laughing.

"What? What'd I say?" I just shook my head. My dad came to a stop in front of me and held out his arms. After calming my laughs, I stepped forward and gave him a tight hug. "Hi Dad," I mumbled. "Thanks for flying out with her. Means a lot."

He shot me a grin and few an arm around my shoulders. "I have stuff to do out here anyway, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone. Plus, I get to see my favorite daughter."

I let out a chuckle. "I'm your only daughter, Dad."

"Exactly why you're my favorite," he replied. "Now, let's get you guys in your car so you can go to your place. I'll be getting ahold of you later about dinner or something."

I nodded. "Come on, Bug. We have a lot of stuff to do before I send yeh home!"


"Church & State Bistro?" I questioned. "Dad, that's expensive. I don't have enough money for me and Sadie."

"Which is why I'm paying for you guys. Now I made reservations for four, so be sure and get there a little before then. I'm heading into a meeting now, so I've gotta go. Love you."

"Okay," I sighed. "Love you. Bye."

My dad and I had gotten extremely close over the last few years. Almost the same as me and my mom, possibly a little more. He was there for me when I got my heart broken. My mom was too, but I was used to her being there for me and for my dad to step up and be there, it was shocking. I didn't mind it though. It was different and I took it as him trying to actually be a dad. There would be times that he would fly out for a meeting and spend his free time with me. Sometimes it was just a few hours, others it was two days. He would take me out to eat and even to the carnival. I was a kid at heart even at twenty years old. And anytime he saw a elephant knick-knack or stuffed animal, he would buy it for me. They mainly came from airports, but there was nothing wrong with that. It didn't take a genius to know I was obsessed with elephants and for him to take a few minutes out of his busy days to think of me and buy it, meant the world to me. It may not seem like a lot, but to me it was.

But one thing I didn't like, was how he paid for everything when he came.

"Yeah, because an adult has to rely on their parents for a house to stay in and to pay all their bills, and buy them a car and give them anything they want. I'd say you take care of yourself alright."

"Hey Veve?"

"Hey what?"

"How come you don't come home no more?" Sadie questioned. "My Mommy said it was because you don't know how to face your problems and you're childish."

Sadie's mom and I had gotten along quite well, up until Thanksgiving of 2013. She accused my mother of some things and said horrible things about me and my brothers, so I haven't spoken to her since. But for her to say things of that sort to her seven year old daughter was beyond me. I mean, what parent in their right mind tells their child that about one of their cousins? My mom may have forgiven her for what she did and said, but I wouldn't. But for Sadie's sake, I'd keep my not so nice thoughts on her mother, to myself.

"I needed a change and California sounded nice," I replied. I parked my car on the curb and put it in park, then shut it off. "Now, let's go get that Froyo I promised you."

"Is this place better then Orange Leaf?"

I looked down at her as I pulled the door to Go Greek Yogurt open. "A hundred times better, Bug."

Inside it was fairly empty, so we went straight to the cups and got started on making our masterpieces. I had plain vanilla, but added every candy I could think of. Gummy worms, jelly beans, Trix cereal, sprinkles, and Fruit Loops. I know it sounds like a mouthful of cavities waiting to happen, but that was how I'd always eaten my frozen yogurt and I wasn't about to change that. Sadie got cookie dough and added small chunks of brownie with chocolate sprinkles. She was a chocolate fanatic if you couldn't tell.

"Guess what, Veve?" We set our cups of sugary goodness on the little scale and I forked over the seven dollars and sixty three cents. "What?"

"One Direction is in California right now."

Hearing those three words in the same sentence made me cringe. But I hid it well. I held the door open for her and then nudged my head in the direction of one of the outdoor tables. The umbrella was up which I was thankful for. The sun was beating down like no other today.

"And how do you know that?"

She shrugged. "Harry told me."

Woah. Wait. Did she just say Harry? Because it sounded a lot like she said Harry.

"Harry told you?" She nodded, shoveling frozen yogurt in her mouth. "You talk to Harry?"

She nodded again. "We talk all the time. He's like my best friend."

"You talk to Harry?"

"Duh, Veve," she spoke, like it was the most obvious thing ever. "He sends me gifts too. Like, on my birthday and Christmas."

"Harry buys you gifts?" Why did I keep saying his name?

She held up her left arm. "He got me this ballerina bracelet for my birthday last year." She then used that arm to hold up a necklace she was wearing. My eyes widened at the sight of it. "And he got me this airplane necklace for my birthday this year. He sent me and Kade iPads last year for Christmas. We FaceTime a lot. His hair got super long now. Did you know that? It's almost longer then mine. I keep telling him he needs to cut it, but he don't listen. My Daddy said he looks like a dirty hippy. I don't know what that means. Do you know what it means?"

Her rambling was making me dizzy. Or maybe it was the mention of Harry. Or maybe it was her rambling about Harry and how he bought her gifts and still kept in touch with her. He still kept in touch with people from my family. Who does that? What ex does that? I wouldn't ever think of keeping in touch with his mom or sister. I wouldn't want it to be awkward for them. But apparently he didn't care. He probably still talked to my mom or even my uncle or my grandma. Hell, he probably tried talking to Gavin or Kohl. Gavin and Kohl wouldn't give him the time of day, so I didn't have to worry about that. It wouldn't surprise me if he actually did talk to my mom. She was a forgiving person and I knew she couldn't resist the charm that is Harry Styles. No one could resist the charm that is Harry Styles, save for Gavin and Kohl. And my dad.

"I told him I was coming to visit you," Sadie spoke up, breaking the silence. "Lulu was there and she said she talked to you the other day. Did you know that I get to be the flower girl at her wedding? She said she wants you to be her maid of honor and that Harry is going to be the best man, so y'all can see each other again."

Her face lit up at the mention of us seeing each other again.

"If you and Harry see each other, y'all can get married and have a million babies!" She exclaimed. Her loud voice caught the attention of a few stray people around us. "But you gotta promise and name one of 'em after me."

Oh my god. No. This can't happen. This doesn't need to happen. I felt sick. "Come on," I spoke. "Let's go home. I don't feel so good." I tossed my frozen yogurt and made sure to keep a close eye on Sadie as we walked back to my car. As I held her yogurt while she buckled herself in, I noticed a car pull up behind me and park. It was a white convertible Mercedes that looked to be from the late sixties. It was quite nice. My uncle would appreciate it. He was a car nut.

The driver stepped out of the car and after locking it, walked around the front of it. It was then that I caught sight of who it actually was. Harry. I practically threw Sadie's yogurt at her and slammed her door, running around the car to the driver side. Once I got buckled in and got the car started, I realized that Sadie had spotted Harry and had managed to get the window rolled down and holler his name. He turned around, his hair flying as he did and grinned when he saw Sadie manically waving. It didn't take me but a millisecond to put my car in drive and rip out onto the road, speeding away from his as fast and safely as possible.

"Why'd you do that?" Sadie whined. "That was Harry! He was coming over to say hi! That was rude, Veve."

I sighed. "Well, I'm a rude person."


"Can we go to the zoo tomorrow? I want to see the elephants." I nodded, pulling the covers up under her chin.

"As long as you go to sleep right now," I replied. "Your dad said your bedtime was between eight thirty and nine. I don't want him to get mad at me for messing up your schedule." She nodded and snuggled Murphy against her. "Night Love Bug."

"Night Veve. Love you."

"Love you too."

I left the door to the guest room cracked before making my way to the rooftop. Since this building was an old warehouse converted into apartments a long time ago, I had the rooftop to myself. I set up lawn chairs, some tiki torches, some twinkling string lights, a hammock, and had a few plants sitting around. When I had friends over it was where we spent a majority of our time. I left the door propped open in case Sadie hollered and opened my laptop, turning on my music.

There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch, it's bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go 'head and sell me out and I'll lay your shit bare

I made sure there was vape juice in my vape, and took a long drag. My cigarette habit had been kicked and I'd traded it in for vaping, but only when I was stressed. And the vape juice was non-nicotine. I blew out a big cloud of smoke and leaned back in one of the many lawn chairs I had out here.

See how I leave with every piece of you
Don't underestimate the things that I will do

There's a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch
And it's bringing me out the dark

The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love, they leave me breathless
I can't help feeling
We could have had it all—

The music stopped, making me glance at the laptop screen.

Lulu wants to chat.

Without thinking, I hit accept. A few seconds later her face popped up on the screen. She was sitting on a bed with a shirtless Zayn laying behind her. Oh dear god.

"God dammit," I mumbled to myself, before taking a long drag of my vape.

"Twice in a row. That's unusual."

"Don't get used to it," I replied, smoke rolling out my mouth.

"So where are you living now? Every time I ask Mom, she won't tell me. No one will."

I chuckled. "Because I told them not to."

"But why? I'm your best friend, Veve."

It took everything in me to not roll my eyes. "I'm not who I used to be. I completely changed who I was. I didn't want to live in the past. You're part of my past and I don't want that in my life. My life was cleansed of all the negativity and drama. My life was cleansed of One Direction and all that came with it."

Her eyebrows twisted in confusion. "But all that stuff isn't all negativity and drama. You—"

"Oh come on, Caroline! Being involved with them was a fucking nightmare and you know it."

"No—" She was cut off by someone coming in the room. "Zayn, get your lazy arse up! You can sleep when you're dead! We have the VIP room at Karma reserved all night!"

If Louis was there, then that meant so was Niall and Liam and Harry. I had done everything in my power the last two years to forget about him and avoid him. Up until now, I had done a damn good job. "I have to go. Sadie is hollering for me," I spoke, reaching to shut my laptop.

Lulus head snapped to look at her screen. "I didn't hear anything. Wait, Harry—"

It didn't take a genius to know what was going to happen next. Or maybe it did, because I felt like I'd been hit by a freight train. Harry walked into the room and could be seen standing by the dresser, checking his appearance in the mirror.

"Harry, what?" He spoke. Before Lulu could say anything, Niall appeared behind her glancing over her shoulder before looking away. He did a double take though. "Veve?"

Not seeing him in two years was hard. Especially when I considered him my best friend. He had changed so much. He no longer had the braces. His hair was styled differently. He didn't have that baby face anymore. He was an adult. And I had missed it all happening. I promised I'd go with him to get his braces off. I promised I'd be there when he did something drastic to his precious hair. It may sound stupid and ridiculous, but I wanted to cry. I had missed all that and there was nothing I could do to tell him how sorry I was.

Harry visibly tensed at the mention of my name. As soon as he turned around, his eyes were on the laptop screen. It was like time stopped. His hair was long and not as curly as I remember. His eyes looked as green as ever, but they didn't have that sparkle they always had. His face was more defined. He looked thinner. His style was completely different. He had more tattoos from what I could tell. His shirt was unbuttoned quite a bit, so the tattoos on his chest caught my eye. It was two swallows facing each other.



A creak came from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Sadie making her way to me. She was clutching Murphy to her chest and didn't look like she'd been asleep at all. In fact, she didn't look tired at all. "Veve, I'm not tired. I want to sit up here with you," she mumbled. She plopped down on my lap and turned her attention to my laptop. Her face practically lit up the night sky.

"HARRY!" She exclaimed. "LULU!"

What Harry said next left my heart beating erratically. One simple statement. He still had that effect on me.

"She wasn't lying. You really are in California. Sadie is with you in California, isn't she?"