Let's Pretend It's Love

“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to back out.” I announced keeping my eyes fixed on the road ahead.

I was completely thrilled and amazed at how effortlessly Harry agreed to be my fake boyfriend. It was almost too good to be true, actually. I just can’t understand why he’d want to help me with something as stupid as this. I was clearly one big mess just by myself and getting involved with the rest of my family in general was taking very big risk. Harry had no idea what he was getting himself into and I wanted to be sure he could commit in this faux relationship.

From my peripheral vision I could see Harry shake his mane of curls in the passenger seat.

“My mum taught me to never back out on any promises. When I said I’d do it, I meant it. Don’t you think it’s a little too late now anyway? I’m stuck in this car with you unless you want to drop me off on the side of the road. I reckon I’m attractive enough to catch a lift.”

He chuckled and I felt my face turn red. I was so nervous I’d completely forgotten that we were less than five minuets away from Mum’s.

I was absolutely determined to make this dinner a success. If I screwed this up, Mum and Penny were bound to know something was up. Harry and I had to pull off a damn good and convincing performance in order to make this believable.

“Remember, if anyone ask, we’ve been dating for three months now.” I declared once again.

Harry nodded. “What about our love story?”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and bit my lip. In my opinion love stories were cliche and sickening. I’d never thought of it before.

“We don’t need one. We’re ‘together’ now . Who cares how it happened.” I replied

glancing over at Harry. The corners of his lips curled into a smirk.

“Ever couple has a love story. You know, how they met, what they first thought of each other.” Harry declared casually. I’m not quite sure if Harry wants to know what I first thought of him.

I shrugged. “We’ll think of something along the way.” My breath hitched in my throat as my car came to a slow stop in my childhood home’s driveway. Oh shit. The moment is here.

“Ready to wow them?” Harry asked unbuckling his seatbelt.

I nervously ran my fingers through my hair and sighed.

“Yeah, if you are?” I replied although the words came out more like a question than an answer.

He smiled, showing off his dimples. “C'mon Presley. Lighten up. Just follow my lead and this will be over before you know it and you can go back home and curl up with your cat.”

A grin tugged at the corner of my lips thinking about being at home under my covers with Ollie cuddled beside me. I loved my bed. It was heaven on earth.

“Alright, let’s do this” I announced wiggling out of my seatbelt.

Harry was right. All I had to do was calm down, play along and all this would be over with before I knew it. I took a deep breath as Harry and I approached the front door. The loudness of his horrid boots echoed on the pavement.

“I honestly owe you big time for this.” I whispered. I looked over at Harry who grinned.

Yeah, you do. I’ll think of something.“

I couldn’t help but feel that awkward tension that always seemed to be present between us. We were definitely going to have to over come this if we wanted to pull this off.

I inspected my long black skirt for any stray cat hair that often ended up on my clothes. I’d put a little more effort than usual into making sure I looked my very best tonight. Not only did we have to act like we were a couple but Harry and I also had to look like it. If I looked like rubbish it automatically made him look like rubbish. I’d let Mum and Penny be the judge of wether or not we looked good together. That was honestly at the bottom of my list of priorities when it came to planning this out.

I nervously bit my lip as I rang the door bell. With the knowledge that I was coming with my "boyfriend” I could only imagine Penny staring through the peep hole for the last hour anticipating our arrival. I reached over and gently grabbed Harry’s hand allowing it smother mine. We couldn’t risk looking awkward when the door opened which was approximately 60 seconds later.

“Presley!” Penny exclaimed, her smile eerily wide. She opened the door so fast I could have sworn I felt a gust of wind hit me.

I put on my best faux smile. “Hey Pen! We made it."

Penny’s grin grew wider and she clapped her hands together eyeing Harry and I like the last biscut on the plate. I don’t think she’d ever been so excited to see me in all our twenty-five years of life. There was an awkward beat of silence between the four of us and Penny’s grin never stopped growing. If I was creeped out by now I can only imagine how Harry felt.

"Well aren’t you going to introduce me to your beau?” She asked.

nervously cleared my throat. “Penny, this is Harry my boyfriend. Harry, meet Penny, my twin sister.” I replied gesturing between the two of them.

The words felt too weird coming out of my mouth.

“Pleasure to finally meet you, yeah? Presley talks a lot about you. Congratulations on the engagement by the way.” Harry grinned displaying his dimples as he extended his hand to shake. If I’d told Harry anything about Penny, it was all negative. He knew how to work his charm. He was good.

Penny blushed ,eagerly taking Harry’s hand. “Thanks! We’ve all been dying to meet you! Please, come in!” She exclaimed opening the door wide enough for us to walk through.

I smiled at Harry tightened my grip on his hand as Penny led us into the lounge.The aroma of dough and cheese filled my nose and I couldn’t help but feel excited knowing that Mum was making her famous quiche. I often times hated my mum but I couldn’t deny the fact that she made a really wicked quiche.

“Mum and Dad should be finishing up dinner in a bit. Make yourself at home, Harry. Pres will give you the grand tour.” Penny announced quickly dismissing herself into the kitchen.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That went well. Now I had to survive 120 more minuets torture. This couldn’t end any faster.

“Wow, someone’s a massive fan.” Harry announced snapping me from my thoughts.

He gestured to the living room walls with an amused grin. My face flushed red. Normal families would have school pictures or family vacation photos covering their walls.We had vintage posters of old Beatles concerts and portraits of John Lennon.

“That’d be my dad. He’s from Liverpool so naturally he’s been hit with Beatlemania.” I replied sheepishly folding my arms across my chest.

That was an understatement. To the average person the Beatles were just a band but to Dad, they were a way of life. He lived by the mantra “All You Need Is Love”, didn’t eat meat on Fridays thanks to Paul Mccartney and his ideas of family vacations were visiting The Cavern Club and Abbey Road. If I wasn’t mistaken, I’d say Dad loved the Fab Four more than he loved Mum and it’s a wonder she put up with his obsession. It was quite embarrassing but I loved my Dad anyway .

Harry smiled down at me.“I think it’s quite wicked. So let me guess, your sister’s named after Penny Lane, yeah?”

I nodded. “Yep, Dad gave her the full Mccartney-Lennon treatment. He and Mum had quite the quarrel but he won the battle with one of his girls. ” I replied.

A part of me was inwardly cringing on the inside. Not because I was dying of embarrassment from my Dad’s Beatle obsession but the fact that Harry was getting such a personal display of me. He was the first guy to ever get that privilege being that he was the first and only guy I’d ever taken home. Even though this was all pretend it still felt rather odd letting someone get this close to me.

“So why isn’t your name Lucy or Prudence or Eleanor?” Harry asked his green eyes going back to scanning the posters.

“My mum decided to name me. My Nan was a big fan of Elvis so she suggested that if one baby had a musical name the other should have one too. Any sensible parent wouldn’t name their daughter Elvis so I became Presley.”

Harry grinned, his large dimples denting his cheeks. “I like your name. I reckon it fits you just perfectly.”

I couldn’t seem to hold back my smile. “Now that I’ve told you the history of my name, you have to tell me yours one day.” I replied.

Harry smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Dinner’s ready!” Penny announced sticking her head out the dinning room door frame.

“We’ll be there in a few.” I called back.

I took a deep breath and smiled and Harry who took hold of my hand. “We can do this.” He whispered. This time I actually believed it. I actually felt confident as I walked in the dinning room holding Harry’s hand. Mum was sitting at her end of the table having a conversation with Liam while Dad and Penny adjusted the silverware. I cleared my throat in order to get their attention. Mum is going to die when she sees this.

“Hi Mum, Dad! We’re here.” I announced.

Mum completely dropped her conversation with Liam and fixed her eyes on Harry and I.

“Hey, Ducky! How’s my baby girl?” Dad asked not even hesitating to envelope me in a hug.

My dad and I had always been close. I reckon if I didn’t have to rely on my mum as a food source when I was infant, I wouldn’t have even known she existed.

“I’m great,” I replied after pulling away.

“Daddy, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. Harry, this is my Dad. Dad meet Harry, my boyfriend.” I introduced. The words boyfriend seemed to come out of my mouth with a little more ease.

“Nice to meet you.” Harry spoke politely extending his hand to shake.

Something about his tone sounded slightly nervous. I couldn’t blame him after all, he was meeting someone’s Dad, someone he wasn’t even really dating. My Dad was rather nice though. He wouldn’t dare hurt a fly.

“Same. I’m Geoff. I reckon you like my daughter quite a lot. She a handful, you know.” Dad joked.

I smiled and Harry chuckled. “She is, but she’s my handful.” He replied wrapping his arm around me.

have to give it to Harry, he was damn good. If he kept it up he could win an Emmy for his acting abilities.

“Presley Taylor, I thought I’d never live to see the day you committed to a relationship!” Liam announced hoping up from his seat.

I grinned. Liam and I had a history. Friend history and kissing history. We met during the first year of Uni and the attraction was definitely mutual. We went on two dates and participated in the occasional snogging at parties but Liam wasn’t satisfied. He wanted a fully exclusive relationship. Of course , that asn’t for me so I suggested we just be friends. It was hard for Liam at first but we both slowly realized we were much better being friends than lovers. After sometime, I introduced Liam to Penny and they hit it off instantly. I hooked her up with a total David Beckham look alike and she still hasn’t thanked me to this day.

I pulled him in for a hug. “Liam Payne, you cheeky bastard. Why didn’t you tell me you were proposing? I could’ve helped you pick out the ring and everything.” I exclaimed.

Liam smiled his eyes crinkling like they always did. “I wanted to keep it a surprise. So, this is your new man, yeah? I’m Liam.” He spoke to extending is hand to Harry. “

Harry. Nice to meet ya.”

“Nice ink ,mate.” Liam announced complementing Harry’s tattoos. His dimpled grin appeared.

“Thanks.”

So far Penny, Dad and Liam were all pretty accepting of Harry. There was only one person left.

“Well, if you all are done with the introductions we can start dinner. It’s getting quite cold.” Mum announced not even bothering to introduce herself.

Just by the cold gaze in her eyes I could tell she didn’t care for Harry. She was one tough cookie to crack. Regardless of my Mum’s reaction I felt at ease taking my seat at the table next to Harry.

“So, Hardin, what do you do for a living?” Mum asked Harry as she passed the bowl of salad around the table. She hadn’t said much since dinner started and I was starting to think that she wouldn’t say anything at all.

“It’s Harry, Mum.” I corrected.

I’m pretty sure she’d done that on purpose. Harry wasn’t a hard name to remember. “That’s alright, love. I’m a freelance photographer for a magazine.” Harry replied respectfully.

I actually learned something new. I had no idea what Harry’s job was.

“That’s pretty neat.” Liam exclaimed.

Mum pursed her lips taking a sip of water. “I bet it doesn’t make very much money at all.” She replied curtly. I could feel myself boiling on the inside. She never said anything like that to Liam.

“It makes just enough but I don’t do it for the money. It’s for the enjoyment.”

I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“Tell me this lad, what do you think about the Beatles?” Dad asked.

I groaned. “Daddy, can we not talk about the Beatles for one dinner?” I pleaded.

“ Ducky,I just want to know. Any boy who dates my daughter has to have good musical taste.” He replied.

Harry grinned. “I love the Beatles actually. Not only is their music iconic but they also have great cultural importance. They practically blazed the path for rock music.” He replied before forking a piece of quiche in his mouth. I detested the Beatles but was absolutely blown away with Harry’s answer.

Dad looked as if he would cry. “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard come out of a young lad’s mouth. He’s a keeper, Presley!” He declared. I didn’t even try to stiffle the laugh that came from my throat and before I knew it, Harry had joined in with me.

The rest of dinner turned out beautifully and everyone seemed to get along nicely with Harry. All except Mum of course. But honestly it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that I’d fooled my whole family into thinking I had a pretty amazing boyfriend.