Perfect To Me
I Need Your Grace To Remind Me
“Abby, darling,” I sung as Abby was asleep next to me. It was ten o’clock in the morning and we had meetings with the realtor today. It’d been over a month since we decided to move in together and today I was home from tour, because I had 6 shows in London, and hopefully we’d find a house. Every other house we looked at, back in February, Abby seemed to find something wrong with it. So I shoved my laptop in her face with a new email open to the realtor and had her write exactly what she wanted.
“Abby, come on,” I whined as I poked her shoulder. She’d been living with me since since after her opening, because it’d be easier that way so she’s already out of her lease at her flat complex.
“You’re so annoying when you wake me up,” Abby groaned as she sat up. “Hi,” she said once she completely woke up. I leaned over from where I was sat on the bed and pressed a kiss to her lips and then another to her forehead.
“I’ve got breakfast waiting for you downstairs,” I told her as I helped her climb out of bed. We walked downstairs, hand in hand, and quickly dug into the pancakes and bacon I made us.
“Do you think we’ll like the houses today?” Abby asked as she drank her tea.
“I hope so,” I told her, and when I looked at her face I couldn’t read what she was thinking.
“What are you thinking?” I asked her.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so stressful with the process of finding our house. I just—I want it to be perfect. I want it to be the home that we live in forever, the home that we raise Darcy and James in until they go off to college. I want it to feel like ours,” Abby opened up to me as she looked at the wall in front of her. I grabbed her hand and brought her attention to me.
“We’ve got plenty of time to find a house. Would I like it to be soon? Yeah. But I’m on tour until the end of October, so there’s no rush. We’ve got time to find a house, we could move in between different legs of the tour and then we’re one step closer to getting married,” I beamed at her and watched a small smile appear on her face.
“Well, if we’re going to find a house soon, I’ve got to go get dressed,” Abby told me as she took our plates to the sink and cleaned them really fast. We both ran upstairs and quickly threw on an outfit and our shoes before meeting the realtor at the first house. It took us about 30 minutes, with traffic, to get to the house and when we pulled up and looked at the house, it was beautiful.
“Oh my,” Abby said quietly from her spot in the passenger seat. I smiled, because that was a good sign, we’ve looked at 6 houses since February and this was the first time she reacted like that.
“Come on, let’s go have a look,” I said as I climbed out of my Range Rover and met Abby by her door where we walked hand in hand to meet our realtor on the front steps.
“Hello Harry and Abby! So good to you lot again,” Francis, our realtor, said. I had used her when I was finding the house I live in now, and she’s amazing at her job.
“Hello Francis,” I greeted her, as did Abby.
“Are you ready to take a look inside?” Francis asked us as she unlocked the door. We nodded our heads and walked into the foyer. “This home as 6 bedrooms, 4 baths, a pool/Jacuzzi and a pool house,” Francis started rambling off the details as we walked around the first floor. The house was beautiful but Abby hadn’t mumbled a word since we walked in and it concerned me a little bit. We walked into the kitchen that had all stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, I watched as Abby walked around the entire kitchen letting her fingertips glide across the counters and all the appliances. I watched as she dragged her hand across the wooden cabinets over-hanging the counters and I watched as she looked at the ceiling.
“What do you think, babe?” I asked her and she stopped to look at me, shooting me a small smile.
“I like the kitchen,” Abby said as she stood in front of the island.
“Do you like anything else down here?” I pressed.
“I like the living room, it’s really cozy, and with some decorating I could perfect it. The dining room is big enough, but I’d like to see the rest of the house,” Abby said as she smiled at me and followed Francis up the stair case.
“Now, there’s two staircases, the one we’re on now is, obviously, the main stair case but in the kitchen there is a door to the other staircase, we’ll use it when we go back down,” Francis mentioned once we got to the top of the stairs. We walked behind Francis as she led around the upstairs and eventually showed us the master bedroom. Once again, I watched as Abby walked around, touching everything, and observing it. I followed her into the master bathroom and watched her do the same thing in there.
“Abby, what are you thinking?” I asked her as she looked at the shower.
“I’m just trying to get a feel for everything,” she mentioned as she moved to look at sinks. I walked out of the room and over to Francis who was waiting by the bedroom door.
“Do you mind if Abby and I take a look around by ourselves?” I asked her and she nodded her head.
“I’ll be out front making some phone calls for work,” she said before walking out of the room. I walked back into the bathroom and stood in the bathtub.
“Come here, Abby, “I said to her and she turned around with an expression that said she was confused. She walked over and I helped her step into the bathtub before pulling us both down to sit in the tub.
“What are we doing?” She asked.
“Why are you being so closed away while we’re looking at this house?” I asked her, staring into her eyes.
“I don’t know. I like it, I do but I want to be sure it’s what I want.”
“Abby, it’s about what we want. This house has everything on my list, on our list and on your list. The kitchen is huge, you liked the living room, and this master bedroom is perfect. The backyard is ginormous, perfect for Sage, Darcy and James and however many more kids we have. The pool house has two bedrooms, perfect for when family comes, there’s a hot tub we could totally have some fun in,” I, suggestively, said to her and I watched as she smiled at me.
“I know, the house is perfect, it even has a secret room,” Abby groaned.
“Then what’s the matter?” I asked her, pulling her, by her legs, closer to me.
“I’m scared, Harry.”
“Why are you scared?” I asked her.
“Because when we buy the house, we’re grown-ups. I’m so young and I’ll have a home by 22, a fiancé at 23, a husband at 23 and kids eventually coming after that. It’s scary.” When I looked in her eyes, I could see it, I could see the fear in her eyes. She wasn’t lying.
“Abby, love. We all have to grow up at some point, we aren’t Peter Pan. It’s completely normal for a girl your age to be buying a home at this time, and it’s every girl’s dream to be married by 23 or 24. We’re in love, and we’re taking the next step in our relationship. You aren’t going through this alone, I’ll be there every step of the way,” I pleaded to her, taking her hands in mine. We were silent for a couple of minutes when a smile broke out on Abby’s face.
“Fine. Let’s go sign some papers, then. I could do so much fun, comfy things with this house,” Abby said as she stood up and held her hands out to me. When I stood up I pulled Abby into my chest and pressed my lips to her. We moved our lips against one another’s until we needed to breathe, I leaned my forehead against hers and we stared into each other’s eyes.
“I love you,” I told her, pressing a kiss to her nose.
“And I love you,” Abby said with a giggle, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach. The sole reason I got my new butterfly tattoo was a symbol for Abby, because she constantly gave me butterflies.
“Come on, let’s go get Francis and tell her the good news,” I told her and led her down the stairs and out front.
“Did you guys have a nice chat?” Francis asked us and both Abby and I looked at one another before turning to look at Francis with smiles on our faces.
“We want this house,” Abby told her, as she wrapped her arms around my torso.
“Oh good! I knew you two would love this house! Let’s meet back at my office and we’ll take care of all the paperwork. How does that sound?” Francis said as she locked the door behind us.
“Wonderful,” I said as I smiled down at Abby and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
We met Francis at her office and we were just in the middle of signing the papers for the house when Abby’s phone started to ring. She pulled the phone out of her purse and checked caller I.D.
“I’m sorry. It’s my boss I need to take this, I’ll be right back,” she said before excusing herself into the hallway. Francis and I carried on with signing the papers, I signed all my parts and just as I finished the last page, Abby walked back in.
“Where were we?” Abby said as she sat back down and picked up her pen.
“What’d Marc want?” I asked her as she signed the papers.
“Huh? Oh I’ll tell you once we get back to the car,” Abby said as she shot me a smile. I smiled back at her as I watched her scribble her name across multiple pages.
“Alright! Here are the keys to the house, congratulations,” Francis said to us as we all stood up and took our keys from her. We hugged her in thanks and quickly walked back out to my Range Rover so we could go to a late lunch.
“So what’d Marc want?” I asked her as I pulled out on to the street.
“Glad you brought that back up. Apparently, this really famous boy band needs a new tour photographer for their world tour. Marc received a call from their management and said one of the boys in the band recommended me. Do you want to know what band it is, Harry?” Abby, sarcastically, said to me. I wanted to punch myself in the south because I meant to say something about that to her, so she wasn’t thrown off-guard.
“I meant to tell you, I swear! I just forgot,” I told her as I nervously looked over at her.
“That would have been helpful,” she added.
“In plus, it wasn’t my idea. It was Niall’s, I just agreed with him,” I defended myself.
“That makes so much more sense,” she said and she looked at me with a smile.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked her and quickly laced our fingers together before shaking her head.
“No. But we do need to get our lunch to go because I’ve got a tour to pack for,” Abby said with a smile on her face.
“You agreed to it?” I asked with disbelief.
“It gives me a chance to travel some more with the love of my life and my best friends, why would I pass that up? In plus, your management is paying me a large sum of money to do this since its so last minute,” Abby added as she looked out the window of the car.
“I love you so much,” I said to her and quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek before returning my attention back to the road.
“I know,” Abby smugly said as I parked the car outside a café. I smiled at Abby before getting out of the car and meeting her on her side to help her out.
“Way to be cocky,” I told her while rolling my eyes. She snapped her fingers in front of her, in a sassy manner, before going inside the café.
Abby is always managing to keep me on my toes, and I love that about her. I don’t think I can wait a year anymore.
“Abby, come on,” I whined as I poked her shoulder. She’d been living with me since since after her opening, because it’d be easier that way so she’s already out of her lease at her flat complex.
“You’re so annoying when you wake me up,” Abby groaned as she sat up. “Hi,” she said once she completely woke up. I leaned over from where I was sat on the bed and pressed a kiss to her lips and then another to her forehead.
“I’ve got breakfast waiting for you downstairs,” I told her as I helped her climb out of bed. We walked downstairs, hand in hand, and quickly dug into the pancakes and bacon I made us.
“Do you think we’ll like the houses today?” Abby asked as she drank her tea.
“I hope so,” I told her, and when I looked at her face I couldn’t read what she was thinking.
“What are you thinking?” I asked her.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so stressful with the process of finding our house. I just—I want it to be perfect. I want it to be the home that we live in forever, the home that we raise Darcy and James in until they go off to college. I want it to feel like ours,” Abby opened up to me as she looked at the wall in front of her. I grabbed her hand and brought her attention to me.
“We’ve got plenty of time to find a house. Would I like it to be soon? Yeah. But I’m on tour until the end of October, so there’s no rush. We’ve got time to find a house, we could move in between different legs of the tour and then we’re one step closer to getting married,” I beamed at her and watched a small smile appear on her face.
“Well, if we’re going to find a house soon, I’ve got to go get dressed,” Abby told me as she took our plates to the sink and cleaned them really fast. We both ran upstairs and quickly threw on an outfit and our shoes before meeting the realtor at the first house. It took us about 30 minutes, with traffic, to get to the house and when we pulled up and looked at the house, it was beautiful.
“Oh my,” Abby said quietly from her spot in the passenger seat. I smiled, because that was a good sign, we’ve looked at 6 houses since February and this was the first time she reacted like that.
“Come on, let’s go have a look,” I said as I climbed out of my Range Rover and met Abby by her door where we walked hand in hand to meet our realtor on the front steps.
“Hello Harry and Abby! So good to you lot again,” Francis, our realtor, said. I had used her when I was finding the house I live in now, and she’s amazing at her job.
“Hello Francis,” I greeted her, as did Abby.
“Are you ready to take a look inside?” Francis asked us as she unlocked the door. We nodded our heads and walked into the foyer. “This home as 6 bedrooms, 4 baths, a pool/Jacuzzi and a pool house,” Francis started rambling off the details as we walked around the first floor. The house was beautiful but Abby hadn’t mumbled a word since we walked in and it concerned me a little bit. We walked into the kitchen that had all stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, I watched as Abby walked around the entire kitchen letting her fingertips glide across the counters and all the appliances. I watched as she dragged her hand across the wooden cabinets over-hanging the counters and I watched as she looked at the ceiling.
“What do you think, babe?” I asked her and she stopped to look at me, shooting me a small smile.
“I like the kitchen,” Abby said as she stood in front of the island.
“Do you like anything else down here?” I pressed.
“I like the living room, it’s really cozy, and with some decorating I could perfect it. The dining room is big enough, but I’d like to see the rest of the house,” Abby said as she smiled at me and followed Francis up the stair case.
“Now, there’s two staircases, the one we’re on now is, obviously, the main stair case but in the kitchen there is a door to the other staircase, we’ll use it when we go back down,” Francis mentioned once we got to the top of the stairs. We walked behind Francis as she led around the upstairs and eventually showed us the master bedroom. Once again, I watched as Abby walked around, touching everything, and observing it. I followed her into the master bathroom and watched her do the same thing in there.
“Abby, what are you thinking?” I asked her as she looked at the shower.
“I’m just trying to get a feel for everything,” she mentioned as she moved to look at sinks. I walked out of the room and over to Francis who was waiting by the bedroom door.
“Do you mind if Abby and I take a look around by ourselves?” I asked her and she nodded her head.
“I’ll be out front making some phone calls for work,” she said before walking out of the room. I walked back into the bathroom and stood in the bathtub.
“Come here, Abby, “I said to her and she turned around with an expression that said she was confused. She walked over and I helped her step into the bathtub before pulling us both down to sit in the tub.
“What are we doing?” She asked.
“Why are you being so closed away while we’re looking at this house?” I asked her, staring into her eyes.
“I don’t know. I like it, I do but I want to be sure it’s what I want.”
“Abby, it’s about what we want. This house has everything on my list, on our list and on your list. The kitchen is huge, you liked the living room, and this master bedroom is perfect. The backyard is ginormous, perfect for Sage, Darcy and James and however many more kids we have. The pool house has two bedrooms, perfect for when family comes, there’s a hot tub we could totally have some fun in,” I, suggestively, said to her and I watched as she smiled at me.
“I know, the house is perfect, it even has a secret room,” Abby groaned.
“Then what’s the matter?” I asked her, pulling her, by her legs, closer to me.
“I’m scared, Harry.”
“Why are you scared?” I asked her.
“Because when we buy the house, we’re grown-ups. I’m so young and I’ll have a home by 22, a fiancé at 23, a husband at 23 and kids eventually coming after that. It’s scary.” When I looked in her eyes, I could see it, I could see the fear in her eyes. She wasn’t lying.
“Abby, love. We all have to grow up at some point, we aren’t Peter Pan. It’s completely normal for a girl your age to be buying a home at this time, and it’s every girl’s dream to be married by 23 or 24. We’re in love, and we’re taking the next step in our relationship. You aren’t going through this alone, I’ll be there every step of the way,” I pleaded to her, taking her hands in mine. We were silent for a couple of minutes when a smile broke out on Abby’s face.
“Fine. Let’s go sign some papers, then. I could do so much fun, comfy things with this house,” Abby said as she stood up and held her hands out to me. When I stood up I pulled Abby into my chest and pressed my lips to her. We moved our lips against one another’s until we needed to breathe, I leaned my forehead against hers and we stared into each other’s eyes.
“I love you,” I told her, pressing a kiss to her nose.
“And I love you,” Abby said with a giggle, causing butterflies to erupt in my stomach. The sole reason I got my new butterfly tattoo was a symbol for Abby, because she constantly gave me butterflies.
“Come on, let’s go get Francis and tell her the good news,” I told her and led her down the stairs and out front.
“Did you guys have a nice chat?” Francis asked us and both Abby and I looked at one another before turning to look at Francis with smiles on our faces.
“We want this house,” Abby told her, as she wrapped her arms around my torso.
“Oh good! I knew you two would love this house! Let’s meet back at my office and we’ll take care of all the paperwork. How does that sound?” Francis said as she locked the door behind us.
“Wonderful,” I said as I smiled down at Abby and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
We met Francis at her office and we were just in the middle of signing the papers for the house when Abby’s phone started to ring. She pulled the phone out of her purse and checked caller I.D.
“I’m sorry. It’s my boss I need to take this, I’ll be right back,” she said before excusing herself into the hallway. Francis and I carried on with signing the papers, I signed all my parts and just as I finished the last page, Abby walked back in.
“Where were we?” Abby said as she sat back down and picked up her pen.
“What’d Marc want?” I asked her as she signed the papers.
“Huh? Oh I’ll tell you once we get back to the car,” Abby said as she shot me a smile. I smiled back at her as I watched her scribble her name across multiple pages.
“Alright! Here are the keys to the house, congratulations,” Francis said to us as we all stood up and took our keys from her. We hugged her in thanks and quickly walked back out to my Range Rover so we could go to a late lunch.
“So what’d Marc want?” I asked her as I pulled out on to the street.
“Glad you brought that back up. Apparently, this really famous boy band needs a new tour photographer for their world tour. Marc received a call from their management and said one of the boys in the band recommended me. Do you want to know what band it is, Harry?” Abby, sarcastically, said to me. I wanted to punch myself in the south because I meant to say something about that to her, so she wasn’t thrown off-guard.
“I meant to tell you, I swear! I just forgot,” I told her as I nervously looked over at her.
“That would have been helpful,” she added.
“In plus, it wasn’t my idea. It was Niall’s, I just agreed with him,” I defended myself.
“That makes so much more sense,” she said and she looked at me with a smile.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked her and quickly laced our fingers together before shaking her head.
“No. But we do need to get our lunch to go because I’ve got a tour to pack for,” Abby said with a smile on her face.
“You agreed to it?” I asked with disbelief.
“It gives me a chance to travel some more with the love of my life and my best friends, why would I pass that up? In plus, your management is paying me a large sum of money to do this since its so last minute,” Abby added as she looked out the window of the car.
“I love you so much,” I said to her and quickly pressed a kiss to her cheek before returning my attention back to the road.
“I know,” Abby smugly said as I parked the car outside a café. I smiled at Abby before getting out of the car and meeting her on her side to help her out.
“Way to be cocky,” I told her while rolling my eyes. She snapped her fingers in front of her, in a sassy manner, before going inside the café.
Abby is always managing to keep me on my toes, and I love that about her. I don’t think I can wait a year anymore.
Notes
TWO MORE CHAPTERS REMAINING.XOXO,
Jade
BTW: Here's the link to the Perfect To Me collection I made on polyvore, so if you're ever curious as to what Abby dresses like. Some are labelled by the title of the chapters or the chapter number, but not all of them because I'm lazy.
teressa conroy said the quote
3/2/15