Lori woke up, realizing this wasn't her room and that she wasn't in her own clothes. After looking around for a little Lori remembered what happened the night before. She got off the couch and peeked into Harry's room to find him still asleep. Not knowing what to do, Lori took off Harry's sweatpants and put on her jeans. The t-shirt Harry had given her the night before stayed on Lori, it felt comfortable to her. Looking around for something to eat, Lori decided to go down to the lobby. She slipped a key into her back pocket and left. When she got down there she found a buffet breakfast. A young woman in her mid-twenties walked back and Lori stopped her.
“Excuse me, is the breakfast here free?”
“Yes,” the woman smiled.
Lori got in line and got two plate, one for her and Harry. Her plate wasn't very filled, but Lori filled up every space on Harry's because she didn't know what he wanted. She got in the elevator and headed back to the room. When she got in the room she placed her breakfast on the coffee table and walked into Harry's room to set his breakfast down on the bedside table. As Lori was about to walk out of the room Harry began to stir.
“Lori?” Harry asked.
“I'm sorry, did I wake you?”
Harry sat up and was about to say something when he noticed the plate. “Did you get this for me?” he asked pointing at the plate.
“Yeah.”
“Thanks. Did you get any for yourself?”
“Yeah, Lori said again.
“Go get it and eat here with me.”
“Okay,” Lori said and the she went into the livingroom to get her plate. When she got back she turned on the lights and sat on the bed next to Harry. They talked while they ate, asking how the other slept or how they liked their breakfast. Harry didn't want to bring up last night, he knew Lori probably just wanted to forget about it. After they finished Lori took both of their plates and was about to go back downstairs to return them, but then Harry stopped her.
“It's okay, I'll get room service to do that. What do you want to do today?”
“I'm not sure. We'll think of-” Before Lori could finish her sentence her phone went off. “Hello?” she said into the speaker.
“Oh thank God you're alive,” Christine practically yelled through the phone.
“Why wouldn't I be alive?” Lori asked confusingly.
“I went to your house today and no one was answering your door so I went in, it was already unlocked, and your room was like completely destroyed.”
“What?” Lori said loudly. She rubbed her tired eyes and calmed herself down. “How bad is the damage?” Lori asked reluctantly.
“It's pretty bad. I'm at your house now. Where the hell are you?”
“I, um, stayed with a friend,” Lori said. Harry smiled at the way she said friend, like it didn't mean what it was supposed to mean.
“Who?” Christine asked curiously.
“Um...” Lori trailed into the phone, having no idea what to say.
“Ohmygod you're with Harry!” Christine squealed excitedly into the phone.
Lori cringed and pulled the phone away from her ear. “Um, yeah. I'll be over in a little bit to see it. Bye.” Lori hung up the phone and saw Harry's confused expression.
“What's happened?” Harry asked concerningly.
“My room is a disaster and my guess is it's because of my parents. Christine went over, no one was answering the door, she went inside, and saw my room demolished.”
“I'm really sorry,” Harry said.
“It's not your fault. I just need to get over there to see the damage.”
“I'll drive you, let me just finish getting ready.”
As Harry got ready Lori just sat on the couch and watched TV. Once Harry was done they walked out of the hotel, passed through the sea of screaming fans, and got into Harry's car. They began to drive away and Harry turned on the music.
“You know, you never answered my question. Are you doing anything next weekend?”
“No, I don't think so. Why?”
“Would it be too crazy to ask you to come to England with me for Liam's birthday party?”
Lori froze and saw Harry glance at her to see her expression. Going somewhere different had always been her dream, but now that Lori had the chance, she was so nervous she was unsure. A billion scenarios and worries came into her head, but then she remembered the way Harry talked about his home town and the pictures he showed her. She knew this was a great opprotunity and best of all she got to spend it with Harry. So she thought to herself what's holding me back?
“That sounds amazing,” Lori said excitedly and she watched as Harry's face grew into a wide, dimpled smile. They continued to just smile and enjoy the music. The drive itself was peaceful, but as they got closer to Lori's house, Lori's smile began to disappear. She remembered why they were going there and her parents began to invade her mind against her will. When they pulled up in front of Lori's house, Harry noticed she was acting a little distant, like her own home was the last place she wanted to be. Before they entered the house, Harry rubbed Lori's arm, hoping to comfort her. A small smile formed on Lori's face. She took a deep breath and walked inside, closely followed by Harry. Christine was found right outside Lori's bedroom door which was closed.
“You brought Harry,” Christine said nervously when she spotted the gorgeous pop star turn the corner.
Both Lori and Harry smirked. This was one of the reasons Lori was friends with Christine; sometimes, when she's not even trying, Christine can make Lori smile in any situation. “Yeah, he gave me a ride. How bad is it?”
Christine snapped back to reality and frowned. “Pretty bad. You may want to brace yourself before you go in there. Just take a moment to fill yourself with calming thoughts and begin to-”
“Christine,” Lori interrupted impatiently, “just show me.”
Christine slowly opened the door to reveal what used to be Lori's neat bedroom. Lori walked in slowly, taking in all the damage that had happened. There were holes in her wall, most of her stuff was scattered on the floor. Her small, white book case had been thrown to the floor and the trunk at the end of the bed had been hit with what Lori assumed was a couple of beer bottles, but it remained closed. The blankets on her bed were on the floor as were the white lights that used to be around her window. Some of her trophies were on the floor along with some photo albums. Frustrated tears began to form in her eyes and Lori began to pick up the contents on the floor. Harry and Christine helped her and soon they had done all they could.
“Are you alright?” Christine asked once they were finished.
Lori took a deep breath and turned to face Christine. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “It's just a room. I can fix it, I've done it before.” There was a small, silence that settled into everyone. Christine and Harry just let Lori have one more glance at her room. “So, um, Christine, do you need anymore help with moving in?” Lori asked, trying to change the subject.
“Yeah, actually,” Christine said uneasily. “Want to stop by and see the progress I've made so far?”
Lori looked over at Harry who had been silent for the majority of the time they had been in Lori's house. “Would you be okay with that?”
“Yeah, that'd be cool.”
The three left the depressing house and followed Christine to her new building. When they walked inside Lori gasped at how much Christine has done in the past few days. She had painted the walls a crème like color instead of the boring white that used to cover the walls, she had put light pink curtains up, and bright lights hung from the ceiling which made the place look much bigger. There was a TV against the wall and a tan sofa in front of it. A couple of pictures in white little frames were on her walls; most of them were of Lori and Christine, Christine and her family, or all the interesting places Christine had been to which Lori envied. Her entire apartment was very chic and Lori was extremely impressed. She turned to face Christine.
“This place looks incredible. How'd you do all of this in just a matter of days?”
“I've had a lot of time on my hands recently,” Christine said pridefully as she admired her work.
The three of them hung out in her apartment for the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes they would watch TV or Christine would embarrass Lori by telling Harry stories of when they were kids. Around lunch they ordered a pizza, but the majority of the time they just talked and messed around. Harry saw the connection Lori and Christine had that you could only get after having known someone for so many years. He silently thanked Christine for taking care of Lori. While Harry went to the bathroom Christine leaned over to Lori.
“Lor, where are you sleeping tonight?”
Lori shrugged. “I don't really know. Harry probably wants me to go sleep in his room again, but-”
“You slept in his room?!” Christine said shockingly.
“Shhh!” Lori said instantly, “ it's not like that! There was a mishap involving my parents last night, I'll tell you about it later, but the thing is I don't want to bother Harry by him having to drag me along everywhere, I feel bad.”
“Trust me Lori, I'm sure he doesn't mind,” Christine said with a sly smile, “But if you're that whiney about it you can sleep over; it'll be just like old times!”
“Thanks,” Lori said with a smile.
Harry walked out of the bathroom. “I think I'm going to go now, there's a friend I've promised to meet up with.” Harry looked over at Lori who had a somewhat anxious expression on her face and he smiled. “It's a guy friend,” Harry said as he watched Lori's face soften. He walked over to her, leaned over the couch, and gave her a kiss on the lips. “I'll call you later.”
“Have fun,” Lori says as Harry left the apartment.