Love Is Where They Are

We got to my house, and Harry parked the car. I got out, grabbed my stuff, and went over to the garden gnome that held the spare key to the house in its base. Harry looked at me, confused as I picked it up and began to examine it. “Um….is there a reason why you are groping that poor gnome’s ass?”

I ignored Harry as I removed the false bottom and took out the key from the hole inside. I picked it up and waved it in front of his face. “This answer your question?” Harry’s eyebrows lifted as he made an understanding face. “Oh! I see.” I laughed as I walked up to the front door, stuck the key inside the lock, and turned it. I opened the door. “After you.” I said. He laughed and walked in. I placed my purse and backpack on the kitchen island and watched him wander around in awe.

“This is your house?” he asked. I shrugged. “We had it built to our specifications; that’s why it’s so different from the other houses in the subdivision.” Harry nodded, while wandering into the living room and plopping down on the leather sofa. “It’s so soft.” He said, trailing a finger across the smooth material. I nodded. “My mom picked out all the furniture.” Harry nodded sagely. “That explains a lot.” I cringed inwardly. My dad was from the Deep South, and so was my mom, so we had a lot of leather and rod-iron decorations around the house.

As if on cue, Harry pressed the “power” button on the radio, and “Shut Up and Hold On” by Toby Keith came blaring through the speakers. Dad must have forgotten to turn it back to the pop station before heading out to work. I ran over, and made a move to turn it off, but Harry stopped me. “I wanted to know what you listen to.” I sighed. “I normally listen to pop, but dad likes country, so he puts it on the local country radio station before he goes to work. He must have forgotten to change it.”

Harry’s grin was so wide that his dimples were showing. His head bobbed in time with the music. “I like it.” He said. I started laughing. “Well, in that case…” I went over to the media room, where we kept all the movies and CDs and stuff, and grabbed a Carrie Underwood CD. “If you like him, you’ll LOVE Carrie. She has a more pop sound.” I slipped the CD into the radio, and “Good Girls” began to boom throughout the house.

I started to tap my feet, and Harry grinned. “You dance to this song when no one is watching, don’t you?” I grinned sheepishly while turning down the music. “Maybe.” I said. I glanced at the clock, and realized that it was only nine-thirty. “What do you want to do?” I asked. Harry rubbed the back of his neck, obviously at a loss. A lightbulb went off in my head. “Do you want to play a game?” I asked. Harry smiled. “What kind of game?” he asked. I shrugged. “We could play a dance game, and then we could do Celebrity Song Impressions. After that, we could see what we come up with.” Harry grinned. “Do you have dance music?” I held up one finger, and ran upstairs to my bedroom. Once there, I grabbed my laptop and fired it up.

After I had logged in, I ran back downstairs and set my computer on the coffee table. I clicked on the Music player, and scrolled through my songs until I found the Cupid Shuffle. I clicked on it, but then paused it. “Whoever dances sexier wins?” I said, cocking my eyebrows. Harry smirked. “Oh, you are so on.”

I smirked back and pressed “Play.” “You want to go first?” I asked. Harry shook his head. “I want to watch.” I sighed. “Okay.” I got into position. The Cupid Shuffle was a line dance, so it was fairly simple. Left four times, right four times, kick out four times, then turn while shimmying your butt. I did my turn, swaying my hips, and trying my hardest to be sexy. Harry, to my surprise, didn’t laugh at all. He just watched me the whole time, not saying a word. Once the song ended, I tucked my hands behind my back. “You’re not saying anything.” I said quietly. He kind of looked at the floor. I winced. “Was it that bad?” I asked. Harry finally looked up, and walked over to me. “That was…” he paused, and I braced myself for a deriding comment that I would probably go and cry about later. He tilted my chin up, and looked deep into my eyes. “The most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Can you do it again?” My jaw dropped open. “Wait, you-you actually liked it?” He laughed. “You act like no one has ever complimented your dancing before.” I scratched the back of my neck. He looks at me, his brows furrowed. “Wait, have you ever danced in front of people before?” I shook my head. Harry’s frown deepened. “Why?” I shrugged. “Well, first, I wanted it to be something I did for me, and second, my bro-“, I stopped there, not wanting to tell him about the situation with my brother. Harry’s eyes darkened. “What about your brother?” I shook my head and looked down at the floor.

Harry placed a finger underneath my chin and tilted it up. “Look at me.” He said. I had no choice but to look into his eyes. Those green orbs cut into me like razors, seemingly looking into me, looking into my soul. “Calla, is situation with your brother why you were crying on the porch last night?” I jerked my chin out of his grasp. “I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” I told him with tears pricking the backs of my eyes. I stepped away from him and went into the kitchen. I grabbed the lip of the island so hard that my knuckles turned white as I tried to keep from crying. I felt my arms shaking as I tried so hard to keep the flood of heartache that I had hidden away for so long inside me. Harry came into the kitchen and I felt him behind me. I did nothing to acknowledge his presence as he hesitantly placed a hand on my shoulder.

Harry rubbed my back as I took deep breaths. He waited until I turned around slowly. Before I could say anything, he wrapped me in a hug, similar to the one he gave me in the Range Rover. “I won’t push you anymore. When you are ready to tell me, you will.” I inhaled deeply and nodded, exhaling slowly. Harry looked at me, his eyes full of tenderness. “Do you want to play Celebrity Song Impressions now?” I nodded swiftly, wanting to get away from this tense atmosphere we had created. “Do you have a hat?” he asked. I nodded again, and pointed upstairs. “In my room.” I said. “Do you want me to go get it?” He nodded. I headed upstairs, not noticing that Harry was right behind me. I was wandering around my room, trying to a find a decent hat, when I heard Harry. “Wow…it’s really…bright.” I smiled and turned to see him leaning up against the doorframe, the picture of ease. And yeah, my room was pretty loud, color-wise. My bed-spread was rainbow zebra, and my curtains were tie-dyed rainbow as well. My rugs were leopard print, and my walls were a bright lime green and bright neon blue. You couldn’t really see the walls though, as they were covered with posters and memes. I pushed back the beaded curtains that acted as closet doors, and found a cowgirl hat sitting on one of the shelves. I grabbed it. “C’mon,” I said, pushing him out. We headed downstairs, and he grabbed paper from my printer on our way out. Once we got downstairs, he gave me five pieces, and ripped up five for himself. “Write song suggestions down on the paper, and then we’ll mix them up.” I told him.

“Okay.” He said. I wrote down mine, which were: Welcome to Burlesque by Cher, Shut Up and Hold On by Toby Keith, Rude by Magic, Human by Christina Perri, and Keep Your Hands to Yourself by The Georgia Satellites. I placed mine in the hat, and he put his in a few seconds afterwards. I put my hand over the hat and shuffled them all up. Harry grinned. “You go first.” I nodded and put my hand inside the hat. I moved it around for a little bit, and then picked one. I unfolded it and laughed. In Harry’s clumsy scrawl, he had put, “I Dreamed A Dream” by Anne Hathaway from Les Miserables. I held up the paper. “You’ve seen this?” Harry huffed. “Of course. It’s a good movie.” I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to sing.

Harry held up a hand to stop me. “You have to stand.” He said. My mouth dropped open as I sank into my seat on the couch. “Oh, please, don’t make me.” I said. Harry stood and pulled me up. “C’mon, you’ll be fine. Besides, no one else is here but me.” I took a deep breath and wiped my clammy hands on my pants. I inhaled deeply again, and began.
There was a time when men were kind
And their voices were soft.
And their words were inviting.
There was a time when love was blind.
And the world was a song.
And the song was exciting.
There was a time.
And it went wrong.
I paused, running the music through my head before saying the next stanza.
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high, and life worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die.
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
When I was young, and unafraid.
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid.
No song unsung, no wine untasted.
But the tigers come at night.
With their voices soft as thunder.
As they tear your hope apart.
As they turn your dreams to shame.

I hit the high note on the word “shame” and watched Harry’s eyes get huge. Did I really sound that bad? I wondered. No matter, I thought. I’ll be done in a minute, I thought as I sang the next stanza.

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came.
And still I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together.
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather.
Here I paused again, running the musical interlude through my head, before continuing.

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living,
So different now from what it seems.
Now
Life
Has killed
The dream
I dreamed

Here I stopped, really taking in what the woman was talking about. I really identified with her. My life was a hell too, and it had killed many of my dreams. I stood there for a moment in silent contemplation, when the silence was suddenly broken by clapping. I looked up in surprise. Harry was standing up, clapping for me. Wait, for me? I stared at him, completely shocked. “Wow.” Harry said, coming up to me and hugging me. “What else can you do that you haven’t told me about?” I shrugged. “Nothing. I just sing and dance. It’s kind of something I don’t really show people.” I told him. He smiled. “Well, I’m glad you decided to share it with me.” I hugged him, and muttered, “You’re so warm; you’re like a space heater.” Harry laughed. Damn, his laugh was cute too.

It went on like that for pretty much the rest of the day. Harry’s impression of Rude by Magic was spot on. I was kind of happy that he had gotten that one and not me, because I would have sucked. We did impressions, laughed at each other, and, when lunch rolled around, we ordered pizza. It was probably the best time in my life. We were up in my bedroom, cuddling on my bed watching a movie, when I heard a car door slam. A shot of fear went through me as I looked out my window, and saw my brother walking up the drive. “What’s wrong, love?” Harry asked me, coming over to see what I was staring at. As soon as he saw my brother, he ducked away from the window and said exactly what I was thinking: “Oh. SHIT.”

Notes

Dun dun dun! Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I had to. I'm going to be pretty busy, and for the next two weeks, I will be out of town. Hopefully, I will get a new chapter posted by then, but if not, sorry! Those of you who subscribe, thank you so very much.
~Juliet