Two Ghosts (Bad Idea Sequel)

033. WHAT THE FANS WANT, THE FANS GET

BLAIR

Somehow, here I am. Sitting in my car. Outside of a recording studio I've never been to. As I step out of the car, the unexpected Los Angeles winter chill sends a small tingling sensation down my spine as I grip the sleeves of my sweatshirt a bit tighter. The loose fit of my sweatpants made a soothing sound every time I took a step.

I rushed over to the door and let myself in. At the front desk stood a man I knew all too well arguing with a woman that sat in an office chair behind the front desk. "I'm telling you, for the last time.. uh," Mitch began to speak and looked at the woman's chest for a name tag. "Marjorie. I'm gonna call you Marge. Im telling you, Marge. You gotta let us stay here a few more hours. I get you're closing and whatnot, but the future of Harry Styles' future is in your hands!" He explained enthusiastically and waved his hands around.

"We just have to finish up a few more songs I swear. Heck, I'll even let Blair here close up the studio for you. Go home, start up a nice bath, Marge. You deserve it!" The woman smiled graciously and mumbled a soft, 'if you insist', then collected her belongings and headed out the front door of the studio.

"For fucks sake that took forever. I should be getting paid double for this." Mitch rolled his eyes and pulled me into a warm side hug. "Harry pays people to be his friends now? Nice to know." I laughed against Mitch's arm and made him crack a small smile as well.

"Hey," Mitch smiled seeing Sarah entering alongside a few others; Ny-Oh who we called Naomi that was a new addition to Harry's band, as well as Adam who played Bass. "Hey!" They all smiled warmly to the blonde and very tall man before hugging one another.

"I'll go tell Harry someone is here to see him." Sarah mused nodding behind them. Mitch led us all into the studio Harry sat in with one of the new producers he had been working with; Kid Harpoon.
I adjusted the sleeves on my sweatshirt and rushed down the cool hallway, opening the door gently as the others decided to hang back in the lobby and argue about what food we should have delivered for our late night recording session.

I tapped my knuckle lightly onto the side of the door once I had entered and curved my lips up into a small smile. Harry turned around and his eyes immediately widened as he saw me then quickly fell. "Hi, I forgot about dinner. Shit. I know. I'm so sorry." He apologized walking over to me. He placed his hands onto the small of my back and glanced down at my attire. I looked like I hadn't slept in days, which was partially true.

"I lost track of time." Harry said sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He bent down a bit and pressed a kiss onto my mouth as I tried to speak. His producer behind us giggled as my face turned bright red. "No, it's okay. You can finish up, I have nowhere to be. Mitch and Adam are arguing about where we should order dinner from anyways. I'm in for the long haul with this one." I spoke the last sentence and laughed, motioning to Harry as Kid Harpoon laughed.

The rest of the group came stumbling into the studio with a lot of chatter, still disagreeing about something I couldn't understand. "If we're getting sushi we have to get it from the guy down the street. Anywhere else is shit." Sarah talked over the boys, tossing her hair over her shoulder and offering a small smile to me.

"Aye, if you want we can come back tomorrow." Naomi suggested to the Harry, "We don't need to rush it, Harry." She said with a reassuring look knowing he needed more time off.

"Yeah, Harry." I nodded. "You need some rest." I said as Mitch smirked. "Your hair needs a lot of assistance, dude. And your breath, God. When was the last time you brushed your teeth?!" Mitch laughed to himself as Sarah swiftly kicked the back of his shin.

"And when was the last time you cut your hair? You look like modern Jesus." Harry shot back and took a sip from his water bottle. "I can wait." I nodded again, "If you don't mind." I shrugged nonchalantly, Harry however looked nervous. "You're gonna blow off your girl again?" Mitch rolled his eyes.

"We can hang out tomorrow, it's okay." I assured Harry sending a glare to Mitch who was already next to Naomi messing around with the sound board. Harry looked over to me and smiled, "No, it's fine. You guys can stay. It might be kinda boring, though." He said looking back up at Sarah who shook her head. "I guarantee it's better than watching Mitch and Adam argue over sushi."

"Hey!" Adam looked offended over to his best friend. "You won't even know we're here." I assured Harry, though he was cut off by a loud bang. The two looked over seeing Adam rubbing his head. "The door is glass now, I guess." He gestured to the door that led into the recording studio.

Harry looked up at Jeff me as I pressed my lips into a thin line. "It's always been glass, you dipshit." Mitch shot back angrily. Once settled in, Harry sat with me in the recording room as we rehearsed harmonies, the rest of the group all in the main room fiddling around with the instrumentals.

"Say, what're your thoughts on recording that song from the other night? Everyone's been bugging me about it lately." Harry turned his face towards me. The studio was dimly lit, but the light from his phone screen that sat in his lap illuminated his perfectly chiseled features ever so slightly. He looked incredibly handsome in that moment.

"The one Troye posted? How could I forget about it. It's been bugging me a lot, too. I say we could give it a try." I answered back as Harry murmured a soft 'yeah?' I smiled back and nodded my head, watching as Harry stood up and kept his eyes on me. He grabbed a small keyboard from the corner of the room and placed it onto the table we sat at.

"If I make it through December, everything's gonna be alright, I know." I hummed as Harry sang softly. "It's the coldest time of winter, and I shiver when I see the falling snow." Harry bobbed his head along, "Then the next verse." Harry nodded as I wrote down on the sheet of paper, "You got it all down. When did you write this?" I asked.

"I have a few others, we just have to go over some harmonies. My other producer said she'd fly in to LAX this weekend, but she can air drop her harmonies if we're in a hurry to produce the track." Harry explained. "Aye, think we got something." I announced through the microphone, startling the group huddled in the main area a bit. Harry and I entered the room and I smiled shyly at all of our friends who stared at us knowingly.

"We got the beats down, and we added something to the chorus, listen." The group listened intently. "I love that." Mitch nodded with a focused face. "I thought of the clapping effect." Adam said proudly earning an elbow from Mitch. "We both did." He rolled his eyes.

Harry smiled in happiness at the two and looked to Kid Harpoon, "We went over the lyrics, Naomi and Sarah will do the harmonies." He explained as they nodded. "Let's put this together." Mitch clapped his hands together. "I'll face time Sarah." He announced already pulling out his phone and dialling her number.

"I thought Sarah was here, still?" Harry asked softly with a concerned look spread across his face. He looked so adorable that way, with his eyebrows furrowed and his lips pouted out a bit more than usual. "She went to get the sushi that Adam and Mitch had to have," Naomi interjected and rolled her eyes, earning a hearty laugh from Harry.

I smiled to myself, then I glanced over to Harry and mouthed 'you okay?'. The brunette nodded with a smile, though it didn't reach his eyes, and I knew that. Roughly four hours later, the song was completed.

Papers laid across the table tops messily. With soy sauce packets and broken chopsticks like confetti. Adam laid asleep with his head on Mitch's shoulder who too began to drift to sleep slowly, his head lulling to the side every so often. He tried to keep his eyes peeled on Harry and I ahead of him but his eyes refused to cooperate.

Sarah and Naomi had gone home, as well as Kid Harpoon who requested we send a voice memo of the finished song to him. So it was just Harry and I left to babysit Mitch and Adam in the studio, but thankfully, they were both well into their second hour of slumber by now. They didn't last long at all.

Harry and I sat in the corner of the recording booth, on the floor actually, and pressed play on the song one last time. I snuggled my face into the soft cloud-like fabric of his sweater that hugged his bicep comfortably. Harry rested his chin on top of my head and held my hand silently as we listened to the song. We didn't move for a little while after the song ended, either.

It was almost completely dark in the studio and I couldn't really make out anything in the blackness. I shifted my face as I felt Harrys head move off of mine. I felt his fingers lift the bottom of my chin gently as he kissed me slowly and gently.

© GRANDEGALORE 2021
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