Beige

Chapter Thirty-Two

Alexis Monpettit

One month later.

"He's almost on stage! Everyone's screaming! Hurry up!"

My legs sprint down the hallway, my lungs gasping for air as I turn the corner and halt at the sight in front of me.

"He's wearing the teal suit? He told me he was going to wear the pink one tonight." I flick my head over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow at the man sitting on the couch behind me.

He raises his shoulders, "I don't know Lexi, why don't you call him and ask him while he's on stage?"

I roll my eyes, "you know why, Jackson."

He nods his head as he takes a swig from his beer, "because he would stop the entire show to answer it."

"Exactly."

I turn my head back around, staring at the TV that's playing a livestream of Harry's concert in Chicago tonight.

I can spot him clearly through the camera, the person videoing in the second row of the barricade. A smile comes across my face as Harry dances across the stage singing his opening song Golden.

I can't hold back the sway in my body as I turn around holding my hands out to Jackson. He looks up at me, the beer bottle in his hand pressed against his lips as he shakes his head at my request.

"C'mon Jackson, it's our routine."

He hides a smile behind his beer before placing the bottle on the table next to him and latching his hands in mine. I pull him up, letting go of his hands to twirl around the living room as Harry's voice blares through the screaming.

It's been like this for the past three weeks, ever since Harry left to go on tour.

It was my decision to stay in California. Harry practically begged me to come with him, but I decided I needed to stay home and stay content in the routine I've created.

The routine of: waking up, going to work, going for a run, coming home, smoking a joint, and going to bed.

It's helped keep me focused; almost like putting blinders on like they do to race horses.

If I stay focused on my routine, and don't get distracted by everything that's happening around me, then I feel like I'm accomplishing something. I feel like I'm doing something good for myself... for once.

It's also helped keep our relationship out of the public eye.

Somehow someone leaked a picture to TMZ of Harry and I at the beach three days before he left. In a matter of hours, it felt like everyone knew my name. They managed to find my class ranking at UCLA, what my GPA was, where I'm working now, and also what kind of car I drive.

I felt like I was being looked at under a microscope. As if I was some new virus scientists detected and needed to alert everyone of the symptoms.

Somewhere deep in the back of my head, I knew this was going to happen. That our bubble would be popped and soon our relationship would be shared between three people instead of just two; Him, Me, and the news outlets.

But we've managed to adapt to the world outside of our utopia.

Needless to say if it wasn't for the security Harry hired, my apartment probably would've been found. But Harry told me about some contracts he has with his company that say no one that is not warranted is allowed to be seen on any of our properties or else they'll be arrested. So I felt safe.

Until Harry left.

The first night I spent at my apartment, I laid down thinking sleep would surely come, but it wasn't until I tried to close my eyes that I realized how scared I really was.