Serendipity by the Sea

Chapter Fifty-Six

HARRY'S POV

"Babe, are you almost ready? We're going to miss our reservation." I yelled up the stairs, as I paced back and forth in the foyer of my house.

It had been a year of ups and downs for us and I was glad that we made it through. I had planned a surprise dinner with a few of our friends to celebrate our one-year anniversary. Our album had been released last month and so far, it was holding steady at number one on the Billboard Charts 100. We were heading out on tour next week and this might be the last time all of our friends were able to get together before then.

I was wearing a hole in the floor when I hear Sarah clear her throat at the top of the stairs. I glanced up and my breath caught in my throat. She walked slowly down the stairs in a knee length black sleeveless dress, high black heels and her brunette hair cascading over her shoulders. She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked at me with the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"I'm sorry it took so long."

"You look so beautiful." I grabbed each of her hands and pulled her close to my body. Our faces inches apart, "maybe I don't want to go out to dinner," and placed a kiss on her cheek.

"Harry! Let's go!"

She quickly turned on her heels and pulled me towards the front door. I locked the front door and we walked to my black Audi that was parked in the driveway. We had been living together in my house for about 2 months and Sarah was speaking with a realtor to sell her apartment. We were happy and comfortable and I knew this was 'it.'

I drove fast on the highway, eager to get to the restaurant filled with our friends. Sarah had no idea what my plan was and I couldn't wait to see the look on her face. Gemma and my mum had flown into Los Angeles yesterday for the surprise. Sarah had become really close with Gemma and my mum spoke with Sarah often, which warmed my heart.

We pulled up to the restaurant in downtown L.A. and luckily they had valet parking. I opened my car door and walked around to the passenger side to help Sarah exit the car. Hand in hand, we walked into the restaurant together; not paying any attention to the loud clicking and flashes of the paparazzi nearby taking pictures of us. It was something we didn't pay close attention to, especially when we were together.

I led Sarah through the restaurant to the reserved room, at the back of the building. I opened the door and let her pass my side into the room.

"SURPRISE!!!"

Sarah frantically looked around the room at all the smiling faces starring back at her. She looked to me, for comfort, and I squeezed her hand tight. I took one step towards her and pulled her body towards mine, kissed her cheek and whispered, "I love you," into her ear.

She smiled at me, with tears in her eyes and then, walked towards our friends and family to welcome every one. I watched her as she glided across the room effortlessly and hugged every single person in the room. I followed close behind her and spoke with every one, thanking them for joining us and for keeping the secret of the surprise. After about an hour of mingling, we all sat down at a long table in the large room to begin our dinner.

I picked up a knife, from the table, and banged it against the champagne glass in front of my plate. I stood up to speak, "I just wanted to thank every one for coming tonight. Some of you travelled long distances to join Sarah and I to celebrate our one-year anniversary and I couldn't be happier to see all of you. Although this is a bittersweet moment, as the lads and I leave next week for an 8 month tour, I'm so happy that you were all able to come together to celebrate love." I paused and turned my body towards Sarah, who was sitting next to me. "Sarah; my beautiful Sarah. You mean so much to me. I don't know what my life would be like today if I hadn't met you in that café over a year ago. You have comforted me in my time of need, you have made me laugh in my time of sadness and you have loved me despite all my faults. I ask our friends and family to raise their glass to my beautiful, loving and intelligent girlfriend."

"Cheers!" Glasses clinked around the table and I sat back down, placed my hand on Sarah's knee. She turned to me to kiss, she said, "Harry Edward Styles, you are so getting lucky tonight." We kissed for a minute and then, rested our foreheads against each other's with our eyes closed, as the waiters and waitresses started to serve dinner for every one.

The conversations carried throughout the room and I could hear laughter frequently, which made me smile. All of our friends and family knew each other and got alone perfectly. I kept my arm around the back of Sarah's chair, most of the evening, as she caressed my thigh with her hand. I was madly in love with this woman and I wanted every one to know.

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SARAH's POV

I couldn't believe Harry arranged this whole dinner party. It was a magical evening, filled with great friends, good food and amazing conversations. I kept my hand on Harry's leg most of the evening and I often caught him starring at me as I spoke with our friends around the table. The smile on his face made me grin like a little schoolgirl and I couldn't wait to be alone with him.

Harry glanced at his watch and whispered, "It's 1:00, they'll be closing soon."

I looked at him with a sad face and kissed his lips softly. I stood up from my chair and raised my glass to get every one's attention. "I just wanted to say a few words before we all dispersed for the evening. Thank you all so much for celebrating with us tonight; it means the world to me to see all of you here in one place together. You are our closest friends and family and we love you." I turned to Harry, "Now for you; Harry, you know how I feel about you so, I won't bore these people with all that gushy stuff." The crowd of people laughed, "But, I will say that this past year, with you, has taught me so much; to laugh, to live life to the fullest, to keep my eyes open to see every thing that it has to offer and to laugh until my stomach hurts. You have shown me the world and I adore you for that. Thank you for being you." I leaned down and kissed his lips. The 'aww's' from the room were loud and when we separated from our kiss, many of our friends were standing up to leave for the evening.

I stood near the exit door to give hugs and kisses to every one. I must have said, "thank you," one thousand times before it was only Harry and I left.

"Are you ready to go home?" he placed his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him.

"I am. Thank you for doing this. It was so thoughtful."

"I was nervous that you would have wanted it to be just us two."

"No, this was perfect. After all, all these people helped us throughout the past year. So, we owe a lot of this to them too."

I placed a kiss on his cheek and as I turned my head to look in his eyes, our lips crashed into one another's. It was passionate and something that I had waited for all evening. He clung to me harder and grasped the back of my dress, as if he was going to rip it off my body.

"We should get out of here, yeah?"

I nodded, grabbed my purse and walked out of the room hand in hand with Harry. We were alone on the sidewalk, waiting for the valet to bring the car around, when I turned to Harry and sadness overcame my senses.

"What's wrong?"

"You're leaving in a week."

"Babe. We promised to not talk about it. We promised to enjoy this time together."

"I know. I had just forgotten about it for a while."

Harry leaned in to kiss my cheek and as he pulled away, the black AUDI pulled up to the sidewalk. He opened the door for me and I stepped in. He closed the door, walked around to the driver's side and got in beside me.

"Love you."

"I love you too, Harry."