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Chapter 3: The After-Party

"HERE SHE COMES, the girl of the hour!" Jason clapped his hands and everyone else at the table joined him, knowing fully well how embarrassed that made me feel. Nothing like a good friend to mortify you. 

"Oh shut up," I plead timidly while grinning. I walked towards the table and was about to claim my place at the free spot beside Matt, but was surprised when he held me by the waist and led me to sit on his lap instead. Once on top of him, I looked down to find him as handsome as ever: caramel wavy hair pulled back, the bluest eyes I've ever seen, and a winner but, mostly, earnest smile. Even in what I knew was the outfit he had worn on his 5-hour flight, and the bags under his eyes giving away that he was sleep-deprived, he was ridiculously attractive. 

"You were awesome, kid," he whispered in my ear before placing a kiss on my cheek his eyes locked on mine, and an unmistakable hint of pride in his tone. I wished that the feeling of reassurance I had right there and then could stay and replace once and for all the uneasiness that seemed to be reigning us.

I looked at him and slowly caressed his right cheek, "Thank you," I murmured and he rested his head on my palm, closing his eyes briefly like breathing the moment in.

After the show was over, the whole cast and some other guests went to a restaurant in Greenwich Village for the after-party. By that time, I had already briefly reunited backstage with Matt, who managed to be there during most part of the show.

Our publicist suggested that Jake, Steve, and I arrived at the venue with the members of One Direction to get a few pictures of us hanging out together to help the movie reach younger audiences, so we dutifully obliged.  As soon as we got there, the three of us parted ways with the band and joined Matt at a table he was sharing with Nick, J, Lena, Amy, and his good friend Jason.

It wasn't long until Liam approached us, "I'm such a massive fan of your work, mate!" He said while shaking Matt's hand. He sat at our table and caught all of my boyfriend's attention reenacting some of his more memorable scenes and dialogues. From the outside, people would say that Matt didn't like to draw attention towards him; but I know that he is always thrilled to find a fan and show off a little bit. Taking note of my third-wheeling situation, Lena beckoned me to join them on the other side of the table, I did so and moved to sit next to Amy.

We were having a lot of fun and one too many drinks when the song 'Cake by the ocean' started playing,  its rhythm pulling us from our seats and into a free spot on the restaurant's makeshift dancefloor. When it came to dancing, we were always shameless moving without caring if we made fools of ourselves.

It wasn't until that moment that I realized J wasn't there, she never returned after heading towards the bar for a drink. I scanned the room with my eyes until I spotted her talking to Harry by the bar. Classic. J was beautiful, young and usually caught men's attention without even trying. I already imagined they would hit it off; it really made a lot of sense given that she was also a teen idol mainly because she was part of a very popular juvenile movie trilogy. It was just a matter of time until he showed interest in her. As I was intently looking their way, Harry turned around to look back at me, said something in J's ear, and both were quickly walking toward where I was awkwardly standing. I blushed and suddenly felt like a kid caught while snooping around.

Harry came directly to talk to me, "You have some impressive dance moves!" he yelled in my ear over the music.

He was wearing a floral shirt in pink tones that was probably way too unbuttoned and flashy, but it gave me a brief glimpse of his exposed toned chest and a hint of his body art. I wondered how many tattoos he had scattered across his body, my cheeks warmed up by the mere thought of it.

I chuckled, "It's kind of our thing actually."

Harry sat on top of a table beside me, "It's a great thing, you seem to have a lot of fun together. By the way, you were brilliant today, I laughed a lot," he smiled, "I'm actually considering acting, so it was a nice opportunity to do a sketch with someone as experienced as you."