Check, Please?

Chapter 31

Having gotten caught up in Harry’s unexpected, romantic gesture of bringing me roses and telling me he never wanted my dreams to come true anyway, I half-expected the surprise to be Harry proposing to me in front of everyone.  I nibbled my lip nervously and squeezed his hand over and over (feeling it, he cocked his head and asked if I was okay) as I thought of all the ways it could happen – the boys would catch it on camera in the studio… but would I say yes?  Were Harry and I ready for that?  Of course we were ready… but we were so young… but it didn’t matter, we were going to get married eventually anyways, right?  I glanced casually over at his pants and searched the outside of his pockets for a bulge from a ring box or something… but I saw nothing.  I glanced around the car without trying to make it seem like I was searching for anything, even checking in the back seat.

"You okay?" Harry asked again.  

I laughed and nodded. “Just making sure I got my shoes…” I lied.

"Babe," Harry chuckled, pointing down at my feet.  "They’re right beside your feet."  

"Oh, right."  I finally squeezed my eyes shut and stopped any proposal thoughts from running through my mind anymore.  I don’t know why it made me so nervous to think about. 

When we got to the studio, Harry opened my door for me and grabbed my hand to pull me through the front door and down the hallway.  When we got to the actual studio, confetti exploded into my face.  I tried to jump back but Harry squeezed my hand more tightly and pulled me right through the explosion into the room where I saw the walls were covered in twirled crepe paper and balloons scattered the floor.

“Welcome Home, Scotlan!” all of the boys shouted from different corners of the room.  I laughed as I was engulfed in a tight hug by the four boys and they all tried to talk loudly over one another about how happy they were that I was back.

“How was the interview anyway?”

“We got a cake and ice cream-“

“Holy shit, we thought you were leaving us-“

“I thought ‘there is no way she could leave us…’”

“And here you are!”

“I almost died trying to get the crepe paper on the ceiling-“

“We love you so much-“

A balloon beneath us popped, silencing the boys and scaring a yelp out of me.

“Lads, I said not too many balloons.  You know Scotlan is terrified of balloons,” Harry said matter-of-factly, kicking some of the balloons away from me. 

I laughed nervously and kicked one red balloon gently away myself.  “It’s okay.  This place looks awesome.  The interview was horrible but I don’t care.  I could never leave you all, and I love you too.”  I looked from one boy to the other, each of them beaming as they stood around me. 

Zayn took my hand and lead me toward a man and a woman in the corner of the room who I hadn’t noticed yet.  “Remember how you and I talked about that one photoshoot that we could do promoting uniqueness and such?” Zayn asked.

I nodded and smiled at the man and woman as Zayn pushed me toward them.  The man was much older with a balding head and glasses while his assistant looked like she could be no older than myself.  Her straight, blonde hair was secured back in a tight ponytail that actually worked well with the shape of her face.  I was jealous of her gorgeously long eyelashes.

“Miss Ray, it’s nice to meet you.  I’m Jordan and this is my assistant, Lillian.  We’re from Office Depot.”

I shook the outstretched hand of both Jordan and Lillian as the man kept talking.