Ready or Not

Prologue

It was a week after Harry's father passed away, and Harry couldn't have been more conflicted. On one hand, he wanted to honor his father's wish and marry Graecyn. On the other hand, he wanted to disappear and fall off of the face of the earth. It took a bit of time, but finally, Harry made his decision.

He was going to ask for Graecyn's hand.

Now, buying the ring was no big deal, he has the money. After all, he is one fifth of the hottest boy band of today's time - One Direction. The hard part was working up the courage to ask a girl - let alone his best friend - to marry him. The hardest part? Persuading her to say yes.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Harry told his fellow band members. Zayn was driving the Buick, and Harry was in the passenger's seat. Niall, Louis and Liam were in the back. "I must be bloody insane."

"It's the right thing to do, Harry," Liam said.

"I know," Harry said. Harry was going over and over again in his head what he was going to say when he saw Graecyn at the park today. "What if she says no?"

"If you explain to her why you're doing this, I'm sure she'll have no problem with saying yes," Niall said.

"I mean, I haven't seen her in so long! She probably has a boyfriend," Harry complained.

"Just suck it up, mate. We're here," Zayn said, putting the Buick in park. Harry checked to make sure the box that held the ring was in his coat pocket, and he took a deep breath before unbuckling his seat belt. Louis was looking around, trying to find the girl that Harry was proposing to. The guys knew nothing about Graecyn, not even her name.

As he climbed out of the Buick, he said to the others, "Come on." The guys all jumped out of the SUV and followed Harry. There weren't many people in the park that day, only a few girls and guys, some with kids. The people that did notice the guys didn't care enough to approach them.

Off in the distance, sitting at a picnic table, was Graecyn. Harry recognized her immediately, but the guys were all looking around, each of them picking a girl they thought was Graecyn. "Is that her?" Zayn asked, nodding at a tall brunette.

"No."

"Is that her?" Liam asked, looking in the direction of a beautiful red-head.

"No."

"What about her?" Louis asked, smiling at the girl with short, auburn hair.

"No."

"Well, where is she?" Niall asked. Harry felt his heart skip a beat as Graecyn turned her head and locked eyes with him.

"Right there," Harry said, smiling.

"Wow," Niall said, following Harry's gaze.

"What a bombshell," Louis said.

Graecyn stood and ran over to the guys. Harry held his arms open, and Graecyn jumped into them. Harry held her tightly, remembering how it felt to have his best friend in his arms. For a short moment, he forgot why he was even here in the first place. All he knew was that he was home, where he belonged. "Harry!" Graecyn squealed. Pulling away, Graecyn wiped under her eyes where the tears had landed. "It's so nice to see you!"

"It's nice to see you too, Grae! Wow, you look beautiful," Harry said, and it was the truth. Graecyn was wearing a printed mini dress with a yellow blazer and ballet flats. Her blonde hair fell in waves down her back and she had on a peach colored lip gloss. Blushing, Graecyn said,

"Thanks." Noticing the others that stood a foot behind Harry, she said, "Aren't you going to introduce me?" Harry chuckled.

"Graecyn, these are the guys, Zayn, Liam, Louis and Niall," Harry said, gesturing to each of them. "Mates, this is Graecyn."

"Hello," Graecyn said. Each of the guys waved to her, then she turned her attention back to Harry. "Should we sit down?" Graecyn asked, nodding towards the picnic table.

"Uh, yeah. Go on over, I'll be there in a minute," Harry said. Graecyn smiled and started over to the table. "This is it," Harry breathed, jumping up and down.

"You've got this, Harry," Louis said. Harry smiled and started walking away, and Louis called out, "Good luck!" Harry smiled.

Sitting down beside Graecyn, Harry noticed that his palms were clamming up. As she brushed a strand of hair out of her face, Graecyn nervously said, "It's been a long time. How have you been?"

"Not too well," Harry replied.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father. Des was a good man." When a few moments passed with no response from Harry, Graecyn asked, "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Harry took a deep breath and said,

"Grae, I have to ask you something very important."

"Okay, shoot," Graecyn said, smiling. Harry pulled the box out of his coat pocket and held it in his shaking hands. "Um, what is that?" Graecyn asked.

"I need you to marry me," Harry blurted out, setting the box on the tabletop. Graecyn was taken aback. When she didn't answer, Harry said, "I know we haven't been as close as we used to but,"

"Yes," Graecyn said.

"Really?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Taking the ring box in his hands, he opened it and took out the ring. Graecyn gasped at the sight of it's beauty. Harry took her left hand in his and slid the diamond on her delicate ring finger. "It's beautiful," Graecyn said.

"Just like you," Harry said, looking into Graecyn's glistening brown eyes. It was then that he knew he'd made the right decision.