Promising Memoirs | soft h.s.

Chapter 52.

A/N - The day in the previous chapter (51) was Thursday, not Friday. Enjoy!

Aubrey's POV*

In the evening we all gathered at Eleanor's and had the best night anyone could ever have. It was a night filled with so much love and joy. Harry and I sat on the ground, my back leaning into him, between his legs. Eleanor was sat on Louis' lap on an accent chair she as, which was placed a distance across from us. Liam and Natalie were next to each other on the couch, a hand on each other's knees — the two were to the right of us. Gemma pulled up a couple of chairs with her plus one; the new beau she'd mentioned to me. 

He had short brown hair, with hazel eyes, bold facial details, with slight scruff. His height was just about as tall as Liam and his body shape was built, but not entirely. It was obvious that he was attractive, but that didn't bother Harry, which I was glad about. If I could relate his appealing look, I'd say he was a male version of Natalie. It was an odd comparison, but how I personally saw him. 

When she walked in, Harry immediately tensed up. I hadn't said anything about Gemma's life to him and especially about the new lad in the picture. It was definitely something that bothered him. It was nice to see Harry protective over his older sister. She'd always been one of the strongest women I knew and knows how to make her own decisions; but how Harry watched her, it seemed like she was a child with her choices. He asked several questions, interrogating both her and her plus one, who we found out that his name is Declan. 

Not too much that I knew was new information, but I kept it to myself. I didn't want Harry knowing that she was at the time, sort of, dating someone; at least, that's how it was when she first told me about him. Nonetheless, it seemed like something that she should tell him, not me. Once he found out more about him, he calmed down a bit, but I knew that he still had his eyes fixed on him. He seemed like a really nice guy and I could tell that he was pretty crazy about Gemma. The chemistry between the two was quite obvious. Each time she would say something funny, he'd laugh and he'd put his hand on her thigh. Whenever that happened, Harry slightly jumped in his own seat. I think it was incredibly helpful that I was sat in front of him, otherwise he easily would have walked over and sat in his chair instead.

As we all got comfy, we snacked on some biscuits and crisps that El had laid out across the center coffee table. Quickly after that Louis couldn't wait to have something else to eat and drink. We ordered some pizza, which was quickly devoured since we were all famished. 

We each had a drink in hand throughout the night. Each of the boys, a beer to start with. Louis had a bottle of scotch to leave for the heavier part of the night. All the girls — except for me of course — had a glass of red wine, as I made a cup of hot cocoa. It was the first time that I'd been with Harry, when he had a drink in hand. It's not that I thought it was weird, but it was different. He never brought any drinks at home, the only time there was any alcohol in presence, was the first time I stepped foot in our apartment. There's a new time for everything. New is always good. 

I randomly observed the group as I saw each of them laugh. It was a bit odd that there wasn't a single blonde within all of us. Apparently Natalie wanted to dye her hair bleach blonde, but we all yelled out that it would be a bad look for her. It was the truth. Her dark brown hair is a natural staple for personality and look. If she would change something about it, it'd just be to cut it as a bob, but El made sure she wouldn't do that until after the wedding. She promised us that if she were to go through with it, she'd wait.

Gemma then brought up completely new information to all of us. Apparently her and Declan were going on their first trip together to Ireland. He wanted to take her and show her around the places he loves and where he grew up. It was so heartwarming to hear that from him. She was happy as she spoke about being able to do something like this with the person she really likes.