Joy of Missing Out

Chapter 19: Cherry

We happened to be in Japan for Harry's 25th birthday, which was unfortunate only because we couldn't go out and celebrate together. I would never say pollution is a good thing but because we almost always had to wear masks outside, we could freely walk around and explore. On the other hand, we didn't go to any exclusive bars and restaurants for fear of getting recognized in a packed city. We ate at some bars with less crowd or just ordered take out. Tokyo was just as much amazing to sight-see, it didn't really affect us that much. We rode bicycles at night and wrote lyrics afterwards. It was weird to write about each other at the same time and I could even say I found it difficult. Almost the entirety of my album I wrote when we weren't together. I was a bit all over the place, busy staring at him and enjoying every moment like we just got together for the first time. He seemed to find inspiration in it. He was very productive and I very wasn't.

On his birthday, I wanted to take him to a drag show but I had more ideas.

"Harry, why don't you just come out?"

"No! They'll hate me," he protested.

"You'll be alright. They're very accepting here." 

I laughed for too long when he came in wearing a wig and a full face of drag makeup.

"It's too much. I'm not going out looking like this."

"It is not! You instructed Haru, it's a bit overboard but you look amazing."

I couldn't tell them apart when Harry and Haru entered from the bathroom. Haru is a friend of Harry's who occasionally does drag shows in Tokyo who I challenged to make Harry unrecognizable. Apparently he's outdone himself. It took him eighty minutes to do his makeup and put on a pink wig. We weren't going out after all because Harry decided so at the last minute. Someone had to see him so I sent Gemma a photo then spent an hour convincing her not to upload it on the internet. I almost did! Imagine the double scandal.

"We actually went to drag shows a few times but never in a costume," I informed Haru.

"And we're not going to soon. I respect them so much but this isn't for me," Harry said.

"If you cover your tattoos you can go undercover looking like that," Haru stated. "Undercover from your fans but not unnoticed by everyone else."

After I helped him wipe off the makeup from all over his body we opted for something more conventional and we didn't go to a drag show. Instead, I took him out to Chidorigafuchi to eat ice cream and watch the night sakura. Pink cherry blossom trees reflected and dressed us in its color. If Harry had been less defiant he would've still been in pink, but now we were both dressed in somber colors. No one noticed us, probably because they were rightfully immersed in watching the light-up trees. We held hands walking through the park and later back to our hotel. I was actually really impressed with how quick Harry learned his way through the city that big. He had a few acquaintances there to show him around but he also really absorbed the culture really quick.

The evening was way better and more romantic than going to a drag club. Harry's seen that before I joined him in Japan and we had seen it together numerous times in other parts of the world. The following day he celebrated by singing karaoke with some friends in gay bar while I stayed to write. We still, however, had to ask Jordan to upload a throwback of us playing football to cover up any possible rumors. We spent a lot of time together in those few days before his birthday and right afterwards we went back to London to continue working on our music and on our relationship. Both were successful, but it's our subsequent albums that would prove that in months to come.

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Note that this chapter is called Cherry just because I mention cherry trees, nothing to do with sadness or..well, Camille. If you haven't noticed, all chapters have a 1D/solo lyrics title. This one and the next one will have just the song title. So the cherry blossom festival isn't until late March, but I just liked the image and decided to include it for romantic purpose. I also don't know where they went after Japan and if they left right after Harry's birthday but it's all fiction to antis so let's understand we do ... not know everything, hence this fanfiction.

Q: I just have to start a discussion now that I involved a Fine Line song. Do you think 'Cherry' is really about Camille, i.e. that they really dated and he wrote it for her, or is it just a cover up for a beard?