Golden Hour

11

"So why is your name Cash?" Harry asked me sitting cross from me. We had just finished working on his song, Ever Since New York. We were nearly done with it, just a few more vocals to smooth out.

Harry and I had been friends for a month now and our hangouts mainly consisted of being in the studio or with the whole band at his house. Recently we've let our friendship grow closer though, spending more time alone-- together. I loved it, Harry just got me. I enjoyed talking to him about life. It was those deep conversations you usually find yourself having at 3 a.m.

"My dad was a huge Johnny Cash fan, I grew up on all the classics. I mean I am from Nashville. It'd be ironic if I didn't grow up listening to them."

"Love is a burning flame," he sang grabbing his guitar.

"And it makes, a fiery ring," I sang the next line as he continued to play his guitar.

"bound by wild desire," he sang looking at me with a small smile.

"I fell into the ring of fire."

"I fell in to a burning ring of fire
I went down down down
And the flames went higher.
And it burns burns burns
The ring of fire
The ring of fire," we harmonized together before laughing. It was just easy. The way we meshed into each other, it felt normal, as if I'd known him my whole life.

"Cash! Cash!" I heard someone say and lightly moving my body to wake me. What time is it?

I groaned turning over to see Harry sitting on the bed by me. "What?" I asked still in my sleepy state.

"What?" He echoed with annoyance laced in his voice. "Cash you left, London! You didn't call anyone or tell anyone you were leaving," as he spoke the weight of everything crashed down on me. I had momentarily in my sleep state forgotten why I was at Harry's in the first place.

"I feel so weak," I said tiredly.

"Cash, what is going on?"

"Give me a second," I said holding my head. The room was spinning which confused me even more because I was laying down. "I can't think. I'm so dizzy," I don't know how my words sounded but everything felt heavy.

I felt Harry's hand rest on my forehead before he sighed, "You don't feel warm, have you eaten?"

"I honestly think the last time I ate was with Sarah in London."

"Cash, that was over 36 hours ago," he gaped at me. "You need to remember these things, seriously. Why did you leave," he was rambling on but not paying attention to me as he grabbed his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"You need to eat, I'm getting you Chinese, your favorite."

I hated that his words made my heart swell. Even though he was lecturing me about vanishing without telling anyone he still cared. This only grew the uncertainty in my heart regarding my feelings towards him. "I'm so tired, H, can I please sleep."

"I'll wake you up when the food is here." He kissed my forehead before leaving me in the room. I smiled at his actions but found that I was still exhausted and immediately fell into a deep sleep.

I had an amazing birthday thanks to Harry, it meant a lot to me that he took me to dinner and had Gemma come along. Harry told me he wanted to play me a song which is how I found myself sitting next him while he played the piano in his room. I stared at Harry with part of my bottom lip in between my teeth with a small smiled and blush on my cheeks. Harry had written a song about me and I felt giddy, the wine in my system didn't help contain my thoughts. I felt thick tension surround us as I lightly moved my hand to push some of his curls behind his ear before delicately grasping the pearl necklace that I had given him, around his neck and pulled him into me. My actions surprised me a little bit and I blamed all the wine in my system for my bold actions. I looked hesitantly into Harry's eyes questioning if I was going to kiss him. I breathed in deeply before resting my forehead against his. I moved my hand from his necklace to his cheek. I felt the stubble that had grown and smiled, I loved Harry's facial hair. My actions were delicate and slow, I had been waiting for this for four years and I wanted to take my time, I wanted to soak in every memory even though I don't think I would remember this in the morning.

Harry pulled me closer placing one hand on my waist and the other on my cheek. I rested my hand on his thigh and sighed again. I moved my nose lightly against his with my lips lightly grazing his. When I darted my tongue out to wet my dry lips I was momentarily surprised when I felt Harry's lips against my tongue. I didn't know what to think of my actions, I felt so uncertain in this moment despite knowing fully that I wanted to kiss Harry, that was the only thing I was certain about. He lightly squeezed my waist moving his hand to intertwine our fingers and squeezed my hand. It was a small gesture that gave me confidence to know he wasn't going to turn away. Maybe he wanted this as much as I did.

I  was having a war in my mind but I also knew I wouldn't remember this in the morning. Harry's actions surprised me but were not unwelcome as he softly but fully pressed his lips to mine causing me to fully give into him.. My hand went to his hair and I laced my fingers through his soft curls. Our lips moved in a slow rhythm together, there was no urgency, no lust, there was just all the words I wanted to tell him for the past four years.

"Cash," I heard again waking me from my sleep. What did I just dream? Everything about it felt so real and familiar but I had a feeling it was just my imagination. The exhaustion and lack of food was making my mind think crazy things. "Do you want me to bring the food in here?"

"No," I said looking up and meeting his gaze. The last thing I needed was to be in a bedroom right now with Harry, especially after having a dream that felt more like reality. "I'll come meet you downstairs."

I slowly got up but immediately had to sit back again so the room would stop spinning.

"I got you," he said softly walking to me and picking me up. I tried to ignore all the tingling feelings I had as his skin touched mine. It wasn't uncommon for us to have physical contact but with everything going on in my mind right now it felt like new territory.

Once I had successfully eaten all my food and slowly started feel stronger Harry continued with his lecture again. "Seriously Cash, what were you thinking? I almost called the cops! I had no idea where you were, Sarah didn't know either! I found out on twitter that you were back in LA, some fan took a picture."

"Harry," I said slowly trying to get him to stop talking. His words were coming out so fast, a major contrast to how he usually spoke. "Someone broke into my apartment." His eyes widened with concern and he rushed to sit by me. I explained to him everything that happened starting with the voicemail I had received, the state my apartment was in when I saw it, the note. He hung onto my every word not interrupting. "I'm sorry I came here without you asking, it's the only place I felt safe." All previous annoyance was nowhere to be found in his body language or expression as his whole demeanor softened.

"You never have to ask to come here, I will always want you here," his words held so much conviction that I couldn't decipher the double meaning.

"I'm so scared Harry, I didn't even know I had enemies," I spoke softly with tears forming in my eyes. Harry just held me, I wasn't sure how long we were sat there on the bench by the dining room table but all I knew was after an extremely exhausting 72 hours I finally felt okay.

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AHH She remembers the kiss! Or does she?! Cash is such a smart and talented girl but sometimes really misses the clues Harry gives her.