Cannes | H.S

Hollywood

Layla

It's past midnight as we remain entangled together on the sofa, lounging together in front of the television, watching reruns of an old classic. He giggles occasionally at certain memorable scenes, the heavenly sound vibrating within his chest as he holds me close from behind. I find myself lost in thought, hoping to share what's been on my mind for the last portion of the day. His fingers trace alongside my arm delicately as I remain quiet.

"Falling asleep on me?" He softly asks.

"No, I'm still here." He hums, kissing the back of my head in response. I fight and struggle to find the words, but find them extremely necessary as I've been a true fool for not bringing them up for discussion in the past. "Can I ask you something Harry?"

"Anything."

Another pause passes between us both as I turn around in his steady hold, meeting his wary eyes that are now filled with tremendous amounts of questions and curiosity. "Will you, be my date for the premiere tomorrow? I'm sorry I didn't ask you earlier. I honestly thought it was just assumed, but..."

"Of course I will Layla. But thank you, for asking me."

"You're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be?"

"It took me this long to ask you."

"You overthink too much, you know that little darling?"

"It's a weakness."

"It's not a bad thing."

"No?"

"Not at all. I do the same thing."

"Really?"

"Of course. You should hear the thoughts in my head."

"What are you thinking now?"

"Hmm...I'm thinking I want a snack. Join me?"

He holds me in his arms when I agree, setting me back onto the countertop as he opens the freezer, revealing a large tube of cookie dough ice cream. Normally I'd say a savory treat is much more satisfying than a sweet one, but I've been persuaded otherwise. We each take a spoon, eating many bites as the minutes venture off into the early morning. "You have a little," he says, reaching up to me, taking me by shock and surprise as he dabs a minor amount of ice cream onto my nose.

"Not fair!"

"Perfectly fair. See, look at that," he states, doing the same by pressing the sweet dessert onto my chin. I gasp, trying to do the same to him, succeeding only when I grasp onto a handful amount in my palm, placing it right on his face as he looks at me, clearly unimpressed. It begins to roll down and onto his clean shirt as I stifle a laugh, knowing he'll seek revenge. "I'm going to give you a head start," he warns.

A small shriek is released as I begin to run up the stairs, hearing him behind me in an instant. He's much faster, grabbing hold of me gently as I land amongst the many steps. I'm laughing greatly, hell we both are as he hovers above me, bucket of ice cream in hand, forcing an amount onto my face. We're both out of breath once we return back to reality, looking at each other quietly as he leans down, kissing me grandly to swoop the treat off my skin. It's melted down my neck in a perfect creation. He cleans me up with his mouth, loosening me in the process, pressing his nose onto my own as he shuts his eyes.

"Let's go to bed, hmmm?" He says, awaiting my response. And when I nod, the moment isn't lost as we continue to enjoy one another throughout the night.

-

My heart is racing as I look down at the time on my phone, fearful that he may in fact miss such an event. For he hasn't responded to my last two calls, forcing me to arrive on this red carpet alone. Grace sits across from me in the limo, texting away, oblivious to how I'm feeling in this very moment. And once we approach the entrance with the many fans and the swarming array of photographers, I fear I may faint.