#heronica

~*~

Harry is about five sheets to the wind and so not looking forward to tomorrow morning’s hangover when he looks across the bar and sees… her.

In high waisted dress trousers that look like they’ve been painted on and a backless top that’s heavy with sequins where it drapes across her front, she’s dressed to be seen so Harry doesn’t think she’ll mind him taking an extra look. There’s a crowd around her, men and women alike who are flocking her way like they want just a hint of her light to shine on them.

“I’ll be… bye,” Harry tells Niall, leaving his group of fellow grads behind as he joins the throng half-circling her. He has no chance of catching her interest, knows that half of the people around him are more attractive, better dressed or maybe even both, but he can’t take his eyes away. The others in the circle are all feigning disinterest, dancing with each other or alone, but Harry takes the risk and steps just a hint closer, breaking through the wall formed and catching her eye.

“Wanna dance?” he asks, pitching his voice to be heard over the music and thumping bass line.

“Already am!”

“With me?”

She looks him up and down, focusing on his scuffed boots for a second too long. Harry’s sure she’s about to blow him off- she might not even say another word to do so- but then she smiles and nods.

“What’s your name?” Harry asks, lifting a hand and placing it gently at her waist when she meets him halfway.

“Veronica.”

She doesn’t ask his and the sexy smirk on her lips tells Harry she did it on purpose. She’s playful, teasing in a beautiful way that makes Harry want to try harder and he doesn’t rise to the bait. He dances with her instead, forcibly controlling his two left feet and keeping his other hand free and clear of her body so she doesn’t feel caged in. He doesn’t think she’s the type to appreciate that.

“You’re a terrible dancer,” she says but the insult is softened when she moves closer so they’re chest-to-chest, the sequins of her top rough against the bare of his skin where his shirt’s unbuttoned and hanging open.

“You don’t seem to mind.” He lets his hand move from her waist to the middle of her back, fingers playing with the thin chains that are the only things keeping her top from dropping off. Her skin is warm, soft and intoxicating. Harry could touch her for hours. “You want a drink?”

She agrees and links their fingers together as Harry leads them to the bar, carefully avoiding the corner his mates are holding. He doesn’t trust them to keep their chill, is barely able to keep his own, and he urges her forward so she’s between him and the bar. “Order me something you like,” he tells her, lips gentle on the shell of her ear as he runs his hand down her spine.

She pays before he can- where she’s pulled money from, he doesn’t know- and he tucks his fingers into her back pocket and uses the hook to tug her back. “I’ll buy breakfast,” he tries, snorting out a laugh when she turns back to him with a smile. “I will,” he insists, “if you stay with me until then.”

“Let’s try dancing again,” she says, handing Harry a mojito he sips at cautiously. The mint tickles his sinuses and the rum soaks his tongue.

“I’m not very good apparently.”

“You’re fun, not talented,” she agrees, drinking deeply from her own glass. “And I never let a guy buy the first drink.”

“What about the second?”

She grins around her straw. “Maybe a mimosa over brunch,” she suggests.

“Do you want to know my name first?” he asks, equally playful as he takes a step back and leads her towards the dancefloor again.

She shakes her head. “If I leave with you, you can tell me then.”

BEFORE ANYONE ASKS: i don’t know, okay? this just... happened today.

It’s almost perfect but there’s something still wrong with the lighting. Since moving to her new flat in Norwalk, Veronica’s never been able to completely figure out the complicated overhead ceiling lights. She’s lucked into getting the perfect levels before but tonight, her luck seems to have run out.

It’s no big deal- there wasn’t really a video planned for tonight so her viewers aren’t going to be as critical as if it were one of her makeup tutorials. A quick update has more room for error.

“Hey, everyone,” she says into the camera, shifting so her shadow doesn’t block her features. Her hair tonight is long and curly like a Disney princess and her makeup is still mostly flawless even after a long evening. She catches sight of a bit of color outside of her lip lines and she wipes it away with another quick look to the viewer to check. “Just wanted to post a quick update.”

“I know it’s usually annoying when people come on YouTube and gush about their S.O.’s around Valentine’s Day- how many posts do we have to see, really?- but I think I’m becoming one of those people.”

Veronica ducks her head for a second, catching herself speaking too quickly to be understood. Her Northern accent is a bit hard for people to follow, especially when she doesn’t enunciate, so she forces a breath and calms down. She casts a glance at the camera again, knowing her lashes are perfectly done up tonight and that it will translate to the camera well enough.

Can’t take the beauty blogger out of the girl.

“You guys have heard me talk about Harry,” she says carefully. “He’s… he’s really, really great. He had this grand idea of a Valentine’s Day date but it kind of went terribly?” she laughs. “I don’t know how he managed to do it, but he failed harder than I’ve ever heard of and it was pretty perfect because of that.”

“So, first off, he told me to be ready at five for our evening but he forgot he had to help a relative with their own VDay surprise until the last second so he calls me at four forty-five to let me know he’s moving it back an hour. He had the most panicked tone, too, like I was going to call it off right then and there. I didn’t mind, of course, because I’m a terrible procrastinator and had only just started getting ready. I got to take it slower and take my time- getting my hair just right, do you guys like it tonight?”

Veronica pauses again, tilting her head so the lights show off the different shades in her hair piece. It’s her most expensive one and her least favorite, if she’s honest, just because of the work associated with it. But she will never deny how pretty it is.

“I like it. Anyway, so we lost our reservation at the restaurant Harry had picked out- he won’t tell me which one it was but I’m sure it was ridiculous and we both would have been uncomfortable anyway. So we ended up going to a Chili’s, instead which- let me tell you a secret: you don’t need a fancy, prissy dinner with waitstaff in tuxes or anything ridiculous like that. Your everyday chain restaurant like Chili’s is going to be perfect- you’re comfortable already in the environment, you already know the food is good and they don’t give those tiny plate things, and it’s got the same Valentine’s Day ambiance and décor. It’s a hundred times better than any fancy place and probably half the price, too.”

Veronica sighs, irritated. “Not that Harry let me pay or even see the check. I tried to swipe my card on the kiosk- I know how much his gigs have been paying him lately- but he wrestled it away from me. Almost knocked our drinks over but he managed to keep his gangly limbs in check long enough.”

“After dinner- I had the Cajun chicken pasta but I skipped the garlic bread because I didn’t want to have bad breath, I knew I’d regret it,” she says, flipping her hair over her shoulder and shifting on her bed. “After dinner, we got back to his car and he gave me flowers and a box of chocolates he’d forgotten about. The flowers are a little wilted-“ she reaches out to pan the camera and show the slightly sad display on her nightstand behind her- “but they’re still lovely. The chocolate, on the other hand…” she laughs, bringing her hand to her mouth to keep the sound quiet. “Chocolate and black cars in LA don’t really mesh. They were almost completely melted and, I went to try one anyway because Harry had his disappointed puppy dog expression on, but I dropped it because it was so soft and it stained my dress.”

“Harry was so mad- at himself, not me obviously- and promised to have it dry cleaned. But I’m hoping you guys will have some suggestions. If not, I’ll search around on Google and figure out a secret. Not paying to have it cleaned when I can do it myself, right?”

“So my dress is- the stain is huge,” she holds up her hands, demonstrating the apple-sized stain now on the thigh of her dress. “And this is a really sexy dress, too. Puts my chicken legs all on display, gives Harry something to look at, the whole nine yards. But now it has a stain that, quite frankly, looks like poo.”

“He had planned on taking me out for drinks and dancing but I didn’t want to go with my dress looking like that and it wouldn’t make sense to come all the way back home here and change when we were already downtown. So we went driving around for a bit- I tried convincing him to just call it a night and chill together at home, but he was determined to have a night out.”

Veronica grins, waving her hands again. “He’s ridiculous. Finally, I told him to find a shop where I could buy something else to wear. We were right by a mall so we ran in- twenty minutes before close. The shop associates probably hated us but I’m pretty lucky because I found a pair of jeans I already know I like and a cardigan. I just dressed in the changing room and paid from the tags, keeping my slip on and putting the sweater over it. I think it looked pretty cute, if not so dressy. Harry got a few pictures of us in the before outfits and then in mine after. I’ll put those on Insta if he hasn’t already.”

“Make sure you guys are following both of us anyway,” she says, pointing to the corner of the screen. She’ll put a “SHAMELESS SELF-PROMO” dialogue box up later with links to their Instagram accounts. It didn’t used to be so easy to put plugs in like that, but a couple years of practice has made it more normal to do and now there’s almost no hesitation to remind viewers to follow the other social media accounts tying back to the uploaded videos. “I’m always popping up in Harry’s photos and half of the pics on my personal one, here,” she says, pointing to the opposite corner, “are of the two of us also. Forgive my boyfriend’s black and white aesthetic,” she smiles at the camera. “He thinks he’s pretty cool. I haven’t had the heart to tell him the truth.”

“Heeeeeyyyyyyyy,” she hears from behind her.

Veronica turns around, smiling over her shoulder at Harry where he’s stood in the doorway in just a towel, drops of water dripping from his long curls to his chest. She winks at him before turning back.

“Harry’s here,” she says with a sly grin. “He took us to the club after all but ended up spilling a whole tray of shots down his shirt. Came to mine to shower.” She pauses, ignoring the flush she feels on her face. “Think I’m going to go now, actually. Just wanted to pop in for a quick update of my day. Hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day like I did, even if you just treated it like a regular Tuesday. Be safe, be sweet and be strong,” she says, blowing a quick kiss at the camera before pulling a silly face and reaching to turn it off.

The mattress bounces as Harry settles in next to her. “You didn’t really mean what you said about me not being cool, right?” he asks, kissing her shoulder where her tank leaves some skin bare. “I’m pretty cool.”

“You’re the coolest,” Veronica assures him, grinning and turning her head to kiss his pouty mouth.

“Come convince me of that,” Harry murmurs against her lips, one hand slipping down her arm and trying to link their fingers together.

“I gotta edit the video, babe,” she protests, pulling away and laughing when Harry whines. “C’mon.”

“You c’mon,” he returns. “Edit it in the morning.”

“Doesn’t make sense to post a Valentine’s night update the next morning,” she reasons. “It’ll take me ten minutes.”

“It’ll take an hour because you’re a perfectionist and by then I won’t be horny at all.”

“That’s a bit of a falsehood.”

“A bit,” Harry allows. He settles back against the pillows behind her for a moment while she opens her editing apps and sets about cutting any parts she thinks are too awkward. “I’m a little hungry still,” Harry says a few minutes later. “I can go whip up something if you’ve got anything in.”

“Just went to the store yesterday,” she says. Harry shifts off of the bed, tugging on a pair of boxer briefs and discarding his towel in the hamper. “Harry,” she calls before he heads out of the room.

“Yeah?” he asks, turning and walking closer to her.

Veronica tilts her head back for a kiss, smiling softly against Harry’s lips. “Tonight was amazing. I’ve never enjoyed anything more.”

“Tonight was a disaster and now your viewers will all know.”

“It was not. Thank you, honestly. You’re good to me.”

Harry brushes her cheek with his palm, cupping her face and tilting her head back for another kiss, which she gives up easily. “You’re good, period.”

“I might be more Zayn when you come back,” she lets him know. “Feeling middle-ish right now.” She doesn’t always know the words to say but Harry always seems to understand- or, he asks the right questions when he doesn’t. Or says the right things.

“I love you always,” Harry assures, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Six months ago, she wouldn’t have believed someone saying that. Not because she didn’t know she deserved it- of course she knew- but just because it was one of those statements that carried a lot of weight with it and sounded cliché if not said with care. But one thing Harry has always shown- whether it’s to Veronica or Zayn or any of their in-between days- is the utmost amount of care.

“I love you,” she says. “So much that I’m going to get this done in ten minutes- I mean it,” she interjects when Harry looks doubtful, “and then I’m going to come help you in the kitchen.”

“I’m timing it.”