Amber Easton

Today's the release of Harry's first album. And he's hosting a party.

Usually, I'd be excited to attend, but the worry has been probing my mind the whole week.

Well, I haven't signed the record label yet.

I did go out for lunch with a music agent Josie Cameron from Interscope Records. She's the best. I mean, she even lets me call her Fifi. We talked everything through, and, honestly, I'd be an idiot to turn the deal down; which leaves me in a bit of a pickle.

"Ok, maybe wearing heels wasn't the brightest idea," Liv groans next to me, steering the way to 'Lotus'. Apparently, Harry rented out the whole club's VIP lounge.

"You were the one who insisted on it!" I laugh and check my appearance in the car's mirror before texting Sarah we've arrived.

I brought Olivia with me because, well, she needs to get loose a bit. Even though she doesn't show it as much, I can still see she's not doing well.

"Finally! It's freezing!" Sarah jumps when we pull up at the parking lot and get out of the fancy car.

"Sorry." I tuck a strand of my curls behind my ear. "Mitch... Sarah... Meet my best friend Olivia!" I introduce Liv to them both, and Sarah widens her eyes a bit once she's finally taken in who's standing next to me.

"Oh my god! As if I don't know who you are! I absolutely loved your acting in 'The Love I Need'. Amazing tv show. Seriously!" Sarah starts freaking out, and Liv starts giggling and thanking her. With a proud smile on my face, I catch up to them walking in the direction of the back entrance.

"Amber!" Sarah slightly raises her voice once she sees what's sitting in between my hands, "You got him a gift?"

"Yeah. What about it?" I tightly clutch the objects in my hands.

"Harry hates gifts. Seriously, I got him a guitar once and he literally got mad." Mitch explains, and I feel a lump form in my throat.

"Who doesn't like gi-" I try to finish my sentence but I get interrupted when a crowd of people surrounds us just a few feet from the back door.

Questions like "Amber! Amber! Is it true you and Harry have broken up? What are you doing here, then?" and "Sarah! Mitch! What are your opinions on the situation?" or "Olivia! Put the rumors to rest! Are they fighting? What upcoming movies can we see you in?" start filling the air and I'm quick to laugh all the assumptions away.

The flashes all continue until we all slip through a small crack of the door, being met with the purple shade of the club. While we walk to the lounge, I have to blink my eyes rapidly to get rid of the small stars spinning through my vision from the awful flashes.

I expected the lounge to be overly crowded, but there are only about 50 people here. I'm pretty sure I spotted Niall Horan and Ariana Grande around the huge bar.

"Glad you made it!" Harry squeezes through a crowd of people and exchanges his welcome with Mitch and Sarah but they two are gone before I can even catch them.

"Hi," he finally turns to me, and I can still feel his forest green eyes pierce through my soul even with the fluorescent lights brightening the dark and cloudy air between us.

"Hi," I finally speak up, my voice barely audible, "I hope you won't be bothered by me bringing my best friend Olivia with me."

"The more the merrier." He smiles back at me, and the music around us is quiet enough for his tone to be heard soft.

Olivia starts a whole speech about how she's very honored to be here and really enjoyed the album, finally ending it with "I'll go find somebody I know around here."

She gives me a knowing look before disappearing into the crowd. I know exactly what her expression meant — tell him about the record label, Amber.

I have to tell him.

When I told Liv about the call they gave me, she literally freaked out and let out a huge scream. And once I told her I was slightly doubting whether or not should I even consider taking the offer, she gave me the most dumbfounded look I've ever seen her in and yelled 'I'm not letting you turn it down. Nope! Not happening.'

She made me do a pinkie promise I'd tell Harry about the label. I can't turn back now.

The contract that I have with Harry about me performing says I could break it at any time without any repercussions.

"I... I got you something." I hide the items in my hands behind my back.

"Listen, I'm very grateful you thought to bring something, but I really can't accept it." His smile is wiped off in an instant.

Well, fuck.

"You don't even know what it is!" I try again but his eyes seem to float elsewhere.

"Thanks, but I don't want you spending money on gifts for me." He's about to turn away, but I grab his hand right before he could disappear somewhere.

He freezes with my touch and I blurt out, "I'm sorry. I didn't know." I feel him loosen just a little bit. "A-And if it makes you feel any better, I technically didn't spend any money on it."

I see confusion written on his features illuminated by the neon purple flashing lights. "What do you mean?"

I nervously pull the present out in front of me, and his sight falls onto the bouquet of roses in my hands.

The light-pink tone of the flowers matches the shade of his cheeks perfectly now as a genuine smile appears on his face for the first time tonight.

"You bought me flowers." The sentence slips out of his lips more as an amazed statement than a question.

"Correction — I grew them." I proudly say and the sentence has him in a train of thought.

He processes this information for a few moments and an even bigger smile dances on his cheeks now. "You grew me flowers?"

I match his smile. "Yeah, Ms. Middleton lets me dig around her garden every once in a while. I would've given you yellow ones," I say, quickly glancing at the colored glasses on top of his head, "but I figured since pink is one of your favorite colors, I should gift you pink ones."

And also, pink roses symbolize gratitude and admiration.

"Oh! Wait, do you want to know the French word of the day?" I earn a hopeful nod from him. "It's 'roses roses'. I even looked it up." He laughs at the way I definitely pronounced it wrong, but I catch a glimpse of pride in his eye.
[french translation; pink roses]

"But wait. There's more!" I point to the stems of the flowers, and he finds a small box between the thorns.

A small crease forms in between his eyebrows, and before he can object, I interrupt him. "Just open it before you say anything. You gotta step into the light to understand it better."

The confused grimace deepens but he soundlessly takes a few steps under a yellow-shaded lamp fixed to the wall, and carefully untwists the ribbon tied around the simple black box.

He timidly pulls out a bracelet and the stones of it immediately glimmer underneath the yellowish light.

"Wow. It's gorgeous." His eyes match the shine of the stones. "But, Amber, I don-"

"I mean, I only figured since you got me the bracelet back in London, it's only fair I gave you one as well." I interrupt him before he can return the gift for whatever reason.

"Are you absolutely sure you won't want any of this back?" He points a finger at me, and I can tell by the furrow of his brows, he's completely serious.

"Why would I want it back? Harry, I'd like you to keep it. For as long as you want." I smile, and his features brighten up as the bracelet did.

He pulls the bracelet on top of his wrist and instantly reaches in for a hug, his full hands around my shoulders.

With the flowers in one hand, he connects his other with my loose hair, and I feel his fingers twisting one lock around his digits. He exhales a breath of relief with my cheek pressed to his deflating chest, "Thank you."

Tell him about the record label, Amber.

"Harry," I start, my words getting muffled in his dress shirt.

I back out.

"I'm just proud to know somebody like you." I steer clear and earn another genuine smile from him.

He lowers his head and nuzzles it in my neck for a second, and I'm absolutely sure he feels my rapid pulse accelerating with each second.

When he quickly pulls back, his vanilla scent still lingers in the air between us. He connects his eyes with mine like two magnets and smiles with his bunny teeth showing. "What am I supposed to do with these?" He raises the pink roses now probably matching the shade of my cheeks. "Put them in water?"

"Yup. And make sure to take care of them. Otherwise, they're going to wilt pretty quickly."

He admires the flowers for a second and disappears into some other room to get the vase. I take this as my cue to leave and go find Liv.

I push through the sweaty bodies to get to the bar section having endless drinks set out on the stand. I scan over the booth and find Liv talking with Niall Horan. She's laughing at something he said.

Oh?

Ok.

This is the first time she's laughed this week.

I decide to just sit on the other side of the bar, but still in a way I can slightly observe them both, using the drink menu as a fidget toy. In habit, I reach in my pocket to retrieve a hard candy, which leaves a lemon flavor on my tastebuds.

"May I take your drink order while you're looking over your menu?" The bartender snaps me out of my daze.

"Uh..." I drag, rapidly scanning over the menu right now.

What do people even drink at these events?

I mean, even if this is a club, everyone's dressed fancier than usual — even Liv's wearing a classy slip dress as well as many others.

I should've come prepared.

I know it sounds silly, but I really have no idea what to order; I mean, tequila or vodka shots don't seem proper for this occasion, and I haven't really tested out other cocktails.

I glance to my side to see a gorgeous brunette sipping on a drink and scrolling on her phone.

I continue to observe her until I'm 100% sure she isn't a celebrity, so it's safe to reach out to her without totally embarrassing myself.

"Hi!" I turn to her and wait until she lifts her eyes from the phone. "Sorry to bother, but I was wondering if maybe you've got a drink you could recommend? There are so many!"

She deliberately takes in my appearance, scanning over my crimson wide-legged pants and the same-shaded bralette accompanied with just a simple gold chain necklace and golden hoops. She spends the longest time scanning over my face and taking in my messy curls, but I'm pretty sure she can't make out any of my features, considering the fluorescent lighting combined with the darkened space makes everything 10 times harder to grasp.

"Yes!" She tucks her phone in the small black clutch accompanying her elegant black slip dress. "Well, I'm having a cocktail called 'Cosmopolitan'."

"Great! I'll have one Cosmopolitan, then!" I tell the bartender before turning my whole attention back to the charming lady. She might be a bit older than me, though you can't really tell. Her eyes seem a bit familiar, but I'm pretty sure it's just the lighting.

"You aren't even going to ask what's it made of?" I notice her British accent becoming more prominent.

"Nah, I trust your taste." I give her a warm smile."Sorry for bothering you. It's just... without my best friend," I point to Olivia who's still grinning, "I'm like a fish out of water in these kinds of events. I don't think I'll ever get used to them."

I start mentally cursing at myself for speaking so much, seeing as she probably didn't even want me bothering in the first place. I take my drink and turn — ready to leave her alone, but she taps me on her shoulder as a sign to stay.

"Tell me about it! It's often difficult for me to engage in a conversation. Most of the A-List celebrities are a bit... backbiting." She laughs at herself, then holds out her hand. "Sorry, I'm Gemma."

"Pleasure to meet you, Gemma! I'm Amber." I offer her a kind smile as we engage in a firm handshake.

My statement seems to have flipped a switch in Gemma's mind because her eyes widen a bit, but she doesn't say anything.

I taste-test the cocktail and give her props for having a great choice of a drink. My praise has her smiling even wider now that she knows my name.

With the club getting fuller and fuller, we continue to converse for at least an hour, talking about meaningless topics and trying out other drinks.

She showed me a picture of her cat Pope, and I might've totally freaked out from the cuteness of it. I also didn't miss the opportunity to compliment how great she looks, because, honestly, she's one of the kindest people I know just by talking with her for this short amount of time.

After deciding that the drinks on the menu aren't that great, we persuaded the bartender in letting us make our own custom cocktails. Now Gemma is making one for me to taste-test, mixing different liquids together and commenting how each will make the taste amazing. 'See? Who doesn't like rum? Add just a tad bit of grapefruit juice and it will be the best cocktail you've ever drunk!"

She mixes the two liquids together, and I'm pretty sure she's got the proportions wrong, but I don't say anything because she adds something else to the mix, which, in her words 'will complete the taste to perfection'.

I totally burst into tears until my lungs hurt at the way she's jiggling the cocktail shaker to the beat of the music all while shaking her hips.

"Here. Try this. I'm naming it 'The Amber Gem' " She drops the straw into the custom drink and passes it to me without even tasting it herself. I wrap my lips around the straw and my nose unwillingly scrunches up at the bitterness of the drink.

"Uh-oh. You hate it." She slightly slurs from the multiple other drinks we previously had, then widens her eyes and covers her face with her hands in slight embarrassment.

"No, I don't. See?" I push down a few more gulps, having to use all my acting skills to not make a weird face.

Though, she doesn't believe me and grabs it out of my hand, testing it herself. Once it gets near her lips, she almost chokes on the acidy flavor of it. "Amber! This is absolute rubbish!"

We get back to the bar stools and laugh about the unsuccessful try. I gotta be honest, I almost feel bad for the way she was trying so hard. The club's lights keep vividly flashing from purple to black, and somehow I still manage to catch her wide grin.

"Has anybody told you that you're a real gem, Gem?" I slur, bopping my head along with the beat of the music. I also kept checking on Liv every ten minutes. Seems like she's having the time of her life on the dance floor. See, I knew this was what she needed.

"You know, you might be one of the coolest people I know now." She says after a moment of silence settles between us.

"And you might be one cocktail too drunk, Gem." I bop her nose with my index finger two times, making her giggle.

A familiar British accent interrupts our conversation, pulling her in a quick hug. "There you are, Gem! I've been looking for you! I need your help with the speech I'm supposed to be doing soon."

"Sorry, I got distracted. I was having so much fun with Amber!" She says, and he instantly snaps his eyes to mine as if he just acknowledged me. I take the straw between my lips and have a sip out of the remnants of a previously made Piña Colada to avoid any awkward tension.

Tell him about the record label, Amber.

"Oh, Amber! I see you've met my sister!" He enthusiastically announces and the sentence almost makes me choke on the drink.

Oh?

Sister?
There's no way I just embarrassed myself in front of Harry's sister.

"I'm sorry. Your what?" I make sure to ask again, in case the music warped the sound or something.

"My... sister?" The sentence comes out as a question more than a statement, and I can't help but laugh at the situation.

I just got drunk with Harry's sister.

Harry Styles

"Yeah! I showed her a picture of Pope and she promised she'd knit a blanket for her if I invited her over to see the damn cat!" Gemma tells me about Amber and how they made drinks for each other. The treble of the music shakes the walls of the separate room we're in. I needed some space away from everyone for a bit.

"I didn't know she knits," I say while scribbling something on the page in front of me.

"Yeah. You told me she was nice, but you didn't tell me she was this lovely! I didn't recognize her at first, but it all clicked when she told me her name."

"Mhm. I'm very grateful to be working with her." I drag, not really invested in the talk, scribbling the last letters on the crumpled paper. "I'm done."

"About time." She huffs and gets up to exit the room into the noisy lounge.

I brought her here in hopes she would help me with my speech, but all she did was talk my ear off about how kind Amber was.

I mean, she isn't wrong;

Amber grew me flowers. Never in my life has anybody even given me flowers — let alone grow them themselves.

I fucking hate gifts — they're absolutely useless.

But somehow she talked me into accepting one. I gotta be honest, the bracelet is simple but gorgeous — just like I'd want.

Turns out, when you twist it to a source of light, it'll warm up and glimmer like a piece of the sun. Holding my pink roses accompanied by the bracelet honestly makes me feel pretty.

I also didn't forget how she said she's proud to know somebody like me. It's like whenever I feel unsure about something, she's there to remind me I'm worthy.

We enter the darkened space, the loud music overpowering our hearing now. Somehow I still hear Amber calling out, "Hey, Gem! Try this! I made a few adjustments to your drink. Now it's truly an 'Amber Gem'!"

With that, Gemma joyfully disappears to test the drink Amber created, and I push through the people to the DJ to request lowering the sound of the music so that I can finally announce my speech, and finally get this over with.

"Hello," I speak into the microphone, the sound a bit scratchy at first, "Hi, can I have a bit of attention for a quick moment?"

"I'd like to say a few thanks." I feel my feet shake on the elevated surface above the crowd that's standing in a skew line in front of me.

"I'm incredibly grateful to have every single one of you here. Obviously, one of the biggest thanks goes to my record label and my team." I make eye contact with everybody I mentioned and feel them create a bond of fondness. My heart feels relieved by their smiles.

"Let's also raise a glass to the many other people who have inspired or helped me create this album." My eyes meet Gemma's who's holding up the mysterious drink. She gives me the biggest smile one could muster and I can tell she's happy for me.

I mouth a small 'thank you' when I connect my eyes with Mitch's and though he keeps his composure straight, I didn't miss the way his lips twitched into a second-lasting smile.

I continue making appreciative eye contact with Sarah, Adam, and many other people who return my indebted smile.

"There are also a few people who have been supporting, assuring, and making me feel valid throughout the making and the release of the project." I share a look with Niall, whose maniacal laugh I could hear from a mile away. I scan over the crowd to lock my eyes with Amber's, but I can't seem to