Sequins & Zippers

Part 3 | Nails, Delays, & 'Pretty Woman'

If Aurora wasn't sleeping or getting on or off an airplane, she was with Helene or Harry. As the tour went on, she found herself spending more and more of her days with Harry. Some of it was work related, like in Antwerp, Harry managed to snag the embellishments on his left sleeve while he was messing around with Mitch 10 minutes before they were supposed to go on stage. He stood next to Aurora as she hand stitched the beading, embroidery and sequins back on, repeatedly apologizing to her. Aurora's hands shook a bit while he watched her so intently.

"You're making me nervous standing so close," she whispered to him when she couldn't get the needle threaded. He apologized even more and took barely an inch of a step away from her. Once she finished he hugged her quick before running on stage.

Other times, Aurora would finally arrive at a new hotel room, exhausted from traveling and not being able to get ahead of the jetlag and there would be a handwritten note waiting for her on the desk or table next to her bed. There was always something written along the lines of "hope your flight was good. Meet me for lunch? I'll meet you in the Lobby @ noon" on days off or simply "excited to see you later".

The morning she woke up in Hamburg, Germany there was a new note slipped under the door. A smile so wide she could barely finish reading what the note said covered her face when she opened it.

will you paint my nails for the show tonight? xx Harry.

She found Harry waiting outside the "Creative Crew" dressing room when she got to the arena later that day. The look on his face was one Aurora couldn't find the words to describe. There was a mixture of nerves and excitement and a little bit of relief when she finally smiled at him. Harry's hand is at her waist, as it frequently finds itself, and he's pressing a kiss to her cheek before either of them say anything.

Over the past few days Aurora has thought a lot about her and Harry. Harry is the one who initiates everything - emotionally, physically, anything. Aurora has a wall up and she knows she does, she always does. She doesn't like change and she will be the absolute last person to initiate a change of any sort. She doesn't mind letting Harry make the decisions whether he knows he is or not. They exchange hello's and Harry follows her into the dressing room as she drops off her coat.

"Got my note then?" Harry asks as Aurora rummages through her bag. She pulls out a handful of nail polish bottles and shakes them in front of his face. A toothy, unavoidable smile appears on his face, "I guess that's a definite yes." She giggles along with him.

"Always get your notes," she comments as she set the nail polish down next to her purse on the couch and reaches in for a few more that were floating around at the bottom. "Ah!" she says triumphantly. "Here's the rest." Harry grabs the pile that's on the couch and the rest from Aurora's hands. Her subconscious can't help but notice how he is able to hold onto all 10 bottles in one hand without the fear of any of them going rogue and falling out of his grip. She's in awe of the way his stretched hands make his veins pop out and then she realises he doesn't have any of his rings on right now. She doesn't think she's ever seen his hands bare like this. His voice snaps her out of her thoughts. "Sorry, what was that?" He chuckles at her.

"Surprised you've got so many colours here," he takes her hand and leads her out of the room, "I've only ever seen you with black nail polish on." She smirks at his attention to detail.

"Always wear black on my fingernails, but," she drags on, "I never have black on my toes." He glances at her. He's barely walking in front of her, still connected by their hands, but enough that he has to turn his neck a bit to meet her eyes and give her a look.

"Interesting..." he trails off like he's filling this new found fact away in his brain. "Always surprising me."

"Oh! Harry!" Aurora interjects as they pass craft services. She's stopped mid step and Harry is pulled back, stumbling a little. "Coffee." It's all she says before she peels her hand out of his but not even a second later he's got his hand clasped around hers again.