This song had a significant influence on the whole story. 

Pull me closer tiny dancer."

I'm standing against the flower shop's counter, resting half of my body on top while the other leg is supporting me on the ground. Aliza stands before me, dancing on the spot. She takes my hand and twirls herself while I admire her for the thousandth time.

She agreed, she wants to be with me too. I look at the yellow ribbon. She tells me she doesn't want a ring. I'm ecstatic that she holds so much sentiment to it. I'll replace it with a ring anyway, but it'll take some time.

I'll have to save again, and then the daunting task of finding the right ring will begin. How do you find a one-of-a-kind ring for a one-of-a-kind person? I'm sure it'll just happen somehow because it's her and the universe favors her over everyone else.

There's no music playing, but she's making her own. "Sing for me, Prince Harry." She says softly. She puts me on the spot. I hum a little until I think some excellent words are about to come. It could be a total disaster. 

"Sunflower." I sing. "Uhm... Sunflower, my eyes want you more than a melody." She smiles and dances to the new tune. "Let me inside wish I could get to know you." I play drums on my thighs, and she lightly stomps her foot to the rhythm I've created. 

"Sunflowers, sometimes keep it sweet in your memory." I see Aliza again for the first time in my mind. "I was just tongue-tied." She giggles. 

The door of the flower shop swings open, and a red-faced Mitch enters. It breaks the moment as I turn to look at him over my back. "Claire." He huffs. 

He rushes over to us. "Claire quit Harry." She fucking what!  "Oh Mitch, no, why?" Aliza asks what's on the tip of my tongue. This is great. We have a show tonight, one of the biggest ones yet in a fucking auditorium. 

"It's about that guy; she chose the guy." He says. There's been some trouble, some rumors going around about Claire hanging around some bad people.  I cornered her after rehearsal yesterday, and she denied it but obviously, she lied. 

"Fuck, what are we going to do."I look at the clock. "We have four hours to find someone else." I jump off the counter. I walk from one corner of the small space to another. Fuck. "Harry, you can play." Aliza's arm wound around my bicep. 

"You play the piano?" Mitch asks. Aliza looks at me guiltily. It's not her fault I haven't told them. "Yea, long story. Musical genius." I cut, getting to the point. "Well fuck, problem solved then."

"Problem not solved, the problem still exists. Who's going to play the guitar if I play the piano." I ask with a deep sigh. I just want to yell. "Lisa," Mitch says, and his eyes dart to Aliza. "Aliza." He corrects himself. "I don't know. I've never played in front of a crowd before." She says softly, her top lip disappearing into her mouth. 

"You don't have to," I reassure her. I don't want to make her uncomfortable. "I'll play... I can play for you." I exhale all the air from my lungs. "You'd do that?" I ask, turning to her altogether. She raises her hand, then back towards me, where the ribbon rests. "Yea." She points to her finger. She doesn't have to say anymore. 

I pick her up and spin her around; Mitch hollers in the background. "I'll stay here, you go... You go run through the list." Mitch says, and we're off. We rush to the apartment, and within two hours, she has everything under the belt.

Her skilled hands and ears only having to listen to me play it twice before she got it. "I want a spot." She says. "Come again?" I murmur. 

"I want a spot on this list." She pushes her finger into the paper. "A song." She explains. "What song?" I move my body closer to hers on the piano bench. "Secret song." She whispers. I push until we're nose to nose.

"Mkay." Because I'm lost, and I'll promise her the world. She meets me, molding around me.  

***

I'm nervous, like on the verge of vomit anxious. The venue is enormous compared to what we've done till now. The energy in the room is tense.

 "No, we're not doing this." Aliza finally says the only one who has reason to be nervous and also the only one who isn't. "You can play anywhere; the music stays the same. I'll fall in, don't worry about me. Don't ruin this for yourselves." She's right, like always.

"Here." She hands us all a red and white rosebud. Unity. She curls her finger for me to bend down, and I do. She expertly pins them into my hair, and I do the same for her. "Okay, so we excited now?" She asks as she shimmies in place.

"Doesn't matter." Adam pipes, and I turn around to see someone beckoning us onto the stage. I heave but manage to hold it down. Aliza has my arm, and she's pulling me towards the stage. 

Too big. I turn around to get off and bump into her. "Harry, you're gonna miss it." She says, yellow boring into me. She means the moment. I'm going to miss the moment completely. "Just go, step into the light." She nods and moves to the piano gracefully. I don't miss her shaky hands when they rest on her thighs.

I walk up to the mic; the curtains are still drawn. How did we get here? How are we performing in front of a thousand people tonight? It's her, our lucky compass. The music starts, and the curtain slowly lifts. Showtime. 

The first verse goes well. Like always, the adrenaline pumps, and the nerves fade. "I had a few, got drunk on you, and now I'm wasted. And when I sleep, I'm going to dream of how you." I miss the chords when the crowd yells back to me. 

They catch me off guard, and I stumble a little. They're singing your words. I recover quickly and continue playing, nodding my head along. They're singing so hard that I stop entirely. They carry the song until I join in with the chorus. 

"First time you sang along," I say into the microphone, slightly out of breath. They roar. We move into the next few songs, and when I grab my guitar, I walk over to Aliza. "The floor is yours, babe; sing it with me," I tell her while plugging the guitar into the amp. "Got something special for you," I say to the crowd.

I don't know what it is, but it's going to be spectacular. There's silence for another thirty seconds, and then the chords dance through the air.

 It rips through me. It's the song I sang to her. The piece was made for her, where I got the inspiration for a lot of things. 

I wipe the sweat on my brow. Emotions overcome me as I stare into the crowd. I can't see much, but I see everything right now. I take a step closer. 

Blue-jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band.
I chuckle into the mic because she actually did hold us together tonight. 

 I strum the guitar in tune with her. I look behind me. She's going to sing.
Pretty-eyed, pirate smile. You'll marry a music man.

 Her voice is soft. Yes, you will. I get goosebumps. I can't care about being in the front right now. I grab the mic stand and move towards her. 

I stand to her left, and I have to look at her.
Ballerina, you must've seen her dancing in the sand.
And now she's in me, always with me.
Tiny dancer in my hand. I sing.

Her muscles rip under her skin. Her fingers are flying over the keys.

Jesus freaks
Out in the street.
Handing tickets out for God. She smiles down, singing with a smirk.

Turning back
She just laughs
The boulevard is not that bad. I sing. 

Piano man
He makes his stand
In the auditorium. She sings louder, and the crowd cheers.

Looking on
She sings the songs
The words she knows
The tune she hums.

I fling the guitar to the back and move to sit next to her. My hands come down on the piano, four hands now playing.

The movements are hard, the chords short and purposeful.

But oh, how it feels so real
Lying here, with no one near
Only you and you can hear me
When I say softly, slowly.

She smiles up at me, falling in with my voice—more emotion than I can comprehend in her eyes.
The melody turns smoother.

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today.

She's looking at her hands. She sings above me, harmonizing to my voice.

Hold me closer, tiny dancer
Count the headlights on the highway
Lay me down in sheets of linen
You had a busy day today.

I stop playing and lean my elbow on the piano, my headrest in my palm. I turn sideways to her.

Blue-jean baby
L.A. Lady
Seamstress for the band
Pretty-eyed
Pirate smile
You'll marry a music man.

I sing softly, staring at her. She blushes at the last words. She finishes the last of the song.

Her eyes sparkle. The yellow ribbon is swaying with her fingers. I'll never want her more than right now, but I know tomorrow I'll prove myself wrong. 

***

"Did you fucking hear that!" Adam yells as we clamber off the stage.  I grab Aliza around the waist, still so fucking in love with her for doing what she did. 

I kiss her with as much passion as I can muster. My bottom lip disappears between hers, and she's wrapping her legs around my waist. "Gonna marry a music man." She whispers against my lips. 

"Of course you are." I agree. I put her down. They're still talking about how the crowd sang medicine. "Can you believe it?" Sarah says from the couch, which she's lazily draped over. "Harry, man, how does it feel?" Mitch asks. 

I don't even know; it was something. "Don't know, mate, it was intense, kinda caught me by surprise," I tell him honestly. "It's just the beginning. It's time you share the rest of your songs with us." I know he's right. We can't do covers forever.

The question still stands, do we want this to get bigger than it is? I don't want fame; I want to do it because I enjoy it. "Yea, I will," I assure him. We don't have to get ahead of ourselves. We'll just take it as we go.

"So Harry Styles, wanna tell us how you play the piano like Bach?" Sarah asks.

I scratch my chin with my thumb. "Kinda good at the whole music thing." Aliza scoffs next to me. "He's a genius, hum a song, he'll play it. He's gifted." She tells them.

"God, you guys are more complex than a crossword puzzle."Mitch laughs. "Yea, maybe it's because I've been hiding it all, and now we're just getting it all out there." I snort. 

"I gotta go, wives waiting," Adam says. There's some teasing from the rest. Mitch mutters, whipped under his breath, and Sarah tells him to hurry before bringing out the wooden spoon. I don't tease him, and I watch the interaction silently because the only thought running through my mind right now is I want to say those things. 

I look at Aliza, folding my hand over hers, and she's already looking at me with twinkled eyes. "Wanna get some pizza? We can all hang at the apartment?" She asks into the room. Mitch & Sarah agree. "Sure. I'll call Elijah and Amy on the way."

Mkay Bye!