the stars in your eyes | t.s. one shots

still the girl with the blush, giving a glowing review

hi hi! quick note before we head into this one shot: this doesn't *perfectly* follow the plot line of my book captivated, which this one shot is based off of, but i got inspired and couldn't help but write this anyway so i hope you enjoy tehe. this is based off of 'glowing review' by maisie peters, which if you know, you know. it's absolutely harper and patrick's song <3 

"Well," Ava says with a smile on her face as I walk into my dressing room. "How was it?"

"How was what?" I ask, giving her a coy grin.

"The date, you idiot," she starts to laugh. "I want to hear all about it."

I take a deep breath. "It was... just amazing. Ava... I'm gonna sound so crazy, and I know that... but I think I'm falling in love with him."

The corners of her lips turn up into a smile. "Already?" she winks at me. "Wow, that was quick."

"I know, I know," I tell her. "It's absolutely ridiculous. We just hit it off so well, though."

"What did you two do?"

"He took me to this cute little pub on the Heath. It was so close to my house and I'd never even been before. It was a Friday night, so it was definitely full of people, but it felt like we were the only two in the room. It was so magical," I tell her. I can't help but smile as I think about the details of our incredible night together. Both of us are already looking forward to the next one, so much.

"And..." Ava winks, "did you per chance end this date with anything special? A smooch, perhaps?"

I feel my cheeks flush a bright red. "Maaayyybbeee," I say. 

My friend squeals. "Oh, that's a yes! How was it?"

"Great," I admit.

"Oh, my baby girl's all grown up," Ava tells me, running over and throwing her arms around me in a hug. "I've not seen you this giddy about anything in the whole time I've known you."

"To be fair," I smirk, "you've not known me for that long."

"No, but we've spent a lot of time together lately."

"Touché," I say. I pause, and then: "You know, it's scary. Falling this hard and this fast. Especially when I've never really done this whole 'dating' thing before. But it just feels so right. It feels like... I'm always going to feel this way about him. Like even if we aren't together forever, I'll think about him and feel this warm, fuzzy feeling inside. And I'll always have wonderful things to say about him. Is that... normal?"

"What's normal, anyway," Ava tells me, opening up her makeup bag. "Everyone has their own journey, and that's normal. If love were easy, if there was a formula to it all, then it wouldn't be this big, mystical thing that people spend their whole lives trying to figure out. There wouldn't be an endless supply of movies, songs, poems, and paintings about it. That's the fun of it."

"I'm not normally like this," I tell her, turning to the mirror in front of me and grabbing the first section of my hair, twirling it around into a pin curl. "I'm not certain about many things, but I'm certain that he's the right one for me. At least for the time being, or maybe even forever." I sigh. "It's so stupid. I feel like I'm fifteen."

"Hon, that's not stupid at all. It sounds like you just may have found your soulmate."

Soulmate. When she says that word, shivers run up and down my spine. That's ridiculous to think about. We've been on one date. My head knows that. My heart wants to believe that there's some truth in what she's said. After all that Patrick went through to just ask me out... he made me feel like the most special girl in the world. Even if he freaked me out a little bit... his intentions were so pure. And last night... after dinner, as we walked through Hampstead Heath, especially once it was getting dark, he held me tightly, like he wanted to protect me.

Of course, the Heath is like an old friend. It's seen me at my best and my worst. I don't think I'd ever get hurt there, any time of day or night. But he still wanted to make sure.

When he took me up Parliament Hill, with the sparkling lights of the city in the distance, far enough that we couldn't hear the noise and hustle and bustle, but close enough that we could see each glittering color, and he placed his hands on my cheeks, pulling me in for a kiss... it was a feeling I'll never forget. A feeling that was so new to me, but felt so familiar, so comfortable. 

"So," Ava says, breaking me out of my trance, "when are you guys going on a double date with Taylor? It seems like they're close."

I laugh. "Well, they are, but that's so not why whatever's going on between me and Patrick is going on."

"I know," Ava assures me, "but I also know that it certainly isn't points against him."

I chuckle. I can't deny that. But I also know that, regardless of who was or wasn't in his life, I would still feel exactly the same about him. 

What I didn't know was that, right after our date, Patrick went over to Taylor and Joe's house. He gave the same glowing review. He wouldn't tell me about that until many years later, on the first Friday in June, when we were back at that same pub where it all began. That would also be the first time that I told him about this conversation with Ava.

We really were right about one thing: we were falling in love from day one. We built a life together, from mere cracks in the pavement up to a family with two beautiful children. On the days when it was perfect, and on the days when our life was nothing but flawed, we always had each other, from the first moment our lips met up on Parliament Hill. I'd never have to know what life without him would be like, and I wouldn't have it any other way.