In The Heat of Los Angeles

“Viva Mexico!” Ty yelled as we all clamored off of the private jet we’d flown from Los Angeles to Puerto Vallarta. Despite leaving at 5:30 this morning The Circus and my father decided that we needed to do tequila shots to kick off vacation. I had weakened and had one and so did Harry. We’d both opted for mimosas on the flight instead making us slightly more sober than anyone else.

“Viva Mexico!” Jessica added. I rolled my eyes.

“Watch it. You don’t want your father to catch you rolling her eyes at her before we’ve even gotten our luggage off the plane,” Harry whispered in my ear.

“Ten days. I have to spend 10 days with that crazy woman. I deserve a reward if she makes it out of here with all of her fingers and toes.” Harry laughed, a little louder than he should have, getting the attention of my father who obviously caught the look on my face as he scowled at me before walking over.

“Don’t plot her death. She’s just excited for the trip,” he said. “You’ve been the girl who had too many shots on the plane too.”

“Yeah, I was also 18.”

“Don’t remind me. I still can’t believe I fell for your ‘we want to get there a day early to explore the local tourist attractions and plan the trip.’ I found you passed out with a bottle of tequila in your bathing suit in my bathtub when I arrived the next day.” This made Harry laugh harder. “You’re lucky you got the grown-up version of this girl.”

“I had just gotten done with high school. I was accustomed to drinking cheap beer, not tequila.” Pops rolled his eyes at me before walking to where Jessica was and helping her with her suitcase. She nearly fell over as she tried to wheel it towards the awaiting van.

“Ten days,” I mumbled. “Ten days.”

“Your Mom will be there when we get to the villa. She will keep you sane.” Harry said.

“I hope so. I don’t remember when they were supposed to get in. I know we were all each like an hour apart or something like that from each other or something crazy. I can’t remember.” I’d been super busy in the few days we’d been home trying to get caught up from being in England and ready to leave for Mexico. We had mountains of laundry to do and to completely repack for this trip as well as get Harry ready to leave Mexico to head straight to set for the film.

We all climbed into large passenger vans and took off for the villa we’d rented in Punta Mita. The drive took much longer than anyone wanted because the buzz was starting to wear off from the flight. We piled out of the vans, grabbed our bags and headed into the main house. We were greeted by the staff of the house who handed us margaritas despite the early time and directed us to our rooms. My Mom and Victoria always meticulously planned who got what room so that there were no fights at all. With this being all of my family plus Kammi’s family, Eliza’s family, the entire Jonas family, and Ty and Eli it was a lot of people and it saved us if rooms were assigned.

Harry and I walked into our suite and my jaw dropped. We had the room on the first floor of one of the guest houses. There was a little deck off the bedroom that if you stepped off of it you were in the pool which had these awesome little rivers that lead you throughout the entire complex. The desk was set up for yoga with a hammock off of it over the water. Clearly, the mothers knew that the two people staying in this room would enjoy sunrise yoga every morning of this trip. I was standing out on the deck and admiring the space when I looked up and saw Ty above me.

“You’re totally letting me come down and get in the pool there. I just need to put my swim shorts on,” he said. “Eli look at this! It’s the fuckin’ pool!” Harry walked out onto the deck and wrapped me up in a hug before his mouth connected with the exposed skin of my shoulders and started to move down. “Gross I’m totally not looking forward to this view for the next ten days.”

“They are above us?” Harry asked. I could hear the humor in his voice. “You two are not allowed in our room before we wake up or after we go to bed. I will barricade the door if I have to.”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t barge in on your two,” Eli replied. I glanced at the villa next to ours to see Eliza and Joe on the balcony with Kammi and Nick on the first floor. I assumed that the villa behind both of ours would have Kammi’s sisters and their boyfriends, typically they were near us rather than Eliza’s brothers as they often were in a room wherever we were staying that had multiple beds in a room. Even when they had girlfriends, they never brought them with. This year was no different. They’d all opted to have a week to flirt with all of the beautiful women they would inevitably find at the beach clubs nearby our villa.

“I can’t wait for tomorrow morning. Yoga at sunrise?” Harry asked. He was still nuzzling my neck.

“Of course. Then I’m napping in that,” I said as I pointed to the hammock that hung off of the deck.

“This is going to be the best vacation.”

“I am pretty excited about it. I’m also really glad that I don’t have to share a room with Ty and Eliza this week. The last several years the three of us got shoved into one room together. The pain of being the single ones or at least the ones that didn’t have a significant other on the trip.”

“Well, this time you have me. And every time after that I’m going to be right by your side. You are never going to be without me.” He turned me in his arms to look into my eyes as he said this. He really did have the prettiest eyes ever and loved to see how uncomfortable he could make me with intense eye contact for long periods of time. Sometimes he’d count how many seconds I could make it before I broke the eye contact.

“Except when you leave me for work.” I pouted at him before looking down at our feet. Me with my brand new pedicure I got yesterday while he worked and him with the black toenails I’d painted when I was listening to him goof around on his acoustic guitar after dinner playing me the song he’d worked on that day. He knew that I needed to keep my mind and hands busy to keep my anxiety from consuming my mind so he let me paint his toenails. It had been harder for me to accept that I had this trip left and then I lost him. That I wouldn’t wake up next to him every morning anymore. But that was okay. I’d be able to get back into the workaholic lifestyle I’d grown familiar with. Harry being gone would be a good thing. Or at least I kept telling myself that in hopes that it would stop that soul-crushing depression I could feel looming in the distance.

“You’re going to be okay. You’ll have little Harold, Ty and Eliza will be there sometimes, and Rachel is prepared for a slumber party for the first week if you need it since Luke will be on the road too.” He was doing everything he could to make sure that I wouldn’t have to spend a second alone if I didn’t want to. While Ty and Eliza were technically living with us, I knew how they both were when they were in a relationship. Exactly the same way I’d been since I met Harry. All of our lives were crazy and they both jumped fast into new relationships. It was only me that was ever slow at falling in love…until now.

Perfect timing right? I finally learn how to love someone without being scared and the asshole is leaving for the summer. The asshole just grabbed my ass as he kissed my neck in a spot that he’d discovered without fail caused me to elicit a giggle.

“I love your giggle.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. You know we’re gonna be fine. Don’t let yourself worry about being apart right now. It’s vacation time. We get to spend every second together for the next 10 days. Let’s enjoy it while we can. Remember the deal we made?”

I nodded my response. We’d made a deal the last night we were in London. We were partners in life and love, committed to supporting each other in our careers, no questions asked. No matter where in the world we ended up, if we were together we were home. That we would support each other but never let the next trip either of us had to take ruin the time we had together. We were partners in this. We were in this together. No fear. No walls. No bullshit. Just two people in love willing to do whatever it took to let love win for us. He knew I was terrified. I’d only known long distance to mean cheating and failure. I’d only known distance to cause pain. Whether it was the pain of the distance in my own relationships, the relationship between my mother and father, or even my relationship with my father. Distance meant heartache. He promised it wouldn’t. He promised it would mean reunions filled with happiness and of course sex, but besides that it meant that when we were together we made the most of it. A romance meant to see everything the world had to offer us.

“So for the next ten days, this is home. You are my home.” He tapped my chest over my heart. “No tears about me leaving. No fear about being apart. We are prepared for this. We are meant to be together, distance be damned.”

“Distance be damned,” I replied forcing a small smile. “I’ll try not to think about you being gone and just think about the vacation sex we get to have for the next ten days.” He smiled the wicked smile I knew all too well before he threw me over his shoulder and headed back into our suite. My laughter changed from the giggle into a loud laugh as he threw me onto our bed. We were still dressed from the plane, Harry wearing one of his more obnoxious floral shirts. “This is new.”

“It is. I picked it up a few weeks ago. Like it?” he asked as he started to maneuver the sundress I’d been wearing up so he could pull my panties off.

“Like isn’t the word I’d use.” I laughed a little.

“What is the word you’d use, love?”

“Umm obnoxious? Maybe atrocious.”

“You should see the shirt I have packed for tomorrow.” He raised an eyebrow making me laugh even harder. That was one of the best parts of our relationship, he always knew how to make me laugh, even if it was just because of the ridiculous shirts he chose to wear. I felt my watch vibrate on my wrist as I watched Harry glance down at the pink Apple Watch he’d finally relented to letting me buy him. We also bought him a matching pink MacBook. He had decided that pink was going to serve as the inspiration for the album. I wasn’t sure how he’d come to this decision. He’d told me that pink was the most rock and roll color but he also declared it after he saw me in a pink nightgown so I wasn’t sure if it was hormones or an actual decision. “Your Mom says they are 15 minutes away.”

“I know. She sent me that text too. We don’t have time.” He pulled my panties back to where they belonged before allowing all of his body weight to rest on mine. He kissed me hard on the lips.

“We will pick this back up tonight. Now let’s try out this pool we can jump into out of our bedroom.” We both stood up and quickly started going through our suitcases to settle on what to change into. I put on a black and white bikini that made my boobs look great. I looked to see Harry putting on black shorts and leaving on the damn floral shirt. He jumped down into the pool first before helping me down. I jumped onto his back so he could carry me before grabbing both of our cell phones, sunglasses and a hat off of the deck. He walked through the water carrying me as I videotaped my ‘ride’ for my Snapchat.

“You’re carrying her around already? It’s not possible you’re drunk already Everlee,” my father said as Harry finally made it to the main pool. We found Pops sitting and enjoying a cocktail already. Jessica was nowhere to be seen, I’m sure getting herself dressed for the pool was a task because everything was a show to this woman.

“Not drunk. But about that, what are you drinking?” I asked as I climbed off of Harry’s back and walked out of the pool to put our stuff down on the table.

“Tequila on ice. I ordered one for your chariot too. I figured you’d want a frozen margarita and they are bringing a pitcher in a few.”

“Thanks. Mom just text Harry and me, they should be here any minute I think.”

“Good. I think it will be another hour or two before the New York portion of this trip lands. Your Mom and Vic did a great job picking a new place. My suite is gorgeous. I’m in the main house.”

“I figured you were.” I sat down in the chair next to him before Harry sat beside me. He had grabbed both of us a towel to put down first.

“Our villa is really nice. There’s a place for the two of us to do yoga on a deck in the mornings and a little hammock for Evie. Ty and Eli are in the suite above us with Nick, Kammi, Joe, and Eliza right next to us. I didn’t pay much attention to where all of the other rooms were.”

“There’s a plan behind it all,” Pops said. “This is something that would’ve taken hours and tons of emails for Grace and Vic to plan. Especially since the whole Jonas family is here this trip. They had to make sure that Kevin and his kids weren’t too close to all of you rowdy ones. I’m assuming Grace and Marco’s villa is set up to have a master and then a room for all of the boys, along with Eliza’s family.”

“Oh I’m sure they are,” I added. “Though I think Mom told me that Frankie was bunking with Eliza’s brothers. I don’t even have a concept of how they do this without going crazy. Especially with as many of us are here this year.”

“And I’m sure next year there will be more because you’ll want to bring Harry’s family.” I blushed. Pops knew me well. I knew Anne and Gemma would absolutely love it here. Robin just went along with whatever everyone else told him to do so I knew he’d enjoy it too. I was already trying to figure out if they would fit or if Mom would need to find a new place again.

“Hola!” I heard the voice of my Dad yell from down the walkway. I turned to see him walking towards me with Mom not far behind him. The boys were nowhere to be seen, I’m assuming they were excitedly changing into swim trunks so they could jump in the pool as soon as possible. I stood up from the chair and sprinted barefoot towards Mom and Dad jumping into my Dad’s arms. I could hear Pops laugh.

“Dramatic much you two?”

“Of course they are.” Mom was rolling her eyes at us.

“You’re just jealous she doesn’t run to you,” Dad said as he laughed at Pops.

“Thank god. If she did that in a boardroom we’d be in trouble.” Everyone laughed. This was the first Harry was getting to see my two fathers interact with each other. I was kind of glad that everyone was still in their rooms getting settled and that this got to be just me with my family for a few minutes. Pops stood up and quickly hugged Mom kissing her cheek before I pulled her into a giant hug and stood resting my head on her shoulder as my two fathers greeted each other.

“I’ve missed you, Evie Mae,” she said.

“I’ve missed you more, Mom.” My Dad pulled Harry into a hug and I watched as both of their faces lit up. They really did love each other and this greeting made my heart so happy. “I do think they missed each other more than any of the rest of us though.”

“All your Dad could talk about on the way here was what he and Harry had planned for vacation. You’d think they were planning a trip just the two of them.”

“I really did think they were. If Dad decides he’s taking a trip to see Harry while he’s filming in France I will not be in the least bit shocked.”

“Me either.” All at once the six arms of my three little brothers wrapped around me as I let Mom out of her hug.

“Hi boys,” I said. I was right, they were all three in swim trunks and sunglasses ready to immediately jump in the pool. The greetings just continued as Eliza’s family made their way to the main living area and The Circus emerged from their suites. I was laying on one of the large outdoor sofas in between my Dad and Harry talking to Pops and Mom who were seated on the couch opposite us when Jessica emerged.

“Hello,” she greeted. I rolled my eyes at her. She’d touched up her makeup and re-curled hair. She had on heels with her bathing suit and the poorest excuse for a swimsuit coverup I’d ever seen. Her fake boobs were obviously too large for the bathing suit she had on.

“Watch it,” Dad and Harry both whispered at the same time. They had both sensed the eye roll without even looking at me.

“Jessica, I want you to meet Everlee’s family. This is her Dad, Marco,” Pops said as he stood to do the introductions for Jessica and conveniently move away from my Mom.

“It’s so nice to meet you.” Dad greeted her warmly. He was trying to be kind, he’d been in her shoes before.

“You as well. I hear from Everlee that you’re planning on cooking for us one night when we are all here. She raves about your restaurants so I’m excited for that,” she replied.

“In the pool over there are her younger brothers; Jonny, Mason, and Christopher.” He pointed out each of the boys who waved in response to their names.

“Hey!” they all called before they went back to the game they were playing in the pool.

“Hi,” she replied with a small wave. Pops paused before the final introduction.

“This is her Mother, Grace. Everyone, this is Jessica.” I heard him hesitated, he didn’t say, my girlfriend, it was of course known amongst the circle of everyone sitting and watching who she was. I watched as Marie and George tried to eavesdrop without it being obvious. Pops usually had a new girlfriend at every single one of these trips, but for some reason, there was so much more tension associated with this introduction.

“It’s lovely to meet you,” Mom greeted as she stood to shake Jessica’s hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Likewise.” Jessica’s voice didn’t sound like it was lovely to meet my mother. She looked like a cross between being terrified and jealous. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say more but nothing came out and she awkwardly snapped her mouth shut. I heard Harry giggle a little bit next to me.

“And you tell me to watch it,” I whispered.

“Grace is intimidating.”

“Fuck right she is,” Dad added. “She’s the most amazing and most terrifying woman I’ve ever met. Evie, you’re a close second. This poor girl is gonna be shaking like a leaf for the entire trip.”

“Oh trust me. She hasn’t met Vic yet either.”

“Fuck,” Dad mumbled.

“Let me introduce you to Eliza’s family,” Pops said. He walked away from where we were sitting.

“She’s a Rhodes Scholar, isn’t she?” Dad asked. At that, I couldn’t contain it and laughed, a little too loudly.

“You three,” Mom turned to scold Harry, Dad and I. “Best behavior. We can’t scare the poor dear off on the first day.”

“Did you mean deer, like the animal with antlers who freezes when in headlights or dear, like the term of endearment my grandmother uses?” Harry asked. I turned to look at him as my mouth dropped.

“The smartassyness and snark that just came out of your mouth. I’m so fucking proud right now.”

“I’m a little proud too,” Dad said. “I didn’t think the Brit had it in him. You’re so damn polite all the time.”

“Not all the time,” Harry and I both mumbled at the same time without even realizing what we were doing.

“Gross! Dad ears!” Mom laughed as Dad put his hands over his ears and started to hum loudly.

“While I find it gross too, I do love seeing your Dad tortured a little bit.” He flipped Mom off before pulling her down onto his lap. “We should go get changed so we can enjoy the pool for a while. The New York portion should arrive any minute and you know that once we are all here the real fun starts.”

“I hear that tonight is the karaoke roulette competition,” Harry said.

“It is. I’m assuming Evie has been trying to curate her iTunes in her favor like she always does.” Dad was determined I cheated because I often won.

“I did not! It’s what my normal iTunes looks like. I mean sure, there are some demos in there that only I’ve heard but we typically allow a pass on those.”

“Well, you’ve got a tougher judging panel this year.” The judging panel had grown by leaps and bounds this year. No longer was it just Nick it was all three members of the Jonas Brothers and Harry. Harry seemed excited about being able to judge this after all of the stories he’d heard.

“The judging panel is a bunch of pansy-ass former boy band members so the girls all have an advantage this year.”

“Mom!” I was shocked the snarky comment came out of her mouth. “I’m…I’m so…I’m so proud.”

“You’re gonna pay for that,” Harry whispered into my ear.

“You act like that is a threat I’m not excited about,” I replied. I heard him laugh wickedly although quietly.

It wasn’t much longer before the Jonas and Mackin families arrived and the real fun did begin. The house we were renting had prepared a giant welcome feast filled with the most delicious food from different regions of Mexico, a mariachi band and traditional dancers. We were a giant crowd this year but it was so much fun to have all of these people who meant so much to me in one place. At one point I was up dancing when I noticed the way Harry was watching me. He’d been doing this recently, just staring as I did something. To the point that I could feel his eyes on me. I left the group of dancers and walked over to where he was sitting and pulled him up so he could dance with me.

“You look so happy and beautiful.” He was speaking directly into my ear as he’d done a lot of the day. He wanted to share things with me and no one else. “I love you.”

“I love you.”

“Let’s go back to our room for a bit.”

“Okay,” I replied. He pulled me by the hand away from the crowd towards our villa. He opened the door and I followed him in before he pulled me into his arms and kissed me deeply. We moved towards the bed where I sat down fully expecting him to sit down with me. Instead, he walked over to the duffle he’d brought with him. It had been packed with hair products, moisturizers, sunscreens, and a few things that he didn’t want to pack with his clothes. He reached in and dug around for a moment before pulling out a ring box. I froze as he popped it open and smiled down at it. My heart leaped into my throat and I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“What. The. Fuck.” I choked out.

“It’s beautiful, right?” he asked as he opened it again and this time showed it to me. It was a beautiful ring but this was NOT how someone was supposed to show a ring to a girlfriend. It was also not the kind of engagement ring I ever imagined being given by Harry. I mean I was a normal girl, I was in love. Of course, I imagined what this moment would feel like and this moment felt NOTHING like I imagined it would.

“Yeah, sure. But what the fuck? We haven’t been together long enough for you to be proposing. What on earth is happening? I…I…I…”

“It’s not for you,” he replied laughing.

“Then what the fuck is going on?”

“I’m holding it for Nick.” That’s when the realization that two of my best friends were going to get engaged washed over me and I felt my eyes fill with tears as my heart returned to its normal spot in my chest.

“He’s proposing?” I asked as Harry sat down next to me, he handed me the ring box. It was the perfect ring for Kammi. Honestly, exactly what I imagined Nick picking for her.

“He is. That’s why his whole family is here. Joe and I are the only members of The Circus that know what’s going on. He gave me the ring a while back to keep. I’m actually totally shocked you didn’t find it.”

“I am as well, though I don’t tend to snoop through your things so if you had it hidden somewhere I would’ve missed it. Wait…if Joe knew why do you have the ring? Why do you know and I didn’t know?”

“Well, Nick was worried if Joe had it that Kammi would somehow find it or that Eliza would find it and have the same freak out you just had and it would ruin the surprise for Kammi. He knew that if you had the freak out you’d at least not be at his house. And if you had the freakout and didn’t tell me you found it and went to tell your girlfriends that they would probably believe I was stupid in love enough to propose to you already.” I laughed. They would believe that Harry was stupid in love and propose to me if I’d called them.

“You’re right, they would believe that you would do that.”

“I know better. You’d have the same reaction you just had. I don’t want you to reply with anything negative when I decide to propose to you. Also, as much as I love you and I have every intention of spending every moment of the rest of my life with you I’m not proposing to you here.”

“Why not?”

“A) Because we aren’t ready for that. B) Because I’m getting ready to leave you for several months and I’d want the chance to spend time with you enjoying being engaged. C) Because while your family and best friends are here, mine aren’t. If I propose to you when there are other people around everyone will be there. And by everyone, I mean your sisters too.”

“You’re so fucking adorable.” I leaned forward and kissed him.

“You look like you’re gonna cry,” he said quietly as he ended the kiss and rested his forehead against mine.

“I am gonna cry. You’re being cute and my best friends are about to get engaged to each other.”

“You can’t look like you’re gonna cry when we leave here. Nick has a plan.”

“Do I get to know the plan?” I asked.

“You actually have to know the plan. So he told me that you always let him sing at some point during karaoke roulette.”

“I require it,” I corrected him. “He always goes first. Usually makes an ass out of himself doing it just so that Kammi will laugh and feel less nervous about having to sing in front of everyone.”

“He has a song picked. You need to queue it up rather than hitting random and making him sing a stupid song.”

“What is the song?” I asked.

“He picked ‘Marry Me’ by Jason Derulo.”

“I’m gonna bawl.”

“All of you will. So pull yourself together and grab your laptop, Evie. It’s time for us to go get your best friends engaged.” I kissed him and excitedly jumped up off of the bed and grabbed my laptop and iPad. I looked in the mirror to make sure that I didn’t visibly look like I felt which was shocked, excited, and overly emotional. I watched Harry slide the ring box into the pocket of his shorts and we left the room. Once back with the group I went to set up my laptop and get it connected with the karaoke machine that had been provided to us. The iPad would function as the screen for the lyrics in case someone needed them. Nick quickly came over to stand next to me at the table that I’d made my little DJ booth. He’d usually be the person working the laptop with me through it so that he could judge and make sure I wasn’t cheating to get a song I wanted.

“He fill you in?” he whispered. I nodded before leaning over and resting my head on his arm quickly. “He, Joe, and Kevin have all volunteered to go before me for your random songs to give me time to calm down. This is the biggest performance of my life, Ev.”

“You’re gonna do great, Nicky. Do the guys have a preferred order?”

“I decided Harry should have to go first. You can pretend you’ve hit random and pick something stupid for him if you want.”

“You should NOT have given me that freedom. Torturing my boyfriend is a favorite pastime of mine.”

“Oh, I know. And he’s on board with whatever you need to do so I can relax a bit. He’s gullible.” I started to scroll quickly through my iTunes trying to decide what I should make Harry sing. I found the perfect song and clicked to highlight it. “You’re evil and I love it.”

“Thank you oh so very much.” I grabbed the microphone that went along with the karaoke set up. “Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages, gather round for Karaoke Roulette.” Everyone started to laugh as they found their seats. “We are lucky this year to have more than just one judge, this year we have FOUR! As always, what is the point of singing until we force them to and because Nick is lucky to be doing this as part of a team this year we will let him relax a bit and not be the very first performance of that night. Harry, my dearest, that honor goes to you.” He stood from where he was sitting in next to Jonny and came up to where I held a second microphone for the setup. I handed it to him. “Are you ready, Styles?”

“Of course I am,” he replied. I hit play and the opening music of ‘Style’ by Taylor Swift played through the speakers. “I hate you.”

“You love me and you know it.” I smiled deviously at him before sitting down on the barstools that Nick had brought over to our DJ area. I held onto one of the microphones just in case I had to call him out for not singing.

“This is just absolute nonsense. Evie, you are lucky I love you.” I glanced next to me to see that Nick had made sure to set up the camera we used to always tape the entire night and noticed that Eliza was also taping Harry. He started to sing, messing up a lot of the words, mainly because he was laughing too hard and dancing like a lunatic. The whole group of us would join in at the ‘we never go out of style’ line. Once he was finished we all clapped and cheered for him as he took a bow before he came over to where I was sitting, pulled up another barstool, and sat next to me. “You didn’t hit random on that.”

“Of course not. Nick said that mocking you would help him.”

“You’re lying but I’ll allow it.” He kissed my cheek softly as I hit random on my iTunes and paused before the music started.

“Oh my god. It’s a duet! I would like the two eldest Jonas brothers to grab a microphone and take the little makeshift stage for your performance.” Nick leaned over to see what the song was.

“Oh this is fucking amazing,” he said before he started laughing. Harry glanced at the laptop on the table in front of us and saw that it had landed on ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ by Elton John and Kiki Dee, his laughter got everyone’s attention.

“I suddenly feel like I got off easy.”

“What did you do over there, Ev?” Kevin asked.

“Kevin and Joe, I request that you each grab a microphone prior to taking your barstools back here with the cool kids.” They picked up two microphones and Nick hit play as he started laughing hard enough he nearly fell off of his barstool.

“Seriously?” Kevin and Joe both yelled as the music started.

“I’d like to submit a request that Joe sing the Kiki Dee parts,” Kammi yelled.

“Approved!” Nick said.

“I hate all of you,” Joe groaned. He was completely lying because the minute the lyrics started he was way too into singing with his older brother. We were all in fits of giggles watching the boys read each other and develop actions appropriate to the lyric. I could sense the anxiety coming from Nick as he sat beside me. Kammi was too busy paying attention to Kevin and Joe so I reached over and gently rubbed Nick’s back. He glanced at me and smiled. I watched him fiddle in the pockets of his shorts with the ring box that Harry must’ve handed off.

“You’re going to be fine,” I mouthed out silently. “I love you, Nicky. This is gonna be perfect.”

“Thanks,” he whispered. “Love you too, Ev.” The song started to come to an end.

“You suck, Ev,” Kevin said. “Payback is gonna be a bitch when the judging starts.”

“I know. Joe already threatened me with bottles of Fireball and tequila.” I searched for Nick’s song as he took the microphone from Joe. He flipped it expertly in his hand before speaking into it.

“Give me your worst, Ev.” I hit play and he groaned playing into the moment. “You’re going for my high range here.”

“I do love to see if you can still hit the high notes without being kicked in the balls.”

“I love this song,” Kammi yelled.

“Same,” Eliza and Ty replied simultaneously. None of them appeared to know what was going on. Nick expertly started into the song.

105 is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you
Wake up every morning with you in my bed
That's precisely what I plan to do
And you know one of these days when I get my money right
Buy you everything and show you all the finer things in life
Will forever be enough, so there ain't no need to rush
But one day, I won't be able to ask you loud enough
I'll say will you marry me
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say will you marry me

Everyone started dancing around to the song, the parents all clearly knowing what was coming. Joe was doing a lot of giggling at Nick attempting to do the higher runs that Jason Derulo could easily do. Harry made me stand up from my barstool and started to dance with me surprisingly singing along to the song in my ear. I was watching Kammi and she was still clueless, believing that this song was what came up on random for Nick’s turn.

Nick made his way to Kammi pulling her into him as they dance and he still sang. The Moms had all stopped dancing as they watched the two of them standing together, swaying back and forth. I caught Denise and Vic both starting to cry. Their two kids, friends since babies were about to get engaged with the most important people in the world standing beside them. When they were running around Central Park chasing their kids and watching Kammi take Nick with her to school dances just so he could experience normal life in high school neither of them ever imagined that someday they’d fall in love. No one could’ve predicted this. That someday we’d all be standing here watching as the boy who asked the girl on their first date with a message on the inside of a pizza box would propose to her. But here we were, all about to witness the most important moment in either of lives. As the end of the song approached Nick reached into his pocket getting the ring box out so it was ready for the right moment.

And if I lost everything
In my heart it means nothing
'Cause I have you, girl I have you
So get right down on bended knee

So perfectly timed he dropped down to one knee as the lyrics said it. At first Kammi’s reaction was a giggle. Like she thought he was just acting out the song like we all would. Like my imitation last year of Harry dancing in the hallway from the Perfect video but then it hit her. He wasn’t acting. He wasn’t pretending. He was proposing. Her hands immediately went to her face and I saw the tears start to fill her eyes just as they had started to fill mine. I felt Harry’s arms wrap around me from behind as we stood there watching my best friends get engaged in front of us.

Nothing else would ever be
Better, better
The day when I say
I'll say will you marry me
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say will you marry me
I'll say will you marry me
I swear that I will mean it
I'll say will you marry me
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Ooh whoa ooh oh
Would you marry me baby

And with that the ring box opened and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. He really had picked out the perfect ring for her and the reaction she had showed it. It was intricate, unique, and just a tad bit showy. Perfectly Kammi. She still couldn’t manage to speak and he still hadn’t technically asked, minus the song lyrics expertly penned by Jason and his team.

105 is the number that comes to my head
When I think of all the years I wanna be with you
Wake up every morning with you in my bed
That's precisely what I plan to do

“Kameron Ann Mackin, would you make me the happiest and luckiest man on earth and marry me?” Nick asked. She started furiously nodding, the tears streaming more steadily down her face now.

“Yes,” she mouthed out. I couldn’t hear her speak. She hadn’t found her voice. “Yes.” I could finally hear her now as her voice got louder every time she answered him. “A million times yes. There is no one else I’d like to spend the next 105 years with.” Nick slid the ring onto her finger before standing up and kissing her. The entire crowd of family, friends and the staff at the house started to cheer. Harry finally let go of me so I could run up to Nick and Kammi to hug them.

“Congratulations,” I choked out through my tears.

“You knew!” she yelled in the middle of laughter. “You played that song on purpose. You knew!”

“I did. But I just found out. Harry knew. Your ring has been living in my closet for a few weeks and I didn’t notice. Your dreams are coming true but OUR dream came true too.” Our dream as kids had always been that someday we’d find husbands who weren’t ticked off at how much we shared with each other and that got along. Not only did Nick and Harry get along but they’d become friends and gotten close enough that Nick trusted Harry to be the one who held onto the ring until this moment.

“It did. Harry, thank you for keeping this safe.” She looked down at her ring before hugging Harry.

“Of course. It’s been killing me not telling Evie but I wanted her to be surprised. Especially since tonight, the only people who didn’t know about this were you, Evie, Ty, and Eliza. Well and some of the siblings.” Kammi turned around and looked to see all of our families standing together and embracing each other.

“So that’s why the whole Jonas family is here!” Kammi exclaimed. “How long have you been planning this?”

“Quite a while. The last time that the whole family was in New York and you were working both of our Moms went with me to pick out your ring. When the trip planning started we looped Grace in.”

“You are the sweetest, most perfect man on the planet. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he replied as he kissed her. As soon as the kiss ended her hand, with her new ring, shot up in the air.

“I’m going to be Mrs. Jonas!” she shouted. She started jumping up and down as everyone cheered. I caught Cameron out of the corner of my eye as he walked towards his daughter and future son-in-law carrying a bottle of champagne.

“We are celebrating tonight, kids,” he said as he handed the bottle over. Nick popped the bottle open before pulling Kammi into his side and kissing her. Before any of us realized what was going on Joe opened another bottle of champagne and started to spray everyone with it, causing the laughter and cheers to grow louder.

“I need to shower. I’m gross and sticky. It’s a disgusting combination of champagne, beer, and chlorine.” Eventually, after Victoria told Joe that the champagne was too expensive to spray he switched to beer and found it necessary to rub it into my hair. You’d think my loving boyfriend would have stopped him. Nope. He encouraged it. In fact, he got his iPhone out and recorded it.

“It is pretty disgusting. You smell like a brewery mixed with a vineyard with a hint of sunscreen.” I flipped him off as I walked toward the bathroom of our suite. “I mean it’s an attractive scent.”

“You’re a liar and an asshole.” I stripped out of my bathing suit and the coverup I’d had on today as I stepped into the shower. I rinsed them both before I hung them up and started to wash my hair.

“I am not an asshole…usually,” Harry said. I opened my eyes and tilted my head out of the water to see Harry standing in front of me naked. “And sometimes you really enjoy when I’m an asshole.”

“Sometimes I do.” His arms snaked around my waist as he bent down to kiss me.

“I love you, Everlee.”

“I love you too, Harry.”

“I meant what I said earlier.”

“That I’m a pain in your ass?” I asked as I smiled coyly. I knew what he was talking about but it was more fun to get the eye roll and smirk out of him when I avoided the serious stuff.

“Well, yes, but that’s not what I was talking about. I mean it. I have every intention on spending the rest of my life with you. I’ve never felt that way about anyone before. I’ve never felt this secure in a relationship with anyone. There is nothing I feel more sure of than the fact that you will be a big part of my life as long as I get the chance to live it. You make my whole world feel right when it’s wrong. That’s why I know you are the one.” I pulled him down to kiss him again. This time as our lips connected I felt the tears start to stream down my cheeks, mixing with the water from the shower. He was sweet, kind, romantic, and had just quoted my favorite Kodaline lyrics to me in the shower. It seemed stupid but our shared love of music was so important. The tears started to flow more freely. He’d made me promise not to cry through this. That it would be too hard to watch me cry knowing that he was leaving. He told me that the idea of knowing that through our life I’d shed these tears regularly because our lives were going to take us to different places at different times shattered his heart. I’d done my best. I’d held the tears in. I’d cried when he wasn’t looking. I’d leave the room if the emotion of our situation became too hard to hold in. “You’re crying,” he whispered.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Because I’ve never known love like this. I didn’t think it was possible, especially this quickly. It was something for fairytales and romance novels. It wasn’t real life, at least not mine. And here I am, staring into your eyes and imagining what they are going to look like in fifty years when they stare back at me. Will they still be this beautiful shade of green? Will the wrinkles around them hide their beauty? Will they still be filled with this much love?”

“The love in them will never change. The color might. The wrinkles will eventually come, but I mean they make botox for that. “ I started to giggle and rested my head against his chest. “You’re my forever. Don’t ever forget that."

Notes